My wife and I hope to sell our home and move to northern CA next summer. I'm thinking about buying a used travel trailer in the 5K price range. I will be using my 4x4 97 F150 (115K miles) to tow it. The bed will have clothing and other necessity's and our 2 large dogs will be in the cab behind us.

My reasoning behind getting the trailer is that I would like to take our time driving the 3100 miles, hate spending big bucks on motels that must be pet friendly and our families in CA have room outside for the trailer (temporarily) but not enough space for us all inside. We could also stay in a park till we get a place, get settled, get jobs, etc.

In researching all this, I have come up with 24' or less and around 4K lbs dry. It must have a queen bed in front or back. I will add trailer braking and an equalizer hitch. I'll set my micro tuner 1715 for towing.

Here is a link to a pretty close example.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...39.l1313%26_nk w%3D180559093178%26_sacat%3D%26_fvi%3D1&_rdc=1#ht_ 500wt_1182[/url]


I'd like to hear from anyone who has been there/done that or any other ideas. Thanks!

 

That setup should work out just fine for you.

 

I agree. Thats a long/hot drive for your truck but as long as it's been kept up, and you take it easy, you will be fine. I would service the transmission and flush the cooling system(if it hasn't been done in a while).

Finding a 24' with a queen in it shouldn't be a problem for that price range. It is a lot better than paying for a hotel every night, especially with dogs. I'm pretty jealous of your excursion but I hope the best for your fam.

 

sent you a private message

 

I appreciate the feedback
I completely forgot to figure in the fiberglass topper on weight (duh!)
Target date is Aug 2011, but it's also dependent on selling the home first. Not an easy task, especially here and now, but at least we're not upside down.

 

My $.02.
That is a nice camper you have pictured but with the info you gave it is only you and your wife and some dogs correct. Get a TT that has a couch in it and skip the bunk thing. I am in the process of looking for a new TT myself and after the camping we have done in our old camper I have came to the conclusion to get what fits you the best. Another suggestion would be to load up your truck like you would be hauling the TT and go run it across a set of scales to see where your at weight wise to start.