TH for a family of 4 and NO off road toys - Yes - No?

[Baja_Man]

We have had Class A, C, TT, 5er. Never tented nor owned a TH.

Now, one DS is 18 and the other DS is 13. Our 13yo will be with us for many years as he has Autism. He LOVES to be on the road, camp, boat, and explore new places!

I have plenty of truck to pull a TT or 5er but looking for something with three queen beds. Considered HTT but after much thought we decided on a hard sided trailer.

The reason to consider a TH (bumper pull) is more for 3 queens beds than any other reason...but we do like the ability to have the openness of the rear door. We really like the utility nature of the TH and the generator.

Would like to keep length as short as possible with front queen.

Toys: We may get a quad or two later on down the line, but we are not desert/off road types. Quads would only be used at baja beaches or trails that allow them near lakes/rivers. I taught my 13yo son with autism to ride a small quad when he was 7-8 on our 3/4 acre property. He LOVES quads, but wife is scared he will injure himself/others in open areas like beaches. I/we prefer fishing, lakes, rivers.

Where/how do we typically camp?:

Mainly RV parks with hook ups, some boondocking (beaches, Baja, etc)

Locales.....CA coast, inland parks, Sierras, NV/AZ lakes, Colorado River, 15-20 days per year 2017-18.

Summer 2018 and beyond......20-30 days per year with future plans on...

NM, maybe Texas, Colorado, Montana, and perhaps the South MS, LA, etc. Some Baja trips.

In 5 years, it will be primarily be my wife, me and one son using the camper.

Sleeping beds are very important. Boys would like their own beds and not the coffin size bunks in most older TTs.

Micro/Refer/Stove very important
Storage very important

Cons/My concerns about TH:
Too dark inside
Too cramped due to no slide out
Stuffy due to the abve reasons


Please help me understand what I would be getting into with a TH. Be honest, frank, and all of that stuff!

Thanks!

[bpadamson]

Baja Man, We have an older TH, 32', no slideouts, generator, plenty of light, and used it as a moving van 3 weeks ago.
Oh, and ours has no separation between garage and living-- which was a must for our desires.

I don't think we would want anything different.

[christopherglen]

We have a 40' TH, and no toys. We started with Mickey mouse and Thomas, and are currently stuck on Ipads. My 8 & 10 year old love the garage / bedroom to play in, and my DW & DD love the door to the garage being able to close. At some point we will have toys to put in there, it will probably be a moving van for DD first.. keeping in mind I am almost 60' long, and don't act stupid, I have fit into every campground and resort I have gone to - from Pismo beach to Ft Wilderness..

[lakebum]

Baja Man wrote:

lakebum wrote:
We have had pop ups, travel trailers, fifth wheel and Class A Diesel Pusher and just recently purchased a toy hauler.

Only three of us at home now but our 15 year old son loves the back, mini apartment, has a side deck with TV and 12.5' garage with two bench seats that make a queen and a queen bunk that comes down from the ceiling and a separate back door in addition to the ramp door.

We only haul an electric golf cart but the rear room is super nice with a sliding glass patio doors between kitchen and garage.

Ours is a bumper pull and so far enjoy it.

Interesting floorplan....what year/make/model do you have?

Heartland Torque T32




Link to Torque T32

[lincster]

Baja Man wrote:
weight police....
there are both 5ers and bumper pulls that are WELL within my trucks capacity

Go put your truck on a CAT scale, post up the weights along with the ratings of your truck.
I think you will be surprised/disappointed.

Sure there are both 5ers and bumper pulls.
I didn't say there weren't.
I said if you are looking at a 5er, you better not look at a very big one.
Bumper pull, you can go decent sized on.

[Baja_Man]

weight police....
there are both 5ers and bumper pulls that are WELL within my trucks capacity

[Baja_Man]

lakebum wrote:
We have had pop ups, travel trailers, fifth wheel and Class A Diesel Pusher and just recently purchased a toy hauler.

Only three of us at home now but our 15 year old son loves the back, mini apartment, has a side deck with TV and 12.5' garage with two bench seats that make a queen and a queen bunk that comes down from the ceiling and a separate back door in addition to the ramp door.

We only haul an electric golf cart but the rear room is super nice with a sliding glass patio doors between kitchen and garage.

Ours is a bumper pull and so far enjoy it.

Interesting floorplan....what year/make/model do you have?

[lakebum]

We have had pop ups, travel trailers, fifth wheel and Class A Diesel Pusher and just recently purchased a toy hauler.

Only three of us at home now but our 15 year old son loves the back, mini apartment, has a side deck with TV and 12.5' garage with two bench seats that make a queen and a queen bunk that comes down from the ceiling and a separate back door in addition to the ramp door.

We only haul an electric golf cart but the rear room is super nice with a sliding glass patio doors between kitchen and garage.

Ours is a bumper pull and so far enjoy it.

[lincster]

JAC1982 wrote:

lincster wrote:

JAC1982 wrote:

lincster wrote:
I think toyhaulers are very versatile.

I will comment on your truck question.
If u r referring to the truck in your signature, hate to tell you but you don't have enough truck to pull a big 5er toyhauler.

My toyhauler, empty, weighs 12000lbs with 2700lbs of pin weight. That will put you over al of your tow ratings of your truck.

You will be ok with most any pull behind, but 5ers, you will need to stay below 33'.

He said in his OP they'd do a bumper pull.

He said either/or.
Go back and read again.

I did "The reason to consider a TH (bumper pull)". I believe the "or" statement had to do with if they were buying a non-toyhauler. Nevermind there are 5th wheel haulers that don't weigh 12,000lbs.

But it's cool, always gotta sneak in the weight police MO in every thread 😉

Absolutely. Someone has to.

I know there are haulers that weigh less than 12000 lbs.
that is why I said "my hauler".

Try and keep up.

Captain weight police OUT!!!!

[2001400ex]

Most the the pros and cons are listed. Everyone has their own use, we use ours even when not bringing toys, but we are almost never in our trailer. So the inside layout isn't as important to me. The wifey however.... She wanted more room than the bumper pull, so we just upgraded to as fifth wheel, which I would recommend. Our new fifth wheel that's 9,800 dry gets almost the same mileage as my 23 foot bumper pull at 5,200 dry. I'd look at the 33 models of the forest River Shockwave/sandstorm/stealth. Or eclipse attitude 32 model. They all have 3 Queens beds and a fourth twin bed for friends or whatever. And they have 2 bumpouts.

I do agree on going toy hauler route. They are heavier and more expensive but they offer more features. Even if I got rid of my quads, I'd still own a toy hauler because the versatility, it's so easy to drop the ramp and load everything.

[JAC1982]

Shoot you could even just throw a nice air mattress down in the garage if you had to 🙂 That's why toy haulers are awesome, so versatile.

[tinner12002]

1jeep wrote:
When shopping you might want to watch that mine and most of the new ones that I have seen have 1 real bed that goes up, the lower one is 2 couches that fold out so you can add a table and have a dining setup back there. the lower unit is the dining/couches and is very uncomfortable for a adult.

https://www.google.com/search?q=rv+rear+bunks&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjokrfbjZvVAhWKGz4KHb79Ay0Q_AUIBygC&biw=1712&bih=853#tbm=isch&q=toy+hauler+rear+bunks&imgrc=jB1y95rvZH0BeM:&spf=1500665257591

If a person were to require a queen bed on the lower instead of a couch I'd bet the manufacturer or dealer could arrange that, I would think the bed setup would be less cost wise than the couch setup. I think as far as one poster indicated the lack of family area in a toy hauler, well if you find 5th wheel camper with 2 bedrooms there still is going to be a lack of family area so not much different.
As far as the OPs orig question, I do think a toy hauler would suit him well as its more versatile than a 5th wheel camper, most toy haulers have onboard generators, larger capacity fresh, black and gray tanks, usually 3 tvs, many have lofts should one child wish to sleep there, capable of having 3 AC units, 2 full baths and one or two patios...what is there not to like about them. Sure you give up a little living space for the garage but if its used as a bedroom then your not really giving up anything in my opinion. I own 2 toy haulers so I'm sure my ideals are slightly one sided but with having friends that have 5th wheel campers we talk all the time about the differences and what we like about each with usually more leaning my direction just because of the items I mentioned.

[JAC1982]

lincster wrote:

JAC1982 wrote:

lincster wrote:
I think toyhaulers are very versatile.

I will comment on your truck question.
If u r referring to the truck in your signature, hate to tell you but you don't have enough truck to pull a big 5er toyhauler.

My toyhauler, empty, weighs 12000lbs with 2700lbs of pin weight. That will put you over al of your tow ratings of your truck.

You will be ok with most any pull behind, but 5ers, you will need to stay below 33'.

He said in his OP they'd do a bumper pull.

He said either/or.
Go back and read again.

I did "The reason to consider a TH (bumper pull)". I believe the "or" statement had to do with if they were buying a non-toyhauler. Nevermind there are 5th wheel haulers that don't weigh 12,000lbs.

But it's cool, always gotta sneak in the weight police MO in every thread 😉

[lincster]

JAC1982 wrote:

lincster wrote:
I think toyhaulers are very versatile.

I will comment on your truck question.
If u r referring to the truck in your signature, hate to tell you but you don't have enough truck to pull a big 5er toyhauler.

My toyhauler, empty, weighs 12000lbs with 2700lbs of pin weight. That will put you over al of your tow ratings of your truck.

You will be ok with most any pull behind, but 5ers, you will need to stay below 33'.

He said in his OP they'd do a bumper pull.

He said either/or.
Go back and read again.

[1jeep]

When shopping you might want to watch that mine and most of the new ones that I have seen have 1 real bed that goes up, the lower one is 2 couches that fold out so you can add a table and have a dining setup back there. the lower unit is the dining/couches and is very uncomfortable for a adult.

https://www.google.com/search?q=rv+rear+bunks&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjokrfbjZvVAhWKGz4KHb79Ay0Q_AUIBygC&biw=1712&bih=853#tbm=isch&q=toy+hauler+rear+bunks&imgrc=jB1y95rvZH0BeM:&spf=1500665257591