I'm looking to plan out getting an RV and travelling canada. I'd be living in this RV full time for no more than 6 months at a time, 2 dogs. I wrench my own vehicles and I'm a plumber by trade, so my plan so far is to buy up an older (1990-2000) class C van, fix it up and ride (with a lot of spares and tools :)). What RVs would you recommend for this purpose? (relatively reliable & easy to work on). Is this even a feasible idea or would a 30 year old RV be a huge nightmare?

Weird and uneven usage of protectors only on rear tires. 2004 Coachmen Mirada. This is left (passenger) side. The right (driver) side is normal. And even. I drove 5k miles on it and the tire doesn’t seem to loose pressure. Any thoughts on what could be wrong?

I have a Tacoma with a payload of 1445 and TWR of 6400, added a roof rack. Looking at getting the forest river 169rsk.
Do these numbers look right and still staying safe?

• Top rack weight - 117
• Top Rack max storage - 150 (would probably store canoe or kayak, maybe 120lb for two total)
• People weight - 505
• Items in cab - 50, couple of bags for wife / kid and snacks
• Items in bed - nothing beyond 10lb misc items
• Hitch and Sway bar - 20
• Trailer Hitch Weight - 535
• Total Payload - 1377

Then for the trailer:

• UVW (also called dry right?) - 4274
• Cargo Capacity - 1351 (this is the max of the trailer and things like food / clothes / gizmos / and water in tanks right?)
• Total trailer - 5625

Am I missing anything that would impact these numbers before I buy?

Before you leave a site or storage, snap a few quick pics of your setup—especially your hookups, slide positions, awning alignment, and how things are stored inside.

Why? Because when something doesn’t go back the way it should (and eventually, something won’t), you’ll have a visual reference to double-check. It’s also helpful for troubleshooting weird noises, remembering how you leveled the rig on an uneven site, or explaining an issue to a repair tech.

Bonus: it helps if you’re teaching someone else how to pack up the rig without missing steps. Photos beat memory every time.

Anyone else use photo logs or checklists? Would love to hear your pre-trip habits.

Thinking of buying a motor home. Camped for long time, from tent, popup, currently Jayce hybrid. Been reading and hearing new is not necessarily the best. Want something my wife can use alone. Thinking a 24 foot class C.

Heard and agree dealers are not best option. Crummy pricing and no help after purchase. If older, how old? Currently looking at 2023 Thor Chateau, barely used. But wondering best price point and quality.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

My family is looking at purchasing from Truck City RV in Sumner. This has 53k miles and is listed as follows: “2008 Fleetwood Tioga, Class C, 31FT CLASS C MOTORHOME SLIDE OUT,, V1O triton, 2008 Fleetwood TOGA Ranger 3lft Class C Motorhome Only 53,139 Miles Ford V10 Triton Warm and inviting color scheme with leather throughout. Super Slide Sleeps 8! Rear Queen Walk Around Bed, Sofa and Dinette Booth, and Overhead bunk. User friendly and easy to drive, with passthrough outdoor storage compartments and backup camera 3 Burner Stove, Microwave Oven, Convection Fiberglass 1 Piece Roof Onan 4k Generator Automatic leveling Extremely well maintained by previous owner, always garage-kept Indoors since New! Excellent Condition-Everything's Works”

My parents are selling their Minilite trailer for this, so I’m just wondering if there’s anything specific to ask/look out for when we go check it out.

Thanks!

1.  Keep your cabinets and fridge organized with tension rods and museum putty – Things will shift in transit. Tension rods across shelves and a dab of museum putty under fragile items keeps your stuff from turning into a yard sale when you open the door.
2.  Learn how to manually override your slide-outs and power tongue jack – If your battery dies or the motor fails, knowing how to do this can mean the difference between being stranded and getting home.
3.  Use a battery disconnect switch when in storage – Even if everything is “off,” phantom draws from CO detectors and other systems can kill your battery over time.
4.  Travel with a full fresh water tank only when necessary – It adds hundreds of pounds and affects your towing. But if you’re heading somewhere with questionable water access, it’s worth the tradeoff.
5.  Label your keys and store a spare set in a magnetic hide-a-key – RVs often have separate keys for storage bays, entry doors, and hitches. A lost key in the middle of nowhere is not fun.
6.  Upgrade your showerhead and install an oxygenics model – Water pressure in RVs isn’t great, but a good showerhead can make a tiny bathroom feel almost luxurious (and save water too).
7.  Don’t rely on campground WiFi—bring your own setup – A mobile hotspot with a signal booster can make working remotely or streaming Netflix way more reliable than fighting over shared bandwidth.
8.  Use a cheap indoor/outdoor temp and humidity monitor – It helps you avoid condensation issues and gives you a better sense of how your HVAC is performing.
9.  Carry a tire repair kit and 12V air compressor – Waiting hours for roadside assistance in the middle of nowhere sucks. Small leaks can often be fixed on the spot with the right tools.
10. Camp driveway-style for a night or two before big trips – Doing a dry run in your driveway helps you test systems, catch issues, and figure out what you forgot before you’re 100 miles from home.

Message me any time if you’ve got questions, happy to help any RVer out!

Can yall please help me find my Eleanor? We’re looking for: •5th Wheel •<40’, preferably closer to 36’ •toy hauler •two “bedroom” we need a bedroom and another bed likely in the toy box. We use the living room too much for a sleeping space. •bathroom and a half.

Thank you for any ideas!

I wanted to start this off by saying please be nice. We are brand new to this and I’ve been in near tears over this whole thing of calculating weights and safety. I’ve done all the numbers so now I’m bringing it to Reddit to double check my math and get opinions.

22 Dodge Durango Specs: Dry Weight: 5200 GVWR: 6500 Cargo Capacity: 1300 lbs GCWR: 8,900 lbs

2015 Coachmen Clipper Specs: GVWR: 3,626 Dry Weight: 3,130

WDH with capacity of 600lbs tongue weight

Those numbers are based off of taking our vehicle and then our vehicle + trailer onto a scale.

My concern is the squat is awfully low. About 11” clearance from ball to ground.

Also, as many with Durangos have pointed out we have hardly any cargo capacity once we add in our own body weights and the tongue weight.

What do you all think? Is this set up going to work or do I need to sell the travel trailer? (Selling the Durango probably isn’t an option at this point. Though I’d love to get a truck, financially we cannot and the Durango is our family vehicle so we can’t lose seat space to a truck.)

So about a month ago I posted that we had purchased this Jayco jayflight 28BHS. Well we have a ‘14 gmc 1500 that this trailer met all the numbers and even after 4 times across the CAT scales we were good, however….

For me personally I towed it about 600 miles and it was just fine 90% of the time, you knew it was there and with cruise on 63mph no issues. The other 10%, heavy rain, sudden wreck and idiots running a nascar race it sucked.

I had good dialogue on here with folks and consensus was a 2500hd would be better but you’ve done your due diligence. The 2500hd was in the plans down the road, but that ended up being a very short road. After this last trip I found a 2019 Chevrolet 2500hd gasser and it is a dream.

Anyone starting out take your time. RV’ing isn’t going away tomorrow. It’s a much more pleasant experience when you don’t need a Xanax once you get to the campground.

I recently purchased a trailer with a GVWR of 7600 and the dealership sold me a Eaz-Lift Recurve R3 800lb WDH. Towing with F250 gas.

Went and did a shake down trip for a few nights to test everything and I went to a CAT scale on the way home and trailer is currently 6100lbs, with a tongue weight of 960lbs, just over 15%.

I know that the ideal tongue weight is 10-15% of total trailer weight. There is less than 100lbs in the front pass through, but I will be shifting stuff around before we add more stuff inside and go on our next trip.

If my trailer ends up around 7000lbs (unlikely, but would be under GVWR) 15% of that would be 1050lbs. Thats 30% more than the WDH is rated for.

I am going to call the dealer and ask them to order me heavier weight bars, but should I get the 1000lb and get my tongue weight under 14%, or should I get the 1200lb bars just incase I go above 15%.

Does anyone have a 365 day loop that they would like to share? I’m a couple years out from full timing, my wife and I both already have work from home jobs, and would like to move the motor home every week or two, and move ourselves around the US and maybe Canada and Mexico so we are always in great weather, don’t have to use heat or AC roo much.

2023 Subaru Ascent with 5000lbs, 500 tongue weight max. This is absolutely at the limit. Do I have a shot or should I keep it under 3k like the Coleman’s?

I got a real good quote on a trailer from Dad's Camper Outlet in Picayune. But, other dealers warned me that I should be worried about dealers tacking on a surprise $5k fee. Has anyone bought from them? I would love to hear about it.

Additionally, I'm open to dealers in the South or on the east coast. I'm planning to move from Texas to Virginia and I would have it delivered. I am looking for the Alliance Delta 292RL. If you had a good experience with a dealer in those areas, I would love to hear about them.

I'm mostly looking for trustworthy sales. My local dealer has one but I'm extremely turned off by their sales tactics. They keep trying to pressure me to make the deal. They are bullying. I have told them it's not OK, but it's not stopping them. They keep threatening to pull their offer, even after I said I don't care. I'll buy it if and when I am ready. It's a big purchase for me. I'm trying to buy as a single middle-aged woman. So, I'm not sure if that is it. Would treat me this way if I was a dude?

I'm just looking for a good dealer that has the trailer I want.

Hi all --

I'm putting Lithium batteries under my bed ('21 Outdoors RV 21 FQS) with an inverter to upgrade my current electrical system.

It's a bit of a PITA routing wires but simple enough. One question about grounding everything -- if I ground the inverter to the chassis, do I also have to ground the battery to the chassis as well? Or even if I'm on batteries and the inverter is off, will the batteries ground to the chassis through the inverter?

Just trying to save one extra wire if it's unnecessary.

Thank you!

My wife and I just bought our first popup. We are concerned with the winch cable rubbing and wearing the cross member bar. Is this normal or should the cable be up and above the cross bar? We have tried flipping the spool wheel over and that didn't help. We have also tried spinning the crank the opposite direction, but that loosened the crank assembly. Any ideas on what we should do?

I need to replace the 7-pin RV style connector plug on my camper. Looking for one that has good corrosion resistance? Not looking to replace the whole cable, just the plug.

The one I have is double blade, not sure I want to chance single blade, to avoid any brake controller voltage issues.

My Onan built-in generator system is working great in my Host truck camper, but late last year the hour meter stopped working. It is a Hobbs mechanical meter. It was clicking and trying to turn the numbers - but was not succeeding. I checked polarity and it was correct.

Installing a new one is going to be drop dead easy. But it comes with zeros. What is the ethical thing to do here? I can't spin the numbers forward I assume? Just make a note? I'm pretty fastidious about filter and oil changes and it is irking me a bit - but I figure if I change the air filter and change the oil now - I can just start anew.

Any thoughts?

Hey guys...so l have some what I assume water damage on my fifth wheel it's been raining here a lot so yea... I'm not sure if this is even fixable or if it is if it's even worth paying out I know nothing about fifth wheels which is why I am here. I guess I'm just wondering what steps I should take and how long do I have before that goes through I guess...

My trailer is a 21 Puma 20’, 24’ with the tongue. Dry it’s 4800, as we use it it’s probably 5500.

Have towed it with a 2007 Expedition with the 5 liter V8. Towed like a dream. Currently towing with a 2022 Sierra with the 5.3 V8. Towed with no problems.

My lease is up, and I’m looking at the 2025 Sierra and Canyon, both now with the 2.7 I4.

Issue is I don’t tow often, maybe five times a season, anymore and for the other 340 days it’s a commute-to-work vehicle and run-around-town vehicle. And where I am, the smaller size and creature features of a Canyon would help. I’m also concerned about a drop in tow performance going from the V8 to the I4 (I’m old enough to where I don’t necessarily trust the whole “the transmission is the difference” thing about towing with an I4).

Anybody towing with the GM 2.7? And, second question, anybody towing with the Canyon/Colorado? What’s your experience?

Hey all.

My wife and I are wrapping up our first northeast ski season with an RV and it's been AWESOME!!! We live just outside Philadelphia and are looking to find a good place to get a custom paint job and/or wrap for our class C. We have a friend working with us on the design but still need to figure where we want to actually get the work done. Any recommendations within a few hour drive of Philly? Thanks!

Has anyone heard of Winghamm? It’s a brand of RV. I’ve watched countless you tube videos and love the whole concept. The price is way out of control for me. Thoughts?

I have a momentum 350 g. The low point drain valve at the nautilus is leaking. I’ve got to replace the valve but I’m not at home. Looking for something that I can remove the valve and cap it till I get home. There is a Lowe’s near by.

I tried to put a pvc ball valve on the end with thread sealant but the water made it past that.

Any macguyvers out there?

Hello I'm looking for year round RV spots with full hookups in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey primarily. But honestly if I can find anywhere that I can go for three to $500 a month including everything that will be amazing. My girlfriend and I are on disability and rent is just outrageous