I think it's a great idea, but I would echo the gently used suggestion. You could likely get 20-50% off of new prices by going slightly used.
I'm interested in used, as long as the savings are actually worth it. Depending on the sales on new, it seems that you can go new, with really good rates (I can pay cash, if someone wants to give me money for free or close to it, I'll take it), for in the same range as used. If it's a year or two old, sure, that's fine, but beyond that, there's an awful lot of someone else's problems you're buying and have to fix.
I have no problem diving in and fixing those, but it's something I've learned with various used cars. Any used car you get will have an awful lot of problems, and I assume trailers are the same.
Also, from all of the blogs, youtube channels, and podcasts I consume on this topic.....learn how to do preventative maintenance yourself, and figure out how often you will use the rig before committing.
Yeah, I do my own work on things. No problems there. My inlaws have a large Class A motorhome and my father-in-law does all his own work on that as well (including things like rewelding parts of the frame when something cracked), so I think I'm good on that front.
Use frequency is tough since we've got a newborn on the way, but we go out camping quite a few times a year already.
Have you looking into renting? Or possibly even crowdsourcing one with some close friends/family? I have family that does this with a camper, as well as another family member who does so with a sailboat.
I don't know of any trailer rental places around here. That's just not a thing that seems to exist. As far as friends/family, immediate local family has the motorhome so we'd be going with them places, and other family has similar units, so we'd be joining them for a lot of stuff - not really suited to time sharing.
I've lived in RV's full time nearly my whole life. When I'm not on land, I live on a sailboat.
Excellent, I was hoping I'd find someone who lives in them on this forum! Reply much appreciated!
The first thing, and I can't say this strongly enough, I recommend a regular pull trailer. It is cheaper, but most importantly, you don't loose your pickup bed. You can put a topper on, and have a great storage area for all your toys. Or an ATV or motorcycle. Or put a popup/hardside camper on and get more/separate living area.
I've been waffling back and forth on this. Some people swear a 5th wheel tows so much better that you'd be a moron to go with a trailer hitch unit (and that they're cheaper on tires because they tow better), others (like you) say the tradeoffs are worth it. I've definitely though through the loss of bed space - I do have an 8' bed, so I could put a few things in there with the hitch attached, but I'd be losing the ability to put a lot in the bed.
My concern with the travel trailer style (apparently that's the term) is that it's a good bit longer combo than a 5th wheel, and we would like to do some seriously long distance travel - out to the east coast, and generally around the country. I don't have enough experience with large trailers, for long distances, at highway speeds, to have a good feel for the differences between gooseneck/5th wheel and receiver mount. My truck is heavy enough that I could safely tow either, but people who tow a lot seem to swear by 5th wheel.
I don't think we'd need more living space with 2+2, so that's not really a concern. It's just the storage concept.
With a motor home... you will end up towing a car/jeep/truck... since EVERYONE does. Then you have 2 motors to maintain, and your back to towing, except it's worse, you can't back up!
I'm less interested in the motor home concept unless I do something like a bus conversion, but I simply don't have the time for that in my life right now...
I also really like the Arctic Fox trailers. They are very solidly built and hold up very well. They make a smaller 25' without a slide, like this one, https://portland.craigslist.org/clc/rvd/d/2001-arctic-fox-25b-trailer/6465518038.html for $8500... I almost bought a very similar one last fall for 8k. It was a 2004. The arctic fox would work much better with solar panels as the roof is much roomier.
Do they make a setup that has the bunk beds for sleeping kids? The units I was looking at had a bunk bed in the back that seemed it would really help with long term travel with kids.
You can do what every you want for solar, but with an MPPT controller you can use 24 or 48v panels with a 12v system without a problem. In fact, that is what I am doing right now, 300 watt panel (no room for more on the boat) that sits at ~31v and charges the batteries at ~13v and 20a (the sun is crazy intense in the tropics).
Yeah, I'd want to use house panels (the 60 cell ones are 24V panels by most metrics). I'd want to put a bunch up there.
I don't know how successful you'll be running AC off solar... You can try. I have found an hour or 2 is OK but even with lots of sun, you will probably need more output that you have space for. I would recommend the Sunpower e20 or e21 series panels as they have high output for their size. You can also go all 24v system and use lithium batteries in series of 7. Lots of info on the web. 24v lights and pumps etc are all available for marine use. I have started using more and more 120v lights since the inverter is on all the time anyway... and dimmable LED lights are easier to find.
My expectation is that I'll have a few panels on the roof, and then also some ground deployable panels that I stack in the trailer for extra capacity. I'd more likely use an 8S LiFePO4 pack instead of 7S 3.7V, just because I'm a fan of the safety of the lithium iron. I build lithium battery packs for part of my living, so it's certainly an area I'm familiar with. Going from a 24V nominal battery to a 12V system is easy enough with a DC-DC buck converter.
Don't spend money on something until you are going to use it. Storage and depreciation can get crazy.
Storage would be on our property, so no problem there. Depreciation is going to happen with anything. But, yes, I do plan to wait a few years to buy something. I'm just in the information seeking phase right now.