Hello! Trying to choose between view or trailer

[davidhanley]

Hello! I'm an avid traveler and hiker. I've been to every US state but maine, and am trying to visit every national park now. I've been to 38 so far. When traveling, i often hike 10-20 miles a day, seeking out harder and more remote trails, where i can get the best landscape/wildlife photos ( i'm a somewhat serious amateur photographer ).

Oh, i'm male, 45, single, runner, yogi, vegan.

I rented an rv for a week recently, driving from chicago to phoenix, hitting national parks, and i really enjoyed this process.

I've been wanting buy an rv, and am getting ready to pull the trigger. My goal would be to travel 3-4 months a year ( my job is flexible ).

I didn't like the thor coach i rented though, and was appalled by the fuel economy. I got 8.1 mpg, and they were really impressed and told me a lot of people got 6.8-6.9.

After some research, i decided the winnebago view was for me, best quality, utility, furl economy. I decided i wanted to budget 60-80K for as new as i could get.

I have a subaru outback that i'd swap for some vehicle i could use as a toad. Maybe a jeep cherokee.

Then i saw the micro minnie and got confused. For significantly less than the lower end of 60K i was looking into spending on a used view, i could get a new micro minnie and a nice used diesel tow vehicle ( say, touraeg ).

It seems the latter would be easier to maintain and fix? The tower+trailer is longer than an rv, but not an rv+toad. Not sure which would be easier to drive.

How much of a step down would a winnebago trailer be vs a view? I know trailers don't have some things such as generators, typically, but is it really that spartan by comparison? With the heat/ac the rv i had was quite comfortable.

An alternative would be to get a full diesel truck and a fifth wheel. But i could park a touraeg in my garage, less so a ram 2500.

In any case, hello to you all, and i hope you are all enjoying your traveling lifestyles!

 

[Sarah_W]

Hello David and welcome. You are smart to do a lot of looking and consider all the pluses and minuses of each model. You are the best judge of what will work for you and what your budget will allow. We have never owned a travel trailer but that might be a good place to start. Good luck with your decision.

 

[RodneynDawnT]

When you first said, “Toureg”, I thought, “No way!” Then I did a little reading about it, and apparently, it’s a capable little tow vehicle. Google led me to a couple of threads, which suggested that not only are the micro minnies within its tow capacity, but likely the non-plus Minnie line too.

Initially, I was going to suggest looking at 2018 Ram 1500 turbo eco diesels as they are fuel efficient and capable towers with current huge incentives because the new styled 2019s are out. But, unless you wanted to use the truck as your primary vehicle, the Toureg makes more financial sense.

Also, I think good travel trailers are relatively as plush as motorized RVs.

Oh, I’m male, 49, married, couch potatoe, steak lover. Lol.

 

[BCam]

One big advantage of the TT is you only have one engine/drive-train to maintain vs a motorhome + toad. I know you said you're looking for new but used TTs in excellent condition can be found for significantly less. This can be a great way to go, especially if this is your first RV and not completely sure what's best for you.

Given your description of yourself, I would think that a fifth wheel/bigger truck would be overkill and much less green. When I had TTs, I liked having a PU with a shell for all my stuff. You lose that with a fifth wheel.

I know nothing about the Touraeg but, whatever you do, don't put a lot of faith in a vehicle manufacturer's tow rating. Generally they're based on something like one 150# driver and little to no cargo. There are other factors affecting how effective something is as a tow vehicle such as wheelbase (longer is better), etc.

Don't worry about not having a built-in generator, the new Honda 2200i generators are great, portable generators for about $1000 new. There are cheaper generators out there but Hondas are highly rated and, most importantly, dependable and quiet. If you want to run your A/C with the generator you may need to go bigger, depending on the power requirements of your A/C. IMHO, in buying a small TT, one criteria would be to ensure a Honda 2200i will run the A/C. Bigger generators are just too unwieldily. I also recommend adding solar panels to anything you buy.

Drive-ability is pretty much a push although, since you like to explore, a big disadvantage of a motorhome/toad is you can't back-up more than a couple of feet (and then, only straight back) without unhooking the toad. This isn't a problem with TT. With a motorhome and toad, you're going to have to be much more careful about "I wonder where that road goes" exploring.

 

[neub]

Not to bash a particular manufacturer but you may want to research the reliability and maintenance/repair expenses of the Tourage. Personal and extended family experience with three of these vehicles has been horrendous. In addition you face the limited dealer support in the rural parts of this country. There are plenty of suv/pickup options out there gas and diesel that can easily tow a small to midsized trailer without having to go all the way to a large diesel pickup and they will fit in a standard garage.

 

[NYBobbo]

there are a few advantages for each, TT or RV.


TT= lots of room for the money, usually need to add genset for boondocking, need a good vehicle to tow it, must get out of your vehicle to use bathroom or food while on the road, difficult to back up, need to hook and unhook to use your vehicle. Set up time is longer than RV. These were the things important to me when deciding.
RV -View size class c= I chose this for a few reasons... easy to get fuel at 99% of standard gas stations, takes up 2 car spaces (front to rear), diesel gen that is supplied by sprinter tank (so I can run it hours at a time -1/3gph and not worry about running out of LP), Truma instant hot water (little water waste when boondocking), easy to pull off and use bathroom or make some quick food on the road, cool/heat the unit with cabin air, diesel w/cab over bed mostly used for storage or grand kids and I get average 14mpg (worst was 11 w headwinds, best at lower speeds 17) diesel fuel, I installed the HWH levelers and can be camping within minutes of pulling onto site - level and slide out.
I use a motorcycle ramp and rack to hold my 150cc Honda PCX. It takes me about 15 min to put on or take off. While traveling or only 1 day stay I often just take the RV wherever.



For me it was an easy choice since I didn't own a nice truck already. Good luck with your decision. I'm sure you will get other opinions to help you think it through.

 

[VI Roamers]

I would suggest a pick up truck with a bed long enough to sleep in, and a travel trailer good for off road adventures.

There will be times when you want to go further up the road past where the trailer can be comfortable towing and turning around, and having a 4 by 4 will give you that option.

I would put a canopy on one, and keep the option alive that it might become a bed for the night sometimes.

 

[davidhanley]

Wow!

Holy smokes, this is a lot of terrific info! Thank you all so much!

I'm shying away from the touraeg and it's sisters ( cayenne, q5 ) as ease of repair might be an issue when in more remote locales. A jeep grand cherokee can tow 7200 in diesel mode, and a durango is pretty good too. Could go for a full sized truck too of course. Or if i get a superlight, stick with a subaru and swap my outback for an ascent.

But i think i'll start with a jeep + minnie and see where it goes from there.

Thanks again and i hope i meet some of you in a park sometime soon!

 

[davidhanley]

Well, now i realized that i could use either a jeep trailhawk ( super sweet vehicle! ) or a manual trans subaru ( forester, crosstrek ) as a toad and i'm uncertain again. Any of those (but especially the jeep) would be a nice daily driver for me when not in the RV so i wouldn't factor that into the expense.

I've been thinking about this for awhile, and i keep going back and forth. At some point i just need to pull the trigger and remember i could always sell it in a year or two if i hate it.

I super appreciate all the feedback!!!

 

[BCam]

Weight is always a factor in toads so keep that in mind. I see that Minnies have a pretty high tow rating but weight saved in the toad translates into higher load carry capacity in the rig or a higher safety margin. You need to do the math:

https://www.lichtsinn.com/blog/how-much-can-a-motorhome-tow/

You should post your toad related questions on Winnieowners.com's towing forum and also on IRV2's toad forum here:

Toads and Motorhome Related Towing - iRV2 Forums

Read everything you can to educate yourself on tow bars, base plates, braking systems and dollys. Also, haunt Craig's List, you may luck out and find a fully equipped toad. However, I'd beware of used braking systems of any age and used tow bars unless they're clearly in excellent or almost new condition.

You've probably already found your way to Motorhome magazine's Dinghy guides but, in case you haven't:

Downloadable Dinghy Guides | MotorHome Magazine

 

[davidhanley]

Thanks!

Thanks, that irv forum looks like a gold mine!

It looks like the max dinghy a fully-loaded view should tow is 4,250. So the trailhawk is riiiiiiight there at 4,100 (with fuel) .

A crosstrek is 3,295 and a forester is 3,500 so there's more margin there.

I was looking at a 2008 view in the area, but i see that would pretty much limit me to the crosstrek. Not that this would be too terrible...

 

[Sarah_W]

iRV2 is the bomb; this forum is an off-shoot from it.