Please talk me out of this.

I guess I just need to see more houses to get more ideas on garages.....

 

Yes..there's a wall between the two with two doors that enter into the two deep garage.

 

That's funny, my neighbor's houses are a little closer than I'd like, and used to have a neighbor on one side whose kids were HUGE into baseball, (traveling club team playing all over SoCal) and I used to get the occasional baseball coming over the fence. I'd just throw 'em back over.

If I wanted baseball room in San Diego it'd add an hour to my drive to go surfing or work.

I've always said I will never live anywhere with an HOA.

Yes, my friends who live in those communities have nice houses in a pretty community which is great, but they also have an overlord telling them when to paint their house and what colors they're allowed to use.

Kiss my lily-white ass!

I'll take my chances... yes my neighbor a few houses down has a boat parked in the front yard. Every weekend they hitch it up and go fishing, WTF do I care?

I'm grown and don't want HOA Karen on my ass. One of my favorite things about owning my house is that nobody can tell me what I can and can't do in it or to it.

Summer's here, and sometimes we laugh a little too loud around the fire, deal with it.













If my neighbor lets their yard go a little, it makes mine look better in comparison.

Our fixer upper has more than tripled in value since we bought it in '08. Flippers are getting over a million in the area now, so most people take pretty good care of their property.

 

I wanted to do an update after a couple months of going back and forth on sizes and visiting a few dealers and finishing some key upgrades at the house.

I recently finished pouring a 12x29 ft level, ramped concrete pad on my front lawn, both for working on cars and parking my future trailer. I got a couple more weeks until the pads fully cured, but I am planning on heading to Arizona for a couple days with the family and picking up this guy:

https://rv.campingworld.com/rv/2025-keystone-springdale-classic-1800bh-2501917-avondale-az

Now that I don't have to worry about cramming it on my driveway and its only a couple grand more than the 13b, I figured, what the hell....

I really like alot of the upgraded features of this trailer compared to other entry level models that are similar or more expensive priced.

Anyone have one? How does it tow? I dont think I need a WDH with the weight and I already have RAS HD. Was considering the weigh safe hitches because im an engineer and I love gages. I figure it would help to ensure proper tongue weight rather than guessing.

 

Wdh is always a good idea as it often also includes anti sway. Send it to the scales and your goal is to get the steering axle back to original, unhitched weight, which is what the WDH does.

Congrats, btw!

 

A WDH is a good thing regardless. The included sway is an absolute life saver if you plan on traveling where there are high winds.

You will be happier with the longer camper for sure. Congrats and keep us updated with pics and stories with your trips.

 

Might have been said already but in case I missed it. I had a 17' Micro Minnie, dual axle, only weighed 3,500lbs and pulled it with a 4runner. There are a ton of options out there. What I learned: Make sure your bed is North to South. East to West bed drove us nuts. You can live with it but we won't do that again. Pain to make and whomever gets the wall side has to climb over the other. You are probably not using the shower in a small trailer but make sure the toilet location etc. is good for night visits. We did all our cooking outside under pop-up shelter so small kitchen was no big deal. Agree with all that said trailer is for sleeping so that should be the focus. If you go single axle upgrade your tires. Most trailers come with Chinese made "trailer" tires that are cheap and blow out way too often. Check your AC/heating power equipment, do some on-line reviews so the wife will be happy sleeping. Look at the duct work. We had to reroute the the duct tubes as they cooled down the rest of the trailer but did a lousy job in our bed area. I would get a WDH not just for leveling, it helps distribute braking weight on your truck and ours also minimized sway on the highway. Wouldn't pull without one. We loved ours but the bed was our main issue which is the main reason for the trailer. We also upgraded the mattress to a 10" memory foam (full queen squeezed into RV queen space) and added plywood to the base as a light weight trailer has really flimsy support.

 

Good advice here. I was planning on doing ac upgrades first thing after watching some YouTube vids. Another benefit here is the roof mount ac versus side wall. Im sure there is better overall cooling. In regards to the bed, I am definitely going to upgrade the supports with 2x4s as my wife and I aren't the lightest people lol.

In regards to tires, I am absolutely going to upgrade the tires. I was thinking some E load AT tires, possibly bfgs if they have the size, or something equivalent.

I dont have an issue getting a wdh, I just know myself and its going to cost me a grand because im going to get a high quality one, most likely the weigh safe wdh. The gage is a real plus for me, even though it looks like its going to be extremely heavy.

 

Look on Facebook marketplace ; WDH are all over there and for much less money than new. I tend to stay with the name brands and it’s a fraction of the cost. Just make sure all the hardware is in good shape and the hitch receiver is lubed up. Never had an issue buying used

All other advice is great. The upgrade to plywood on the bed is a game changer. We have an rpod that heats up / cools down very quickly. Get a countertop sized fan - circulating the air makes a HUGE difference especially in such a small area. I am also of the opinion that the camper is for sleeping, BUT in the event of bad weather you want something that you and the significant other can be comfortable in for a day or two! Also some campers do storage spaces really well and some don’t. Make sure whatever camper you get has adequate storage space for things you want to bring. I have ours loaded and ready to go with everything except the cooler and our clothes….grill, canopy, screen shelter, table, etc. all stowing the camper neatly. Makes it much easier to manage in my opinion.

 

Yeah...
While I know this post is a little late...
There's a storage hall with floor to ceiling shelves on both sides behind the SxS garage that runs the width of it.
It adds around another 7 or 8 foot to the SxS garage depth.
And yes there's a wall between the two garages.
Pretty sure it's load bearing but I wouldnt mind removing it if I could and have the wide open space.
I suppose you could add a steel beam to take the load but it's not worth going through all the hassle.
Especially since were so close to both of us being retired and we wont be here much longer.

 

In all honesty, since the WDH is such an important component for safety, i would prefer to buy new and not have to worry about warranty being transferred and all that. Plus since im new to WDH, I wouldn't feel totally comfortable judging the level of wear on a used one.

I believe this camper has good storage. There is large storage under the bed, in addition to the pass through, as well as under each of the dinette seats. The drawers and cabinets seem very roomy and there is space to add another cabinet if I feel so inclined. Im also planning on bolting up some surplus 81mm mortar cans under the trailer for storing some appropriate items if I do run short of space.

 

The pass through was where we stored ours. Kept it out of the way and dry.

 

@MadMaxCanon , I don't remember, did you say how far out you were looking to travel pulling this? I was just asking because one rule of thumb I was told, and it works out pretty well, depending on traffic and drive speed. For every hour you drive, add a half hour to it. So if you are going to travel an 8 hour drive, plan on around 12 hours. Of course, that is a give or take with a lot of factors, but generally, that held out really well while traveling around 65 ish.

 

Dual axel is key. The more ya use the better and value increases. No hookups or FHU figure that out. Know your accessible dump stations …. It helps so much. Go explore, especially West of the Rockies from Canada to Mexico. Great towns, places and people to see. Storage in trailer and in truck makes a difference in solving problems. Practice parking this bad boy often so it is 2nd nature. Enjoy the experiences, check out Harvest Hosts, really cool options for stop and go camping and great people.

 

Im definitely planning to do some longer trips in the future. For the short term im going to stay within 100 or so miles. There is an rv park about 12 miles from my house so that's going to be our first stop to get used to things.

 

Good tip, hadn't thought about it. We will probably stick to a 100 mile radius for now until im comfortable with everything. Theres going to be some desert trips, mountain trips and beach trips. I want to get as much terrain exposure as I can before venturing further from home.

 

That formula is pretty accurate for me unless I have gethomeitis. 150 miles puts me near 1/2 indicated on fuel so we top off, stretch our legs and take the dog out.

 

Thank you for confirming that formula. At times I was wondering if it was just me or not, but that is just me and my perception sitting behind the wheel. I know of others who also ran that formula and it does work out pretty good. I also agree with the gethomeitis . That also has hit me a few times and perhaps caused me to push things a little more than I normally would! LOL.

 

100 miles is a great start. Not knowing CA, I would say you probably can hit some great places.

A couple of websites I use when looking are:

Campspot

Campendium

The Dyrt (I did pay for their premium [long story on how being stuck in it] but it did not do anything the free was doing for me). YMMV

Other places that I have heard or used:

Harvest Host. Looks really good and they are doing some expansions. May be worth looking into for sure. We never used it because the desire was to have electric. Now they have electric, we switched to tent camping.

Thousand Trails. This one we got a free year when we bought our camper. If you do an insane amount of travel, and you spend a crazy amount in camp fees, this may be good. It is not cheap at all. But it does get you some free places. The one or two times we used it, it was...eeehh at best. Again, another story about getting to the site and stuff. But, it may be worth it if you stay within a geographical region, or you are gone so much. For us, it wasn't because we went hard, but we were all over and then we were back home. I found that I did better using the above three camp websites than what Thousand Trails would give me. Again, YMMV.

This kind of camping gets into you. It is amazing when you are going, then when you are at home, you see your camper and you are at home for a while, then that bug starts to bite again and you start getting the itch to go again. By the time you are ready, you can't wait to go back out!

 

I hate "RV parks". We try to only camp at state or US GVMT campsites (such as USACE). Larger sites, no kiddie pools, more natural campgrounds with things like, trees. Also tend to run about $15-30 a night vs. $50+.

 

I need to suggest this to the Chief Navigator and Mission Commander. I usually just get, "Shut up and drive.". Until of course the results of said official's navigation didn't turn out as planned than it's, "Why did you drive us here?".

 

This....




or this???

 

I do prefer the free off grid, for sure. There are a lot of free ones on Campendium. But...with the family, I like having happiness as well, LOL.

LOL! We usually have our plans in place before we go. Except for the last trip. We got to Bismarck, and then we had nothing. That was interesting. We drove from Bismarck to just inside Indiana and finally found a hotel.

 

These are all beautiful campgrounds near the states most beautiful outdoor spaces with bath houses and full or partial hookups, not off-grid. Lakes, rivers, hiking and biking trails etc. Not free, but inexpensive. Families are perfectly happy there.

 

There is a lot of truth to what you are saying. But there also are "hybrid" type locations. One such, when we were traveling through West Virginia several years ago, we came to a campground called Camping at the Grove. Has the forest type but was still a campground. Nice little place for sure. I have not been there for many years, so not sure how much has changed, but it was very peaceful.

 

This post was done before my last one. So, we are thinking the same thing.

Of course, our camping has changed now. We do tent camping, so we can get into some of these places better now.

 

Our most frequent camping area is near Greers Ferry Lake here in Arkansas. The most beautiful campsites there are tent camping only. Right on the bluffs next to the lake.

 

That sounds awesome. We do plan on traveling more, but next summer. I think Arkansas will be our target, but I have to wait and see what we will do.

 

Northwest part of the state is the most picturesque and has generally better weather. Stay north of I-30 and west of Little Rock and it’s all mountains and forests and lakes and streams

 

Thank you. We drove through part of that area this last summer, and you are right. It is very picturesque for sure. I appreciate the advice!