What do you TOW with your Tundra?

Pretty much anything I hook up to it.

 

Made the 800 mile round trip on Saturday with my new Tundra Limited. It pulled without any problems at all. Glad I replaced the Taco... The perspective of this pic is a little misleading, the trailer is 33' long, not shorter than the Tundra as it appears.

 

That is some freaky perspective?!

Here is me and a friends Raptor for perspective!

I call it "The Raptor Lays an Egg"!

 

Looks like that monstrosity beside you has some water damage happening. This wall won't last 5 years. Please update us on this topic in a year or 2. I bet your camper will continue to be awesome and it will lack that black mold of the raptor.

 

My TT is a 16 foot long box with 2 kids. The goal of camping is to spend all time not sleeping outside, we don’t need a monster

 

There are 2 kinds of travel trailer people. The first group are tent campers looking for an amazing upgrade from a tent. The second group are looking for a house replacement. The problem is most travel trailers are pretty terrible when compared to a house. It makes for some very unhappy "campers". The first group get small trailers like yours. The second group get giant fifth wheels.

 

I can't imagine wanting to tow or park a trailer as big as that fifth wheel.

 

No kidding,this pic was taken in WPB Florida inside his business's fence where I park mine if I need to leave it down there for any reason.
He mainly camps in Colorado on property that he bought and his F350 Dually has a tough time dragging it there!
Oddly enough I have property in Colorado too the next town over from him but I have no problems at all with my 1st Gen Tundra getting mine there!

Both are around 8500' too.

I don't really get it for sure but to each their own I guess.

I made a sign for the door of the Casita that says "Knock Hard I might be in the Back".

Oh and mine is 17' long and that includes the Tongue.

 

I am the same size. I like the sign idea. Hilarious Unfortunately knocking hard on mine would probably result in a new dent.

 

Yep,I always thought I wanted an Airstream myself until I discovered Fiberglass RV.
I started with a 13' Trillium which is also measured including the Tongue and I fix and flip them but have stopped at the 17' Freedom Deluxe Casita!
That pic with the Raptor was actually the 17' Spirit Deluxe I had before the Freedom I have now.

Oh and one of my Clients owns Airstream,the Company!

We talk about me coming to work there but I just can not pull the trigger.

 

My Bronco was always being towed too! Including in 11 County where it had the tranny replaced, one of four times.

 

This one sat for 6 or so years untouched. My cousin's grandfather wanted it fixed to give to her on her 16th birthday. I went through it and replaced the entire fuel system and now runs like a top.

 

Mine was the full size Bronco. I now believe that it was the electronic fuel injection that was messing with the tranny. I consigned it to a dealer to sell because I never wanted to see the poor person who bought it. Good riddance!

 

This one is an 84' with a mechanical fuel pump. The fuel was actually green inside of it from being so old. Now it's just teaching her how to drive a standard trans and how many clutches I'm going to have to replace. haha

 

I taught my oldest daughter to drive a manual on an old 280zx that was already hammered and you could almost shift without the clutch. Then her first car was a manual - and would drive miles out of her way to avoid having to stop on hills. She complained mightily until she found out that all of the guys at school and college were really impressed that she could drive a stick.

 

I get why people camp in RVs and tent campgrounds. If I were older and didn’t move around so well, I would have to leave the backpacking that we do now behind.

I’m not a big fan of car or trailer camping though. To me it feels like being in a tighter-packed subdivision with less peace and quiet. Last time we camped at a campground, we had to listen to several football games on one couple’s giant TV they hauled outside their massive 5th wheel. They had it blaring for 10 hours straight.

On a Sunday.

In the Smokies.

 

Who do you know at Airstream? Do you mean THOR? You can PM me if you want.

I absolutely love fiberglass trailers. I recommend them to people on a very regular basis. I am all about longevity. I assume with your pickup choice and your trailer choice you are too. I am putting a new thread together and I am going to tag you in it, to avoid taking this one to far off the rails.

I will definitely be the first to admit that Airstreams have a healthy does of fashion over function when compared to a nice little fiberglass job. Both are buy it for life campers in the end. AS has a pretty fun culture. I wouldn't tell anyone to buy one because of that but it is part of the reason we will always have at least one aluminum trailer.

The history of Airstream is fantastic.
https://youtu.be/3qRqFfUwhZo?t=181

https://youtu.be/JlEPeuXNAJQ?t=34

Oh and did I mention the color? Airstreams are always the right color.

 

I think the smokies must attract that type. Our worst tent camping experience was in the smokies while camping on an anniversary.
We backpack as well. The travel trailer just gets us out more. It's never to hot to camp anymore. Rain doesn't stop us like it used to. We have dogs and mountain bike and hike in areas where they are not allowed. The trailer lets us take the dogs.

 

You need a lake lot.

 

We were at Elkmont in the national park. I couldn't believe how loud it was from across the river.

Trailer camping makes sense for a lot of people. I'm sure I'll warm up to it in time. I've only camped a couple of times at a campground. Both were in Tennessee, and neither was a very great experience.

And yes, summer backpacking or just tent camping can be miserable in the South. We stick to spring and fall mostly.

 

It truly does. Amazes me when I see all the outdoor TVs going in the campground.

to each their own. Our destinations are typically a ‘where can we hike destination.’ Unfortunately Midwest Ohio doesn’t have a lot of close by great options.

planning 10 days in the smokies this summer as I have a work trip down in Tennessee. Excited to get down there again for some beautiful hiking.
My oldest boy is excited to do one of those gravity coasters by himself. When we went a couple years ago he was just a touch to short to do it on his own.

 

Having a trailer, especially with a kid and dog, is great. We don't camp anywhere a fifth wheel can fit and don't camp anywhere that has a restriction on how old your trailer can be. No generators, no TVs, and no hook ups. When it rains and hails and all the tent campers and pop ups are miserable, we're warm and comfortable. We sleep and poop in our trailer and that's about it.

There are endless places in Colorado to camp without needing to deal with people with outside TVs and generators.

 

One of the things I like most about trailers is how easy it is to get out of town. We slowly pack for the weekend trip through the week. As soon as we get off work Friday we are ready to hit the road. On the same note, on Sunday we don't have much we have to unpack. If we are beat it can just set and we can do it Monday. We have 3 trips in a row coming up back to back. There is no way we could have done that tent camping or backpacking. We still play hard for 4-6 hours but then we get to seriously relax.

 

Same here. We're ready to roll when my kid gets off the bus on Friday. It's a constant fight against the traffic. Ski traffic quickly transitions to camping traffic. We do the family unpack when we get back home, but that's mostly because of my issues.

We used to go on a beach vacation every summer. We've replaced that with a two week camping trip. More family fun (dog included), a ton cheaper, and a great way to see places you've never been. Drop the trailer and explore with the Tundra.

 

Oh yeah. You have some unique traffic challenges. We head out your direction once or twice a year. We usually time it so we are headed up on Sunday and we are headed down on Friday or Saturday. The opposite direction when we are leaving is bananas.

We took ours to the beach a couple years ago. I won't do that trip again any other way. Way way cheaper than hotels and it's my pillow and my toilet.

 

Well there are many different kinds of camping for sure too.

I mainly drag my own Hotel Room with me when working out of town and that is Camping and often extended camping but usually in a nicer campground too so I can live well when on the road but not have to forage for what I need as the work is really the priority then.
Of then I will camp when the work is done and then I will get off the beaten path or not depending on a lot of things but it is always nice to still be in my own bed and bath if I want to.

I also go to Rallies that we Egg Owners have all the time where there might be 100 or more of us sometimes doubled up in a site and we all know each other or at least have similar rigs.

I also do Emergency Relief work as a radio operator as needed and this can range from similar CG setups to Boondocking in the middle of a Tornado zone,the one thing to remember is to NEVER add to or be part of the problem when helping so I need to bring or find anything that I might have to have to survive often without standard services of any kind.

Then when I vacation it could be anything from sitting by a mountain stream in backwoods Colorado to the beach in Florida,I have no real set way to camp but many different ways depending on the situation.

 

My Favorite Wally Byam Story is that he used to be a renowned Bike Rider and would actually pull a smaller trailer behind hime with a Bicycle at Rallies and Airstream get togethers!
Talk about an easy to tow demo!

I always thought that I would end up in an Airstream and still could I suppose but the main thing for me was when on a work trip once I met people with one and spent a lot of time camping next to them in a typical Missouri Summer and thought they might bake in there,a thought I had not really given to the whole idea before!?
They had to run the AC anytime they were in any kind of Sun they said even in the winter sometimes and that is no how I prefer to travel if I can help it.

Once I discovered FGRV and the simpler lifestyle of Fiberglass that I think they have I was hooked and I also like the tiny stature and almost complete lack of any wood or framing eb=ven that can rot or seperate in the construction of the trailers.
This is I think the main reason they endure like they do,they are just simple and I like that.
Airstream are more like an Aircraft Construction it seems which explains why they are so long lasting but it is just a different way of doing things overall.

I am also not a Polisher!

And yes the founder of THOR is a Client and the company was founded when they bought Airstream in 1980 and continued to become the huge company that they are now.

 

I think this is a testament to the versatility of these small travel trailers. 82% of the roads in the US are paved and most of the rest are still easily traversed with a small trailer. It also has more functionality than most hotel rooms. In my opinion they are they best way to travel in the United States.

Do you go to these rallies? Sounds fun. Do you have any pictures of that?
My winter todo list included getting my HAM license but black tank replacement tool priority. Being self sufficient. These van life people who rely on gyms for showers and toilets are missing out. AS was a pioneer on that front in the early 60's I think.

 

Just my Yamaha R6 for now. Will get pics next time I head to the track with it on the trailer!

 

I like that "Atomic Age Comfort" line!

Here is me setting up for an outdoor movie night at a Scamp Camp in Sebring Fl where there were about 100 eggs......all in one basket!

This is a repeating event every year around Super Bowl time and I also usually broadcast the game on a Big Screen for the Park.