Hi, this is Josh with Mid-America RV and I wanted to talk to you today a little bit about the process of helping find your next RV.
It’s really important to really consider all the different factors and the benefit here is that we’ve got guys like Scott that’s been doing this for you know more than 15 years and Cody that’s been doing this for five years, I’ve been here for 10 years. We’ve got a lot of experience here to help guide you down the path depending on what you’re looking for.
So some of the things you want to consider first of all are going to be your tow vehicle. Like, what do you intend to pull the trailer with? So, is it going to be an SUV? Is it a van? Is it a car? Is it a truck? If it is a truck, is it a heavy duty truck or is it something dual? Rear wheels or single rear wheels? There’s going to be a lot of considerations and the biggest thing there is we want to make sure that weight wise we’re within the limitations of the tow vehicle. So, you can be safe but also make it far more comfortable when you’re pulling something that’s at the right size for whatever you’re going to be towing it with. So, that’s always going to be consideration number one.
The second thing we like to look at is how many people you need to accommodate. Now, not necessarily all the time, but say you think you’re going to have kids coming with you. Or grandkids coming with you. Or you’ve got a family that regularly wants to camp with you and you want to have sleeping accommodations for them. Or is it just going to be you by yourself or you and a significant other? There’s lots of different options from our little bitty teardrop trailers to some of our big, you know, 44-foot toy haulers that have a wide wide range of things available as far as extra beds or sofas that convert into beds and things like that.
You know this trailer here, for instance. This is one of our Sprinter fifth wheels and it’s a perfect couple’s coach. It’s got a nice bed and bathroom up at the top level. It’s got a nice open living room and kitchen area back here and you know if they’ve got dogs, things like that, to travel with them is great but there’s no convertible bed or anything down here so this is a one sleeping space trailer and it gives you just all the the features and amenities and space. Lots of nice natural light. So, if a couple just wants to go travel on their own it’s a great floor plan.
The next thing we want to consider is where you plan on taking it. Now, the reason that’s important is because length becomes an issue at some parks. Now, a lot of state parks or corps of engineer parks are going to have an actual length limitation. Some places just go by what the model number is on the trailer. That’s not usually going to give you an accurate idea of what the actual overall length of the trailer is. You don’t want to be in a situation where you’re trying to park the trailer and you’re overhanging too much of the campsite on one end or you’re sticking out into the road on the other or you just can’t get into the park all together. So, do a little bit of research ahead of time. Find out the kind of places you’re going to be taking it, you know, and if that is a consideration we can make sure that up front we’re looking at stuff that from tip to tip meets the criteria that you’re looking for.
Another important thing to consider is what kind of activities you’re going to do when you travel. Now, toy haulers in particular have become more and more popular in recent years because UTVs and side-by-sides have become incredibly popular. People like to travel with their golf carts. People like to travel with bicycles, kayaks, and all kinds of stuff that you know, paddle boards. Things we didn’t think about maybe five or ten years ago as much as we do now and, with those things in mind, there are different floor plans that are going to be more accommodating to the kind of stuff that you want to take with you.
Now, keep in mind, like with a travel trailer, you’re going to be towing with something whether it’s a truck or SUV, something along those lines, you might be able to put a roof rack on it. Or put things in the bed, you know. If you’ve got bicycles, you know, you can put bicycles in the bed of the truck. Or if you’ve got an SUV and you’ve got kayaks, you know, you can put those on top of the SUV. So, you’ve got some flexibility there, but sometimes you’re in a situation where you need to be able to haul some stuff inside the trailer and that’s where we would look at different things like toy haulers, for instance. This gives you the ultimate flexibility but also a lot of our trailers now are coming with rear cargo doors, so you can open that up and you can put things inside like a bicycle or kayaks or things along those lines. And there’s also the hitch setups on the back of these trailers where we can add a bike rack, we can add a cargo carry or different things. So, you can actually load stuff onto the back of the trailer and bring those things with you without loading them inside the tow vehicle or inside the trailer itself.
Another big consideration is whether you want to do a fifth wheel or a travel trailer. Now, most people think of travel trailers as pretty much all towable RVs. However, travel trailers means it’s got a hitch in the front that’s going to be mounted on a ball that’s going to be behind the tow vehicle. So, you’ve got a bumper style hitch that we’re setting the tongue of the trailer on and that’s how it’s being towed with a fifth wheel. You’re gonna have a hitch that’s actually in the bed of the truck and the benefit there is that you’re gonna distribute the weight of the front of the trailer right over the axle so you’re gonna have better drivability. It also increases and improves your maneuverability because your pivot point for the trailer is now right above the rear axles so you’re not creating an extra point by having the pivot point behind the tow vehicle. So, those are the two biggest things to keep in mind if you’re using a weight distribution hitch for your travel trailer. That’s going to be beneficial. Sway control is something we always encourage with travel trailers and we can go into a deeper dive on that with other videos but keep in mind if you’re doing a fifth wheel you’re gonna be relegated to a truck because that hitch has to be inside the bed. Travel trailers we can put behind anything. We’ve even had travel trailers behind three-wheel motorcycles. So, you have a lot of flexibility there and we have stuff anywhere from, you know, about 12 feet long to almost 40 feet long in travel trailers. So, lots and lots of options there.
All right then. One of the final things that we want to look at is what features are going to matter the most to you. Now, some people, it’s going to be, “I just want lightweight.” Like, your focus is to be safe and comfortable when you’re towing it. Easy. We’re going to find stuff that’s still spacious. Maybe it doesn’t have a slide out or, if it does, maybe it’s one slide out or a small slide out. Things like that. Maybe you want to have a spacious kitchen so you want to have a lot of counter space because you’d like to cook and you want to have prep area and, like this trailer here, we’ve got loads and loads of counter space. We can even fold down this glass top here over the stove and have more counter space. There’s lots of cabinet space, you know. Pantry space. Nice size fridge. This would be ideal for somebody who loves to cook inside their camper. Some people want to have an outside kitchen because when you’re camping you want to be outside. You want to, you know, experience the outdoors and so you want to have the convenience of having maybe a sink or a small fridge or a cooktop griddle top. You know, Black Stones have become a huge feature for a lot of our customers. Now we’re seeing more and more of that so maybe that’s a consideration. Or maybe, you know, maybe bedrooms are important, so you’ve got three bedrooms and two bathrooms on a trailer.
You know, those are the things we can kind of accommodate, you know, but just keep in mind, do you want a generator? Are you going to be taking it someplace where, you know, you won’t necessarily have power? You just want to go off the grid. Maybe you want more ground clearance because you’re going to be taking it to places that are kind of non-traditional campsites. Do you want a bike rack already on the back of it? Do you need multiple air conditioners because you’re going to be using it on hot days like this? I mean, mind you, today we’re filming this is a day where the high is going to be around 100 and it’s 2:03 and we’re very comfortable right now but we’re also in a smaller camper that has two roof air conditioners on it.
So, those are important things to consider. So, think about what features are must-haves and then what features you would like to have, because you don’t want to have some of the features that you’d just like to have be something that takes you away from a floor plan that maybe fits your your needs perfectly. And, in a lot of cases, we can make those adjustments for you, you know, for instance, if we had a regular microwave in here and somebody wanted a convection oven we can easily replace this. Modify the cabinets if we need to and get a convection oven in there for the customer. So, whatever your needs are, just try to try to figure that out, you know. Make yourself a list of things that you’ve seen either watching videos on YouTube or going out to the RV lot and trying to pick out a camper. Stuff that you know for sure that you really want to have in there.
To recap, the six things that we find to be the most beneficial to help you when you’re picking your your favorite. Or what’s going to be really the perfect RV, you’ve got to pick the tovia or know what your tow vehicle is so we’re making sure that we’re matching the weight requirements to that tow vehicle. We would need to know how many people you’re wanting to accommodate. We’ve got to know if you wanted a fifth wheel or a travel trailer. We’ve got to know what kind of activities you’re going to do with this trailer when you’re out traveling. We need to know where you’re going to take it so we can kind of make sure that we’re in the right lengths properly. And then lastly, what kind of features that you want to have on that camper so that way you know you’re taking the time looking at all the options and you’re making sure that the one that you finally land on that fits your specs as far as weight and how many people you need sleep and all the other things, it still has all the features that you’d like to have. S So come on out and see us we’re here Monday through Friday 8 am to 5 pm Saturdays 9 to 3 or visit us on midamericarv.com
