Hello,
My husband and I are looking to buy a small used travel trailer. I'm trying to get advice on things to be aware of and watch for in buying one. I've been going through these forums and found the NADA website which seems pretty nice for getting a blue-book type value. What other things should we be watching for and asking potential sellers? Also, I saw a post on here from a guy who bought something that the truck he has isn't going to be able to two. Oh my goodness...how do we avoid that? Also, are there certain things in particular that go wrong with used travel trailers that we should watch out for? How do you know what brands are good?
Also, do you know why I can't find a website for the brand KIT? There is a KIT Companion TT we may look at this weekend and I'd like to know more about it.
Are there certain layouts or amenities that you find particularly beneficial? For example, I heard that having a bathroom with a sink on the outside of the actual bathroom itself is nice. And having a shower on the outside seems like it could be handy for beach and lake camping.
We really are very green when it comes to this purchase. We are tent campers and are very excited to take this plunge. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated as this is a big purchase. Also, if there are particular websites or books that may be helpful I'd love to hear about those too.
First off, it is important to find out what you TV can handle. Anything else is putting the cart in front of the horse. Once you have that info you can start looking.
Some of the features will be on the newer used TT. You can install outside showers. They make kits for those.
You need to consider how many on average will be camping in the TT. Size is a factor on a rainy day when you can't get outside.
I bought a used TT and I looked for leaks in almost every place I could get too. If it has been well cared for you will know it from the git go. I think if you find the one that works for you, you are going to know it. At this point you want to be practical and don't pay too much.
Look at the tires and see how old they are. This is very important due to safety. Tires and brakes are something you don't want to compromise.
I know this isn't all you need to watch for but I am sure there will be other comments forth coming.....Happy hunting....John
The first thing you need to determine is what is the capacity of your Tow Vehicle?
You will have to know some of the following info when determining it's capacity. The year , make, model, engine size, and axle ratio. Once having this info then you can search the many Towing Charts that can be found here and on several other sites by just doing a search. Once you have determined the tow capacity, you still have a little more math, you need to determine the total amount of the passengers and cargo you will be carrying in the vehicle, then deduct that amount from the Tow Capacity, that will get you to a number, the maximum weight of a loaded trailer you can tow with your tow vehicle.
Now with that being said there are a few other things to consider, some say you should tow less than your actual maximum capacity, 10-20% for a safety factor, the other is the length of the trailer VS the wheelbase of the Tow Vehicle. A long trailer over 32' tends to need a longer wheelbase tow vehicle, a short wheelbased SUV would have a difficult time maintaining a stable operation at highway speeds with a longer trailer.
So my advice is post the year, make, and model, along with the engine size , axle ratio, total passenger weight ( not including the driver) and cargo weight and I'm sure the info on your tow vehicle's abilities will certainly surface here within a few posts.
Good Luck and Happy Trails
2007 Dodge 3500 4X4 MC,SRW,CTD EB
2004 Citation 29NP
Equal-i-Zer
Yamaha EF2800i
Nascar24 A lengend in my own mind, A Scary thought in someone else's!
Inspect VERY CAREFULLY for leaks, either from outside or from plumbing. If the floor near plumbing seems soft, run away. Also look for signs of how it was cared for. If you're going to spend very much time inside is there anything comfortable to sit on? How useable is the bathroom? We have two trailers. The Summit has a rear bath. It not only has more room than the bath in the Hoilday Rambler but has a closet in there with some cabinets that provide a lot of storage space for a small trailer. Ditto on what the above posters have said about the tow vehicle. Good luck and have fun. In nasty weather a trailer is much nicer than a tent to be confined to.
RRUGG
2008 Dodge 2500 QC 4x4 SB Cummins 6 speed auto 3.73
1997 Holiday Rambler 29FK travel trailer
2006 Summit 22RB travel trailer
2003 Dodge Grand Caravan Sport
Bob & Grace professional retirees
Good Sam life members
Thank you, thank you, thank you everyone. I'm so glad I found this site.
I’m glad I was asked for the towing info here. I am having a very difficult time figuring out what our truck can pull. We looked in the owner’s manual, tried the dealer and the manufacturer and I can’t get the info. I am not educated about this sort of thing at all, aside from the little bit my husband explained to me but he is going to be in meetings all day at work so it is up to me to find this stuff out. My boss (a 2-year old) can be a little more flexible than his is about phone calls sometimes. ?
We have a 2002 4.7L V8 Dodge Dakota 4-door with a tow package. In the door it says GVWR=6010 lb and the rear GAWR is 1747.
The owner’s manual is particularly confusing – in one chart it gives two different axle ratios and max trailer weights for our make and model, but doesn’t tell how to determine which is the right one for our truck. It looks like this:
Axle ratio - Max Trailer kg (lbs)
3.55 - 2132 (4700)
3.92 - 2721 (6000)
It also has a chart with payload and tongue that has three different weights, again it doesn’t state how you determine which is for your truck. It looks like this:
Payload - Tongue
1275 - 400
1750 - 700
2000 - 800
Also, it says with a class III hitch it can be equipped to tow a GVW of 5000 lbs with a tongue weight of 10-15% of GTW. With a class I$ hitch we can tow a GTW of 6700 lbs. How do we know which we have?
Ok, thankfully I got in touch with someone else at the dealership and apparently we have a 3.55 axle ratio and with that info I went onto Dodge.com and it says my towing capacity is 5050 lbs. Not sure why the website says that but the owners manual says 4700. (????) Any thoughts on this? Well, this is a bummer. The TT we were looking at on craigslist is too heavy. Tell me, is 5050 lbs a reasonable number for finding a TT or is that very low? Are we going to have a hard time finding something in that range? The one we were looking at was about 6K lbs and 21’. The ones that are listed as “lite” seem to be more expensive. We are only looking to spend $3500-$4000 and would like something small.
Bumpy, Do you have a V6 or a V8? What do you tow with yours? If we get a very small (18' or so) "regular" one do you think it might work out?
Nascar, it is going to be tough. We're looking at pretty old ones (1998 or so) and so far we have found two in that price range - although they're too big for us to tow. We may have to wait until we want to spend a little more.
I'm going to post some towing questions but I'm thinking I should start a new thread since it is sort of a new subject.
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Tell me, is 5050 lbs a reasonable number for finding a TT or is that very low? Are we going to have a hard time finding something in that range? The one we were looking at was about 6K lbs and 21’. The ones that are listed as “lite” seem to be more expensive. We are only looking to spend $3500-$4000 and would like something small.
