Okay so I'm not really a camping kinda gal... and DH wants a camper, or RV ... so what do you suggest?

As far as rentals, check with the local companies in the Orlando area. You reserve the lot at the Fort, check out what they offer based on your needs, and they set it up on the site you rented. All you do is show up. For the travel part, again a company that rents motor homes for you to use. Again, choices based on how you will use it. I don't know about rental TTs. You would probably have to provide your own tow vehicle but someone more familiar with this would have to jump in.
We love the Fort now. It's the only place on property that we would stay in. My house is a lot nicer than any of the rooms available on property. At least in my opinion.
Finally, this is PaHunter's rig. It's nice!
https://www.disboards.com/threads/f...dt.3688667/page-8#lg=attachment437651&slide=0


WOW... all I can say is WOW... really cool... and again WOW...
 
I think you need to see what out there first. Pa hunter has a big 5th wheel. I have a small TT. So depending on money and needs you there are a gambit of things to look at. See how often you need or want extra sleeping quarters, etc. As with anything there will be compomises. So look around.
 
I think you need to see what out there first. Pa hunter has a big 5th wheel. I have a small TT. So depending on money and needs you there are a gambit of things to look at. See how often you need or want extra sleeping quarters, etc. As with anything there will be compomises. So look around.


This is very true! PaHunter's rig is the equivalent of that gorgeous house in the 'Ritzy' part of town. Nice if it's in the budget. But just as I wouldn't be telling my agent to show me Beverly Hills mansions if I was house hunting, I wouldn't look at rigs like Pa's since they'd be WAAAY out of my budget. You risk falling in love with 'features and furnishings' that you aren't going to find it a less expensive rig. So first, decide on your budget 'top price' then start looking at rigs.

I speak from experience when we started shopping for our 2nd TT. We definitely wanted to 'upgrade' from our first, more 'basic' TT, but I made the mistake of looking at some very high end models and had to give myself a shake about what was realistic for us. We ended up with one that was (as Goldilocks says) "just right".
 


Here is a my small TT because im board. This is an older one. 2012? And it was on the cheaper end. Not cheap per say , but cheaper. And its light. You probably want something a bit bigger if you regularly have more then 4 people. I would start with something bigger then this with a 4 bed bunkhouse. And a large bed for you two. Bunkhouses are basicly bunkbeds. If you get higher end and price , they have lots of cool options. So even on the lower end of the TTs its prety nice. And it has a king bed, you just cant walk around it. Lol. 20200512_151543.jpg20200512_151514.jpg20200512_151418.jpg20200512_151340.jpg20200512_151332.jpg20200512_151307.jpg20200512_151242.jpg20200512_151405.jpg
 
This is very true! PaHunter's rig is the equivalent of that gorgeous house in the 'Ritzy' part of town. Nice if it's in the budget. But just as I wouldn't be telling my agent to show me Beverly Hills mansions if I was house hunting, I wouldn't look at rigs like Pa's since they'd be WAAAY out of my budget. You risk falling in love with 'features and furnishings' that you aren't going to find it a less expensive rig. So first, decide on your budget 'top price' then start looking at rigs.

I speak from experience when we started shopping for our 2nd TT. We definitely wanted to 'upgrade' from our first, more 'basic' TT, but I made the mistake of looking at some very high end models and had to give myself a shake about what was realistic for us. We ended up with one that was (as Goldilocks says) "just right".

Now first a few things about our HDT. It cost way way way less than a new crew cab dual wheel one ton. Those go about 72K or more. My truck was 34K, and I have about 8K additional in it for the hitch, wiring for the rv and new tires. We also had to replace the radiator. Still way less than a new truck. We have air ride in the cab, air ride seat, a table that folds to a bed and an upper bunk. (DW can sleep while we travel, it has netting). The dog loves the table area and the air ride seats.
And depending on the state the truck like ours can be titled as a RV and requires no special licensing to drive. Florida is not that friendly and sadly neither is PA.
Our trailer was more than our tow vehicle, as it came in about 42K, it is a front living room by Sandpiper.
The great thing about our tow vehicle, is the whole campground stops when I arrive......

One of the other nice things with my tow vehicle is I can get service anywhere, anytime. Tire failure at 3am, no problem. Blow a part of my engine on Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, no problem. Try to get hold of the Chevy Dealer on that day.....good luck. Me a few hours and I am back camping. Someone with a regular pickup they might open on Tuesday and hope they have the part.
We had a 1500 and a small keystone Bullet trailer. We then bought a one ton crew cab dually truck. Then a new and bigger camper, and finally a bigger truck.

My youtube page has a couple of videos about out truck and trailer and a nice tour of me coming in to a campground in Gettysburg.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyjlrc4GFcBFetCrOSwQUEw?view_as=subscriber
 
Now first a few things about our HDT. It cost way way way less than a new crew cab dual wheel one ton. Those go about 72K or more. My truck was 34K, and I have about 8K additional in it for the hitch, wiring for the rv and new tires. We also had to replace the radiator. Still way less than a new truck. We have air ride in the cab, air ride seat, a table that folds to a bed and an upper bunk. (DW can sleep while we travel, it has netting). The dog loves the table area and the air ride seats.
And depending on the state the truck like ours can be titled as a RV and requires no special licensing to drive. Florida is not that friendly and sadly neither is PA.
Our trailer was more than our tow vehicle, as it came in about 42K, it is a front living room by Sandpiper.
The great thing about our tow vehicle, is the whole campground stops when I arrive......

One of the other nice things with my tow vehicle is I can get service anywhere, anytime. Tire failure at 3am, no problem. Blow a part of my engine on Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, no problem. Try to get hold of the Chevy Dealer on that day.....good luck. Me a few hours and I am back camping. Someone with a regular pickup they might open on Tuesday and hope they have the part.
We had a 1500 and a small keystone Bullet trailer. We then bought a one ton crew cab dually truck. Then a new and bigger camper, and finally a bigger truck.

My youtube page has a couple of videos about out truck and trailer and a nice tour of me coming in to a campground in Gettysburg.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyjlrc4GFcBFetCrOSwQUEw?view_as=subscriber
Didnt know you had those vids out there. Thanks.
 


Not an avid RV'er but I thought you should hear this viewpoint;

Really, really suggest you rent one and take a trip. It doesn't have to be the same vehicle you are thinking of buying - just get out on the road with the large vehicle and do a full trip. We did this and aren't considering purchasing but boy did we learn a lot! Driving it isn't as hard as I thought it would be. It did free us from having to find a hotel room - that paid off as we were passing though an area where we wanted to stop but didn't plan far enough ahead and couldn't find a hotel room. No problem! The campground just outside of town had space. Stopping in a National Park was NOT as freeing as we had thought. Sure, we could park the camper in our campsite - but not at the trail head - not even remotely! Gas, oh boy, RV's just GULP gas! Stopping to eat (or really stopping anywhere) was also an issue. Bad enough finding a place you want to eat, then you need to park, then you need to consider safety. RV's have locks but they are not what I would call "secure", and everything is in the RV. We liked it, had a good time, but that lifestyle is not for us. YMMV...
 
One really big pet peeve of mine is dealers use the Term Unloaded Weight to lure one in to a camper. The unloaded weight of a camper is minus a battery which usually operates your brakes, no propane and nothing that you would put in it, food, clothes, etc. Tell me who camps naked ?
I always tell people use the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating when determining if your truck will pull it, and also recommend that you only use 80 percent of towing capacity. The latter is what used to be recommended, I know it has fallen out of style greatly in recent years.
But if you use the GVWR to determine truck pulling it, you should never be over the towing limits of your tow vehicle.
Another big number to watch is CCC known as Cargo Carrying Capacity, what you can haul inside your RV. There was one a couple year ago that had a CCC of about 300 lbs, not much that you could have put in that trailer with out being overweight.
 
One really big pet peeve of mine is dealers use the Term Unloaded Weight to lure one in to a camper. The unloaded weight of a camper is minus a battery which usually operates your brakes, no propane and nothing that you would put in it, food, clothes, etc. Tell me who camps naked ?
I always tell people use the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating when determining if your truck will pull it, and also recommend that you only use 80 percent of towing capacity. The latter is what used to be recommended, I know it has fallen out of style greatly in recent years.
But if you use the GVWR to determine truck pulling it, you should never be over the towing limits of your tow vehicle.
Another big number to watch is CCC known as Cargo Carrying Capacity, what you can haul inside your RV. There was one a couple year ago that had a CCC of about 300 lbs, not much that you could have put in that trailer with out being overweight.

Agree 1000%.
 
My experience, for what it’s worth...
My FIL had a pop up that we’d take to talladega once a year. That pop up started to wear out, so he started shopping around for a used TT. It was a 30’ TT with a bunkhouse. sadly, blew never got to use it with him.

Important note here: if you’re looking at used and there’s any water damage....pass. We fought that problem throughout. Though, flex seal works pretty well and we managed to get 7 or so years out of it and our relatives are still using it for talladega.

after owning it for a year and only taking it to talladega (and paying for storage) I decided that we needed to use it more or move on. We did, and we‘ve only stayed in a hotel once since. It works really well for the kids to have a familiar place to sleep while on vacation...and if they break something, at least it’s my stuff.

We replaced that camper last year. Initially started looking at much smaller bunkhouse options. The 19ish footers were too small. The 23ish footers we just couldn’t quite find what we were looking for. And we ended up with a 30’ that is basically the same floor plan as the old one. I’m thankful that we did, as the other ones would have been too cramped. But it definitely exceeded the budget. Not as concerned since I intend to keep it for a long time.

I pull it with an F150 with tow package that has plenty tow capacity for it. That said, it was hard to get straight answers on tow capacity from the dealerships. And it stops just fine as I learned when someone came to a full stop on the interstate in front of me with no outs on the first trip.

it came from camping world...which I wouldn’t do again. The sales strategy there was wayyy too pushy. Like, car shopping on 90s MLB level steroids. And the purchasing was a disaster. Like, it took 3 tries to pick it up. I’ll continue to take it there for service until out of warranty

it’s noted by someone up above, but I’d highly recommend having it stored out of the sun. It certainly didn’t help the old one that our original storage spot didn’t quite get the front of the trailer out of the sun/weather.
 
OP here again...

Thanks so much everyone...

I am trying to understand about all this towing weights, with TT... and what I really need to look at when we get to that stage?

As well a neighbor has a RV, that was his FIL's... and that thing is like a tank... it much older I think he said later 90's...still looks good and they use it all the time... Over the weekend they were at the pool, and he said that the fresh water tank, and human waste tank, had blown up... I was like what in the world... I really did not ask what he meant by "blown up"... I was scared to ask really.... Ewwww and Gross...
He said that it's in the shop, and there are a ton of things wrong with it... just to fix the basic's is right now at 8,000 to 10,000 bucks... and the shop said the whole thing isn't worth it... then he said I guess I should have taken care of it better... I was like wow...

So when looking at a used TT or RV what are some tale tell signs that we should pass on... ?

I ask a lot of questions... so Please and Thanks... so much...
 
So when looking at a used TT or RV what are some tale tell signs that we should pass on... ?

I ask a lot of questions... so Please and Thanks... so much...
Wow! Even if you didn't ask a lot of questions that first one is huge! There will be some common answers between a TT and an RV, But other pieces that aren't common to them both. I have absolutely 0, none, nada knowledge of TTs.
Biggest thing on a Motor Home- self propelled would be maintenance records on the chassis. When and how often serviced? Any accidents or mishaps? Everything clean and any obvious problems underneath? What kind of condition is the "house" in? Obvious problems with delamination on the exterior skins. Indications of water leakage or damage on the inside. Make sure all the systems work, water- city and tanks. Working? Grey and black tank functional? Will it empty properly? Electrical. Do all the lights work? All the electrical accessories, especially fridge, microwave, TV and other entertainment important to you, heat, water heater. Do the AC's work properly? That's a big deal to me for sure! Stove if electric. Gas fed equipment, stove, oven, fridge if a camper type. heat. Glass, clear and not broken or fogged. Does the slide function properly if equipped? Awning work and in good condition? Batteries new or out of service life, both house and chassis if a MH. Are tires worn, or more important, out of or close to the end of life according to the DOT code. RV tires tend to age out before they wear out because they aren't used as much. Does the generator work properly if equipped? How many hours? Service history?
Lots more I'm sure others will cover.
 
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Our neighbor is selling his class A. It is a money pit that is always developing some problem that is very expensive to fix. We have been told there are two types of rvs, ones that leak and ones that will eventually leak. Many used rigs have hidden rot and mold from hidden water leaks under the surfaces.

We like class Bs built on the Sprinter chassis. They cost about 150k but are really nice. Camping can be a very expensive way to travel, but it sure can be fun.

Our suv can pull up to 5000 lbs, but make sure you have a tow package on your vehicle or you could shorten the life of the vehicle by taxing it if pulling near it’s towing rating for long distances or up hills. The tow package has a transmission cooler that is factory installed and Is a good idea if you plan on keeping a tow vehicle for a long time.

Check out rv forums to get a good idea what owning is like. I also suggest renting first. Dealers make a lot of their money selling bigger rigs to people who want to upgrade and go bigger.

We find that we can rent houses and condos for far less than owning a camper, but we also primarily travel off season. Booking campsite in summer in Michigan is very difficult with popular weekends booking by lottery a half a year ahead of time. Campgrounds can be crowded and noisy in season, but are really nice off season.
 
We used to have a motorhome (Georgetown 34B) but sold it when we got transferred overseas. Our plan upon return is a fifth wheel and tow vehicle. As many others have said, I recommend seeing as many RVs as possible and renting whichever type you think you may settle on. We got very lucky with our Georgetown and know it, and the DH has been learning about fifth wheels, tow vehicles and anything RVing since, so we will be much more informed for our next purchase.
 
We’ve been RVing for 16 years. Started with a pop up, traded up to a 33’ fifth wheel bunkhouse after three months (we were going every other weekend locally, since we were enjoying it so much), traded up ten years later to a 41’ five slides fifth wheel and sold it when we realized bigger was NOT better! We had that behemoth for four years. Then we took a break of a year and a half. When we jumped back into RVing we bought a 26’ TT in June, traded it for a 30’ fifth wheel in January, and traded that in for a 33’ fifth wheel in March. In the meantime we’ve been through four different tow vehicles. So you can say we’ve made some very bad financial decisions, especially in the last year when we should have known better!

The thing with us is we prefer the stability of fifth wheel towing, the relative ease of fifth wheel hitching, and the spaciousness of fifth wheels. You get more space per overall length with fifth wheels (TT hitch about 4’ behind the tow vehicle’s bumper, fifth wheels hitch in the bed of the truck.)

there’s a lot of good advice here to check the gross vehicle weight rating of the unit (unloaded weight + cargo carrying capacity) but one thing many people don’t know and RV dealers won’t tell you is to make sure your truck can handle the hitch weight. Tow weight is how much weight your vehicle can pull behind it. Hitch weight is how much weight your truck can handle pushing DOWN on the back of the truck. If you don’t consider this, you set yourself up for blowouts on your truck’s rear tires, as well as other nasty consequences. Every truck should have a cargo carrying capacity listed on a sticker, usually in the driver’s door frame. The hitch weight of your trailer— whether pull behind or fifth wheel— needs to be added to your calculation of how much your truck is carrying. This is why we had to trade in our Ford F-150 when we bought the fifth wheel in January... It was more than light enough for the F150 to pull behind, but the hitch weight of the fifth wheel, combined with the weight of the actual hitch plus DH, two dogs, myself and a few other items we carry in the truck put us over the truck’s cargo carrying capacity by about 300 Lbs.

We ended trading that fifth wheel in March because the manufacturer intended it to be pulled by the lower F-150/1500 pickup trucks (even though they can’t due to hitch weight), and it hitched high (angled high where it hitched, nearly dragging on the ground in the rear. It was what’s known as a “mid-profile” fifth wheel. Our current fifth wheel is “full-profile”. Here’s our current rig in the picture below. By the way, many if not most full-profile fifth wheels have king size bed options. Good luck!
D7F61A33-28FB-44D3-9BFC-B4D9D6127820.jpeg
 
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We’ve been RVing for 16 years. Started with a pop up, traded up to a 33’ fifth wheel bunkhouse after three months (we were going every other weekend locally, since we were enjoying it so much), traded up ten years later to a 41’ five slides fifth wheel and sold it when we realized bigger was NOT better! We had that behemoth for four years. Then we took a break of a year and a half. When we jumped back into RVing we bought a 26’ TT in June, traded it for a 30’ fifth wheel in January, and traded that in for a 33’ fifth wheel in March. In the meantime we’ve been through four different tow vehicles. So you can say we’ve made some very bad financial decisions, especially in the last year when we should have known better!

The thing with us is we prefer the stability of fifth wheel towing, the relative ease of fifth wheel hitching, and the spaciousness of fifth wheels. You get more space per overall length with fifth wheels (TT hitch about 4’ behind the tow vehicle’s bumper, fifth wheels hitch in the bed of the truck.)

there’s a lot of good advice here to check the gross vehicle weight rating of the unit (unloaded weight + cargo carrying capacity) but one thing many people don’t know and RV dealers won’t tell you is to make sure your truck can handle the hitch weight. Tow weight is how much weight your vehicle can pull behind it. Hitch weight is how much weight your truck can handle pushing DOWN on the back of the truck. If you don’t consider this, you set yourself up for blowouts on your truck’s rear tires, as well as other nasty consequences. Every truck should have a cargo carrying capacity listed on a sticker, usually in the driver’s door frame. The hitch weight of your trailer— whether pull behind or fifth wheel— needs to be added to your calculation of how much your truck is carrying. This is why we had to trade in our Ford F-150 when we bought the fifth wheel in January... It was more than light enough for the F150 to pull behind, but the hitch weight of the fifth wheel, combined with the weight of the actual hitch plus DH, two dogs, myself and a few other items we carry in the truck put us over the truck’s cargo carrying capacity by about 300 Lbs.

We ended trading that fifth wheel in March because the manufacturer intended it to be pulled by the lower F-150/1500 pickup trucks (even though they can’t due to hitch weight), and it hitched high (angled high where it hitched, nearly dragging on the ground in the rear. It was what’s known as a “mid-profile” fifth wheel. Our current fifth wheel is “full-profile”. Here’s our current rig in the picture below. By the way, many if not most full-profile fifth wheels have king size bed options. Good luck!
View attachment 498184



Thanks so much for the details... There is so much stuff to learn and to consider when buying a something like this... the towing weight, and carrying capacity seem to be something that is on the top of the list... plus the correct vehicle for towing it all...

DH works with a couple of guys that are really into RV'ing as a lifestyle... and they have been giving DH advice...
One of the older guys has a class A motor-home( I think that's the right term?) its a Land Yacht... this baby is huge... he and his wife are getting ready to retire, they had a retirement party at their house not long ago, and they had it all set up. Then corona virus hit so he and she both decided to keep working until this is over and they can hit the open road again. Since they both work in essential service's they were like it's the right thing to do...
It's crazy big, super fancy and has all the bells and whistle's, its much bigger that my first apartment.. it has slide outs, and a place for the golf cart, and all kinds of stuff, the thing that gets me is the entertainment center for the outside... TV, mini fridge, bar... they had a BBQ compartment added in theirs, for his BBQ stuff, grill's, smokers, and some type of outdoor fryer, and fire pit... they boondock sometimes... so they added in extra power for when they are out like this...

Two of the other guys - one has a 5th wheel and the other a TT... DH said that they are always picking at each other on which one is the best... One thing that DH mentioned is the ease of the set up... and leveling.... that is something to consider when buying...
The guy with the TT, said it's easier to set up and level a TT verses a 5th wheel... Any thoughts on this?
 
If you get a camper with auto leveling they are all easy.
 

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