MY camper thread...lotsa questions, be kind :)

[ThunderbirdSport]

As you may know, I have an '06 with the V8, and 5 others in the family. 10 year old, 9 year old, 4 year old, and a 9 month old, and the wife.
(yeah, been busy LOL)

Anywho, I know my towing capacity is around 7K, and I'm smart enough to know that means everything and everybody included.

My bigger questions are I guess more specific to the camper than the Explorer....such as what size would be enough room for us, plus gear/food?

I saw the fella's post about a 19' camper and that looked like it might be enough but he said it was big enough for 4 or 5 if I remember correctly..

My dad has a smaller HiLo camper, I'm taking a few days off work in august around my birthday and taking the fam to south missouri, I plan to use it, but with 4 kids, all pre-teen and growing like weeds...it won't be big enough much longer.

We used it when I was kid, me, dad, his g/f and her kid, went out west in it two years running, towed behind an '89 F150. Doubtless sure my '06 has greater towing capacity than the '89 truck does LOL.

Pretty much all of our gear and supplies would have to ride in the camper though....we all know how much..err little storage room in a 4th gen with the third row seats up there is.

As always, I thank you in advance for any tips or words of wit, wisdom or criticism.

 

[Explorer_PL]

First of all, 4 kids is a blessing, sincere congrats. I am sure it's crazy at times, but more fun and grand kids in the future. You will not be bored when retired.
I am fine with just 2

4 years ago I rented the 22 footer and that's what I would recommend for you:

Towing report: 06 V8 with 22’ travel trailer.

The one I rented last month could be too small.

The bigger one because it was a double axle with equalizer handled better that the smaller one in my opinion.

You can tow 7k with just you in the truck, once you have all 6 of you in the car that adds about 700-800 lbs to the car weight and needs to be substracted from the trailer max weight. That leaves you with about 6k towing capacity. You need to also makes sure you do not overload the rear axle: maybe one day when driving with all 6 of you, drive through a truck scale and see what the load on rear axle is. A 5000 lbs trailer will add at least 500 lbs to the load on rear axle, weight distributing hitch is a must. My ex has a payload of 1200 lbs, if passengers and cargo add up to 700 lbs that leaves you 500 for the tongue weight - see where I am going ?
Load as much as you can in the rear of the camper and you should be ok.

 

[BennyTheButcher]

Just a thought...

If trailer weight and length are concerns, think about towing a smaller camper. You can really maximize your space if you are willing to have an outdoor galley/kitchen and an outdoor shower and toilet. Also, there are some great, inexpensive roll-out canopies with bug screens that can give you an extra 10'x10' of living space. And, even better if your 9 and 10 year olds want to sleep outside...just pack a tent. When I was 9 I certainly wouldn't want to sleep inside with my parents (no offense, it's just cool to sleep outside in a tent). If you have friends to go camping with, even better. You can pool resources. Maybe your friends (or camping group) will let you share their bathroom if you bring the food. I don't know. Just get creative with it. I just think we go crazy with how fancy our camper is, and we lose sight of the fact that we're, well - you know - actually camping in the wilderness. Amenities are nice, but they're not really necessary. A camper can be just as simple as a covered shelter for sleeping. Just a thought.

 

[ThunderbirdSport]

We're certainly taking along the tent, and a small grille and as well a propane 2 burner camp stove. The camper is more/less for us adult and the baby to sleep in, the three older kids have already laid claim to the tent LOL. Of course, if it happens to rain the second weekend of August...

Where we're going has toilets and showers, so not concerned with having that in the camper. For that matter, dad's little camper doesn't have a shower, though it does have a toilet.

 

[BKennedy]

I had a Jayco tent trailer that would get you through the next 4-5 years. It had a king bed up front, queen in back and the dinette folded down into a twin. It was light, easy to pull and had a heater, small fridge, sink, stove, shower and toilet.

 

[dacaur2]

It comes down to how much you "need" vs how much you "want".
From what you posted all you really "need" for this trip is a 6 person tent. Anything more than that is a "want".
Want real beds? A pop up tent trailer will easily sleep 6 and yes, you can install an A/C unit.
Plan to camp someplace without toilets or showers, then you will probably want a toilet and a shower.
I have a buddy who sold a 20 foot trailer to a 27 foot trailer, which meant he also needed to upgrade his truck. I thought he was crazy because imo his old trailer had everything he needed (family of 5 with 2 small kids and an 8 year old) but I guess his wife felt cramped..... They arent doing any camping this year because either camp or make the trailer payments....
I guess its just your perspective.

 

[BKennedy]

I went from a tent trailer to a 31' class A RV, to a 36' class A with 2 slide outs. The tent trailer had more sleeping space than the 36' RV, unless you count the floor. I could also drag that trailer out fire roads in the mountains and camp remotely. Not possible with the RV's. On the flip side, the RV takes less time to get on the road than the tent trailer did. I can get the Explorer hooked up and the RV moving in less than 20 minutes if I need to, whereas the tent trailer took a solid hour. I can also spend about two weeks camping remotely with the RV before I need water / dump station. Tent trailer was about four days.

 

[michael loibl]

Pro’s and con’s to every type of camping from tent to pop up to Hybrid like mine... to big trailers to RV’s.

There are times I wish I simply stuck with the large high-quality tent rated for 10 people so that six people in it didn’t seem overly cramped.

I never had much love for the pop ups mainly because of the limited space for storing things like bicycles while traveling to your destination, and usually don’t have much of a bathroom or refrigerator in them.

However, they can be towed by just about anything, and very little wind resistance on the highway, which has more impact on gas mileage than the weight at a steady speed.

Larger trailers were out of the question with my 4.0 L V6 without the tow package, plus my wife wanted that open air tent feeling, not the living in a rectangular box feeling, so the hybrid trailer was the type we could agree on, and we found ours for a good price in great condition.

This picture is from the first summer we had it, I believe 2012, look how many kids are piled in just the front sleeping area watching a movie on the 9 inch TV