biggersm
Well-known member
...and when I say trade down I mean it in a vertical sort of way.
We got a letter recently that is ordering us to do something with our Toyhauler. We are allowed to have an RV in the back yard however it can't be seen over the fence. I thought about fighting this on the grounds that you can't really see the trailer if you literally put your face at street level
but I would probably not win this approach.
Ironically when we bought in this neighborhood a year and a half ago there were two other RV owners that would occasionally park on the street before/after camping but otherwise had other places to store their rig. Due to the unique shape of our oversize lot and double wide gate we easily store our toy hauler in the back. One person died and I don't think the wife wants to do this along any more. The other family decided to move up to be able to permanently park on their property.
For those interested the HOA Covenants and Restrictions states: "...Boats, motor homes, campers, travel trailers, garden trailers, storage trailers, and similar vehicles may only be placed and kept or stored upon a Lot containing a residence, placed no further forward than 10' behind the front building line of the residence, with landscape or fence screening so as to make same not visible from the street (including side street in the case of a corner Lot), or in a closed garage." By the way fence screening option is not really an option either since we already have 6' vinyl fences and they can't be any higher.
I'm OK with the rules and actually thankful that we got away with having our toy hauler on our property for a year (we have owned it for over two years and were so tired of picking it up or dropping it off that we bought our current home so we could park our Toyhauler) . After all this convinence we will not go back to the expense and inconvenience of public storage. My wife has charmed the HOA into letting us keep things in place for a little longer (but that was a telephone call with no paper follow-up of permission). Now it is time to trade down and we are thinking about an A-Frame Pop up. We like the idea of an A-Frame because it appears to have more security than a standard popup (we keep our dog in the trailer when we go out to do things during the day). It will also be nice to not have the "inside the drum" feeling of a pop-out bed during a rainstorm.
We have the following questions:
1. We have found a few different manufacturers of A-Frames; the ones in the Forest River family the Aliner and the Chalet. Are their any more A-Frame manufacturers out there?
2. Why are the Aliners more expensive? I like the style of the Rockwoods better anyway, especially with the extra storage up front. I know that just about everything out there has wood and steel construction that will rot and rust so we will miss our Living Lite VRV so I was hoping that maybe Aliner had some special feature like all aluminum construction.
3. Do A-Frames leak? It would appear that with so many seams it may be possible.
4. How long does it take to raise an A-Frame? (update, just saw a video, 30 seconds for a person who is familiar with the Chalet)
5. What is the worst thing anyone has ever heard of a HOA doing as a result of non-compliance?
6. The lady who lives across the street was talking with my wife and mentioned that sometimes a pop-up can sway when being towed. She is one of the former RV owners so has some experience. I have not had a chance to ask her why she mentioned the trailer sway. We plan to keep our Blue Ox system so does anyone have any comments on handling? We are going from two axles down to one if that means anything.
6. Please tell me that there is just a little more storage in various floor areas even when the popup is down. Technically that is not a question just a hope for reassurance.
7. Who has either a T21DMHW Flagstaff or a Rockwood A214HW? What is the difference? Is this kind of like a Plymouth Voyager/Dodge Caravan comparison? Any other concerns with these models? For the record we really like having a latrine and shower after moving up from tent camping.
I'm sure we will have more questions. We will miss our toyhaler and I'm already searching rental options for motorcycles when we leave the state and go camping. We look forward to reading your replies.
We got a letter recently that is ordering us to do something with our Toyhauler. We are allowed to have an RV in the back yard however it can't be seen over the fence. I thought about fighting this on the grounds that you can't really see the trailer if you literally put your face at street level
but I would probably not win this approach.Ironically when we bought in this neighborhood a year and a half ago there were two other RV owners that would occasionally park on the street before/after camping but otherwise had other places to store their rig. Due to the unique shape of our oversize lot and double wide gate we easily store our toy hauler in the back. One person died and I don't think the wife wants to do this along any more. The other family decided to move up to be able to permanently park on their property.
For those interested the HOA Covenants and Restrictions states: "...Boats, motor homes, campers, travel trailers, garden trailers, storage trailers, and similar vehicles may only be placed and kept or stored upon a Lot containing a residence, placed no further forward than 10' behind the front building line of the residence, with landscape or fence screening so as to make same not visible from the street (including side street in the case of a corner Lot), or in a closed garage." By the way fence screening option is not really an option either since we already have 6' vinyl fences and they can't be any higher.
I'm OK with the rules and actually thankful that we got away with having our toy hauler on our property for a year (we have owned it for over two years and were so tired of picking it up or dropping it off that we bought our current home so we could park our Toyhauler) . After all this convinence we will not go back to the expense and inconvenience of public storage. My wife has charmed the HOA into letting us keep things in place for a little longer (but that was a telephone call with no paper follow-up of permission). Now it is time to trade down and we are thinking about an A-Frame Pop up. We like the idea of an A-Frame because it appears to have more security than a standard popup (we keep our dog in the trailer when we go out to do things during the day). It will also be nice to not have the "inside the drum" feeling of a pop-out bed during a rainstorm.
We have the following questions:
1. We have found a few different manufacturers of A-Frames; the ones in the Forest River family the Aliner and the Chalet. Are their any more A-Frame manufacturers out there?
2. Why are the Aliners more expensive? I like the style of the Rockwoods better anyway, especially with the extra storage up front. I know that just about everything out there has wood and steel construction that will rot and rust so we will miss our Living Lite VRV so I was hoping that maybe Aliner had some special feature like all aluminum construction.
3. Do A-Frames leak? It would appear that with so many seams it may be possible.
4. How long does it take to raise an A-Frame? (update, just saw a video, 30 seconds for a person who is familiar with the Chalet)
5. What is the worst thing anyone has ever heard of a HOA doing as a result of non-compliance?
6. The lady who lives across the street was talking with my wife and mentioned that sometimes a pop-up can sway when being towed. She is one of the former RV owners so has some experience. I have not had a chance to ask her why she mentioned the trailer sway. We plan to keep our Blue Ox system so does anyone have any comments on handling? We are going from two axles down to one if that means anything.
6. Please tell me that there is just a little more storage in various floor areas even when the popup is down. Technically that is not a question just a hope for reassurance.
7. Who has either a T21DMHW Flagstaff or a Rockwood A214HW? What is the difference? Is this kind of like a Plymouth Voyager/Dodge Caravan comparison? Any other concerns with these models? For the record we really like having a latrine and shower after moving up from tent camping.
I'm sure we will have more questions. We will miss our toyhaler and I'm already searching rental options for motorcycles when we leave the state and go camping. We look forward to reading your replies.
