Size Restrictions (as in how big of a camper most allow)

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gottabemore

Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2011
Posts
22
I am doing lots of research before we sell everything and go to FT. One subject I cannot find any good answers to?  Size restrictions.  Most of the MH we look at have slides.  I am concerned that some campgrounds (so I have heard) do not allow these.  Also some camp grounds only allow a certain length.  As this will be our home (me, hubby and 2 dogs) I want to get one large enough. Not looking at huge but.... Does anyone have any ideas? I did look around here for the better part of 2 hours and am not finding this subject.  Thank you in advance.  ;D
 
Our coach is 40' long with 2 slides on one side. The slides have never been an issue, tho I once took over an excellent site from a friend who couldn't fit his single slide on each side coach into the site. Probably 36' or less, you'll never have a question. 36'-40 maybe sometimes, tho we seldom get turned away. If you park a lot in National Forests and other less developed or older locations, larger units may become more problematical.
 
  It really depends on where you want to stay. If you'll be staying at private parks - no problem-go as big as you would like. I'm sure there are some private parks that don't have enough room between the sites for side by side RVs with slideouts extended but would you want to stay at one that was that tight anyway? Public parks are a different story. You can still stay at the majority of them but it'll take a little more planning. You may have to call ahead and make reservations. The problems that you'll run into are narrow roads ,tight bends,trees along the sites blocking room for slideouts and campgrounds built years ago for tenting and small RVs. Most state parks are fine, smaller national parks and national forests may be a problem.

  Try to a get an RV where you have access to all the important things even when the slides are in.

  One way to check out campgrounds and see how much room there is between sites and overall is with Google Earth. Just zoom in and you can tell a lot about what you'll be facing.
 
Thank you!  We will not be resort camping.  We will be on a fixed budget and though we are friendly folks, we love the woods, not crowds.  ;D
 
We have a 28-foot Class A with one slide (2 adults, one large dog). We prefer boondocking and staying at state and federal campgrounds. While we occasionally have stayed places where we couldn't (or didn't want to)  put the slide out, they were few and far between and it wouldn't make me give up my slide. When you look at RVs, have the slide(s) pulled in and see if the RV is liveable with the slides in and make a judgement based on that.

Wendy
Cortez Colorado
 
It makes a lot of sense to me to buy one that is livable with the slide in.  And then be happy when we have enough room to slide it out.  Thank you so much.  There is nothing like talking to people who been there and done that. 
 
Most of us use some kind of campground directory when traveling, such as Trailer Life Campground Directory, because it tells us the size of sites in most of the campgrounds we encounter, both private and public.  I can't recall ever having occasion to use our motorhome without the slides extended.  Some of the older campgrounds that haven't been modernized can be problematic with site lengths and opening underbay doors.  Once in while we have to do some extra maneuvering because the utility pedestal is right under a slideout and too close for comfort.  That's happened maybe twice.  Every RV is different and campgrounds can't account for every single variation, but they do a pretty good job for the most part.  We do carry extra hose lengths and electric cords and even sewer hoses for those rare occasions when one of them is just a few inches too short and we can't maneuver to make them fit.  Again, it seldom happens.

I'd never let the "possiblity" of the slides being a problem keep me from having them, especially if I were fulltiming.  The extra room they provide makes an RV significantly more livable!  So, by all means, if you see a model you like with slides then get that model because you need to be comfortable in your new home.

ArdraF
 
Checking the new RV with the slides in before buying to see if it's livable is probably one of the best suggestions.  What was not addressed in this suggestion, was that when the slide(s) are in, make sure all cupboards, drawers, refridge, stove, etc. accessable.  We've seen several where vital cupboards were inaccessible.  We have one cupboard that a door is covered with the slide in, but the manufacturer was did a smart thing by putting two doors on it.  So if the slide is in, we can still access the cupboard, not as conveniently, as some things needed are now at the very deep back end, but with a small stool, and my long arms, I can still get things out that may be needed.  Just a heads up in that direction.

Daisy
 
Yes, I would like to see more RV's that are livable with the slides in. I looked at hundreds, maybe thousands,  of RV's for an eye-opening education before I bought mine. I was surprised that many RV's with slides do have problems (living)  with the slides in.

Certainly not all of them, but some of them were just designed for slides out only, which seemed silly in my book. But then again, I had a lot of driveway invitations to visit friends and camp in their driveway, where slides might sometimes be an issue.

Generally it seems if you are bookdocking at commercial places, they don't want you to use slides because it blocks a whole parking space. I was in a crowded truck stop one night, that had a 24 hour restaurant and separate parking for RV's and cars. A huge rig had pulled in, then put out all their slides and steps, so that they took up 6 car parking spots. That seemed to me, a rather rude obnoxious thing to do.

Another mega rig came in, couldn't find room to park, with his toad in tow (I guess he was too lazy to unhook it and park it separately in a car spot)  so he parked over with the truckers, not using a truck spot, but parking along the curb on their side, making it difficult for the parked trucks to get out the next morning!

As I understand it, you should never park in truck only parking lots  ever!  Those guys are required by law to park and sleep, so they can get pretty testy to find an RV in a truck only spot.  Well, the next morning, I noticed he was changing a flat tire on his toad and a flat tire on his rig. Not sure what happened there...    But now many truck drivers had plenty of time to stop and tell him to never ever park like  THAT again and to stay out of the truck only area. (I was out walking the dog on the nearby grassy lawn, and witnessed all this mayhem.) 

The newer campgrounds are ready for the big rigs. The older campgrounds are not always ready for them.  There are thousands of RV parks that still have 30amp only, so make sure you understand how that works,  and have the adapter if you are 50amp. 

It seems to me, in my past travels, that the county, state and national parks were often very old parks. Many had assorted sized camp spots, not all were identical. Some are built on curvy roads, so the camping lots are eclectic in size. The smaller rigs had no problem fitting in all the spots, but the larger rigs often had a limited few spots to choose from. It just depends on the park. Many government owned parks, just haven't felt like putting it in their budget to redesign the park for loads of mega rigs, to show up all at once, but most have a few spots available for the big rigs. Some of the older parks were designed with jumbo camping lots, so it's not an issue at all. 

Also, many older parks don't have a lot of pull throughs, so learning to backup is real handy, if you like the older funkier parks.  For you toad haulers, this means unhooking the toad first, sometimes you have to do this on a narrow road, with folks waiting in line behind you, so it helps if you have a system for doing this that doesn't take a huge long time.

I was in a park that had a steep uphill entrance, then it was all flat, once you got up the hill. It was a one lane road that served two way traffic.  One guy pulled in, stopped on the steep hill, to unhook his toad.  It took him over a half hour to get it undone. Meanwhile cars and RV's coming in the park, had to stop and wait while those trying to get out, had to stop and wait also. He managed to create a mega jam.  No one got mad, it was all rather entertaining.  If he had waited until he parked at the office, there was plenty of flat room there, to unhook his toad, without blocking anyone (coming or going) at all.

Some parks are dirt only, so you can park any which way you please on your assigned spot, assuming you can fit in it, and  figure out how to reach the utilities once you have parked the way you like or the way you fit in it.

Since the majority of privately owned parks cater to big rigs, they are ready for you.  Some of the older private parks have redesigned sections or added sections, just for the big rigs. 

It is super nice to be able to afford a big rig for fulltiming. However, I am fulltiming in a 28 foot rig mini-motorhome for over a year now, and I just love it.  Less junk, less housework, less gas costs, less maintenance, cheap insurance, easier to maneuver and so on. I have all the perks of the big rigs except no slide out, I even  have a compact washing machine that does magic.  ;D

I've had company travel with me too.  I don't have any slides, but my next rig will have slides.  Just not sure if that next rig will be in  this decade or the next...

So look at all sizes while you are shopping around. With slide outs, even smaller rigs seem huge. If you can afford the biggest rig, by all means go for it, but realize you may have to avoid some of the old rustic parks.



 
Hi everyone!  Been away. Comnputer blew up.  Found something yesterday.  36 foot Winnebago Itasca Horizon.  2000.  Diesel.  40,000 miles.  $61,000.  Thoughts?  Opinions?  HELP? :D
 
Sounds nice to me, mine is a 2000 Journey 36foot. Probably about the same.
 
The sales guy was really pushy... turned me off pretty bad.  Wizard, do you have many size issues?  As far as camping in certain areas?  This one has 2 small slides.... but all is accesible with them in.
 
Another question.  Reading Woodalls.... if they do not list a length restriction does this mean there are none?  Sorry if that seems a silly question.  I know that some sites are very small. I am just trying to get a feel for how long is too long!
 
We don't use Woodalls, but the Trailer Life Campground Directory tells you the lengths of sites so you might look at it for side-by-side comparisons.  In fact, use of the term "side-by-side" reminds me they also indicate if they have side-by-side utilities which means you and the camper next door might use the same utility box, one on each side.

ArdraF
 
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