Adding tanks to a park model

[mike eddleman]

My son-in-law got a great deal on a 30 foot camper and grabbed it. When looking at it I ask where the hook ups were and that's when he found out it was a park model.  Any ideas on adding tanks to them?  He tried to take it back but the man told him it was a park model and he didn't know what that meant

 

[Alfa38User]

It depends on what he intends to do with it. If he intends to park it, it is likely that tanks are not needed. If he intends to tow it around, I doubt its overall construction will permit too much of that. They are built primarily to be towed to a site and left. They can be moved from site to site occasionally but....

It is possible that it also has household type appliances like 120V refrigerator, stove, toilet and perhaps has little or no 12V wiring. If tanks are to be added, a lot of plumbing changes will also be needed and the appliances, toilet changed as well as new tires.  Underneath the chassis would have to be looked at to see if its construction will permit this addition (location and depth).

If towing is the goal, he would be better off re-selling it and getting a 'real' tow behind trailer.

May have been a costly lesson!!! I hope not!!

 

[arcticfox2005]

It is possible that it also has household type appliances like 120V refrigerator, stove, toilet and perhaps has little or no 12V wiring.

We live in a Park Model for 4-5 months in the summer in Wyoming, and have been inside many others of friends. I can tell you for sure that there will be no battery, no 12 VDC wiring, and the bathroom fixtures and kitchen appliances will be household type. Besides that, every park model I have ever been in is at least 10-11 feet wide and have a tall steeply pitched roof. I can't imagine towing it through any town or city on the way to somewhere. That being said, there is one "park model trailer" of a different type near us - it has a flat roof and tip-outs rather than a slide-out. The entire roof of the front half of it collapsed this past winter from the snow load, so if it is this type, be very choosy in picking a place to set it up. Bottom line, either find a place to park it and use it as a "cabin" or sell it and start over.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

There are park models that are narrow & low enough to be towed on the highway without a wide load convoy, but Stu's comments about appliances, 12v, road use, etc. are right on.  I think your son will have to swallow his mistake and put the rig up for sale to somebody who wants  a seasonal trailer, i.e. will park it in a campground for the summer. Or become one of those people himself.

Franklin built quite a few park models that are towable.  Is that perhaps what your son bought?  It might be practical to convert one of those RV use.

 

[Alfa38User]

Heh, heh, a Franklin model is the one I based my comments on. Two of my Florida neighbours have them, very nice units but not meant for towing.

There are other park model types in our park that are no more than a prefab home on a steel frame (1 or 2 unit, side by side or 'double wides') that are brought in on wheels and with a hitch, all of which are promptly removed once in place!!

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Yeah, we have friends with those home type park models. No way they could ever be trailer on a regular basis. Even moving them once is risky. But Franklin builds RVs as well as park models and some of their rigs are hybrids, e.g. have holding tanks and propane systems but maybe only 120v water heater. And many of them are 96-102" wide and well under 13'6" for road use.