Musts vs Wants inside and out

[Poppa G]

Comment on your preference these and list what you consider a Must.

TT in 7’ or 8’ width? An owner of a 7’ said he really likes it. Less lane management stress driving on highways. Easier to pull on backroads with overhanging branches. Is width a must to you, if so which?

Outside kitchens- grill, fridge, sink? Are these Musts? If you cook outside, are you happier with your own after-market arrangements?

Interior color and material quality? Some TT’s floor laminate patterns and interior surface colors make me feel like I am stuck on Shutter Island. How important is interior appearance and surface quality?

 

[Ex-Calif]

All your list is important. Personally I would go wider as you get used to driving it. I personally am not a fan of slides. Too many threads here on slides gone wrong.

Flooring is not a huge consideration on design but I also prefer laminates over carpet as easier to clean. I have floor runners down and can pull them up and shake them out easily.

I would not seek an outside kitchen. Outdoor faucet, yes. Outdoor grill, nice but can be added. I have a cast iron "grill" pan that works great as well as a tabletop propane stove that works fine. Although I did bookmark a bumper mount grill for future wish list.

It also depends on length. Once you get to 35-36 feet a lot of this starts to become standard. All in all though, I like simpler as there is less to break down...

 

[Mountain high]

We own both a 7 foot and an 8 foot wide TT. If we're going to boondock somewhere in which 4 wheel drive will be needed for mud, snow, and the terrain it's our fun sized small trailer, otherwise bigger is better.

 

[TXcmpr]

Some of it just depends upon use. For us an 8 foot wide works best as it provides more space and towing and parking is not that bad. What is harder to manage is length for towing and parking.

I don't need an outdoor kitchen, we just carry a small gas grill.

Interior color and finish matter. Get something you like. What matters even more is functionality, for instance we like to cook when camping so counter space is a big deal and we made sure our trailer had plenty. Also, you need to be comfortable so for us it was dual recliners vs the dinette.

We would not buy a trailer without a slide. Just make sure you get one with a Lippert through the frame slide system as they seem pretty robust.

This is just my opinion but I would avoid the ultralights. The ultralights skimp to much on construction to provide light weight.

I'm also in the camp of simple is better.

Check out the Grand Design trailers as they make the best use of design and space. They are not high quality but they work and look good inside and make good use of space.

 

[Kirk]

The degree of importance of any feature will depend on the person who uses it. An outdoor kitchen would not be used much by ourselves but we have a son who uses theirs almost exclusively.

 

[Skookum]

Personally I've never had a preference for an outdoor kitchen, but that's because one of us is usually tending the grill outside while one prepares other food inside, and we pass things through the door. If you are the only one cooking, maybe having a little stovetop, fridge, and sink outside would make things easier. Most outdoor kitchens I've seen are spartan. A good camp stove would probably outrun most of those cooking surfaces unless it happened to be induction, and you can usually do way better with an actual BBQ grill.

Colors/themes, I find RV decor to be a touch wild, either too modern for the intended purpose (camping) or the wrong medium (ahem, carpet) for the intended purpose, camping. I've never understood RV's with carpet. Who wants to take their shoes off every time they enter the RV? Not me! But, decor is a go-with-the-flow thing for me if the layout and features are generally right.

 

[Tulecreeper]

All your list is important. Personally I would go wider as you get used to driving it. I personally am not a fan of slides. Too many threads here on slides gone wrong.

True, but with more than one living in it I still want the extra room.

Flooring is not a huge consideration on design but I also prefer laminates over carpet as easier to clean. I have floor runners down and can pull them up and shake them out easily.

I would not seek an outside kitchen. Outdoor faucet, yes. Outdoor grill, nice but can be added. I have a cast iron "grill" pan that works great as well as a tabletop propane stove that works fine. Although I did bookmark a bumper mount grill for future wish list.

Agreed, I would rather the extra storage outside than a kitchen I would never use.

 

[scottydl]

"Eye of the beholder" is definitely the applicable phrase with those questions, and probably depends on your planned use of the RV. Do you want a trailer to feel like a step up from a tent? Or a slight step down from your house? That'll guide many of the size + options decisions.

I've always been the "home away from home" type, so I've liked bigger rigs... but I've done that buying good condition, gently used units. You don't have to buy the latest and greatest to accomplish any RV goal really. As long as you have the right truck to pull it, very few RV'ers wish they went with something smaller. But, an exception could of course be more rugged or offroad camping locations as mentioned above. So for every opinion here, there will likely be an opposite and equally valid opinion the other direction.

 

[Isaac-1]

There is a fundamental first question you need to ask yourself, do you see this trailer as an alternative to a Tent, a Motel Room or an Apartment? Once you answer that you can start to answer the question of which features are requirements.

 

[Tulecreeper]

"Eye of the beholder" is definitely the applicable phrase with those questions, and probably depends on your planned use of the RV. Do you want a trailer to feel like a step up from a tent? Or a slight step down from your house? That'll guide many of the size + options decisions.

I've always been the "home away from home" type, so I've liked bigger rigs... but I've done that buying good condition, gently used units. You don't have to buy the latest and greatest to accomplish any RV goal really. As long as you have the right truck to pull it, very few RV'ers wish they went with something smaller. But, an exception could of course be more rugged or offroad camping locations as mentioned above. So for every opinion here, there will likely be an opposite and equally valid opinion the other direction.

Actually, that isn't really uncommon. I've spoken with quite a few folks who went full-time and started out with a 38-ft MH, then downsized to a 34-ft 5th-wheel when the MH got too unwieldy, then downsized again to a 28-ft TT when they realized they really didn't need as much room as they had originally thought.

 

[Larry N.]

Actually, that isn't really uncommon. I've spoken with quite a few folks who went full-time and started out with a 38-ft MH, then downsized to a 34-ft 5th-wheel when the MH got too unwieldy, then downsized again to a 28-ft TT when they realized they really didn't need as much room as they had originally thought.

And there are just as many who went the other direction.

 

[scottydl]

And there are just as many who went the other direction.

Hence my earlier comment:

So for every opinion here, there will likely be an opposite and equally valid opinion the other direction.

 

[SargeW]

Just about any travel trailer will be a trade off of quality of the materials used, and weight of the rig. The bigger and more amenities you put in one, the heavier it will become. I have had 2 travel trailers (including the current one), two fifth wheels, and and 4 motor homes. All different, size and weight. All had pluses and minuses. Our current rig was a downsize from a 40' diesel pusher. Big difference.

How you want to use it, and the amount of time you will spend in it will dictate the size and weight of the rig you will be looking at, and of course how much your tow vehicle can safely handle. Start with those numbers first, tow capacity, payload capacity, and over all Gross Combination Weight Rating (GCWR).

That will give you a general size you can look at, and decide what features you can afford to pull around. Due to our extensive history with various RV's, some of our requirements are different than most. Our must haves included a full size queen bed (not a RV queen), theater seating across from the TV, good size bathroom, 12 volt refer with 400 watts of solar on the roof, and 1 slide out on the drivers side for the extra room. And one additional feature that was hard to find in a travel trailer under 30', was a washer/dryer hook up pre wire.

We have traveled enough to know that with a smaller TT there will be very limited space for clothes. Therefore we can bring a minimal amount of clothing, and just wash stuff every few days. We have a modern combo unit that works amazingly well. Another one of my requirements as we live in the desert southwest, was the prewire for a 2nd AC unit. It has already proved invaluable this year. This does add to the overall GCWR of the rig, but the Ram 2500 with a Hemi handles it easily.

This may be more info than you were looking for, but it does demonstrate the scope of the needs and wants for your rig. Good luck in your search.

 

[Martian]

Here is our list:
8' wide is all we have had but I had driven semis before we got one so width just meant more room.
Outside kitchens have not been in any of the floorplans we have had. If we had one it would probably not get used a lot but the outside water outlet, be it faucet or quick connect, is close to mandatory. Even better if it is somewhere near the steps so they could get a rinse too.
Interior color is very subjective and there are not usually very many choices in a given floorplan. Our first camper had the choice of white or white interior and even though we thought it would be tough to keep clean it was not and it felt like a much larger space than what it was. Next was a dark brown as it was that or something like battleship gray. Ended up making the cabinet doors lighter and putting on light colored fabric on the cushions. Current has a white/fake marble look counters, gray flooring and medium brown cabinets with light gray walls. They all worked for us as long as they held up.
Your last issue is at least as important as your first. No interior color can cover up for poor design or craftsmanship. I will add that I prefer painted to stained and finished cabinetry because it is much more uniform. There is no effort put into most rv cabinet wood choices. Nobody will match similar grains together for the doors of your unit so it looks like they were made from the same piece. That said, paint can hide a lot of sins but still cannot make up for bad design or assembly.
Our criteria: floorplan>quality>affordability>towability with our truck.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Unless you know you will encounter some critical hard limit, length & width shouldn't be on the Need/Want list. Those parameters should be derived from your other wants & needs, i.e. space, layout, number of occupants, and how you will use the RV. Do not set arbitrary limits on your enjoyment unless they are unavoidable.

Some hard limits that may shape your planning include:

• Size of the area where you will store the RV
• Access roads to a camping area you definitely want to utilize
• The capabilities of your current tow vehicle (for trailers)

 

[Adventurous Traveler]

Compromise is always the answer when choosing the "right" RV. And this becomes even more true the tighter the money supply is.

When my wife and I bought our first motorhome 15 years ago (used) we both realized that it isn't always sunny and beautiful outside when camping, regardless of the season. This led us to decide to get a rig with the most interior space we could afford with our budget. So to answer the OP's question regarding 7' vs. 8' it's a no-brainer with 8'. Same thing with slide-outs. Sure they can break or require more maintenance, but they can make that tight and cramped 24' TT feel twice the size by just adding a dinette slide-out. We were never fans of outside kitchens and still aren't. Get a good tabletop propane grill like a Weber, or maybe a Coleman Traveler, add an induction cooktop to utilize the electrical connection at the campground, and maybe finish off with a cheap tripod grill from Amazon to cook over an open campfire.

OP, focus on comfort, portability, absolute needs, and limit gotta have foofoo items and you should do all right.

 

[Onyrlef]

As pointed out in Sarge's post, having only one a/c will severely hamper when and where you go. In our neck of the country (the South) one 15k btu a/c won't cool any but the smallest RV during summer afternoons and early evening hours. If you start at 30 amp your options will be limited and upgrading later to a second a/c will be costly.