downsizing trailer
 

Anyone have any experience with downsizing their RV?


Our kids are grown and gone; they're not camping with the wife and I any longer. We currently have an 18 DD Cherokee Wolf; a nice rig that has held up well. But we want to go smaller for several reasons. We are looking at different options; mostly want easier storage and pulling. We don't need 4-season capability. We don't need a ton of features. We generally sleep and change clothes in the rig. We eat and cook outside, etc. Don't want a "pop-up"; don't want the soft-side approach. We will be buying a new, or very low mile used unit.


So we are considering some of the new A-frame type rigs. They are smaller, lighter, easier to maneuver and store. Three brands I can find:
ALiner
Rockwood
Chalet
(any other brand you know of?)


As we're in the Midwest, the Chalet is out simply because no dealer is anywhere near us; it's primarily a western distribution network. So we're constrained to looking at ALiner and Rockwood.


I have done online research and looked them over. Both have what I consider to be pros/cons.


What I'm looking for is real world experiences with these A-frame type rigs.


Two main areas of conversation:
Comfort/Convenience -
What features to look for? What to stay away from. What quality concerns have you personally had/seen from either brand? Etc ...


Design/Construction -
Specifically always interested in the engineering review approach; size of hinges, quality of welds, thickness of frame, quality of screws and their installation, quality of rubber seals, and so on ...

My only tip for evaluating "quality" is that the heaviest trailer is usually made best.

One thing to watch for is the tank sizes on these small trailers. Since you are veteran trailer people you can evaluate your requirements pretty well.

I had a large TT.
Downsized to a medium size TT.
That was for our needs much better than the big trailer.
A couple of years ago we really down sized. Sold the trailer and got a slide in camper. Wish now I had the camper from the beginning.
I am a firm believer in smaller is better when it comes to RVs.
Best thing for our needs with the camper is, so easy to drive around with if we are in a city, plus the ability to tow, allowing the boat to come along when we want.

We went through the same type of downsizing. At one time we were pulling a 36' Weekend Warrior toy hauler. After a changes we are down to a 24' toy hauler. No longer have the quads, teenagers, or large dogs to house. We couldn't be happier. Very easy to get into any space we want...and a breeze for this truck to tow around.

The only thing I would say, and this is probably already on your mind; make sure you keep the dedicated bathroom option. I couldn't imagine losing that option. Our first RV was a pop-up, with no bathroom:(

The toy haulers are built like a tank. But they tow like one too. My first/current trailer is a toy hauler. It's going to be difficult to "downsize" to a plain travel trailer. The extra water tank size, the onboard generator and probably 3 or 4 other things make the toy hauler a very self contained unit. No need to locate the generator in the garage or haul along extra water jugs.

At 11,000 GVWR my trailer would never be considered "light". It pulls well with a WDH. Because of its weight it moves less when it's windy.

My toy hauler never had anything like an ATV in the garage through the first two owners. They liked the extra room that the garage provided.

Yes ... we went from a 27' Class C to a hard sided, no electronic slides/tip outs truck camper. Best move ever ... for us!

Two suggestions. 1) Take a look at truck campers. They seem to meet all of your needs. 2) Head over to rv.net. Start reading and if you have questions, join the site and ask away. You'll get pretty straight, unbiased opinions from most of the people there.

Good Luck.

Truck campers are amazing for simplicity, and you can take them down some reasonably gnarly trails too if you feel like it. I practically grew up in one, so I'm biased for sure, but they fit the needs of many people..

I don't see us ever owning anything else but a camper ever again.
Had two motor homes, and two travel trailers, as a youngster my parents had a few travel trailers.
Now with a camper, I am more than happy and love it.

This has been a good read. With purchasing our first '17 F250 with the 6.2L gas engine, we are looking for our first travel trailer. Our kids are on the tail end of wanting to camp with Mom and Dad. We used a pop up for 20 years and had a lot of fun with it. Now that we are looking for TT's, and it's funny how we started looking at 23' models and now have graduated looking at 26-27' box models that are over 30' in length. Need to recalculate our plans.