Which Toy Hauler

[Navvet]

Research and patience are the key .....

After 2 years of looking around, I found on Craigslist a 2004 K&S 32' toy-hauler that was in fantastic shape. New tires, new awning, everything in good shape, everything worked with all the bells and whistles.....

And the best part about it, only $8,000.00 !!!

We spent a couple of months familiarizing ourselves with it and a few short runs .... and then took off for an 8 week, 8800 mile trip across the country with my Goldwing in the back (this is prior to getting my wife her F3).

Moral of the story, a little research and patience turned into a great adventure, and I can still trade the toy-hauler in for more than I paid for it.

 

[WA5VHU]

Pretty sure you would not be able to get in and out of most RV Parks with this "rig". Boy it sure would be fun to drive. I see others like this on the road but I have owned 9 RV's. The largest a 42 foot diesel pusher with a double decker motorsport trailer. Just too hard to maintain. It becomes a full time job. Nothing beats a big rig over the road though when you want to get somewhere.

​Jack

We did have to make it clear to the campgrounds how long we were and there may have been some that we skipped but most that we were interested in staying at were pull-thru and we had no problem. We would typically stay for 6 months or longer so if it was a bit difficult to get in and out we didn't have to do it a lot. With a 50° wheel cut these Volvo's can turn very sharp.

Here we are in the campground for Washington DC, the big red truck and the trailer just below it. This is a winter shot and all those lower camping places are not used so we can park the truck wherever we like down there, otherwise we park in an overflow lot not too far from our campsite, well within walking distance.



And yes, it was indeed fun to drive for both me and the wife. I really miss having it.

 

[WA5VHU]

I am big on researching everything before making any moves and did find all 3500 class pickups dually or not would not be adequate for most of the larger haulers. I have poked around looking at the 5500 class as well as single rear axle tractors. thanks for the advice travel safe.

A single axle tractor is usually preferred, I just didn't want to spend the money or the time to convert our truck.

Folks talk real proud of their 4500 and 5500 and other MDT's (Medium Duty Trucks). They typically ride very rough (no air ride) are under-powered (pickup or an enlarged pickup engine) and wear out transmissions, brakes, etc. when towing the big loads. A used HDT (Heavy Duty Truck) can often be had for less than a MDT. A HDT is no wider than a dually pickup or a MDT. It is longer however it may have a sharper turning radius, the Volvo's wheels turn 50°.

If you need something more than a 3500 you really may want to check out both MDT and HDT trucks and read up on the forums before you make a decision.

 

[copilot]

Maybe I should tell my company about this. Maybe we will get rid of our 30,000 plus single axle Kw's, Frieght shakers and Volvo's that we haul up to 80,000 everyday of the week. That way I can get a sleeper unit and take my naps while waiting for dispatch to give me a couple trailers to head back with.

Your Volvo is over kill. A single axle Volvo would have worked better with the correct gear and transmission setup.
Just my two cents of driving those things for 40 plus years.

 

[WA5VHU]

Maybe I should tell my company about this. Maybe we will get rid of our 30,000 plus single axle Kw's, Frieght shakers and Volvo's that we haul up to 80,000 everyday of the week. That way I can get a sleeper unit and take my naps while waiting for dispatch to give me a couple trailers to head back with.

Your Volvo is over kill. A single axle Volvo would have worked better with the correct gear and transmission setup.
Just my two cents of driving those things for 40 plus years.

Yepper, you are indeed correct, a single axle would have been better. We sold our Dodge Ram dually for fairly big bucks and bought the Volvo for only about $15,000. It was overkill but as I said I didn't want to spend the money or take the time to have it converted to single axle. It worked great for us the way it was.

Just my 1.75 cents based on driving for over 60 years. (All the way from a pedal tricycle to a motorized one.)

And we now return to the thread at hand...

 

[tehrlich]

 

[Lurker]

I purchased a small hauler last year - Forest River 25RR which measures 30 tongue to tail. We just wanted the smallest toyhauler we could find that would be easy to pull and could hold one trike plus our bicycles, golf clubs and other things while at shows and camping. This unit works very well and I pull it with a chevy avalanche 1500.
I rigged up a winch that I hook to the trikes trailer hitch so I can pull the trike in backwards. On the RT units the trike will not fit going in front first. This also worked out great.
I went with a new 2014 hold over as the cabinets are medium brown vs the black that is common on the 2016, I believe I paid 18k for the unit complete.

 

[TXrider]

Toyhauler

My husband and I had been searching for Toy-haulers also - we ended up going to Sundowner - a livestock trailer manufacturer and found they also built Toy-haulers. We ordered our own- the way we wanted it without all the extra bells and whistles - that to us, weren't necessary. We flat track race vintage bikes and needed room for three to four bikes and tools. Also - just traveling fit 2-RTs [back to back] or my husbands Roadglide and my RT. We have a 14' garage separate from the living quarters. It was great getting the unit the way we wanted.

 

[DaGrlz]

We have Cruiser RV's Stryker 2912 Toy Hauler

We have a Stryker 29' interior length. It is a beast mostly due to the height but will fit both spyder's if it needs to. Normally we only take the RT when vacationing. There is no issue pulling the RT into it either forward or backwards. King size bed is a plus and it had the best counter space of the toy haulers we were looking at.

 

[tehrlich]

Ebay Jayco Seneca ZX:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2006-Jayco-...cc0c2ce7:g:YUkAAOSwdIFX0avF&item=252531453159