#PlanningPart3 The second part of this search is to find a toy hauler, this can be either a bumper tow, a goose neck, or a fifth wheel travel camper. This type of camper has a rear door that drops down so you can load whatever toys you may have, be it a motorcycle, a 4 wheeler, side by side razor or whatever. You drop down the back door and just drive your toy up into the garage area, close the door, secure your toy and your off to your next camping destination where you just do everything in reverse to have your toy ready for your next adventure.
The front part of the camper is dedicated to a living area, a mini house built into the camper. This area has all the comforts of a home, bathroom, shower, bed, refrigerator, small kitchen, cabinet storage, air conditioning, and even a kitchen sink, what more could you ask for in a mobile tiny home?
I think the best camper for me would be one in the 21-28 foot range, I need a certain amount of “Garage Space” to build custom shelving, custom drop down work tables and cabinets to store my work materials and equipment, more on that in part 4.
Unfortunately I really can't buy a toy hauler until I get my tow vehicle which will determine the best size camper, each vehicle has a maximum towing capacity, GCWR, Dry Weight/Curb Weight, GVWR, Gross Trailer Weight, and Trailer Tongue Weight. All these must be taken into consideration so you don't overload your truck and decrease your safety when towing.
A quick explanation of the terms:
GCWR: Gross Combined Weight Rating
This represents the maximum weight of both the loaded vehicle and
the loaded trailer combined.
Dry Weight: The weight of an empty vehicle, without payload or
driver, with standard equipment, fuel coolant and also know as
vehicle weight.
GVWR: Gross Vehicle Weight Rating
The actual weight of the entire vehicle and it's contents,
including fuel, and occupants
GTW: Gross Trailer Weight
The complete weight of a loaded trailer
TTW: Trailer Tongue Weight
The amount of weight put on the trailer tongue to keep it balanced for safer driving
As you can see its a little complicated, this is necessary to make sure you calculate everything correctly to achieve the safest setup. The reason for all these calculations is to make sure that you do not exceed the towing capacity of your tow vehicle. If you had an accident with a camper that exceeded your maximum towing capacity, your insurance would not cover you damages and you would be left to fix your vehicles and the vehicles of anyone else involved. Even though I cannot buy my Toy Hauler right now, I am still looking to see exactly what I want to buy.
I am planning on visiting the local camper companies and look at a few new ones, just to get an idea of exactly how long I actually need to house all my equipment and materials. It's very difficult to judge interior size from the small photographs posted on the different for sale sites.
My camper will be a small working studio for the things I plan to do while on the road.
Part 4 will be covering what my skills are and what I'm planning as far as income goes while traveling around the country.