If after mid-February ’15 you should be driving the highways of the United States and meet or pass a truck and trailer which looks something like the one above give it a wave (and plenty of room)…it might be us.
We took procession of the trailer yesterday morning and after a little time on the dealers grounds learning how the trailer tracks in a turn and how quickly it reacts when changing direction in backing we took to the Interstate and local highways to deliver it to a nearby storage location. Getting use to it was a much easier transition then I had expected and the experience of years of growing up backing farm trailers and wagons came flooding back. Heck, at 16 during drivers education my instructor once told me I backed up better then I drove forward — I’m still not sure if that was a compliment but I’ll take it as one.
Once we arrived at the storage location it took a tricky two turn backing maneuver to get it into its designated parking spot. Good thing I’m not superstitious about the storage location number being 911. It did take a while to get it maneuvered into place but it went well and I’m feeling confident about handling it in the future.
The truck is a perfect match, capability wise, for the 6-7 ton trailer — very steady with the dual rear wheels and has plenty of pulling and stopping power. It didn’t even sit down that much in the back with the extra 2800lbs of pin weight. I’ll post more details and photos of the trailer a little later on. Just now both Bonnie and I are trying to recover from a couple of very nasty colds. We were feeling so poorly yesterday we almost canceled picking the trailer up.
There’s definitely a lot of that cold stuff going around, but I’m sure it would take a lot to dampen your excitement.
I’ve never towed a trailer forward let alone backward, but I do know that it takes some practice and experience in either direction.
I’m glad to see that your plans are shaping up well and look forward to catching up with you and Bonnie in person to hear more about your adventures!
We’ve had real kick-butt colds with sore throats and all. Our granddaughter stayed here last weekend and we knew she had a cold…more then “just a simple cold” it seems.
Thanks
So that’s the new home, huh? Impressive. And exciting-looking. The world at your doorstep – literally.
Sounds like we’ll be hitting the road again about a month after you do. You’ll have to give me an idea of where you’re heading so I can look for this monster. We’ll be heading cross=country on I-40 toward Death Valley (with a few stops along the way). I just hope gas prices don’t decide to spike upward again before March!
Thanks, Paul. Yeah, it’s bigger then I’d originally visualized but it’s the one Bonnie felt the floor plan fitted with the idea of living in full-time. On reflection she was probably right, as she often is. :-) Luckily we got smart and picked out the trailer first and then after much reading and chatting decided on the truck size — much better and safer to have too much truck then not enough.
We haven’t formulated detailed plans or routes yet but we may not be in the area you’re heading to in time to cross paths. We talked of heading south to spend a few days/weeks along the ocean or gulf first and then drifting west from there. We’ve approaching this with a “meandering” frame of mind…moving at most 150-250 miles a time and then staying days or week as required to explore. We’re adopting this laid-back approach for several reasons, first, we don’t have to be anywhere at any certain time, second, to avoid feeling like we’re driven to do it and then risk suffering the resulting burnout and lastly, but very importantly, to help stay within a monthly budget on fuel. It’s cheaper to sit then to drive and at an estimated 10-12mpg towing (not towing 17-20mpg) diesel fuel is going to add up quickly (I hope for all of us fuel prices stay down.) Still, we’ll be better off then most of those big Class A RVs (7-10mpg) and we’ll have more living space then many of them.
After a few months we’ll probably adjust our travel schedule, but a lot of newbies report starting off too fast and eventually burning out on constantly moving.
Looks like a great rig. It’s smart to start off slow like you’re planning to do. Here’s wishing you all the best on your exciting and interesting new life, and Happy Holidays
Hi pj, Thanks for the well wishes and I wish you all the best for the holiday season and for the coming year. At the beginning of any year we never know where the end of that year will find us, do we? At the first of this year I’d never thought we’d be selling our house, own an RV and be preparing to hit the road by the end of the year. You just never know! :-)