Shopping for a travel trailer and disgusted
I'm researching buying a 5th wheel travel trailer to live in 99% of the year while I work. It makes financial sense to do it because I would save so much money over motels or short term rentals, but I can't get past how shitty they are built. I made the mistake of watching the build videos from most of the manufacturers and I'm sickened by the lack of quality they display on these videos. The units that fit my needs are in the $60k-$125k range. You would expect some exceptional shit at those numbers but it's just a bunch of cheap shit that is slammed together in about 2 days on an assembly line. If I didn't build things for a living maybe I would be blind to this shit, but it's just hard to swallow the sticker price knowing that they are overpriced and under engineered junk. Can anyone here ease my mind and help me take the plunge to buy one of these piles of shit?
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Hell, buy a used one. They lose a ton of value anyway. Pick up a pretty nice one for around 20k or so. Sell it when you're done or push it off a cliff. Just consider it a depreciable asset for your job (write it off) and don't think about it. That's how I view every expense, business or otherwise. I ask myself, what's it's purpose? Can I justify the cost? How much does it cost me to own it after I've already pd for it. What else do I have to have to utilize it (ie. A truck to pull it), Can I save some $ buying used (if so, will maintenance be an issue or not or am I $ ahead to just buy new) and the most important question, do I really need it or am I just convincing myself that I do. You are right though they are built pretty crappily.
I really have to take emotion out of it and view it like you do. I know it will save me money and improve quality of life so yeah I need one. The biggest problem is finding the right one. I only really have 4 requirements.
1. It has to be a 4 season model. I work up north alot so it has to be built to handle the cold. Btw this adds quite a bit to the cost of a trailer
2. I need a decent sized kitchen with a normal sized fridge. This has been hard to find at the lower price range
3. It has to have a human sized shower. Most trailers have this stupid ass tiny shower that a toddler would feel claustrophobic in.
4. It has to have a GVWR under 15k lbs so my truck can pull it.
Seem like pretty reasonable expectations but you'd be surprised how hard it has been finding something that fits these simple requirements.
What about a tiny house on wheels? They seem to be getting popular and you could build it and finish it any way you'd like. We have been thinking about it for camping for the same reason...poor quality trailers and when building is what you do it hard to overlook.
This is my goal eventually. I have an old 36ft camper frame that would work perfectly, I just don't have the time or location to do it right now.
I would go Airstream....they are built like an airplane...
They are probably the best built out there but the floor plans suck. They are more for camping, not full-time living.
Well i hope u find one...
The search continues lol
X2 best trailer period.
Rustyhooker^^^^solid built unit.
hmm, an ex of mine had one, i dont believe it was a 5th wheel setup though just attached to a normal hitch and i think she paid maybe 10 grand for it? If its just you, or you and your signicant other this thing would be perfect, Had a nice size bedroom in the front probably a queen, in there was also a bathoom and sink, then you walk down into the living room and kitchen. It had a nice couch, spot for a flatscreen tv, a resturant style booth table, decent size kitchen with a big fridge and decent size freezer, over, stove sink, lots of counter space and cabinets. I wouldnt have mind living in there. It reallly was a nice setup especially for the price.
bigmurphI grew up in the trailor parks where I live and to be honest I also was in commercial construction and they are built like shit with extremely cheap materials but with you being in construction its not so bad because when you have problems you can just head to home depot and fix it yourself you would be surprised though how long some of these pieces of shit last now im speaking of fixed position trailers don't have much experience with 5 wheel. I imagine you need the 5 wheel because you have to travel with your work truck but if thats not true invest in a actual motor home you can tow a small car like rusty said and I know guys that do this they travel to where the good paying construction work is and I don't know if you are the boss but my buddies ditched there work trucks to tow small cars with thier motor home and they can still fit all of there tools in the trunk. Either way good luck to you brother I hope it all works out.
Also try to buy used there are rich people out there that vuy these trailers use them once then sell them for great deals and they are still brand new
Yeah I need a truck to haul my tools. I have 3 big job boxes for my tools. I should add that right now I travel with a 28ft enclosed trailer that has most of my possessions in it. If and when I get a 5th wheel I'll be traveling 2 trucks and trailers. I'm a gypsy lol, I don't have a home base anymore because I'm never there. That's what's got me so frustrated about these campers because it will be my home and they are such shit. I know it makes financial sense to buy one but it sucks to know that I'm buying something that will not last.
X2...depending on location and/or region op lives in, down here in south oil patch people having layoffs...probbly find one on craigslist pretty cheap...
The chevron refinary in my area just laid off 7,000 people a few weeks back when gas prices started dropping again. We pissed the Saudis off trying to drill our own cheap oil and reduce the need for them. But american oil isn't nearly as cheap as Saudi oil. So they said you wanna play fine and lowered the price per barrel. It cost the Saudis under $6 a barrel. We cant producs it even close to that cheap. And now that Obama made the Iran deal their oil isn't sanctioned anymore. So they can flood the market with oil. The companies are going to buy the cheapest oil and since we made them mad they are playing ball and can afford to. American drilling and fracking, tar sands etc companies arnt going to operate at a loss or break even. My area of the country oil business is a way of life for a lot of people. There are refineries all around my area gas is down to 1.68 a gallon right now
Even GE plastics doesn't exist anymore, years back they sold out to the Saudis. Its called Sabic now. Saudi Arabia basic industry corporation. They wanted the plastic recipes and GE said they had to buy the whole operation. They did for like 13 billion dollars. Its cheaper for Saudis to ship oil here then GE could buy it for. I work for a warehouse of Sabic. They make the different plastic raws, then ship it down in railcars 1/4 mile down the road we package it in 1500lb boxes and sacks and ship it out. The boxes have sabic on them and some Arabic shit on them as well.
RustyhookerEver think of a basic motorhome and tow a small vehicle
14 yrs 3mos 13d....since sept eleventh zero one....i know a few peeps been doing this....enemy is fuckin up too much shit...safer for gov to pay u to be mobile and busy, rather than stuck in a bldg somewhere in a city...
Gotta be willing to live that way...huge change
RustyhookerEspecially if you chase job sites. Many buddies chased drill rigs. Rooms nightly add up even though they made a ton if money.
A cheap crackhead motels is gonna cost between $250-300 a week most places in this country. You can see how quick that adds up. I chase work but I do industrial construction. Build and repair stuff like power plants, refinaries, paper mills, etc.
RustyhookerNo doubts bro. I chased drill rigs few decades ago. Slept in cab of truck.