Okay, much to my surprise, over the weekend my wife revived the idea of our getting a toy hauler. However, in looking everything over, our 2001 Suburban K1500 just isn't sufficient as a tow vehicle for something so heavy. The one we want is a 23 foot that weighs between 4,000 and 5,000 pounds empty. The tow rating of the Suburban is 7,600 pounds. Even if we filled up the fresh water after reaching our destination, we'd still be pushing the tow rating right to the limit by the time we load 2 quads, tools, groceries and miscellaneous crapola.
After reviewing a number of tragic trailering incidents on www.trailerlife.com I'm a bit spooked about running that close to the limit.
A new tow vehicle probably isn't an option. For one, I like the Suburban as my daily driver and really don't want to replace it. Besides that, we can't afford the sort of truck that would really be best suited to towing a hauler.
So, now we're considering an older, used Class C motorhome. It looks like decent ones that are 10-12 years old sell for considerably less than the toy haulers we were looking at. So, we could buy the RV and a cargo trailer for less than a toy hauler, and it would be much safer on the road.
Does anybody have experience with motorhomes? What should I watch out for when shopping? Any particular manufacturer better or worse than average?
After reviewing a number of tragic trailering incidents on www.trailerlife.com I'm a bit spooked about running that close to the limit.
A new tow vehicle probably isn't an option. For one, I like the Suburban as my daily driver and really don't want to replace it. Besides that, we can't afford the sort of truck that would really be best suited to towing a hauler.
So, now we're considering an older, used Class C motorhome. It looks like decent ones that are 10-12 years old sell for considerably less than the toy haulers we were looking at. So, we could buy the RV and a cargo trailer for less than a toy hauler, and it would be much safer on the road.
Does anybody have experience with motorhomes? What should I watch out for when shopping? Any particular manufacturer better or worse than average?