Again, thanks everyone for your opinions. I don't know if we are any closer to a real decision here, but I certainly feel a lot more educated. We are in the market for a fairly well-used F350 -- I think maybe we'll end up just buying the TRUCK and coping with whatever wheel set the thing has. Yesterday I was leaning towards SRW, today it's DRW . . . . but I love this site a little more every day! (We'll probably be more on worse dirt roads than better; we find ourselves on lots of desert trails and Nevada back roads . . . )
Everyone's got an opinion, and I'd like to hear yours! SRW vs DRW?
- Thread starter FeralK
- Start date
I'll lean more to the full time issues, get a 20, 22, 24 foot travel trailer, used and beef up the suspension on that. They can go down fire roads just fine. Still good for stealth camping in a parking lot with light and noise techniques. Putting a fake lock and hasp on the door, that will keep people from knocking. Get a small bike and put that in the back of the truck for going and getting or exploring saving fuel. Life will be much more comfortable in a mid size simpler travel trailer than any 8 or 10' truck camper for full time living. You can also tow more than you can haul in a truck camper. You might want to consider renting a storage building. You won't need an F-350 either, a 250 is plenty. Many lighter TTs loaded can easily be pulled with an F-150. IMO, put the emphasis on living comfort, not so much on off road.....goggle the "gull boys" crazy Auzzie types take the TT to extremes. :coffeedrink:
McZippie
Walmart Adventure Camper
In the real world, you aren't going to get your big camper rig down very many 4WD 'only' 2 track trails.
They have to many over hangs, too narrow or just to narly for your rig.
The 4WD 'only' trails you can realistically travel, are going to be the trails that turn into gumbo mud after a rain or sand.
If you determine to go with DRW learn the 'art' of steering with your gas pedal, for traveling on sand, snow and gumbo mud roads and trails.
I suspect that most of your travels will be on pavement, if so DRW would be the better choice.
As others have posted, consider a Jeep Toad. Our Towed Jeep can be detached from the Tow Vehicle in under a minute and reattached in less than 2 minutes. Plus we can get our small 2WD DRW motor home to a lot of remote camping spots and it's nice to set up a base camp and use the nimble jeep to explore the area.
Whatever you decide it will have some real limitations, all in all, any stock SUV will do better on any trail, because your rig is so large, DRW or SRW is not going to over come your rigs size and weight disadvantages.
They have to many over hangs, too narrow or just to narly for your rig.
The 4WD 'only' trails you can realistically travel, are going to be the trails that turn into gumbo mud after a rain or sand.
If you determine to go with DRW learn the 'art' of steering with your gas pedal, for traveling on sand, snow and gumbo mud roads and trails.
I suspect that most of your travels will be on pavement, if so DRW would be the better choice.
As others have posted, consider a Jeep Toad. Our Towed Jeep can be detached from the Tow Vehicle in under a minute and reattached in less than 2 minutes. Plus we can get our small 2WD DRW motor home to a lot of remote camping spots and it's nice to set up a base camp and use the nimble jeep to explore the area.
Whatever you decide it will have some real limitations, all in all, any stock SUV will do better on any trail, because your rig is so large, DRW or SRW is not going to over come your rigs size and weight disadvantages.
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98dango
Expedition Leader
My wife and I live in 26' of heaven. I could not imagine any smaller full time. We are young 32/22 and have our toys. We find it hard to store food and clothing. We talked a lot and even rented and barrowed trailers motorhomes before we came up with this set up. It's big enough to not sit on top of one another small enough I can get it any where. I tow it with a 2000 f250 5.4 automatic. I have towed it with a taho and a 1/2 ton 4.8 v8 Chevy truck. When we go on long trips I toss a Honda 250 dual sport in the bed. If im not sure I can get theload down the trail I ride it and see.
whiskeycutter
Observer
srw vs drw
I have owned several single rear wheel F250 diesel, a f350 dually and a f450 dually.I have a Hallmark popup truck camper on the current F250 single rear wheel. That rig weighs about half of what you are talking about. I have heavy duty tires and airbags. That is as much as I personally would want on a single rear wheel truck. You have alot of weight high up with a hard side truck camper and when on rough and uneven roads sway is unavoidable. The dual rear wheels help mitigate that. I would want a very beefy suspension and airbags whether single or double rear wheels. But I think you will find that the camper size and weight will dictate where you can go rather than the single or double wheels. Another consideration is wind. I was driving my rig across Wyoming in a very significant spring wind storm. Even with the popup low profile strong cross winds provide a driving challenge. A large hard side camper and truck is like driving a 5 ton windsock. Dual rear wheels also help in that situation. So it all depends on what your main goal is. I think a dually provides more stability but its offroad capabilities are also less.
I have owned several single rear wheel F250 diesel, a f350 dually and a f450 dually.I have a Hallmark popup truck camper on the current F250 single rear wheel. That rig weighs about half of what you are talking about. I have heavy duty tires and airbags. That is as much as I personally would want on a single rear wheel truck. You have alot of weight high up with a hard side truck camper and when on rough and uneven roads sway is unavoidable. The dual rear wheels help mitigate that. I would want a very beefy suspension and airbags whether single or double rear wheels. But I think you will find that the camper size and weight will dictate where you can go rather than the single or double wheels. Another consideration is wind. I was driving my rig across Wyoming in a very significant spring wind storm. Even with the popup low profile strong cross winds provide a driving challenge. A large hard side camper and truck is like driving a 5 ton windsock. Dual rear wheels also help in that situation. So it all depends on what your main goal is. I think a dually provides more stability but its offroad capabilities are also less.