TRS Event 2026 Fall Colors Campout

[JoshT]

IMO the big secret for a camper is keeping them inside. Water is what kills them. Try to find one that was kept inside and try to find somewhere to keep it inside.

Or rather than pay storage, tags and tires... just rent one.

If you can't keep it inside, at least keep it covered, get the roof inspected on the regular, and get it resealed as needed.

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

Renting is the current best option, for sure! Some of the Facebook finds have been scary. I'd heard it said once before, "do you want a project, or do you want to go camping".

 

[JoshT]

Renting is the current best option, for sure! Some of the Facebook finds have been scary. I'd heard it said once before, "do you want a project, or do you want to go camping".

He ain't wrong. Unfortunately there are some things that just aren't available to rent. Not too many options in the small toy-hauler realm. At least not that I could find around here.

If you go look at a used one, take an objective third party or find someone that inspects them to give you a second opinion. Someone that without a dog in the fight, someone that won't be wearing the rose colored glasses, someone that is looking for every flaw to convince you not to buy it. Then if they say it's good, or you can live with what they find, buy away.

I should have passed on mine. Missed so much when looking at it and I had an idea of what to look for since we'd just gone through a partial rebuild on my parents camper last year. It's almost usable as is and fixable, so both a project and ready to camp. If I'd known about the issues I found after, I'd have passed or given a LOT less for it. Honestly I can't fault the seller. He was mostly a fair weather camper using it to transport his bikes to a couple of rallies, and parked it under cover when not in use. Most of what I found, I only noticed due to pulling it through some particularly hard rain.

 

[Curious Hound]

Renting is the current best option, for sure! Some of the Facebook finds have been scary. I'd heard it said once before, "do you want a project, or do you want to go camping".

I'm pretty sure that's a quote from @85_Ranger4x4

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

"do you want a project, or do you want to go camping".

I'm pretty sure that's a quote from @85_Ranger4x4

 

[Jim Oaks]

I'm waiting for Eric to replace his flatbed with a pop up.

 

[Curious Hound]

I'm waiting for Eric to replace his flatbed with a pop up.

Nope

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I'm waiting for Eric to replace his flatbed with a pop up.

I still think it would be really slick to do... maybe someday.

 

[sgtsandman]

I'd like a small hard-sided trailer but besides the initial cost (I know used ones are cheap) I don't have anywhere to park it where I live so I'd have to rent space in a storage lot. For the foreseeable future we will just rent one when we need.
My daughter and son-in-law have a pop-up I could borrow but I regard those as glorified tents.

Some certainly are. I have also seen some that are as well equipped as a hard sided trailer. The only difference is the type of wall they have.

Storage is certainly a other issue. Storage is a big reason I don't have a lot of things. I refuse to pay for storage and I don't have space to park a motorcycle, let alone a camping trailer. Thus why the 2019 is setup like it is and I had a lot of tent camping stuff. I can find places to store that since I can break it down into smaller pieces.

 

[sgtsandman]

IMO the big secret for a camper is keeping them inside. Water is what kills them. Try to find one that was kept inside and try to find somewhere to keep it inside.

Or rather than pay storage, tags and tires... just rent one.

Even a carport will make a huge difference and atleast gravel for it to sit on.

 

[SenorNoob]

Any news on this front?

Anybody else gonna make it?

@Robert Mangrum @Tbow2025

We gotta have more than 7 people there.

 

[JoshT]

I'm still solidly in the camp of being there, but haven't made my reservation yet. Between weather, work, and medication changes, progress has been slow on getting my camper up to par. Electrical seems fixed now and a HF canopy going up tomorrow so I can reseal the roof leak. Really should have stuck to my original plan of building my own from a cargo trailer, but that's topic for another thread.

Will hopefully be taking it for a shake down run over labor day weekend. If all goes well, I'll be making a reservation at the campground, if not, I might be joining the hotel in town group.

EDIT: Or I might be staying in a hotel anyway. All RV sites now appear to be showing as booked for that period.

EDIT 2: Or if it comes to that I might be canceling. At this point, it looks like booking a room for the entire stay is potentially going to be $1k+. Add in the gas for the trip, the night or two stops I was going to make on the way up to see other stuff. Sorry, but I can't justify spending $1500-2000 on this trip. If I can't work out bring the camper, I might have to bail. I'll have to see if the campground will let me book a tent site for my small camper, it's only about 7x14 actual footprint with the tongue removed, so not much bigger than a cabin tent.

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

I'm still solidly in the camp of being there, but haven't made my reservation yet. Between weather, work, and medication changes, progress has been slow on getting my camper up to par. Electrical seems fixed now and a HF canopy going up tomorrow so I can reseal the roof leak. Really should have stuck to my original plan of building my own from a cargo trailer, but that's topic for another thread.

Will hopefully be taking it for a shake down run over labor day weekend. If all goes well, I'll be making a reservation at the campground, if not, I might be joining the hotel in town group.

EDIT: Or I might be staying in a hotel anyway. All RV sites now appear to be showing as booked for that period.

EDIT 2: Or if it comes to that I might be canceling. At this point, it looks like booking a room for the entire stay is potentially going to be $1k+. Add in the gas for the trip, the night or two stops I was going to make on the way up to see other stuff. Sorry, but I can't justify spending $1500-2000 on this trip. If I can't work out bring the camper, I might have to bail. I'll have to see if the campground will let me book a tent site for my small camper, it's only about 7x14 actual footprint with the tongue removed, so not much bigger than a cabin tent.

A lot of times campgrounds let teardrops park in tent spaces so the bigger RV's have a place to park, so you have a pretty good chance depending on how they've layed out the sites. There are a few things that you mentioned that I personally think might just be you overthinking like I do.

First, it's October in WV. It's likely you're not going to need A/C. The canopy you bought will do well to protect much of the roof from rain, or a silver HF tarp stretched over the top could be peace of mind if your seals aren't where you want them to be. You spent so much time trying to find a camper and make it work... Right now it's a glorified tent, but you bought it with this trip in mind - at least, that's what I perceived.

Try and see if the tent site option is possible, and run out there with an unfinished project. I understand the hotel problem, but Air B&B and Vrbo options are much cheaper - sometimes sub $100/night. My wife and I stay in them when we travel because of the fact that hotels are unreasonably expensive. If you have the funds, I'd really love to see that you went.

 

[JoshT]

No, wasn't just bought for the trip, though I understand why it might seem that way. The timing just worked out right for it to be used here for the first big trip.

The leaking issue was a actually when towing, not stationary. No water intrusion when parked, it blows it around a few seams when moving. Tarp isn't going to do much good then. Problem is to fix them I need to open a hole to two, seal and reinstall the part. Won't be difficult to fix, just haven't had a good opportunity without rain or 100°ish weather and high humidity.

Thus far I've towed it a total of about 45 miles one time. After getting it home I discovered the suspension had been modified. Probably fine, but I want a longer pull to feel it out before I take it that far. Also want to get it plugged into a proper 30A RV outlet and verify electrical. I don't have one of those at home yet, and I'm not trying to get into or adapt to my dryer outlet .

IIRC the VRBO and B&B options were included in that pricing I mentioned. If I am going to stay at the campground in that box, electricity is definitely needed. A fan at minimum. I'd say the same if I were in a tent.

 

[sgtsandman]

I'm still solidly in the camp of being there, but haven't made my reservation yet. Between weather, work, and medication changes, progress has been slow on getting my camper up to par. Electrical seems fixed now and a HF canopy going up tomorrow so I can reseal the roof leak. Really should have stuck to my original plan of building my own from a cargo trailer, but that's topic for another thread.

Will hopefully be taking it for a shake down run over labor day weekend. If all goes well, I'll be making a reservation at the campground, if not, I might be joining the hotel in town group.

EDIT: Or I might be staying in a hotel anyway. All RV sites now appear to be showing as booked for that period.

EDIT 2: Or if it comes to that I might be canceling. At this point, it looks like booking a room for the entire stay is potentially going to be $1k+. Add in the gas for the trip, the night or two stops I was going to make on the way up to see other stuff. Sorry, but I can't justify spending $1500-2000 on this trip. If I can't work out bring the camper, I might have to bail. I'll have to see if the campground will let me book a tent site for my small camper, it's only about 7x14 actual footprint with the tongue removed, so not much bigger than a cabin tent.

Like @Li'l Work Truck said, check with the campground. They are letting me use a tent site with my RTT, they might work with you if you ask. If you mention that you are with the group from the forum, that might help as well.

Most campgrounds seem to want to put the RTTs in with the trailers for some reason, PA State Parks included. But Riffrafters seems to be a bit more lenient as long as you don't need a shore power hook up.

EDIT: Never mind you posted while I was typing and answered why the limitations.