Brand new 22FBS owner and soon to be fulltimer

Hi All!

I just bought a 2013 22FBS today! I am selling my house and planning on moving in to my trailer full time. I'll be living as a solo female in my early 30's with my dogs. I'll either be moving out to Albuquerque area or south eastern WA and likely stationary there for a 2+ years. I am planning on starting out at an RV park, hoping I'll get a little more creative with boondocking a bit once I feel like I know what I am doing.

I have yet to buy a truck, have until the end of the week to find one. Would love to hear what others are using as tow vehicles (for similarly weighted trailers: Dry weight 4700, GWVR 6900) or any suggestions. I won't be towing very often, or for very great distances (except for my first move to either NM or WA). I am leaning towards a 1/2 ton truck, but am not sure if that will be pushing it. The truck will be my only vehicle and I anticipate living around 20-30 min highway drive from my work, so decent gas mileage is a big plus.

I am very happy to have found this forum; I have a lot to learn! I've never owned or even stayed in a "real" travel trailer before. I have a 1964 10 ft canned ham travel trailer (glorified tent with a heater ) which is what got me started on this whole adventure. May sound a little crazy, but I am planning on keeping my little trailer for weekend getaways.

Hi BriPi,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and to the family. We have a great bunch of folks here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge when needed.

I'm sure you will get some suggestions from our other members as to a truck soon. Don't be afraid to ask for help with anything, that's what the Heartland family is here for. You will find lots of great people here.

Enjoy the forum.

Jim M

We really liked our 2008 Toyota Tundra, it pulled our 2008 North Trail 21FBS very well, and the Truck was easy for me to drive.

-Erika


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BriPi, Welcome to the Heartland Forum & Family. It sound like you're in for quite an adventure. Have fun! As for a tow vehicle, any of the half ton trucks will do fine. Be sure it's equipped with a tow package that includes a transmission oil cooler. Enjoy your journey.

Ditto on the half ton with tow package. Buy the right truck and you are rated for 12.000 lbs. Get the wrong one and it could be as little as 3500lbs. It's all about how the truck is equipped. Cab style, box size, and drivetrain ( including rear axel ratio) all play a role on the tow rating. Not too critical with a trailer that size, but if you want to upgrade in the future it would be good to "future proof " your tow vehicle now. Just take a look at the GVWR of other trailers slightly larger. This will give you a nice safe margin if you get a case of "Upgrade-itus."


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Welcome to the forum. If you have any problems post on the site and we will do our best to help you. Good luck!!

A little late to help, but I pull my 22FBS just fine with an F150 ... I live in SE NM, last summer my A/C did fine in our heat, Albuquerque (if you move there) is a little cooler.

Look into a Ram 1500 diesel w/speed trans. W/o trailer 25 MPG. w/trailer 15-18 mpg.

Don't forget that we are 20 minutes from the mountains here in the front range of Colorado . . .

Not like pulling around out in Iowa or Kansas!

Get a truck that is bigger than what you actually need!

It is not all about if the truck can pull it . . . but can it also stop it!

We had a scare this last August coming down HWY 34 from Estes Park into Ft. Collins with our Dodge Ram 1500 where we came around a blind curve only to find the trailer that was in front of us stopped dead in the road!

It had just started raining and the road was slippery . . . I was only going around 30 MPH . . . and I barely got our truck and trailer stopped less than 10 feet from the back of the trailer in a cloud of black tire smoke!

Two weeks later . . . I bought a new 2015 Chevy 2500HD . . . what a difference!

My new truck stops on a dime . . . even with the trailer attached!

And it will go over Raton Pass (I-25 at the border of Colorado and New Mexico) without issue with the trailer in tow where our old 1500 would be going 10 MPH up the hill and would have to stop at the top and cool off for a half hour before we could continue!

Old and new (first shot was the old truck about a half hour before the HWY 34 incident):

Interesting. We had been looking at the Ram 1500 Eco Diesel but read that the brakes were not what you might expect. We've been towing our 22FBS with a Porsche Cayenne S (8 cyl.) for 2 years over the Blue Ridge Mtns, the Poconos and the Adirondacks with no breaking or cooling issues. We even towed for 2 hrs with the umbilical cord disconnected (with no trailer brakes) and didn't even notice the difference. Avg. MPG is 11 and a range of 250 miles or 4.5 hrs. We're looking at going to a diesel tow vehicle to get greater range so we can make it to the next campground without having to negotiate a gas station. Currently considering the diesel Cayenne and the Mercedes GL350. I really like the Cayenne - it's 8 years old and almost bullet proof - but a longer wheelbase would be good. Since we live on a narrow 1-way street with on-street parking, a pickup truck is tough to get into and out of the driveway. And, my wife doesn't want to drive a pickup - thus the SUVs.