Does this even exist? - RV-Dreams Community Forum

GENECOP · RV-Dreams Family Member

Does this even exist?

cherylbrv · RV-Dreams Family Member

I tried Googling; maybe I don't have the right set of key words...

Is there a such thing as a towable toy hauler (garage) that can be towed by a Class A? What I have in mind is a setup similar to many toy hauler 5th wheels in which the garage area can fit a small car and/or toys but it also has a bed that's on the ceiling that comes down when the garage is empty. I would replace the bed space with a desk so I would have my office separate from the rest of the house. I imagine it will need some electricity as well (enough to power a light, a computer and a fan in the summer or space heater in the winter.) A large window would also be nice biggrin

I've looked at various toy hauler 5th wheels, and although I haven't ruled them out completely, I don't like the fact that I have to sacrifice prime living space. If this is to be my home, I like the feel of having separate living areas, especially for the kitchen and living room. I would lose much of the living area in the toy haulers. Then again, unless I go for a MH that starts at half a million $ and upwards, the living and kitchen areas will also be combined on their floorplans.

For now, if the budget allows, I'm looking at the Mobile Suites Atlanta or Phoenix bunkhouse models, probably even removing the bunks for additional desk space. Only drawback with that plan is we'd need to have a scout vehicle, as the MDT we plan to buy with it would be too big and bulky for local trips.

Just a thought anyway. I know I can't have it all.

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

They make one that will haul your car....has a shower , small kitchen with booth and yes even has fold down bunks.....
I looked at one thinking I could ad a wing door side and use it to work out of!

nh.craigslist.org/rvs/4102112901.html

SnowGypsy · RV-Dreams Family Member

I'm confused as to the question. Right now, are you planning to buy a MDT and 5th wheel toyhauler but are wondering if it would be possible to have a Class A and tow a toyhauler with a small car inside? That would be possible IF the Class A had the ability to pull the weight of the toyhauler with the car inside and I'm not sure what sort of figures you would be talking about with that.

bigboomer · RV-Dreams Family Member

Cheryl,

When we were doing all of our research we found ourselves in a similar quandary. We decided in the end to go with a custom built MDT by 2L Custom Trucks in Pooleville, TX. This way we did not have to sacrifice the comfort of a nice 5'er but still had the convenience of bringing our toys around and can still drive the truck to a supermarket parking lot if need be. Our truck comes in at just under 24 feet and combined we are 63'. The truck garage is designed to haul our M/C's and if necessary some day a Smart car.

For the custom MDT you are looking in the mid 100's and up depending on what you have done to it. My wife has no issues driving Bigboomer and maneuvers easily in town.

Check out Wayland's website: http://www.2lcustomtrucks.com/

Good Luck. If you need more particulars you can PM me.

Les

cherylbrv · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks, Les. I was actually looking at SportChassis and Mountainmaster. 2L seems to be on par with them.

Is it really that easy to get around a small town, including parking lots of strip malls and small shopping centers? I heard it was a little rough with a Ford 450; I would think this is even more difficult. I don't mean in terms of driving - more in terms of parking it! I can't imagine it takes up a normal parking space. Then again, that's what the smart car or motorcycles would be for.

Mostly, I'm looking for a floorplan that provides a separate office area, which so far seems to be either a bunkhouse model or a toy hauler, both of which (except for the Mobile Suites) sacrifice living area.

In retrospect, I think the thought of towing a car carrier on a class A is kind of ridiculous. So never mind my question!

bigboomer · RV-Dreams Family Member

Cheryl,

Easy is relative to what you feel comfortable with. With our truck we do need to park in the back of the lot and have to pay attention to what the lots look like before we pull in as you can get in a pickle. Generally speaking we usually do not have issues as long as you take you time and are not rushing just to get somewhere and as with anything, practice makes perfect. Sometimes we scout out an area and if we have to park a block or two away to be comfy we will do so.

Once we got a feel for what the turning radius was on BB it all came together. We have a camera on both the truck and 5'er so we can keep an eye on what is behind us at all times.

The Bear II · RV-Dreams Family Member

It sounds like an enclosed trailer with capacity to handle your car would fit your needs. I have seen them with windows, air conditioning beds and counters used as race car support. You could tow it with a Class A provided the Claas A has the capacity to tow the combined weight. I see this type of setup all of the time at car races and drag race events.

You may be able to find a trailer at www.racingjunk.com or on craigslist. This company builds enclosed trailers and toyhaulers, they do have some used units listed on their site frome time to time. www.carsontrailer.com/

NWescapee · RV-Dreams Family Member

Cheryl - not sure if this helps, but we have some artists friends with a 40 ft DP MH. They tow a cargo trailer that holds their mini van, in the mini van is all the "stuff" (canopy, display shelves, weights, etc) they need to set up at art shows. The inside front of the trailer is lined with cabinets holding their art making equipment and supplies and they have built in fold up counters along the side walls. The cabinets are built such that as they pull the mini van into the trailer, the cabinets hang just above the front hood. Once they back the mini van out of the trailer, they have counters along the sides that fold down providing work surfaces. They do have to be very careful about weight, they are at their max towing capacity so they do store some of their heavier equipment and extra supplies in the underneath storage of the MH.

Their comments on the drawbacks - hard to find campsites long enough to accomodate the MH, trailer and the minivan. To do some of the work, they have wired the cargo trailer for electricity, added LED lights and an AC unit. This obviously impacts the electrical usage at some campgrounds, when they have 30 amp hookups, if they are working in the cargo trailer, running the A/C, nothing is running in the MH. They often end up in overflow parking with their mini van and do sometimes have to pay extra fees to have a second vehicle in state or county parks who impose extra fees. They are 63 feet long going down the highway and criss cross the country 2-4 times per year depending on their art show schedule. They try to limit time spent in large cities on either coast and have given up some art shows in higher populated areas because they can't find places to easily park and work plus more traffic in the large cities which makes driving more challenging.

cherylbrv · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks all. The advice definitely helps. I need to continue to rethink how to do this. Ultimately, the budget will be the deciding factor. I'm starting to lean against this approach though.

Neil and Connie · RV-Dreams Family Member

cherylbrv wrote:
Is it really that easy to get around a small town, including parking lots of strip malls and small shopping centers? I heard it was a little rough with a Ford 450

I've heard from enough people that should know so that I believe them that the big truck has better turning capability than the F450 does so I can't argue with that. I can say that parking the F450 is harder than parking a car and the larger truck would be even worse. The trouble is that the F450 dualley won't fit in a normal parking place well at all so you have to be careful where you take it to park. In the Walmart or Costco just park in the back 40 and nobody minds if you take up 2 (or maybe 4 depending on length of the spaces) spots. In a strip mall you might or might not have issues…again it depends on how they've striped their lot. I've found more small sized parking spaces than large sized…so sometimes one just has to park across the lines a bit.

All that said…the only place we have been where I would not want to have had the 450 was downtown Albuequerque…everywhere else was either OK or tight but doable. We did have an issue turning a corner in downtown Branson MO on the way to the Escapees Park there…but that was the old turning right from 2 lane street to another 2 lane street and there was a power pole right on the corner.

You can get around with the 450 if you need to…but I personally would not want to have it as our only vehicle.

cherylbrv · RV-Dreams Family Member

As much as I'm not happy with this, it looks like the most viable option for us will be having a scout vehicle. It would be good if we could tow it rather than drive it, but since I don't want to give up living space for a toy hauler, we'll have to figure out where the sacrifices should be made. Down the road, anyway.

Thanks all!

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Cheryl,

I can't answer your question about a trailer, but I have seen Class A's/bus conversions towing large trailers, although none were equipped with beds. We stayed in a state park in Colorado one year and this couple pulled a full sized Cadillac Escalade out of their trailer. Needless to say, their rig certainly takes up a lot of space.

As for the turning radius on an F450, we traded a Ford F250 with a club cab and short bed for our F450 with full four doors and full sized bed. The F450 is a full 3 feet longer than what the F250 was, but it still turns in the same radius of the smaller truck.

Terry