Thinking about a year ahead on vacation plans for next summer.

Anyone done RV rentals?
Looking at driven models, big con is the fuel cost & mileage restrictions [200 mi/day on the first result I checked]
Towed has the benefit of having our own truck once parked vs driving a cumbersome RV around a small town.

We have a Ford Expedition Max, so most reasonably sized tow models shouldn't be a problem, power & capacity wise. Do not have a brake controller, unless it's already baked into the onboard system.

Even some insulated 20' campers are at 5k lbs or more, make sure you have a brake controller. If you plan on staying a few places more than one night, a tow camper would work, gets to be a pain unhooking it every evening otherwise.

Episode 1.

Enjoyed renting a class c motorhome.

Watched instruction on tail swing, backing, fueling, etc.

Prepared with reservations for pull through sites.

Managed a week without incident.

Episode 2.

Rented a trailer. Picked up and drove to campsite. Discovered bad mattress. Check mattress before renting!

Better to have tow vehicle for excursions. Better to drive motorhome for destinations.

Try both. But if you don’t have a tow vehicle just rent motorhome.

quote:

Looking at driven models, big con is the fuel cost & mileage restrictions [200 mi/day on the first result I checked]

Regardless of what it may get when empty and driven gently, your SUV pulling a two-ton trailer isn't going to get good gas mileage either. And 200 miles a day - less than one fourth the width of Texas - restriction? WTF is that? Are there monetary penalties if you exceed it? How do they know when you've exceeded the daily mileage?

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:

quote:

Looking at driven models, big con is the fuel cost & mileage restrictions [200 mi/day on the first result I checked]

Regardless of what it may get when empty and driven gently, your SUV pulling a two-ton trailer isn't going to get good gas mileage either. And 200 miles a day - less than one fourth the width of Texas - restriction? WTF is that? Are there monetary penalties if you exceed it? How do they know when you've exceeded the daily mileage?

I pulled a 12ft open trailer with a Kawi Mule on it with my Explorer. 10mpg, keeping it under 70mph.
But that's a 2.3T 4cyl. I imagine the larger, torquier TTV6 would tow better, possibly at the same MPG, with the benefit of a much larger fuel tank.
We were stopping every 100 miles in the Explorer.

The one site I checked has class C & A, gas & diesel.
Mileage is 200/rental day. So if you rent for 7 days, start mileage + 1400 [I assume]. .50-.75/mile over.

When I lived in Alaska, I had a coworker who had a nice 30 or 31 ft Class C motorhome that he didn't use often so he'd rent out to trustworthy people. Much nicer, larger, and less expensive than a RV rental place so I was honored he considered me trustworthy. I rented it twice and overall it was great.

Pros:

While driving, when it was lunch time would pull off at a scenic overlook, cook lunch, and enjoy eating with a million dollar view

While driving, didn't have to worry about finding a nice, clean restroom

I camped once at a campground on a famous salmon fishing river and could fish from the bank 15' from the front bumper of the RV.

Easy to park at a campground parking spot. I suck at backing up trailers so the Class C was the much easier RV parking option.

From the rear axle to the driver/passenger row was more comfortable on the road than a being in the tow vehicle for a trailer.

Cons:

My coworker didn't have a tow rig for a vehicle so the Class C RV was only vehicle. It was a hassle unhooking from campsite to drive to what you wanted to do for the day. It really sucked if what you wanted to do for the day was in town (e.g. parking for going a fishing charter in Seward) and had to find parking for a very long vehicle).

There is a large cantilever from the rear axle to back of the RV and it's where the queen/king size bed is located. My buddy got 2 hours sleep before one trip and thought he'd catch some sleep on the drive. All he caught was air as every bump he was bounced off the mattress.

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Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

How many people (approximately how much do they weigh) and how much gear will be in the Expedition? The weight of the hitch and tongue weight of the trailer count against the payload capacity of your tow vehicle. With the wife, kids, dog, gear, and a full tank of fuel, there’s not usually a lot left for he trailer and hitch.

Do you have the optional Class IV receiver?
Do they rent the required weight distributing hitch and set it up for you when you rent the trailer?
You are going to need a brake controller if the Expedition doesn’t have one built in.

Our first RV trip was a 35’ Class C rental. Ford Triton V-10 and it drove like crap in Florida. We went to St Andrew’s State Park next Panama City Beach. There was no parking in Panama City Beach to accommodate the RV. Taking down the RV to go somewhere and resetting it back up when we got back sucked.

If you aren’t going too far, have the wife drive a second vehicle while you drive the motorhome.

That’s how we wound up with a travel trailer, then 5th wheel and my truck.

Our next RV will be a Class A diesel pusher or Super C diesel and we’ll tow a vehicle.

As a geezer adapting over 40 years to ever changing gear/campsites/road condition etc, we managed to make those changes slowly as they came along. Have used every manner of RV gear from tents to 24' trailers, pick-up campers, converted school busses, B* camper & C-class motor home.

Each had their advantages. What we never adapted to, and eventually was a major cause for us to retire from RVing entirely, was the "camping by appointment" theory. Many of our old reliable favorite sites, good for deciding Wed to go this Friday, became generally rented 6-12 months in advance, and within a few seasons, unavailable 'already reserved' status by the end of Jan. Plus general traffic got to be just too much.

Good luck.

I can’t speak to the RV rental but as for the trailer brake it should be easy.
I forget what year you have but know from 2015-2022 all the wiring it there it’s behind that little pocket. You remove that pocket and replace with the switch that is like $100 and you can activate it yourself with ForScan.
Not kept up with them past the 2022s but I imagine it’s still the same.

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Originally posted by signewt:
As a geezer adapting over 40 years to ever changing gear/campsites/road condition etc, we managed to make those changes slowly as they came along. Have used every manner of RV gear from tents to 24' trailers, pick-up campers, converted school busses, B* camper & C-class motor home.

Each had their advantages. What we never adapted to, and eventually was a major cause for us to retire from RVing entirely, was the "camping by appointment" theory. Many of our old reliable favorite sites, good for deciding Wed to go this Friday, became generally rented 6-12 months in advance, and within a few seasons, unavailable 'already reserved' status by the end of Jan. Plus general traffic got to be just too much.

Good luck.

I agree about the reservations. It's killing the way we like to camp by taking all the spontaneity and adventure out of a two week trip. Thankfully our rig is small and can fit into pretty rustic campgrounds, and there are still quite a few of those out there that don't take reservations, and we've also had good luck with "dispersed" boondocks camping as well.

We looked into the rental RV thing once a number of years back. The milage restriction killed it for us, even before considering the exorbitant rental costs and fuel economy.

Our Suburban pulls our little trailer just fine, but fuel economy ain't great...about 12mpg. I like that we can stay hooked up if we're just stopping somewhere overnight....road to bed can be a 5 minute process if need be. But we can also unhook and leave the trailer if we're going to be somewhere for a few days, and it frees us up to explore without it.

An Expedition ought to be able to handle any average bumper-pull trailer just fine. My recommendation is to rent the smallest one you can live with, even if your truck is capable of towing more. You're camping, not full-time RV-ing, so you hopefully won't be spending a ton of time in it anyway. Smaller will be easier to tow, easier to park, easier on gas, and open up more campground options to you.

There is not a chance in the world owning an Expedition Max that I would pick anything but a trailer. Hook/unhook as a problem? even with sway control I can do that in less than 10 minutes. You simply do not want to be tied down to where you are parked. period. Brake controller like 15 minutes and any good shop can do.
Now I get if you simply are a novice at towing the motorhome will be less stress.
And those who are talking gas mileage for a vacation or reasonable duration are simply missing the real costs.

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:
There is not a chance in the world owning an Expedition Max that I would pick anything but a trailer. Hook/unhook as a problem? even with sway control I can do that in less than 10 minutes. You simply do not want to be tied down to where you are parked. period. Brake controller like 15 minutes and any good shop can do.
Now I get if you simply are a novice at towing the motorhome will be less stress.
And those who are talking gas mileage for a vacation or reasonable duration are simply missing the real costs.

No problem towing/backing a trailer here. Have owned a couple & towed many.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
I can’t speak to the RV rental but as for the trailer brake it should be easy.
I forget what year you have but know from 2015-2022 all the wiring it there it’s behind that little pocket. You remove that pocket and replace with the switch that is like $100 and you can activate it yourself with ForScan.
Not kept up with them past the 2022s but I imagine it’s still the same.

2018 Max Limited 2wd
I think it's in a dash menu, will have to look tomorrow.

My old buddy took up sailing decades ago mostly on Columbia River. He still favors his boats to be ideal size when there's room for "drinks for 6, dinner for 4, bunks for 2". I found that worked well in our wheeled RV rigs too.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
I can’t speak to the RV rental but as for the trailer brake it should be easy.
I forget what year you have but know from 2015-2022 all the wiring it there it’s behind that little pocket. You remove that pocket and replace with the switch that is like $100 and you can activate it yourself with ForScan.
Not kept up with them past the 2022s but I imagine it’s still the same.

2018 Max Limited 2wd
I think it's in a dash menu, will have to look tomorrow.

If you don’t have the switch from the factory it shouldn’t be a usable dash menu until the switch is plugged in and then you activate it in ForScan and it will appear as a dash menu.

Fuel mileage towing a camper in your expedition isn't going to be any better than the motor home. I tow a 20' go fast boat with little windage and at 70 mph it knocks my mileage down from 22 mpg to 11-12 mpg in a 2018 expedition. A tow behind with that kind of windage would be MUCH worse.

How many will be travelling? If only 2 I'd recommend renting a Class B Motorhome.

I own an Airstream Interstate 19. It has everything you'd need, A/C, heater, wet bath with commode, shower and sink. Fridge, microwave and 2 burner gas stove and a sink. Just under a queen size bed. It has a macerator, so dumping is extremely easy and clean. If you take your time, set up and take down is about 15. If I don't dump, it's about 5.

Gas mileage (diesel) is in the mid to high 19's at 70-75, 20's at 60-65. Don't have to worry about towing a second vehicle, but you can. You can park it anywhere. We have done 3 coast to coast trips as well as many west coast north to south trips. We even street parked in the French Quarter in New Orleans on those narrow cobblestone streets.

The only limiting factor I see is the 200 mile daily range. There are some places you may wish to visit that are more than 200 miles apart, but it will force a more casual pace.

5 total, maybe the dog.
2 adults, 3 kids (13, 10, 4)

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
5 total, maybe the dog.
2 adults, 3 kids (13, 10, 4)

I was adding to my post as you replied. Class B won't work for you. A larger Class C would, but parking would be limited.

What’s the payload on the driver’s side door sticker that also lists the tire pressures?

You and your wife should go look at some RVs to get a feel for what size would be appropriate for your family.

If you tow a trailer with your vehicle, who pays if something goes bad on the engine (like a water pump)?

Who pays if it is a rented RV?

Who absorbs the general costs of wear n tear on the drive train of each scenario?

Personal choice, unless excursions are in the trip (vice destinations as previously noted), RV rental.