Top Reasons to Buy a Fifth Wheel Toy Hauler
You’ve seen tent campers, pop ups, teardrop and other single axle trailers. You may find that style too small for how you wish to camp. Maybe a larger travel trailer, or even a fifth wheel camper. They may just be the fit you are looking for. Now, consider the ultimate: the fifth wheel toy hauler.
When people visit Greeneway RV, some will ask why anyone would want a toy hauler fifth wheel. My answer is, “Why not?” A toy hauler, in general, can allow you to expand your vacation to the horizon and beyond. Yes, that a little corny, but read on to understand the point of it.
A toy hauler is designed with a storage area called a “garage”. The garage allows you to take, well, your toys with you wherever you are going. While regular travel trailers and fifth wheel campers give you a place to sleep and visit with friends, a toy hauler will let you do that and take bicycles, or motorcycles, or ATVs, UTVs, golf carts, kayaks… are you getting the picture? You simply need to imagine how you wish to create an extended adventure on your next camping trip.
Toy haulers are available as travel trailers and as fifth wheels. Which one is best for your camping trips will depend on a) what your truck’s towing capacity is and b) what toys or tools you would like to take. A travel trailer toy hauler may have the same width of a garage door/ramp, but will narrow as part of the living space doubles as a garage extension. Grand Design’s Momentum, the series of toy haulers that we carry at Greeneway RV, usually will narrow to 79” wide, and depending on the length, may narrow again to 72”. Length of the garage area ranges from 11’ long (the Momentum 29G; also 98” wide the full length) to a staggering 20’ 7” (Momentum’s 30G). The 21G has a gross weight rating of 11,000 pounds, and the other Momentum travel trailers are rated at 13,000 pounds. Your cargo capacity will range from 4,000 to 5,100 lbs!
The Momentum toy hauler fifth wheels give you more space and could be considered a luxury fifth wheel. With full width of 96”, garage lengths from 11 feet (320G and 351MS) to 18 feet (398M) and up to 5,000 pound cargo capacity, often the only limitation is the towing capacity of the truck! The gross weight ratings on the Momentum fifth wheel toy haulers will range from 16,800 and 20,000 pounds.
“Wait!” you say, “What about extra sleeping space?” Grand Design toy haulers, whether travel trailer or fifth wheel, will give you comfortable sleeping space and bathroom. The standard 60X80 queen bed on a slide gives you ample space in the bedroom, and many can be ordered with the king bed upgrade. In the garage, you can add the Happi Jac Rollover Sofas and table with a top bed, sleeping an additional four to six people. Other amenities that can be added to the garage area in most Momentum fifth wheel toy haulers include a half bath, washer and dryer, air conditioner, three season storm and screen door, as well as a patio and awning. Toy haulers don’t have to be just used for toys.
Another great option for the toy haulers is the generator; not a small portable style, but a built in, 4000 to 5500 watt capacity Onan. Let’s face it… even though it’s great to get away from it all, there is still a need, even in short bursts, the comfort of air conditioning, refrigeration and other 110v accessories. Having a generator in the toy hauler makes it easier to get away from the beaten path, and take the road less travelled.
What if you prefer to leave a little less of a footprint, consider adding a solar package. Grand Design offers a dual 330W panel kit with a 2000 watt inverter, 50 amp controller, with two docking ports and a Bluetooth module. The package is designed to assist your camper when dry camping. If you are looking for a more independent package, Greeneway RV’s Service Department can assist in putting together a solar package that is specifically tied to your wants and needs. Sidenote – our solar service crew has set up a couple of trailers that can dry camp at all times, and can even power the customer’s houses or cabins. If there is a special request for solar, Matt and Nathan will find a way to make it happen.
Once you have your toy hauler fifth wheel, you have to make plans as to where to take it. A popular use is sporting events. If you are a fan and an observer, tailgating may be on the to-do list. Picture yourself setting up outside the stadium, with either music or the pre-game coming over the exterior speakers. Using cables, the toy hauler ramp becomes a patio platform, and chairs on the patio below an awning canopy gives you a place to relax and watch the game with like minded friends. There is nothing like grilling brats and burgers while sharing memories and making new ones. Whether it’s baseball, football, motocross, NASCAR, or horse racing, be in the hub of the excitement.
What if you’re not a “big fan” of watching others having fun? What if you wish to be a part of the action? Not a problem. Load up the ATV or UTV and head for one of Wisconsin’s many scenic outings. Wisconsin is home to over 25,000 miles of top quality ATV, UTV and snowmobile trails. St. Germain hosts the ATV Club’s Fall Fest in September; Mercer, WI is home to the Pumpkin Run October 6th through the 9th. There are rallies all year round. For more information, check out www.watva.org. You can use the toy hauler to get close to the trails, whether ATV, UTV, motorcycle or snowmobile. Relax knowing that you are never far from “home”.
Maybe you prefer to get your feet wet… load up the kayak or the canoe and head for the body of water you have yet to conquer. With tens of thousands of lakes across the Midwest, as well as creeks and rivers, there’s a lot of open country just waiting to be explored (Thank you, Virgil Ward – I can’t get that song out of my head!). Biking, hiking, fishing… It is a way to get away from it all, to detach from the cities and crowded places.
An interesting use of a fifth wheel toy hauler is for dog shows and other canine competitions. It allows space for crating and prepping your pets, as well as a place to get away from distractions.
Perhaps you have a hobby and love to show your goods at flea markets and county or state fairs. The Momentum fifth wheel toy hauler can be your portable office and staging area, as well as double as your warehouse for your wares. There are many who work out of their campers while travelling this great nation of ours.
If not selling, what about buying? Every May (usually around the second weekend) people flock to Western Wisconsin and Eastern Minnesota for the 100 Mile Garage Sale! The event is usually four days long, and passes through 22 communities on highways 35 and 61, from Hastings, MN to Fountain City, WI. Thousands of vendors will line The Great River Road. There are plenty of restaurants and stores along the way. This is the ultimate shopaholic’s dream. Make your plans early, as even the campsites book fast!
I mentioned earlier those who do business from their fifth wheel toy haulers. There are many people who literally live and work from their campers, whether a month or two at a time, or even longer. Being able to call the toy hauler “home” by transforming the garage in to an office, a children’s bedroom, or simply an entertainment lounge. The open space of the garage allows you to use your imagination, and release your creativity.
Grand Design’s Momentum fifth wheel toy haulers, like the Solitude line, is heavily constructed with luxury and comfort in mind. As our Regional Representative, Rob McKibben would say, these units are overbuilt. They are designed that way to give the customer a solid trailer to handle the rigors of everyday use. The wider frame and leveling legs mounted outside the frame gives a sturdier structure when walking through it. The Momentum Series is ranked very high in the industry, and will be for years to come.
Grand Design sponsors rallies across the country for owners of their products – Momentums, Solitudes, Imagines and Transcends – for a chance to hear from their customers, and like-minded campers to swap stories and ideas. Grand Design loves to hear from their customers; it is how many of their ground breaking ideas are developed. There was a rally at the beginning of August in Colorado; other events happening through the Fall will take place in Indiana, California, Idaho, New York, Missouri, Maryland, Delaware, Texas and Florida.
So, consider a Momentum fifth wheel toy hauler… it will open new worlds for you!