Size and Weight!
One complicating factor we had was that when we bought our 5th wheel 3 years earlier, we weren’t planning on full-timing in it. It was purchased for get-aways and primarily hosting kids and grandkids at the lake. Now we were “stuck” with the size and storage constraints that we had since trading up would put us in the hole way too much. Our rig is a 35-foot Grand Design Reflections 337RLS. It was our choice because it had a very nice Rear Living Space (RLS) that was roomy enough for the rambunctious grandkids to run around in. I’m not saying I would necessarily have made a different decision but going in with full-time thoughts would probably have pushed me towards prioritizing more storage and potentially a different layout. Oh well. It’s just a planning factor for us now.
Most full timers we know in the Grand Design family have the Solitude series and go 40 or more feet long. Those have a lot of storage under the belly but that means you go up to the front from the door and up to the back. The other option is the Momentum Toy Hauler style and that was never a factor for us.
Given the size of our rig and the limited storage available in the Reflections 337RLS, we had to make like Marines and travel lean and mean! Our rig has one through-and-through storage towards the front, the very front storage where some people put generators (we’re not plumbed for it) and a relatively large closet in the nose cap as part of the Master Bedroom. Other than that, we only have some cabinets around the living space and a decent pantry space. All our STUFF had to fit or it didn’t go and we had to be mindful of the max vehicle weight of 14K lbs. Empty it was 11K lbs or so which meant we had only about 3000 lbs to work with. That sounds like a lot but everything you put onboard after buying it counts against you. It is amazing how much clothing weighs! If you don't believe me, put half your closet in a box and try to lift it! You also have all the food, contents of refrigerator, and weight of any water in the tanks. We have 4 - a fresh water, 2 gray water and a black water tank. Fresh water runs just over 8 lbs per gallon so it can add up quickly with 40 gallon tanks.
After that, you have to consider what tools, camping items (chairs, tables, games, etc) you want to take. I had gone over the tools a couple of times before deciding to store our bottle jack. I'll use the jack from the Ram if I need to change a tire. I had some older tools from our last rig that just don't make the cut now. I swapped them out with smaller and lighter versions where I can. We were also carrying a Corn Hole game set but after making a 6 week trip and never pulling it out, it went into storage also. We can't have everything we want.
Weight adds up quickly and I was very nervous we had gone over our max. We wound up weighing the rig and truck to make sure we hadn't and were right at 200 lbs under weight. Not a huge pad so we'll have to see what else we can drop off or move to the back of the truck.
It's not just weight. There's also size to consider. No more Costco size purchases! We don't have room for a pack of 30 toilet paper rolls or 12 paper towel rolls. We have to shop smaller and more often. Timing is important. Most of our camping is near a town so never an issue but if we decide to boondock or head out into a National Park for a week, we'll have to stock up before heading out. We buy smaller bottles of things like Ketchup, Mayo, soy sauce, etc. because while we have a "residential" style refrigerator, it still isn't THAT big! While towels are fairly light, they take up an extraordinary amount of space to store. We brought 3 bath towels and some beach towels. Decisions like that still hound us. We recently had company and someone had to use a beach towel for bathing. We'll see how our other decisions work out.
