We had a vision: A big truck, with a comfy camper on top, towing an enclosed trailer with our race car inside. In theory it would be the perfect setup: a trackside villa that we could take anywhere, making racing cheaper, easier, and more pleasant.
Over the past four years we made that vision come…
Jack of all trades and master of none.
Yeah, not sure what happened there--fixed.
Probably 8 out of 10 slide in campers on the road don't have enough truck under them.
They do work if you need to tow a trailer, want to carry your hotel room with you, and use your truck as a truck when it's not pretending to be an RV. And you can use it for actual camping in the boonies. It's a compromise, but a pretty good one.
Hotel rooms suck. So does towing an enclosed trailer with a half ton truck.
Time to step it up to the next level... 
Tom Suddard said:Yeah, not sure what happened there--fixed.
Did you write the story on your phone?
Jerry From LA said:Tom Suddard said:Yeah, not sure what happened there--fixed.
Did you write the story on your phone?
I think so, actually. Damn you autocorrect!!
I don't think it matters much if the rig is a truck camper, classs A or C, motorhome. I keep looking over the ads for a good tow rig/RV to go to the races. They look like so much work and hassle.
Last month at the track, I was in my friend's class A diesel rig as we were setting up our paddock. He looked around muttered under his breath, "I wonder what will take a crap on me this weekend..."
I think you helped me decide to just give up on an RV.
In reply to Daniel Wise :
I have a 1990 Ford E250 Campervan / Class B RV; it's basically a custom van with a shower and a stove, as it has fewer bits so there is less to go wrong. We previously had a Class C..............lots of stuff to go wrong there.
I still actually get a room when I go to out of town races but the van is a nice place to change and eat my lunch plus it store all the stuff.
We've been using a Mercedes Sprinter to tow an M4 on an aluminum trailer and it does surprisingly well. The interior of the Sprinter is mildly built (wall panels, bed platform, and Yeti 3000x power station.
in the cabin we bring fuel, light spares, tires, light tools, race ramps, camp stuff.
on the trailer we have the car and floor jack.
we're right at the GVWR and towing capacity of the van, and it handles very well. No sag in the rear, relatively stable, and moves good enough to not get frustrated. We go from LA to Buttonwillow and Willow Springs at least once a month and pulls up the grapevine at about 45-50mph (slower than I'd like). It's a great base camp setup.
in the future, we'd get a HO sprinter with DRW. Likely in a year or so we'll upgrade to that.
That reminds me of my van build--in hindsight maybe I shouldn't have sold the van.
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/project-cars/2006-ford-e-250/
This my rig; I really like having a van
Tom Suddard said:That reminds me of my van build--in hindsight maybe I shouldn't have sold the van.
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/project-cars/2006-ford-e-250/
I've learned that if you can keep the van build modular and without lots of complexity you save a ton of headache. We don't have a bathroom or shower or galley in the van. Just great insulation, some fantastic fans, power, and a bed. Everything else to cook, drink etc is loaded into the van - so there is nothing to really break or fail on the van itself.
sure - no shower means the drive home Sunday night is a little ripe - but we're fine with that.
I have towed to the track with everything from a 1/2 ton truck to my P71. I even used an F350 with a slide in Alaskan camper for a while. My take is to either tow minimally and stay in hotels or take the world and stay at the track. For autocross, I stopped towing. I bought a comfortable, streetable car and drive to the event in the am and home when it's over or find a hotel to crash in. Time trials and races, I'm towing the world and staying at the track. That's where everyone hangs out and I don't want to have to worry about driving to a hotel if I've had a beer or 4. I towed to the track and camped with a 31' 1996 Tiffin Class A for 4 years. After the initial flurry of work taking care of deferred maintenance, it was as trouble-free as any vehicle I've owned. Staying at the track in a comfortable bed with a shower and E36 M3ter I don't have to share with 200 other people is worth the extra fuel expense and the load time.
The Tiffin had a couple of issues I didn't like about it. Issues like a tiny cramped shower that you would have to get out of to pick up the soap if you dropped it. It also had an RV queen bed that frequently left my feet hanging in mid-air. It has been replaced with a 07 41' Holiday Rambler DP which is a slightly newer, larger, and more capable machine with a large shower and a full-sized king bed. It tows like there is nothing behind it. It will be tow beast to CMP in November for a time trial and at Road Atlanta for the Lemons in December.
I'm only 3 months and about 3500 miles into ownership with this one but other than a cracked overflow tank on the generator it has been trouble-free as well. I have spent some time doing a few updates like modern sound systems and TVs, but those have been wants, not needs.
The difference for me is I use them all the time. Not just for track days or races but for camping, staying at the farm when the house is full, and traveling. I probably average at least once a month throughout the year. The next trip is this afternoon as soon as I get home.
In reply to Toyman! :
This is the dream right here and well said.
stay minimal or go all in. Don't try and split the difference!
Tom Suddard said:Jerry From LA said:Tom Suddard said:Yeah, not sure what happened there--fixed.
Did you write the story on your phone?
I think so, actually. Damn you autocorrect!!
If I type the word "damn" into my phone, the word choice for the next word is nothing but "autocorrect."
I loved towing with and packing and living in our E450. It had more capacity than we used which is comforting when you're towing 5500lbs at 85mph. I am also happy to give up on creature comforts for simplicity.
In reply to Toyman! :
+1 TOW THE WORLD!! 
The truck camper setup worked great for us, and helped us decide that we really enjoyed traveling by RV.
A motorhome is definitely a complex machine, but as noted, if you stay up on the maintenance it's not that bad. Some of the older units are way better built than what you can buy new today. Our ultimate solution is also a Holiday Rambler, an '04 Navigator 42' DP. With the stacker trailer, we can take the race car and a street car and spend as long as we want on the road. Which is kind of our retirement plan... trackday tourism.
So far this year we've done three race weekends, and we have almost a month on the road planned for this fall after my wife retires. In 2024 we expect to spend a lot of time on the road. Lovin' it!
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