A Toy Hauler is a travel trailer designed with a dropped down tailgate to load toys you might take into the wilderness. These could include quad-runners, dirt bikes, bicycles, snowmobiles or jet skis. Beyond the space set aside to load and store your large toys, the other amenities of the toy hauler will match a travel trailer.
The toy hauler could be either 5th Wheel design or Hitch towed models. They are great for taking larger items you might have room for in a normal travel trailer. They can also be useful without the toys giving you larger storage space for long trips or hunters needing space for more coolers/ice chests to haul the spoils of the hunt back home without them spoiling.
If you know you are meeting numerous people for a larger gathering, such as a family reunion or fellow military buddies meeting up, the toy hauler becomes a great inside space with a picnick table and/or seating in from the weather. Most toy haulers have either fixed in place or lower-able sleeping area so you are not completely giving up the space. In the event you have a fixed sleeping area above, you might have room for a couple cots and sleeping bags below increasing your effective sleeping accommodations.
The first RV the author tried to buy was a Toy Hauler 5th Wheel Trailer complete with dually pickup. It was not the interest in the toy hauler for hauling toys, just stuff. Tools, spare tires, emergency equipment, hiking and backing packing supplies, etc. So, before you cross a toy hauler off your shopping list, take a look inside a few, close your eyes and see if maybe the large open space might serve a quality of life purpose also.
As for amenities – you are loosing some space because of the area set aside for the toy storage, but beyond that, you have the same basic menu of options. It is all a trade off of what space is available, what is desired vs what is required and what you can afford against what you should spend.
Below are some reference material not specifically on Toy Haulers but more on the general on the road RV lifestyle, where to go, what to do and how to afford it.
A few examples of toy haulers.
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Courtesy S. Ward – Paranghat Wildlife Refuge