Last
year, we traveled with 5 dogs. The largest is a 55lb. Cattle Dog, and the
smallest is a 23lb. Sheltie mix. Crating everyone in the Expedition really
wasn’t an option. We ended up trying harnesses designed for seat-belt
attachment, but it wasn’t an ideal solution. No one wanted to stay in their
designated spot, which meant untangling everything before the canine passengers
could take potty breaks or join us in the trailer. Our Cattle Dog, who
considers it her God-given right to be wherever the people are, doesn’t care
much for riding in vehicles. During the last 2 days of our return trip home,
she was no longer willing to stay in the 3rd row seat. At first, we
kept tucking an errant leg back in her harness, then we tried moving her to the
middle seat so she was closer to the people. On our last day, she figured out
how to escape the harness entirely and spent the last 2 hours in Kristal’s lap.
It’s a good thing we got home before rush hour and missed most of the crazy
traffic.
This
year, as our younger daughter’s graduation got closer, she kept asking how long
we were going to be staying up north. Even before her after-graduation plans
really starting taking shape, the likelihood of being gone at least a month was
a good possibility. We knew, though, that the Expedition wasn’t going to be
convenient for another long trip.
For
those of you who are vintage RV lovers, but haven’t actually purchased anything
yet, do yourself a favor and look at new RVs currently on the market. With the
exception of some of the smallest trailers (like teardrops), many new RVs can
come with a respectable amount of storage. Before you buy anything, it might be
a good idea to gather any items you currently own which you insist on bringing
with you. How much storage space do you need? Vintage trailers, many of which
are smaller, don’t come with lots of storage space. Even our 31’ Airstream
doesn’t have massive amounts of storage. Still, we understand when something
speaks to your heart. Since you only live once, settling just isn’t an option
sometimes. When you’re not willing to give up your heart’s desire, it might
become necessary to find a compromise which makes your first choice more user
friendly.
Enter
Bumble, our new tow vehicle. As you can see from the included photo, he’s
definitely a bit larger than the old Expedition. We bought him at the end of
March, and now feel like enough time has passed to share our initial
impressions. While we were traveling there were a few people who were curious
and wanted to know what kind of vehicle he is. Most of the time we were tempted
to say BAV for “big ass van”. Technically, Bumble is a Nissan NV3500 SL HD, a
vehicle cross which is half pick-up, half van. He sits on a Nissan Titan
chassis. Nissan put the NV into production 3 years ago.
Some
people do like vans for towing because they find their interior space more
convenient than the bed of a pickup. However, there can be a compromise on the
tow rating. It is pretty difficult to beat the heavy duty pickups when it comes
to weight capacity, but those vehicles are also becoming increasingly expensive
since many people use them as their everyday driver. Pickups of all sizes are
getting pretty darn fancy these days. While we wanted an increase in
towing/cargo, a pickup doesn’t suit the needs of someone traveling with several
animals (or families with a few kids). Keeping them safe and comfortable was
going to require a bed topper with AC. While researching options, Karl
discovered the NV. To say he was intrigued is an understatement. Here was
something offering many pickup advantages with a large amount of interior
space. (Even more than the traditional van. Yes, yes, we know Bumble looks a
bit like a giant Nissan Cube.)
Here
are some of the details.
Our
NV is a passenger model. Because we do long distance travel, the options
available in the passenger version were more important to us. The one thing we
don’t need so much right now are all the additional seats. However, they can be
removed completely, leaving enough space to put a 4’x8’ sheet of plywood on the
floor. To aid with loading larger items the rear doors can be folded to the
sides of the van. Because Bumble has a pickup nose, his engine sits in front
and doesn’t take any interior space. A center console sits between the front
seats instead. It’s set up to be used as a hanging file cabinet, but offers
plenty of storage space for any number of items you need out of the way or out
of sight. There are also 12V ports, a USB port, and a 110V outlet in the back
(400 watt converter to run it). This is a vehicle with a built-in towing option.
It has a tow mode setting and extra-large side mirrors which can be extended
from the vehicle. Each side view has two separate mirrors, one large and one
small. Bumble does have big blind spots, but those mirrors, especially the
small ones, allow you to see what’s around the vehicle. We definitely recommend
potential owners of the NV get used to using all the mirrors and the back-up
camera.
After
traveling more than 4,000 miles on our trip, we can confirm there are some
adjustments when you switch from a passenger vehicle to something designed for
work. (Bumbles bounce!) The pickup chassis/heavy duty suspension, which makes
him a suitable candidate for towing our trailer, also means a stiffer ride.
Bumble isn’t actually the first vehicle we’ve owned with coil suspension, so
the occasionally bouncy ride wasn’t a surprise. While RV travel allows you to
bring a bit of home with you, there will still be trade-offs, unless you have
an unlimited budget. Especially, if you want or need to go larger in size. The
big Class A and C motor homes usually come with air-ride systems (think
semi-truck type). Air-ride suspension in a vehicle used to pull a large trailer
might be an option, but you have to do your research on its long-term suitability.
There is generally a lot of wear and tear on a tow vehicle, and we had to
factor in the weight our sway prevention/distribution hitch adds to the trailer
A-frame. (You can read about our issues with the Expedition’s aging airbag
suspension in our post, “The Other Set of Wheels.”) Own any vehicle long enough
and eventually the suspension will need work. With proper maintenance
heavy-duty coils could go longer, though. They’re also a bit less expensive to
replace because parts are less complicated.
Did
Bumble meet our expectations for fur kid family travel? He did give us room to
crate all the dogs, and four more travelers became a part of our party, too.
Kristal has 4 high-maintenance long-haired rabbits, and finding someone to care
for them during longer periods of time isn’t easy. 2 Xtra large wire crates
(42’ long) and 1 large crate (36”) kept the dogs contained. The big crates held
2 dogs each. Kristal’s rabbits traveled in 4 stackable cages, 16” x 24”. They
were stacked 2 each. Once the animals were all in, there was still some room to
squeeze in two patio rugs and a two-room tent (also known as the Rabbit Romper
Room.)
You can
read about our traveling rabbit experience here. http://royalhouseofcrafts.blogspot.com/2016/06/ramblin-rabbits.html
In
the future, there will be a reduction of animals traveling with us. The Cattle
Dog is 8 years old, and Kristal’s oldest rabbit is 6. Beyond any of them
eventually leaving us due to old age, our younger daughter is taking 2 of the
Labrador Retrievers once she is settled. That doesn’t mean Bumble’s usefulness
will be at an end, though. We gained an additional 1,000 lbs. capacity over the
Expedition, and while more cargo space is useful, making the change wasn’t so
much about bringing more stuff than we already have. (A vehicle with larger tow
capacity doesn’t mean you can over-load your travel trailer. It was
manufactured to hold a certain amount of weight. Exceeding that is never a good
idea.) It was about an increase in safety and a place to put our anti-gravity
lounge chairs, other than the floor of our trailer. During our first trip with
him, Bumble was more than able to do what we needed. He comes in handy for DIY
projects at home, too.
Right
now we’re satisfied with our choice, but we are talking about a still-new
vehicle. Bumble was purchased with the long view in mind, meaning we’ll drive
him until the wheels fall off. As a commercial vehicle, he does come with a
different level of support from Nissan and their dealerships. The passage of
time will tell us how much of a difference it makes in his longevity. The support
was definitely a tipping point in his favor. It doesn’t hurt to look at a
company’s new concept and give it a try while they’re highly motivated to find
markets for it. Like it or not, cost of ownership, beyond monthly payments and
insurance, has to be factored in to determine compatibility with a budget. It
also doesn’t hurt that we have a bit of a rebellious streak, and have a tendency
to do the exact opposite of everyone else.
Despite being a big box, Bumble is actually an out-of-the-box idea. Not
denying that was part of his appeal for us. Now that we have an NV, we’re
starting to see more of them in the Houston area. We also had an encounter with
a silver one in the oversize parking lot at Wall Drug in South Dakota. They
were towing a travel trailer too. They were leaving as we were pulling in. We,
and the other NV owners, were both excited and amused with our brief meeting.
Considering it was the only one we saw while traveling, it felt a little bit
like belonging to a very exclusive club.
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