Any RV'ers around here?

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I did the 5th wheel scene first and decided I wanted to tow my classic behind me , coundn't do that in a 5th wheel plus the diesel only got 18.3 mpg towing. So I went to a small Class A (wanted a diesel serengetti 26 footer but couldn't justify the huge price increase between $45k gas and $99k diesel.with same spec's) it would have taken me 20 years to make up the cost difference since I only put 8k a year on my class A right now. But my 28 footer with one slide out get's 9.5mpg and tows the challenger (on a dolly and 10.5 not towing for shorter trips<1500mile )so when I park I look GOOD! and get plenty of comments. since I'm finishing up the /6 dart convertible with all the modern add-ons like air/cruise ect... it will be the towed car (lighter and better gas mileage too!)
 
TrailBeast said:
Anyone who is deciding to do an RV type life needs to watch the movie RV with Robin Williams.
There is some pretty ridiculous stuff in that movie, but some of it is sooo true. :D
I have done a lot of RVing and camping and solar chargers are the ticket for sure.
The intellipower converter units are pretty much a must if the unit doesn't have something comparable, as are a bank of good 6v deep cycle batteries and not the 12v POS batteries that usually come with RV's these days.
Also like already mentioned, the tires that come on new rigs usually suck and need replaced right from the get go.
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We call the tires "Chinese bombs" And 4 6volt Golf cart batteries is the ticket to long power use. Two in series to make a 12volt bank, twice, then the two banks in parallel to double Capacity. Power Will last a long time.
 
Mopar Tim said:
We call the tires "Chinese bombs" And 4 6volt Golf cart batteries is the ticket to long power use. Two in series to make a 12volt bank, twice, then the two banks in parallel to double Capacity. Power Will last a long time.
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We had a 4k generator, but didn't need to run it much at all with the 4 deep cycle 6v's.
The kids ran their TV and an X box with an inverter, we used the lights, stereo and all for a 3 day dry parked weekend and those batteries did a good job of keeping up with it.
I had two sets of batteries that I could connect or disconnect with a rocker switch on the dash.
While driving to where we were going the motor would be topping off the charge of both sets, and once we got where we were going I would disconnect the engine set from the coach set via the switch.
That way if one set got drained too much I could connect them back together again and have starting power for the generator or motor either/or.
I just can't say enough about having things set up so that you never end up with everything dead, but in our case 99.9% of our camping was out in the middle of nowhere with no services.

The EV series of Honda gens are really nice to have also, but they sure are expensive little suckers.

It would have been nice to come back after a day of dirt bike riding and have a solar unit building the batteries back up all day though.
 
A solar array /panel is a no brainier IMO. Only down side to the 4 batts is the room to put them.
 
DesertRat said:
Up for general discussion, if you are an RV person, particularly a fifth wheel type please chime in. We are considering changing from our fixed base property to a fifth wheel RV in our retirement. Wondering about the pros and cons of the whole gig as we would be starting from ground zero and I know there is a LOT to learn.
Thanks in advance-DesertRat:)
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We have had a few 5th wheels over the years and always loved it. Like a few have said there are pros and cons and size will factor in of where you can get into with it. Our last one was a Cardinal 33 foot and it was about as big as you could in the more primitive campgrounds. Get going down a dirt road with no turn around or end up in a campground with lots of trees and you can get into trouble fast. And like others stated, the big commercial campgrounds are not always as nice as they appear. I've stayed in some that ask if what kind of spot do I want, awning out or slides out, can't do both because they are too narrow. And they charge for everything, extra people, pets, cable, etc, etc.. Our friends that we traveled with loved the commercial campground, us, no so much.
I liked the 5th wheel because they are very stable to tow and you can drop them and use your truck to run around. We also towed a 20 foot boat behind it and it was not problem at all. Drop the boat in the main lot, go drop the 5th wheel at camp, go get the boat and you're good to go.
After a while you get a routine and know where to go or what to look for in a campground. Golf cart batteries and solar is the way to go and maybe think about an on board generator that runs off your propane if you want to primitive camp and still have a/c.
As for quality i think most use all the same major parts. One or two fridge or a/c makers. Same with heaters and water heaters. Same for manufacturers, a few make the majority of the units.
Forest River has almost 90 brands that they make. K-Z makes 20 or so and same with Keystone and Heartland.
Reality is that it is VERY expensive. 50K or more for truck and same for the trailer, if your going new or fairly new. Add in property tax and insurance on both, storage if you cant keep it at home. $100.00 bucks a tank for gas/diesel and campground fees and a road trip adds up fast. In the end, we ended up selling the truck and trailer off. Did the math and it was close to 14k a year to "camp" (5th wheel = mobile hotel room) and at that price we can drive or fly, eat out and stay in some nice hotels or cabins when we want to go.
Don't get me wrong, we loved it and at some point will do it again, but it is not cheap to do.
 
dgibby said:
We have had a few 5th wheels over the years and always loved it. Like a few have said there are pros and cons and size will factor in of where you can get into with it. Our last one was a Cardinal 33 foot and it was about as big as you could in the more primitive campgrounds. Get going down a dirt road with no turn around or end up in a campground with lots of trees and you can get into trouble fast. And like others stated, the big commercial campgrounds are not always as nice as they appear. I've stayed in some that ask if what kind of spot do I want, awning out or slides out, can't do both because they are too narrow. And they charge for everything, extra people, pets, cable, etc, etc.. Our friends that we traveled with loved the commercial campground, us, no so much.
I liked the 5th wheel because they are very stable to tow and you can drop them and use your truck to run around. We also towed a 20 foot boat behind it and it was not problem at all. Drop the boat in the main lot, go drop the 5th wheel at camp, go get the boat and you're good to go.
After a while you get a routine and know where to go or what to look for in a campground. Golf cart batteries and solar is the way to go and maybe think about an on board generator that runs off your propane if you want to primitive camp and still have a/c.
As for quality i think most use all the same major parts. One or two fridge or a/c makers. Same with heaters and water heaters. Same for manufacturers, a few make the majority of the units.
Forest River has almost 90 brands that they make. K-Z makes 20 or so and same with Keystone and Heartland.
Reality is that it is VERY expensive. 50K or more for truck and same for the trailer, if your going new or fairly new. Add in property tax and insurance on both, storage if you cant keep it at home. $100.00 bucks a tank for gas/diesel and campground fees and a road trip adds up fast. In the end, we ended up selling the truck and trailer off. Did the math and it was close to 14k a year to "camp" (5th wheel = mobile hotel room) and at that price we can drive or fly, eat out and stay in some nice hotels or cabins when we want to go.
Don't get me wrong, we loved it and at some point will do it again, but it is not cheap to do.
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You must use it often to make it financially smart. Agree with everything you said^^^^And all the brands mentioned use lippart components. Not much else to use!
 
And I call myself frivilous because I still own my '95 Ram 3500 cummins!!!!!! 23 years later!!!! LOL

I have pulled a many a big horse/stock trailer many a mile, I will say the 5 th wheel is the only way to go and a 1 ton dual wheel truck is more way stable than single wheel.
Back when I lived along I 35 north of Kansas city , the days that the wind blew pretty good, it was amazing how many big, long bumper pulled RVs pulled by little trucks got blown off the road... bad!!! Upside down bad.
 
What everybody else already said....

Bought our 1st 5th in 2006. Was 30ft Rockwood by Forest River. Loved it. 4 years ago we decided we needed more permanent bunks as the kids are getting bigger. We now have a 35 ft Raven by Sunnybrook/Winnebago 5th. I like it, but not quite as much as the 1st one. The creature comforts and build are wonderful, but at 30 ft behind my quad cab 2005 Ram, the 30ft just "fit" everywhere - the driveway, my street, campgrounds, maneuverability.... The additional 5 ft made a big difference. Haven't had any issues, but it just doesn't "fit" like the 30ft did.

Chinese tires - 3 years and about 5k miles on the Rockwood and I had to put tires on it. Noticed a large bulge of a broken belt after arriving in Myrtle Beach that summer. Read up on the tires and decided NOT to take a chance on the spare to get home on. I'll be putting tires on the 35er this year, before they get to that point.

I'm at the factory weight rating on my 2500 , if we were to max load the camper. I did install a Helwig helper spring just to keep the truck level when loaded for a 2 week trip. Tows beautifully. Always has.
 
All good advise above ^^ Been doin' the RV thing since 1978. You will see no matter what you buy you will catch yourself sayin' "Man I wish I known this before"and "This thing is great but I would like to have this...."Bumper pull,5th's,Slide in bed Lance camper, Class A and C.Have had a bunch.The wife and I set one up at a resort 3 years ago only 90 miles from home.Fun "Not" to tow but using it as a quick get away when we can. We also have a Class C,joined a RV club and do monthly outings.Plenty of food,fun,and booze. Some love it, Most hate it after awhile.Not cheap to have fun by no means. It's all in what you want.
 
X2 on staying away from the light weights, we have a 23' Keystone Cougar 1/2 ton series and have had some "hardware" type stuff break. We are about to live in it for awhile while we build, that ought to be fun.....NOT!
 
In order to have a fifth wheel it's a no-brainer to me at least that I would have to have a quality diesel truck. Which I personally don't like the noise and smell. But with that said 20 to $30,000 just for the truck!? That was basically the deal-breaker for us as that alone was behind our budget. The Class A motorhome we did get what's definitely gas and we did not choose to pull the car or anything when we went around the United States Last Summer as pretty much anywhere we went we had relatives that have extra vehicles. But pulling a $400 beater on a tow dolly is always an option. It's nice on those hot days at Woodburn to throw the car on the car trailer and pull up with the motorhome and can be able to sit in air conditioning. Also I would not buy anything new. Like stated sometimes these things are never used and you just need to shop around and pick the one that was barely used and get it for a third to a quarter of the price.
 
Also I wouldn't sway anybody from pulling a trailer to driving a motorhome. That's really going to have to work into your budget and your lifestyle personally. I can't say that one would be better than the other not knowing what their situation is. For me personally I don't want a diesel truck and I want to be able to pull other recreational vehicles without having to put them in my living space and have that toy hauler thing where your house smells like your garage.
 
Know that reminds me I got to get going here! I have to go get the motorhome for the first time this year and get ready for a little trip. Time to flush out the red antifreeze!
 
This year I made the mistake of not having it covered and the Alder trees did a number on it, spent most of Sunday scrubbing the hell out of the roof/sides.
 
Darter6 said:
All good advise above ^^ Been doin' the RV thing since 1978. You will see no matter what you buy you will catch yourself sayin' "Man I wish I known this before"and "This thing is great but I would like to have this...."Bumper pull,5th's,Slide in bed Lance camper, Class A and C.Have had a bunch.The wife and I set one up at a resort 3 years ago only 90 miles from home.Fun "Not" to tow but using it as a quick get away when we can. We also have a Class C,joined a RV club and do monthly outings.Plenty of food,fun,and booze. Some love it, Most hate it after awhile.Not cheap to have fun by no means. It's all in what you want.
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One other thought. At times you will be in close quarters. A cheap pair of two way radios comes in handy. Your ground guide can talk you in rather than misunderstanding hand signals.
 
fl 71 said:
One other thought. At times you will be in close quarters. A cheap pair of two way radios comes in handy. Your ground guide can talk you in rather than misunderstanding hand signals.
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totally off topic here, but whenever my kids go out "hunting" or whatever, running around the back 40 i make em take some 2 ways, that way i can check in with em, or they cal holler at me if they get into it with some coyotes or what not
 
As I read this thread I realized what you plan and what We did are somewhat different. Our Truck and trailer and what was in it was all we had...No home base so some things differ. I've seen a lot of great advise here. Forest River had a bad reputation at one time but that is long gone. Our Cedar Creek was a product of theirs and they stepped up to the plate more than once. They had put bad axles under it when they built it...Did a recall and replaced them with heavier, better axles. Had a blowout on one of the China Bombs and thought I'd send them a pic and see what they would do. The tires were then discovered to be one size too big leaving very little room between them for growth when hot. They sent me 4 brand new wheels and the correct sized tires( not China Bombs) at their cost and told me to keep the ones on it which I sold to a guy in Florida for his car trailer. I would not be afraid of the better quality Forest River products ( they all have lightweight cheapies that should be avoided ). One other item I would mention..Slide out awnings help a lot from having to sweep the leaves and crap off the slides before you close them. Only downside to them is needing a devise to keep them from flapping in the wind and driving you nuts.
 
fl 71 said:
One other thought. At times you will be in close quarters. A cheap pair of two way radios comes in handy. Your ground guide can talk you in rather than misunderstanding hand signals.
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can do that with a phone too.. pretty much all newer trucks have bluetooth do the driver can talk and receive instruction hands free..
 
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My rig. Aluminum diamond plate roof and rigid aluminum electrical conduit for safety rails. We do a lot of drinking at the Pocono NasCrap Races!!!!
 
abodyjoe said:
can do that with a phone too.. pretty much all newer trucks have bluetooth do the driver can talk and receive instruction hands free..
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That's how we set up out Satellite Dish also. Wife and I were ALWAYS on a different page when backing the trailer in so I used to lay out a piece of rope next to where I wanted the Driver side trailer tires and sent her to walk the dog while I parked.
 
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