HELP! First Time buyer getting cold feet.
We are a couple in our early 50's, recently retired from full-time employment, with a daughter who is Junior in H.S. and a 22 yr old son living at home. We have limited camping experience amounting to...
Forum Discussion
Hi everyone. This is the aforementioned "husband" from the original post in this thread. My wife and I VERY MUCH appreciate the time those of you who responded took to provide us with some experienced advise regarding the question that, as some of you mentioned, is ultimately ours to make.
Since you have all been so nice about such an ambiguous question, I thought I would add some further explanation, with the hopes of eliciting some further insights and responses from many of you. It seemed in our original post that the expense was one of my major concerns. Well, it is, to some extent, but not an overwhelming concern, since we would be buying used (both the TV and the RV). I just did not want to spend money on something that might just sit in our driveway and never go anywhere. I tend to be somewhat of a "realist" (my wife calls it "pessimist"), but will admit that I tend to worry a little too much about what "could" go wrong. As they say, the first step to treating a problem is realizing that you have one in the first place! I DO. :)
The TV is a 2000 Chevrolet 2500 HD extended cab RWD with a 7.4L (454) engine (I know, it will never pass a gas station without needing a drink!). It had one previous owner who originally ordered the vehicle specifically for the purpose of pulling larger horse trailers. I have had a certified mechanic go over the truck and it seems to be in excellent mechanical condition. The previous owner, who I happen to know, only sold the vehicle because they are out of the horse hauling hobby and he no longer needed it. The RV is a 2009 Keystone Copper Canyon 252FWRLS which, upon our inspection, appears to be in very nice shape and well-cared-for by its previous owners, who sold it to upgrade to something larger. We went ahead and already purchased the truck, because even if we don't purchase the RV, we have other uses for it and the price was right.
As for the whole "towing" issue, that is probably the one thing I am not too concerned over, since I have had plenty of experience towing a 16-ft bumper hitch heavy-duty car (tractor) hauler, a 24-ft pontoon boat and a 24-ft gooseneck trailer hauling tractors and other farm machinery around the Midwest. My 2 towing concerns are when it comes to 1) the higher profile (11 ft) than I am accustomed to and 2) any kind of "mountain" travel, so any advise or comments on those concerns would be appreciated.
As far as being away from the homestead, I guess I am concerned that we might be a couple years too early with this venture and should wait until our daughter goes off to college in a couple of years. Leaving the kids at home is not too big of a deal since, as a couple of you have already mentioned, the 22 year old is very capable of keeping watch over everything.
If we were to move ahead with this purchase (which would be within the next few days) I DO NOT look forward to dealing with the whole "black water" procedures, as well as the other set-up and tear-down procedures (so any comments are on that are welcome), although I am experienced with the actual "hooking-up" to the truck/trailer thing, as mentioned above and that is not a concern.
One final, specific question: For any of you who own or have looked into the Keystone Copper Canyon from the 2009 vintage, we would be very interested in your comments about this particular make, model, etc., as well as any specific common problems to check-out prior to possible purchase.
Anyway, if I don't stop now, I will go on forever, but I did want to let you know a little more about our situation, in the hopes that some of you would be kind enough to provide us with some additional feedback in light of the additional information. You have all been very nice about this rather ambiguous question.
Thanks to all who have replied previously! It IS very much appreciated and we look forward to reading any additional comments!
......"The Husband" :)
Since you have all been so nice about such an ambiguous question, I thought I would add some further explanation, with the hopes of eliciting some further insights and responses from many of you. It seemed in our original post that the expense was one of my major concerns. Well, it is, to some extent, but not an overwhelming concern, since we would be buying used (both the TV and the RV). I just did not want to spend money on something that might just sit in our driveway and never go anywhere. I tend to be somewhat of a "realist" (my wife calls it "pessimist"), but will admit that I tend to worry a little too much about what "could" go wrong. As they say, the first step to treating a problem is realizing that you have one in the first place! I DO. :)
The TV is a 2000 Chevrolet 2500 HD extended cab RWD with a 7.4L (454) engine (I know, it will never pass a gas station without needing a drink!). It had one previous owner who originally ordered the vehicle specifically for the purpose of pulling larger horse trailers. I have had a certified mechanic go over the truck and it seems to be in excellent mechanical condition. The previous owner, who I happen to know, only sold the vehicle because they are out of the horse hauling hobby and he no longer needed it. The RV is a 2009 Keystone Copper Canyon 252FWRLS which, upon our inspection, appears to be in very nice shape and well-cared-for by its previous owners, who sold it to upgrade to something larger. We went ahead and already purchased the truck, because even if we don't purchase the RV, we have other uses for it and the price was right.
As for the whole "towing" issue, that is probably the one thing I am not too concerned over, since I have had plenty of experience towing a 16-ft bumper hitch heavy-duty car (tractor) hauler, a 24-ft pontoon boat and a 24-ft gooseneck trailer hauling tractors and other farm machinery around the Midwest. My 2 towing concerns are when it comes to 1) the higher profile (11 ft) than I am accustomed to and 2) any kind of "mountain" travel, so any advise or comments on those concerns would be appreciated.
As far as being away from the homestead, I guess I am concerned that we might be a couple years too early with this venture and should wait until our daughter goes off to college in a couple of years. Leaving the kids at home is not too big of a deal since, as a couple of you have already mentioned, the 22 year old is very capable of keeping watch over everything.
If we were to move ahead with this purchase (which would be within the next few days) I DO NOT look forward to dealing with the whole "black water" procedures, as well as the other set-up and tear-down procedures (so any comments are on that are welcome), although I am experienced with the actual "hooking-up" to the truck/trailer thing, as mentioned above and that is not a concern.
One final, specific question: For any of you who own or have looked into the Keystone Copper Canyon from the 2009 vintage, we would be very interested in your comments about this particular make, model, etc., as well as any specific common problems to check-out prior to possible purchase.
Anyway, if I don't stop now, I will go on forever, but I did want to let you know a little more about our situation, in the hopes that some of you would be kind enough to provide us with some additional feedback in light of the additional information. You have all been very nice about this rather ambiguous question.
Thanks to all who have replied previously! It IS very much appreciated and we look forward to reading any additional comments!
......"The Husband" :)
