DH is curious to know... Full timers, how many times, in how many years, and from what, to what, have you changed your rigs?We are planning at least 2. Possibly back to a DP after we wet our feet with the 5r.Would like to know for financial purposes mostly. Since it is much smaller quarters than a house, did you get sick of one and change, or find out you needed more, or different?Thanks for your time.

Bought a starter RV in 94. Replaced it with our current coach in '99. Hope to never do it again.

We started with a tent trailer in 1974 for vacation and travel purposes. Sort of out grew that and bought a 1977 Prowler Travel Trailer 21' in '77. We destroyed it when it flipped on an interstate in fall of 1987. The 1988 models had just come out and we bought a 1988 Terry Travel Trailer 29' which served us very well until we went fulltime in fall of 2003. We knew we were going to go fulltime in 2003 and started looking at what was out there to fulltime in about 18 months before. Whatever we chose HAD to work and that is why we took our time and along the way PO'ed many salespeople and stealerships. Eventually we narrowed it down to Travel Supreme, Hitchiker, and Alfa. In time, we passed on the Travel Supreme, ended up at a place in Mesa, AZ. that handled both the Hitchiker and Alfa. They stocked both models and floor plans we were interested in. We could walk across the row and back and forth, taking notes and comparing what would work best. After spending seven hours there we went back down to Yuma, telling the salesman we would call him the next day telling him what we decided. About 24 hours later after much discussion we took the Alfa. That was in October 2003 and right now we are parked in Denali, AK. with that Alfa and still fulltiming. Trading or selling for something else, won't happen as there is nothing on the market that compares to what we have. All three of the makes I mentioned are now orphans, but in talking to people who have those brands, they repeat what we say. So the count for fulltiming is one. DO YOUR HOMEWORK!

Thanks for the replies so far. Bobsallyh, we also looked for over a year to find, what we think, the perfect floorplan is for us the begin our full timing next year. It has everything we THINK we are going to need. DH thinks we will change within a year. For me, I have yet to find another 5r with the perfect floorplan and all other necessities, except in a much larger coach, which neither of us want.Will be a happy camper if she works out for many years, not to mention, it would save us a boatload of $.Thanks again... Love to hear from other full timers!

Bought our FT rig in OCT. '06Still have it.

Hi,In 1987 when I was 22, I bought a used F-350 Supercab SRW with a low value older camper already on it for $3500. A few years later, I replaced the older camper with a 1972 Coachman camper, that had three things my old one did not. Toilet, shower, furnace! In 1995 I got a 27' class C on a 3500 chassis, that turned out to be a extended chassis uniframe type RV, so it did not have the strength to tow my dune buggy. In late 1996, I bought a 1997 Bounder with the largest bathroom I could find, and I still have it.For many years, I considered the F-450 cab and chassis with a low toolbox body on the back would make the ideal tow vehicles for a fifth wheel. I went so far as planning to get it with dual alternators, then change one to a 24 volt, and run a 4,000 watt inverter, instead of a generator on the fifth wheel. It could run both A/C units if the battery bank was large enough.By having two fuel tanks, the rear one is 40 gallons, and midship is 19 gallons. Replacing the midship with a 53 gallon Transferflow.com tank, I could carry more than 75 gallons of fuel, even getting 9 MPG, I could travel from city to city without refueling while towing the fifth wheel. Lately I have been thinking that a larger solar system will be adequate to run the A/C unit - even without a generator. SunElec.comI had a 400 watt solar system while full timing in 2005 - 2007. By May 2008, I had relocated to a RV park, and have had hookups since that time. It was June 2013 when I finally moved out of my RV into a home. 400W rated system will collect about 120 AH more than you are using in a average day. The refrigerator, CO meter and propane detector combine to use about 35 AH daily, or what a 120 watt solar panel puts out in one day.By changing some of the most used lights to LED's, you can save a lot of energy. How much boondocking do you do? I did a LOT - preferring the open BLM lands very much over the campgrounds that are crowded. The 100 gallon fresh water tank in my Bounder, along with it's 59 gallon black tank allow for camping more than 3 weeks while single in the RV. My dad suggested that when you buy your first car, it will barely have any of the options that you might want on another car, later in life. You are basically getting what you can afford, and modify to help it meet your needs. Like installing extra lights, changing seating around, ect. Same thing happens with a RV, such as I bought a basic camper, and then made lists of the RV that I wanted! Towing ability, cargo rating over 2,000 pounds, large fresh water tank, strong engine and transmission. I even looked over the brochures of many RV's and drew my "Perfect" layout several times, with many revisions. I wanted a larger split bath, with lots of space to change clothes, sink on mine is on the passenger side, shower drivers side with the toilet next to it, and hallway by the sink. Doors can shut off the bathroom from the rest of the RV (just toilet and shower) or open to close off both ends of the hallway. Friends gave me the following hints. Couch on the drivers side, looking out the passenger side windows toward your campsite. Dinette near the passenger windows, so you are looking at your campground. Bathroom can be on the drivers side, it does not matter what side the campground is on. She also wanted larger counter tops. Her last RV had sleeping for something like 10. Stare at something long enough and it folded into a bed! But she would have to fold down the cutting board to let people back into the RV.I met another guy at a campground. He used to own a RV dealership, and never canceled his business license. Each year he would purchase a new RV and put about 18,000 miles on it, before selling it for about what the wholesale cost was, then buy another replacement.IT is not very difficult to get a business license, then call it something like "Rouge River Leasing". You can approach a RV manufacture and say "I have a customer interested in a 38R model, with the following options" (list what you want). You should be able to get a wholesale price, especially once your business license is over 5 years old. Good luck!Fred.

How Many Times Have You Changed Your Rig? | Good Sam Community

16 Replies

Skid_Row_Joe
Explorer
Jun 15, 2014
Once in 28 years.

Nutinelse2do wrote:
DH is curious to know... Full timers, how many times, in how many years, and from what, to what, have you changed your rigs?

We are planning at least 2. Possibly back to a DP after we wet our feet with the 5r.

Would like to know for financial purposes mostly. Since it is much smaller quarters than a house, did you get sick of one and change, or find out you needed more, or different?

Thanks for your time.
S-n-L
Explorer
Jun 11, 2014
We followed the advice of many on this forum to buy our last RV first. We did just that and hope this hold true. Be purchased the rig in our signature last August, our first RV. We are now fulltiming in it and loving our choice.

We are hoping this strategy will help us with not wanting to buy another rig for a long time.

Stuart & Leslie
Sez_Hoo_
Explorer
Jun 11, 2014
This is my first and only RV. DW and I have no plans to change. Its perfect for us. Now God forbid disaster should strike then we would consider another coach.
crabbin_cabin
Explorer II
Jun 09, 2014
Fiver in 1991, 3 newer ones since until 2010 then MH. That make 5 since 1991.
Wagonqueen_Truc
Explorer
Jun 09, 2014
Started in 92 with a large Coleman Pop-Up. Replaced that with a 30 foot 2001 Terry TT. Switched to to 76 Amerigo Truck Camper this past November...Haven't taken it anywhere yet, but looking forward to it being the last (hopefully) rig I own.
rockhillmanor
Explorer II
Jun 09, 2014
One small TT, then a bigger TT, then got smart and bought/paid cash for a MH. Went full time and added a toad. Have no plans to ever sell it and replace it. Will repair and replace parts as we go along as needed.

I full time without RV payments and plan to keep it that way! :W
Nolan
Explorer
Jun 09, 2014
Zero. Still have our first truck and 5th wheel trailer. Truck was four years old when we bought it, now is fourteen. Trailer bought new, is now ten years old. No plans to replace either one.
5thwheeleroldma
Explorer
Jun 09, 2014
Had 3 fifth wheels since retiring 17 years ago. Had the last one for 8 years now and don't ever plan to get rid of it. The first rig had bad floor plan and suspension problems. The second rig had a really bad Norcold refrigerator they wouldn't stand behind, plus leaking skylights.

Basically, a fifth wheel is a big box with several companies' stuff stuck into it. If you have no basic problems with the floor plan, etc, I think just best to repair/replace and keep going.
Dog_Folks
Explorer II
Jun 09, 2014
Nutinelse2do wrote:
DH is curious to know... Full timers, how many times, in how many years, and from what, to what, have you changed your rigs?

We are planning at least 2. Possibly back to a DP after we wet our feet with the 5r.

Would like to know for financial purposes mostly. Since it is much smaller quarters than a house, did you get sick of one and change, or find out you needed more, or different?

Thanks for your time.

Have had the same rig for 8 years.

NO changes planned.

Boaters say that you need to buy three boats to get just the right one, so I guess our lifetime boating experience helped us pick a RV.

LORD knows we bought enough boats! LOL
2chiefsRus
Explorer
Jun 09, 2014
We bought our first RV (Class A), a 1999 Monaco LaPalma with one slide while we were both still working and used it for weekend trips only. After we retired, we traveled in it for 3 months or so each summer for 4 years.

When we decided to fulltime, we traded the LaPalma for another Class A (see signature). We learned a lot about what we did and did not like in an RV from the LaPalma. We are very happy with our 2007 Monaco Knight and do not plan to switch in the foreseeable future.