My Future Home?

From the pictures looks good.

is that a cassette type toilet or does it have a black tank?
bumpy

Do you have experience working on vehicles? Are you a quick learner in that area? No matter how well it has been maintained, any 1981 RV is likely to be one issue after another. Most may be minor, but some may be more complex. You have to stay on top of them. If you can fix them yourself, it will be fine. If you have to get them repaired, it will drain your college and travel fund. This is especially true if it has sat for a long time. A 30+ year old RV with only 47K miles no doubt has spent a lot of time sitting. I would actually be more comfortable with more miles on it at that age.

Things to check are age of the tires. On an RV the amount of tread left on the tire is meaningless. An RV tire will rot and have a blowout causing lots and lots of damage. Any tire on that rig over 5 years old needs to be replaced. I say this because the tires are not covered in the pictures and the UV rays fro the sun is what rots the tires.
Next is the refrigerator. An RV refrigerator is different than a household refrigerator. A new fridge can cost 1500 - 1800.
The appliance you want to work the most is the fridge and RV fridges are set up to cool on both electric and propane so a small generator would serve to charge your batteries if the fridge runs on gas (Make sure you test)

AS for the genny the cure could be as simple as filling the fuel tank. An RV genny will usually not start if the fuel tank on the motorhome is 1/4 full or less. It could also just be the carb is all varnished up from lack of use. A little work on your part cleaning the carb might be the cure. So I would not fret about that to much.
You ask what kind of genny it could be and I believe it will have an ONAN generator of about 4000 watts.

YOu do realize that if you are in cold climate you will probably not be able to live in it all winter as it will be almost impossible to keep warm. The older ones tended to have zero insulation. So the water lines will freeze, condensation will be a problem. You will go through huge amounts of propane. I would see if you can rig up a 100 lb tank so you can take it for refill.
So what state and city will this be in

Eastern Washington in the winter? Good luck with that idea. Think in terms of 100 dollars a week for propane. 200 dollars a month for electricity. Frozen water lines. Frozen dump valves. All this on top of the RV parks 500 or more dollars a month rent.

Did the odometers then read full mileage, or reset to zero after 99,999.9 miles? If it's the latter, it could easily be 100k or 200k over what it's showing.

Generator is probably an Onan or a Generac. I don't know if a newer one will fit, but someone skilled (read high $$/hr.) needs to troubleshoot it first. Many generator issues are caused by disuse, and fixes can start about $300 and go up from there. Replacing with a new one, if possible & simple, will run $2.5K > $3.5K, maybe a bit more. A cheaper but hasslesome alternative is a portable on a cargo rack.

Tires should be not over 6 years old, regardless of tread remaining. There are articles on the net on how to read the date code. They're probably 16.5", of which very few varieties are made any more, and freshly-made ones are hard to find.

Check _thoroughly_ for soft spots in walls, ceiling, & overcab; rot caused by water leaks is the death of _many_ class C's.

Finally, if you're in a northern clime, best forget 'living' in it. Cost to heat would be about as bad as rent, condensation & resulting mold might be unhealthy, and water system is very unlikely to be 4-seasons. _Not_ for the unskilled RV'er.

Jim, "Mo' coffee!"

what's the rush/worry about tire age. he is going to park it for a couple of years, then perhaps travel. get new tires when he wants to start driving it. sort of stupid to put on new tires, then let them age 3-4? years just sitting.
bumpy

Lots of good advice so far.

If you're planning on staying in the Moscow/Pullman area over the winter it would be best to find a RV park that is opened all year. Don't worry about the generator because you'll be plugged into the grid. Put skirting or hay bales around the bottom. Insulate the windows with quilted material. It'll feel like a cave but you'll make in through the winter.

Trying to live on the street or on public land will be expensive, because of fuel for the generator,difficult, noisy and cold.

Bumpyroad wrote:
what's the rush/worry about tire age. he is going to park it for a couple of years, then perhaps travel. get new tires when he wants to start driving it. sort of stupid to put on new tires, then let them age 3-4? years just sitting.
bumpy

He may consider going on a roadtrip for spring break or summer break.

darsben wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:
what's the rush/worry about tire age. he is going to park it for a couple of years, then perhaps travel. get new tires when he wants to start driving it. sort of stupid to put on new tires, then let them age 3-4? years just sitting.
bumpy

He may consider going on a roadtrip for spring break or summer break.

if and when that happens, he can get new tires then, not 3 years before. of course if road trip is only a few miles, I wouldn't bother.
bumpy