Full timing rig; the search continues

[norfla71]

My family is planning on a full year tour of the states in a few years. Original plan was to use our current rig, but plans have changed; truck and fiver are gone, which opens up a motorhome purchase.

One question remains; A or C? We will be pulling a toad, most likely an older LeSabre or Equinox. We also need bunks (mainly for extra clothes storage, as the kids will be sleeping in the main cabin on the extra beds). I really like having extra reserve for pulling through the mountains with a diesel pusher, but dread the extra costs. I also would like to make one purchase, to be used with the kids and later in our retirement, and have it paid off before social security age; any choice will be purchased used. A about 38', C no longer than 32', and at least 2 slides, including bedroom.

The A's we're considering are the Allegro Red 38QB and Berkshire 39QB; there are many choices for C. It boils down to a simple question; can we live with a smaller unit, and smaller payments, or more room and comfort, but with the higher costs? To start, we are going to rent a C over a long weekend in the next few months.

Affording either is not the issue; proper planning will get us any of these units new. I'm trying to figure out which is best for a family of 4, then empty nesters later on.

[rmalik1]

C-Bears wrote:

norfla71 wrote:
I'll try to address everyone's concerns as best I can:

We are done with towables; everyone is cramped inside the truck, even after an hour. Kids would be fine with Mega, Suburban, Expedition, etc, but wife and I can't sit for too long anymore without moving around. Motorhome gives us that freedom. Bonus; we don't have to get out to eat or use the facilities when pulling into rest stops and fighting all the bugs.

Initial costs are going to be crazy expensive, so will maintenance. However, we should come out ahead not long after purchase; plan on buying used, buying well and putting a large chunk down, maybe get out the door under $90k. For that kind of money, I would rather have a DP than a C.

Washer and dryer are a must and have yet to see a used coach without.

Sounds like you have experience with TT's. If you want maximum space, especially for 4 people, why not consider a fifth wheel. If you go with a 38' to 40' gently used fiver and dually you can have tons of room plus your washer/dryer.

When we stop at rest areas, or truck stops, we can enter our fiver and get to our frig, pantry, and bathroom. All without putting any of the slides out. A lot of the newer fivers are designed that way.

If your family gets "cramped" after an hour of riding then make a stop every hour or two. RVing is not a road race. We only try to do about 250 to 300 miles a day when traveling. To us RVing is more of a slow motion process to see and enjoy as much as we can.

Gently used 39' fiver = $40,000
Used 1-ton diesel dually crew cab = $40,000
TOTAL for 330-400 sq. ft. living space = $80,000 or under

X2

[norfla71]

For going higher, I'm only talking about another $10 - $20k, still sticking under $100; the difference between a $50k and $70k rig, from my looking, shows some real differences in conditions and care. I would rather spend the extra cash and get something solid than go cheap and wind up, possibly, spending more just to fix rot, leaks, mechanicals, appliances, etc. Not saying there aren't bad units out there being offered for a premium, nor am I saying that all cheaper units are full of major issues.

Folks want to travel, but are getting too far along to buy on their own and expect to use it enough to justify a full expense; this limits both of our initial outlays. If they find travel is no longer feasible, I can buy out their portion and still be less out of pocket.

Emissions garbage: DPF, cooled EGR, DEF. The system on my Dodge lasted about 45k (under regular use) before needing over $6k in replacement parts. We plan on using it maybe 3-4 times a year, so it's another possible headache. If RV systems are the same as the trucks, it also cuts mileage in half during regen; not that a pusher is known for fuel economy, but loosing about half your mileage just to clean a filter seems crazy to me. And considering the newer units use, essentially, the same 6.7 Cummins as the trucks, I would say it's a good possibility, along with all the quirks that come with the engine the 5.9 didn't have, such as coded injectors.

[GMandJM]

Interesting idea - going halvsies. Not sure I could/would do that, but that's just me. 🙂

What specific "emissions garbage"? Do you mean the DEF system?

[2gypsies1]

norfla71 wrote:
As of now I have a plan in place that will give me the opportunity to get a pusher for the cost of a C; my folks also want an A, but are in the same boat financially. I'm trying to get them to go half with us, that way they can also take their grandkids for the summer. So far I've found some older HR and Tiffin pushers for under $60k; they have over 70,000, but appear to be in good shape. With this new twist, I may go higher to give us a better chance to get a good coach. One thing I do not want is a pusher past 2006 or 2007 due to all the emissions garbage they started putting on them starting around that time.

I hope it works for you but I see two flaws:

1) Buying a motorhome along with someone - especially your parents.

2) Already planning to 'go higher in price' when you can't afford it.

Buy what you can afford and stay out of debt. You'll feel better about it.

[norfla71]

As of now I have a plan in place that will give me the opportunity to get a pusher for the cost of a C; my folks also want an A, but are in the same boat financially. I'm trying to get them to go half with us, that way they can also take their grandkids for the summer. So far I've found some older HR and Tiffin pushers for under $60k; they have over 70,000, but appear to be in good shape. With this new twist, I may go higher to give us a better chance to get a good coach. One thing I do not want is a pusher past 2006 or 2007 due to all the emissions garbage they started putting on them starting around that time.

[GMandJM]

Good plan. It will give you a good idea of how everything works (water, electric, refrigeration, etc) and what it's like to drive and park a motorhome.

[norfla71]

Sometime after tourist season we're going to rent a smaller C from a local place and take it a couple of hours east to the caverns in Marianna. I know it won't be the same size as we're looking for, but it's will give us a good idea.

[beelbill]

You are wise to not wait until the last minute to prepare. I am one of those that has dug a bit of a hole waiting and I will have to delay my retirement because of it. Have you ever driven a Class A? They really drive a lot different than a C. You might want to consider renting one and trying it out on a trip before you make the big purchase. I wish I had done something like that.

[GMandJM]

If interested in Tiffins, you might consider watching the classified ads on (TRVNClassifieds.com). It's all FSBOs.

[norfla71]

Too funny.

Yes, we want a WD to avoid this

[GMandJM]

C-Bears wrote:
...Now we could have saved some initial money and forgot about the washer/dryer, but we didn't want to haul around 2 or 3 weeks worth of underwear and take up all that storage space (I'm a Big Ol Boy and my undies take up some room).

Too funny!

Sounds like a draw:

Without a w/d you''d do laundry every 2-3 weeks and will need to take quite alot of clothes with you.

A w/d takes up space but you'll be able do laundry more often so you won't need to bring as much "stuff".

Personally I'd opt for the w/d. Laundromats gross me out. Don't get me started on "mystery lint"! *shudder*

[C-Bears]

When we made the decision to go full time and sell our home it was a transition to living/traveling in our RV, not actually "camping".

We had certain comfort requirements, such as a washer/dryer, automatic Direct TV dish, 2 airs, and a big frig.

Now we could have saved some initial money and forgot about the washer/dryer, but we didn't want to haul around 2 or 3 weeks worth of underwear and take up all that storage space (I'm a Big Ol Boy and my undies take up some room).

Could have forgot about the dish for the TV, but then how would you watch all your football games?

Could have went with just a standard single air conditioner, but for some reason we seem to end up in 80 degree weather for 12 months out of the year.

A little single door frig could have gotten us by, if we would have kept the case of beer in a cooler outside. Too much work going to get ice all the time.

[2gypsies1]

norfla71 wrote:


I should clarify the WD point; if we go A, then the WD is expected. However, no C I could find has space for one. Considering the price difference between platforms, laundry is not that much of an expense; I just hate replacing clothes all the time because the machines at most campsites are not kind to clothes.However, if the machine ever broke in the A, we could always dump it and use the space for storage, as laundry is much cheaper than replacing one.

We full-timed for 16 years without a washer/dryer. In fact, we ordered our motorhome specifically without one. We never had a problem with the machines 'not being kind to clothes'. If you go to laundramats in town, you'll have awesome huge front loader machines that are very kind.

We did two-weeks worth of clothes in 1-1/2 hours and then were able to forget about laundry for another 2 weeks. 🙂 If you have one in the rig you're constantly doing laundry.

[GMandJM]

I definitely understand your points on the towables. The reason we didn't get a 5W is that we didn't want to drive a big truck everywhere (sightseeing, grocery store, etc.).

Let us know what you find in your search. It's alot of fun looking, isn't it?

[norfla71]

lj2654 wrote:
Find a bunk house DP used, same some money that way. Keep looking and you will find a good deal....

Already have; several are below $100,000, but have over 100,000 miles, are over 7 years old, etc, and we are not in the market yet. Good thing we can't buy yet, as I do not want to make another long term mistake this time, even if it means spending a bit above our budget to get exactly what we want.