Soliciting thoughts, considering building my own rig.

[RRoger]

Greetings,

This is my first post. I am thinking about selling my home and building my own rig to live in full time. While I have seen some amazing conversions and got a lot of great ideas, I am planning something a bit different.

My Dad full timed for 9 years. He started with a 26 foot class B, upgraded to a 39 foot Class A and a year later traded that in on a basement model.

He started towing his Buick Regal with a tow bar and ended up loosing it off a cliff when the tow bar broke. His next toad was a Ford Tempo with a tow dolly.

He primarily stayed at Naco or Thousand Trails membership parks and for several winters he had some sort of longer term park he stayed at in Yuma.

While this was his dream fulfilled, it seemed to me that he took a big hit on depreciation, and ended up not being able to find a buyer for his membership and ended up giving it away.

I find that I am not particularly pleased with how most RV's are built, hence my desire to build my own.

My plan (In the larval stage.) is to get a used 48 foot moving van (They have a lower floor than a regular semi trailer.) and convert it. When running down the road it will have the outward appearance of a regular semi (Park it anywhere trucks park, industrial areas, truck stops etc.) If camped in a campground the side will fold up for the awning and a patio area would fold down and a screen could then be zipped on.

On the other side access doors could be opened to get to the washer and dryer and panels covering the windows would hinge at the top for window awnings.

The walls, floor and roof will be very well insulated and the roof will be loaded with solar panels. I will be avoiding a lot of the RV appliances (I will have the space and I observe that anytime you buy something that is stamped RV the price triples.)

For heating I was thinking about putting radiant flooring and having zones and for the AC I was thinking about a mini split system again to allow for the ability to cool by zone. Also since the roof of the trailer is already going to be at or near maximum height there will be no room for a roof top AC.

In the back of the trailer I would have a jeep or some small car inside and a queen size bed above.

Below the floor I will have black and grey tanks as well as the battery banks.

I would like to be able to have enough capacity to go between 30 and 60 days in boondock mode.

I figure I have at least 10 years to work, so if I get a job as a long haul truck driver, parking the rig at the yard will be no problem and if I take a take a different kind of job, I can find a place to park in some sort of industrial area.

So I have some questions. How long can you boondock? What is your tank capacity (Fresh grey and black) and propane tank size?

How about those of you with solar cells? What is your set up? How many cells? How many batteries etc?

Also I would like to hear about your general thoughts and ideas. My thinking here is if you were going to design a rig to full time in, what changes would you make?

[2oldman]

I'll hold off responding until OP makes a reply.

[tonyandkaren]

This sounds like a very interesting and fun project but for all of the reasons stated above it is impractical. A bus conversion like Golden HVAC's buddy has would meet most of your criteria but still fit the mold of a standard RV allowing you access to RV parks. But if you do decide to use a moving van please keep us updated on your conversion work!

[K_Charles]

Full timing in an industrial park would be a different way to see the country.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

48 feet is too long.

The skill sets required to transform a moving van into an RV are many. Few people have all the tools needed.

Costs of materials will be retail rather than wholesale.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

You are willing to spend 3 to 5 years building this rig?

You are willing to spend premium prices for all components, to end up paying extra?

You are willing to be locked out of many commercial RV parks, TT, NACO that your father loved? They won't allow homemade rigs in most of them.

Many of the Escapees Co-ops have 40' rig limits, especially in the west.

The rig will be too long and heavy for real remote boondocking.

Building your own sounds like a lot of fun and a way to save money, but unless you can devote yourself full-time to the construction, it isn't.

You can find used units for good prices you can convert - much easier, much faster and for a lot less money in the long run.

[Golden_HVAC]

40+ feet, and it will prohibit you from camping in any National Parks. Also staying places like Quartzsite long term visitor areas are out of the question for a commercial rig. As for campgrounds, they will not want to see a used moving van pull in. Many have restrictions for overweight vehicles as well. Anything with a 14,000 pound capacity front axle can smash right through the thin pavement of a typical campground. Usually they like to limit loads to 8,000 pounds front axle and 15,000 pounds rear axle.

I also think that a well planned out conversion of a fifth wheel would work, except for the part about putting a Jeep inside. Perhaps a "Smart Electric" car would work as well? They can be carried with most toyhaulers.

If you want something custom, New Horizons will build just about anything. Yes they are expensive, but designed to last a really long time. Heavy! Yes. And you would want to tow it with something like a Freightliner or buy a used Volvo and remove the center axle, changing it to a housecar, and it will still have a 40,000+ towing capacity!

You might want to get in touch with Escapees.com THey have several RV parks around the country that have reasonable sized campsites, (30' wide and 50 - 60 feet long is typical). You can buy into some of the parks, and stay as long as you desire, then allow the property to go into the 'rental pool' where the campground keeps the rent money in exchange for lower dues to maintain the RV park (roads and administration costs). You can rent a site for a reasonable amount - say $18 a night + electric at only around $0.16 per KW (or what the locals charge the park).

I can boondock for upwards of 3 weeks and have a 100 gallon fresh water tank, 42 grey and 59 black. I do sometimes water the local vegetation with the grey water, and bury the hole at night, so I do not attract flies.

My buddy that converted a MCI bus has a 100 gallon grey tank sitting above his 100 gallon black tank. In this way, he can dump some or all of the grey water, or dump the black, then use the grey water to rinse and dump through the black water tank. Also if dry camping for say 3 weeks, he can dump some of the grey into the black tank - to gain more grey water tank space. I think his fresh water is a stainless 150 gallon tank! He was considering removing the tag axle, and installing a pair of 150 gallon fuel tanks in that space. He only needs the two axles for his GVW. His bus has a 8V92 - that is 92 cubic inches per cylinder! and V8 two stroke diesel. It makes something like 500 HP but can be programmed for more HP if desired.

Solar cells? I have a 400 watt system, and it makes 'plenty' of power for me. I don't have a all electric refrigerator. I have heard that the Samsung is a great brand while running from a inverter, as the compressor is most efficient. I would not have a auto ice maker, as I would rather make my own ice from fresh water, not the tank. Also the 300 watt electric heater that is on while harvesting the ice produces a lot of heat inside the freezer, and consumes a lot of energy overall!

You probably will need about 8 golf cart batteries for a all electric coach, not running gas refrigerator, and minimum of 800 watts of solar. You will need to decide between 24 and 12 volts battery system. The inverters work much more efficiently on 24 volts, or even 48 volts. My new home will include a 48 volt 8 KW Outback inverter to support life critical systems (oxygen generator, CPAP, ect). The 8 KW can run any normal appliances, including the ductless A/C you speak of. Normally ductless units are very energy efficient. However the drip pan is not all that deep, so driving, it might start to drip water, until it all reaches the drain line. If parked off-level, it might become a water drip problem, but otherwise will work fine off level. You might consider a axillary drip pan, or a 'cartridge ductless' design, or a ducted design with the same type ductless outside unit that is inverter controlled, and super energy efficient!

So if you plan on being all electric and mostly run on solar, consider a 200 amp hour 48 volt battery bank (8 X 6 volt batteries in series) to store about 9.6 KW of power. You would also need a pair of golf cart batteries for a 12 volt system too, to run the lights, water pump, and accessories.

A solar system for each bank of batteries would be required. If you run the inverter on 24 volts, you can pick only 4 batteries, (67 pounds each) and only 4.8 KW storage, or go with 8 batteries, and much longer battery life. Double the voltage, and for a given wattage, amperage is 1/2. To run a 800 watt load on a 12 volt inverter is 80 amps, 40 amps at 24 volts and only 20 amps at 48 volts. So much smaller wire size is practical with the higher battery voltage. I would see 150 amps going out of my batteries when running my microwave via my Trace 1500 watt 12 volt inverter. IT is a lot of power and required size 000 wire, about the diameter of my thumb.

SunElec.com

Tank-Depot.com

Have fun planning and then camping!

Fred.

[rockhillmanor]

Plan on it costing you 100 times more than buying a nice used one. Just saying.