Attacked on the highway: Rebuilding, lots of questions.

[stevennlv]

Hi everybody,

I am Steven and my wife is Nancy. We were here for a short bit a long time ago. We're back in hopes of starting a discussion with folks that are more experienced and knowledgeable than we are so that we can get some input and feedback to help us evaluate our options.

Long story short, we went semi-retired / full time work camper. We were into it about 3 months and headed to a winter work camper job when we were attacked on the interstate. In an episode of unprovoked road rage, another driver threw an object into our front driver side wheel well, shredded our tire and caused us to have a roll over wreck. Our truck and travel trailer were a total loss; as well as about half of our personal belongings.

We had pretty good insurance, things have not been worked out completely yet and of course there will be some monetary loss… but we will be made nearly whole. Close enough that we may have a chance to start over again and get back on the road. That is where we need some information to help us figure things out. Last time we got lucky, and with a lot of hard work, we were able to pick up a 20 year old “unicorn” truck at auction from a city in Idaho and a 20 year old single owner travel trailer which had been maintained in immaculate condition. I don't know if we can get that lucky again in finding older model stuff in great condition so now we are looking for information about getting a newer vehicle/rv/trailer on the cheap.

One of the options that we have is to go to safe harbor with relatives in Illinois. The other option is to go to Las Vegas, NV and stay for a couple of months and see if we can find a good deal to get back on the road.

Are there any big winter RV shows in Las Vegas, NV or nearby? We are looking at Vegas because it is a fairly central location in the southwest and is fairly close to Quartzite, AZ. We've both been in Vegas before and we have heard “urban myths” about how after conventions of various types the vendors will sell inventory super cheap instead of having to send it back home.

What we are curious about is if anyone has ever experienced this, is it true or just a myth? If it is true, what kind of savings could be found…. is it 5% off or 50% off? Something else that we want to throw into the mix of the discussion as well: We are not financial planners, but I keep my ear to the ground; there are some folks that supposedly know their stuff and claim we are heading for another big bust like 2009. Assuming that is true, to the folks that were involved in the market after the last bust, can you tell us if after the bust was it easier or harder to pick up an RV on the cheap. Were folks buying RVs to get into when they lost their homes or were they selling off RVs to try and save their homes?

One other thing, when we were setting up before we noticed that there were a lot of private sellers with nice big 5th wheels for sale cheap. We are assuming that is because you have to have a special vehicle to tow them, making them more of a unique item that only specific people could purchase. Because of our needs, we are not looking for anything huge...we actually prefer something less than 26' long. We have seen some smaller 5th wheels in that size. To handle a 5th wheel that size, should we be looking at 3/4 ton or 1 ton trucks? What is the ball-park price range to get a 5th wheel hitch installed and will *any* 3/4-1 ton trucks handle a 5th wheel or are there special requirements for a 5th wheel setup?

Last but not least, when we got started we were residents of Idaho and I structured everything so that Idaho would be our domiciliary state. I was just starting to learn about that subject and read that there would be advantages to changing our domiciliary state to Florida or South Dakota. As a hypothetical, since we are currently still legal residents of Idaho, if I purchase a vehicle in Nevada or Arizona, would I register the vehicle in the state of purchase or the domiciliary state? Or even though we are not currently legal residents of South Dakota or Florida is there a process where we could go ahead and change our domiciliary status to either one them and register it there? The reason that I had not made the change to the domiciliary state yet was because I had read, maybe incorrectly, that it was best for tax purposes to make these changes at the beginning of a new tax year. But since we are starting from scratch is that a move that should be made now if we are able to get back on the road?

We greatly appreciate any pointers on places to look, call and research whether it is websites or someone that you had dealt with directly.

Thanks.

[Nolan]

I'm glad the two of you are okay from the accident. I don't know if this is allowed to post this but our truck and trailer is for sale. I sent you a PM.

[stevennlv]

Also,

My wife is 100% convinced that the only motivation for the attack is the fact that I look like a cop. I did contract gov/mil sec for 15 years and got used to the ultra clean cut look.

I will be taking steps to alter my appearance so that I look a little less fascist pig and a little more scummy rat bag.

[stevennlv]

@ Grit/ram, et al:

We've got *some* time to wait. Of course doing so will eat in to settlement money which eats in to road money. And I can't work for 90 days to help make that up. But the wife has an OK income coming in as well on a deal that expires in January. By then we can both find something to do for a few months if need be.

The story gets wilder.

If we're gonna go all "teachable moment" here then I have to say that Progressive just earned a customer for life.

Long story short: I went to an RV insurance web site and talked to a (unbeknownst to me) *disreputable* agent who was licensed for several companies.

I gave her the run down on what I wanted.

She sold me a product for the truck that actually does not even exist in the Progressive product line. She was just blowing smoke up my butt, conning me and making stuff up whole cloth as she went.

***!!!Progressive honored it!!!***

Of course they had to investigate first. But it took them less than 2 weeks to settle for the full value of what she sold me. Because they honored the snake oil she sold me we were made whole plus 7K on the truck.

We're now doing the same go round on the TT.

I'm hoping for ACV on the TT + ~ a 6-7K payment on personal property; which will be a loss of ~ 6-7k on the PP = just about break even in total.

But, if Progressive had not honored the snake oil I was sold on the truck we would be in a world of hurt b/c it would have been about an 8k loss on the truck too.

As far as what happened: A clean pass on the highway.

As far as tell tales: When he came up on my left he persistently paced me in a position that in hind sight would have put him in about the right place to do a PIT. (Or throw something in my wheel well.)

He did not attack until I looked down and made eye contact with him. He was craning over the passenger seat as he drove looking at me; which I didn't see until I looked at him. Then there was movement towards us. I mistook it as an attempted side swipe. Then all of a sudden he was gone and I was in the left lane.

I knew to jerk that hard left that fast and to start fish tailing that hard that fast that my front left tire had to be gone. I let off the gas, reached for the break controller and it was already too late.

As far as what to do: In the future, if it is safe to do so, if anyone ever persistently side paces me again I will *immediately* start dropping speed to break the pace. If they follow suit I will call cops / take evasive (not movie ****: hit an exit), etc.

[_en_Plain_Air_]

Regarding domicile ... I am a permanent residence of Maryland, I bought an RV in Calif, and registered it in Nevada. The only requirement for Nevada registration was to have a Nevada mailing address. There's no sales tax in Nevada. This worked for us.

[Grit_dog]

Steve, I would say you're not likely to find as good of a deal on any new rig. Camper or truck, as used.
Do you have a while to wait on getting a new camper? You're in the right part of the country come march/April. When I lived in Phx, end of winter there was a glut of rvs on the market from snowbirds who just made their last trip. Would be a good time/place to find a deal.
Man I've heard NM is getting worse by the year. Lived there 8 years and really loved it. East mtns of Albq. But have friends that are constantly getting burglarized. Shop gets broken into regularly. (It's in the S valley though). Buddy's wife has been harassed.

I got a bottle bomb tossed at me in Rio Rancho back in the day.
Some little cholos got splashed cause their windows were down in a monsoon storm and I kicked up water driving by them. Difference was it only hit the side of my pickup left a scratch and I was young n dumb enough I got out at the next intersection and pulled one kid thru the window and beat the c rap out of him. At least I didn't get shot!

[Grit_dog]

2012Coleman wrote:
You were pulling a TT doing 75? Not trying to be hateful - but if your running ST tires on the trailer, most have a speed rating of 65. Set me straight if I'm wrong...

Yeah whatever dude. Guy just saw his life flash before him 3.5x. Not the time to be a speed cop.

[bikendan]

you'd be better off getting quotes from the big "wholesale" dealers, such as RVW, Couch's and RVDirect.

[spoon059]

My experience has been that show discounts are rarely that great. Rarely are vendors coming from extreme distances, they are usually stock products brought in by local retailers. Perhaps you might get a slightly better deal purchasing a demo model on the last day so the dealer doesn't have to worry about towing the trailer back to their lot... but chances are they are paying an employee less than $10 an hour to haul campers to and from the RV show. They likely aren't paying big bucks to ship campers back and forth...

Unless the manufacturer is offering a larger rebate because of the show, prices will likely not be any better. In fact, dealers tend to rely on "spur of the moment" buyers who see something new and shiny and want it now and aren't too interested in negotiating the best price. My selling dealer was at the Hershey RV show last year, a very large RV show, and they had my exact model trailer with a "show special" price that was higher than I paid for a custom ordered trailer. Despite the higher prices on trailers at the show, versus the lot, the salesman told me that they had sold over 300 RV's during the show!!!

[ramgunner]

Having lived in Las Vegas, I can tell you that the RV shows aren't anything to write home about. The biggest ones I saw were the Camping World shows at the Orleans. Other than that, hit the lots. Johnny Walker had some OK sales folks.

I do want to mention something else. Please don't take this the wrong way. I'd take a deep breath and re-read what 2012Coleman wrote. While your configuration may have been safe on paper, you just experienced your worst day at 75MPH. This could be a teachable moment for everyone here.

As a Firearms Instructor, I teach my students that a Superior sailor is one who uses his superior judgment to avoid situations requiring the use of his superior skills. The best way to win a gunfight is, in short, don't be there.

In this case, it sounds like trouble came looking for you. Can you describe exactly what happened?

I'm willing to bet there was some sign that things were going to get bad. You may have missed it in the moment. Looking back on it, hindsight being 20/20, was there something that should have tipped you off? Did you have any time to react before he threw the "bomb" (for lack of a better term)? If you had recognized what was happening, would you have had time to react?

Do you think that being at a speed less than 75MPH would have reduced the severity of the incident?

I think others could learn from this, and the information may be very informative.

[stevennlv]

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=219

Depends on the tire / pressure / load / rig config.

I was running a safe config.

Which has nothing to do w/ a psycho throwing an improvised tire bomb at me.

Please be helpful.

Thank you.

[2012Coleman]

You were pulling a TT doing 75? Not trying to be hateful - but if your running ST tires on the trailer, most have a speed rating of 65. Set me straight if I'm wrong...

[bikendan]

Every RV show I've been to out West, simply brings their in house inventory.
After the show ends, all the rigs go back to the dealership.
These shows are generally regional.

They don't have rigs that they "need" to ship back long distances, such as the Midwest.

So IMHO, it is an urban myth.

[stevennlv]

I'm not 100% sure what he threw. The eye witnesses reported that it was a bottle. But, IDK if just a glass bottle would shred a medium duty truck tire; even at 75? I'm thinking maybe a bottle with nails / screws in it? Although I couldn't find any concrete evidence of that when I went back to the scene.

My wife is a smart lady. She already told me the next rig will have one of those little dash cams from the TV commercials in it.

As far as the driving lessons go: Thankx. I know how to slow down with a blow out. But, by the time I realized what was happening and started reaching for the break controller it was too late and we were already starting the first revolution of 3.5, landing upside down.

The headache bar saved our lives. I have a broken neck. The docs say it will heal w/o surgery. But it's a C-collar and no lifting for 90 days. The wife is OK. She never gets to complain about being short ever again. Being a foot shorter saved her from having a broken neck too.

As far as what I did to set him off: Nothing. It was a clean pass. I didn't run up his butt or cut off his nose or flip him off or anything else; just passed him on the highway.

This is just my humble opinion: !!!Stay out of New Mexico!!!

We are stuck in ABQ right now. It happened on 25 between Santa Fe and ABQ. We've been here about 2 weeks now and have talked to lots of locals.

*NOBODY* is surprised about what happened!!! The typical response has been: "Yeah, that's the highways in NM for ya". As a matter of fact, road rage BS is such a problem here that the legislature is considering making road rage a special class of crime like hate crimes are.

--------------
Edit:

Will any 3/4 ton handle a 5'r hitch or are there special drive train / suspension requirements? I.E. our old truck was a 95 c/k 2500 *HD*; which means that it came from the factory with some added beef in the tranny, rear hog head and rear suspension.

[Grit_dog]

Wow tough deal on the accident. 2 words. People suck! Hope there's a special place for the a hole that did that to you. What did he throw?
Anyway.
Deals are fewer right now due to the good economy. Trucks in particular with cheap fuel now as well. Just gotta search.
Personally I think the PNW is one of the better locations to source both, if you're looking for older iron. Wet side of the states, lots of weekend warriors and due to the rain, a greater number of rvs are stored under cover or in a shop than other areas I've lived.
Same with vehicles. I think the wet side of the PNW is as easy on vehicles in general as anywhere in the country. Very little rust and sun damage here comparitively speaking and being wet most of the year is just a little easier on vehicles drive trains.
Jmo, but don't limit your search to here.

[wa8yxm]

I can not advise you on a course of action in regards to RV replacement or lifestyle but I can do a few other things.

First a comment alas this is almost political but it needs to be said:
Times are changing Many people today may well have jobs but where as a few years ago they were makign 20-30 Dollars per hour today it is Federal Minimumn Wage which believe it or not can be as low as 2.5/hr Plus tips.. I have political comments on this but.. Not here.

Thus some of these folks get .. Well.. Frustrated (for want of a better term) Some turn to Alcohol or other intoxicantes to "Ease their discomfort" (A very bad idea I might add) Others get angry.

Well the RV life is not about driving 90 MPH ih a 55 MPH zone it is about stoppign to smell the roses.
Also. My Class A the sticker was over 100,000 and that not an expensive RV. So some person who can barely sfford his 500month rent may feel that I'm "Entitled" as some call it (Well yes, I am, but I worked long and hard for it I earned it and by RV I'm going to enjoy it) so these people react by..

Well you already have seen how they react Felonious assualt which I would actually classify as attempted murder myself... (They tried to kill you).


So what am I leading up to? How to protect yourself, that's what.

Most RV forum families, and I believe this one is no exception have a thread, a sticky in most of 'em, titled somethinng like "Watching these videos may save your life" The topic is not kidding.

40 years of driving, Several flat tires (on cars and trailers) and I learned from watching those Videos.... And as it turned out thinking, not just reacting by instinctively standing on the brakes,, has already saved my life at least once.

I very highly recommend watching those videos.

And sorry to hear of your attack.