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.

[stevennlv]

Grit dog wrote:
Ok understood. It was more of a yard sale than I imagined.
Constructive help here....is your contents coverage of your insurance replacement value or some lesser max value? If it's rep value you'll be whole on that and have that to look forward to. Either way sounds like your documentation is good so you should get whatever your policy allows for without question.
Regarding your choice of vehicle I was trying to convincingly say that simplicity is your friend in lowering the overall cost of ownership and an older luxury SUV is about as far away from that you can get except maybe for a German car with high miles.

To be honest I don't know what their computer says I have on coverage b/c of the disreputable agent thing. What I can tell you is that after some push back they have settled for max value on all of the imaginary stuff she sold me.

Our max coverage was 10k. We submitted 13k. We're hoping for 9.5k (.5 deductible.)

I was really *not* caring about the "luxury" at all. I was actually trying to avoid it. But even the non-lux almost ident over at carmax was 12k and needed 3k work.

And I want a rear leveling kit and a heavy duty tow pack. If it did not have them as factory options I would have just added them.

[Grit_dog]

Ok understood. It was more of a yard sale than I imagined.
Constructive help here....is your contents coverage of your insurance replacement value or some lesser max value? If it's rep value you'll be whole on that and have that to look forward to. Either way sounds like your documentation is good so you should get whatever your policy allows for without question.
Regarding your choice of vehicle I was trying to convincingly say that simplicity is your friend in lowering the overall cost of ownership and an older luxury SUV is about as far away from that you can get except maybe for a German car with high miles.

[stevennlv]

Teamfour wrote:

^^^Bingo. I have been following this thread and it keeps getting weirder. Do I smell a histrionic disorder? I truly hope everything works out for y'all.

And if I had a $55K+ budget for *just the equipment in your sig* I might be making snarky comments like that too.

But I'm trying to replace a 1995 c/k 2500 HD that I got at auction for $4600 base. It was a unicorn. It only had 55k miles, the power plant was in immaculate condition and it had a flatbed with a lift gate. I had to rebuild the tranny and did a ton of custom work on it to keep all of the work truck features, add some more work truck features and make it a RV hauler all at the same time. I was in to it for 13k. Same truck I built, 3x miles sells for 17k. Same miles (10 years newer) sells for 28k = split the dif mine was worth 22k. (Retail new for same / same is 75k.)

The insurance said it was worth 5k, even with everything I did to it.

The only reason I got 22k is b/c a disreputable agent sold me a "stated value" policy. ***Which does not even exist in the Progressive line of products***, but they honored it any away.

I am losing a lot: No lift gate or gang boxes any more, no roll bar, no aux gas tank and a lot more.

I am also having to replace stuff that took decades to accumulate before we even started buying stuff for the journey itself.

Her dad's torque wrench, which he gave to me, disappeared. A comparable replacement is $200 after taxes.

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Edit:

I'm also buying stuff I wish I had last time. Like an RV version of a GPS. We ended up in some hairy places we had no biz being in due to the stupid GPS and I'm getting a solar upgrade this time around. I also got a trailer that was 15 years newer, 6 foot shorter, 1.5k #'s lighter and **$4k more expensive**!

Plus, we've been having to support ourselves at a very high expense rate (hotels / cabs / car rentals) for the last 6 weeks. I have to leave money in the budget to live until we get back on the road and then afterwards as well.

End edit
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Now, are all of your little questions answered?

Does *anybody* have anything helpful to contribute? Or am I just wasting my time here?

[Teamfour]

Grit dog wrote:


Quit using this thread as an attempt to gain approval for your decisions and start being proactive about fixing your life and if you ask opinions realize that's what you'll get.

^^^Bingo. I have been following this thread and it keeps getting weirder. Do I smell a histrionic disorder? I truly hope everything works out for y'all.

[stevennlv]

Grit dog wrote:
You asked for opinions......am having a hard time following you.
You need more help than we here can give you.....you're kind of like my sister. She never "needs" us until she makes a bad decision or "the world is against her." Never once has she asked advice before making a poor decision or doing something stupid. ALWAYS needs advice, support and money after the fact.

Quit using this thread as an attempt to gain approval for your decisions and start being proactive about fixing your life and if you ask opinions realize that's what you'll get.


On a separate note, how did every shred of what you own get "lost"? Were you both so gravely injured for so long that everything was stolen? Did the truck and trailer vaporize upon impact? I don't understand that. I've had vehicles totaled, including a full moving van. Always been able to get personal belongings out of the vehicle before it have ads to the junk yard or wherever.

This is why I hate the interwebs.

I'm not looking for approval or support. I'm looking to see if I missed anything.

If either of our dads or grandpas were alive we'd be asking them these questions.

And we are moving forward with getting our feet under us. For Christ's sake, I'm crawling around engines with a broke neck trying not to puke from the dizziness and nausea inevitably caused by moving my head the wrong way while I'm doing it.

And we did recover a lot. But we also submitted 235 pics of stuff we lost. Trailer rolled too. Mylar bags of special food busted open, expensive water filters cracked, computers folded like accordions, bottles busted open soaking stuff through, glass costume jewelry we were going to sell to support ourselves shattered, tools and other stuff scattered over a hundred yards and just "disappeared" (of course nobody picked anything up, what would ever make you think that!) and on and on.

Now, anybody got anything helpful; like a direct source for the GCVWR of a 2004 Denali with a 6.0l V8 and a 3.73 rear end or my napkin math on the subject?

[Grit_dog]

You asked for opinions......am having a hard time following you.
You need more help than we here can give you.....you're kind of like my sister. She never "needs" us until she makes a bad decision or "the world is against her." Never once has she asked advice before making a poor decision or doing something stupid. ALWAYS needs advice, support and money after the fact.

Quit using this thread as an attempt to gain approval for your decisions and start being proactive about fixing your life and if you ask opinions realize that's what you'll get.


On a separate note, how did every shred of what you own get "lost"? Were you both so gravely injured for so long that everything was stolen? Did the truck and trailer vaporize upon impact? I don't understand that. I've had vehicles totaled, including a full moving van. Always been able to get personal belongings out of the vehicle before it have ads to the junk yard or wherever.

[stevennlv]

On the budget: There's a ton of stuff we lost. Too much to list here. The genny, tools, clothes, food, some of the means that we were going to use to support ourselves as we worked on the road, water filters, our hitch and on and on.

Heck, we lost $1500 worth of dry food alone. I have *hundreds* of food allergies. Finding months worth of light weight, easily stored food that won't kill me so we could eat when we were 100 miles from civilization was not cheap. I can't even drink city water; chlorine and fluoride will put me in the ER. I have to have special and not cheap filer systems or blow a wad on bottle watered constantly. And there's a lot of bottle watered I can't drink b/c it has **** in it.

We did not just lose our truck and trailer. We lost almost everything. There is so much stuff we have to replace it boggles the mind. All my tools are gone. Heck, the lug wrench got bent. We don't have to just replace a truck and trailer. We have to completely rebuild our lives.

Neither one of us is retired or drawing any guberment support or pensions. We have to completely and totally make our own way in the world. I have several disabilities and medical conditions that in total make it hard for me to find work. But none of it is enough to qualify me for benefits.

We went on the road b/c we got kicked out of a *non-smoking apartment*. We got kicked out b/c the disabled lady smoker who lived below us (who gets a guberment check *like lots of folks there*) was making me sick.

Read that again.

I can't blow our whole wad on equipment or replacing the many, many thousands of dollars worth of things that were lost. I have to leave us an operating budget so we can live until we find the next work camp gig, or sell some of her hand made costume jewelry that was not lost, or find a temp job or make it until next October when we can go down to Houston and make 2/3 of our annual budget pulling holiday orders for Amazon.

On the vehicle: It's not any harder or more expensive to fix than other ******** modern vehicle that has an air bag rear leveling system, a bunch of computerized **** that does not belong in the internal combustion engine and a mutated octopus sitting on top of it. It will do the job I want and has the stuff I want.

I basically paid 5k for it and did 5k maint that should keep it on the road for another 150K miles.

That's getting ripped off? A 10-15k truck still would have needed 3k+ in maint and repairs.

I'm going to be able to replace nearly everything that was lost, actually get some upgrades in the process, leave us a living budget, be able to support us for the next two months while I heal and hit the road in late January with one years prepaid insurance on everything, the ability to dry camp just about anywhere I please, $7k+ cash in hand and the ability to support us.

That's a bad way to go?

Y'all think I screwed up?

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Edit:

BTW folks, I did not jump in to the first car I found. I screened more than 500 on line and more than 60 in person. 99.98% were complete trash.

The others were worth 3k and need 7k work and they wanted 7k. Or they were worth 12k, they wanted 15k and they needed 1.5k work.


I found an almost identical vehicle to what I bought over at carmax.

***It was 12k and need 3k work***!!! (Plugs, tranny serv, fluids, flushes, yadda, yadda.)

And I did bad?

I wasn't looking to be scolded. I was looking for practical advice, like known engine issues, weight issues, a detail I over looked, comments on solar upgrades, you know; helpful stuff.

[arkieguide]

In answer to your trailer and TV size. My wife and I have went many miles in a 1/2 ton ford, with a 22' 5th wheel.Including staying in it thru winters in northern New York state. Leading caravans in and out Mexico and Baja. Yes I have had 35' bumper pulls and 35' 5th
wheels with slide out.Now the biggest we will have is a 24', you have a lot of choices, just shop wise.:) Good luck on your search.

[DownTheAvenue]

stevennlv wrote:
Hi everybody,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,

No one, repeat no one, can predict the future. For everyone who says a recession is coming, there is another who says better days are ahead.

[wing_zealot]

So do I got this right? You got a 22K settlement for the wrecked truck but you wouldn't spend $15K for a truck cause it "might" need $3K worth of work. But you would spend $10K for a 13 year old truck. Wish I would of known that, I would of sold you my 12 year old V10, 3/4 Ton for $9.99K, and the transmissionhas been fully serviced twice (as well as all other specified service)

[Grit_dog]

Things are surely looking up with the insurance settlement and glad that's b hind you.
Regarding your vehicle, i think you'd be better served by not buying it.
im not sure how to explain it, but re read your last post and tell me if that's the type of vehicle you were after and if it sounds like a sound decision to have a vehicle that is marginal for long distance towing and very complicated/expensive to repair. With a weird history. What's it need re painted for? Too long a story to make it sound like a good truck at least form what you wrote.
Otherwise best of luck. Glad everything is coming together

[stevennlv]

Well we've been busy.

We've got down payments on some stuff and I've done some napkin math. We've settled on everything but the personal property. We document out the wazoo. We did a big doc dump on the insurance company with the receipts and pics to prove that we lost more than the 10k covered by our policy. I don't think it will be an issue to get a full pay out.

Right now our budget to work with is ~$26K, until we get the last check. (We've had to spend more than we want living and running around, but are getting close to getting back on the road and cutting expenses dramatically.)

I put $700 down today on a 2004 Yukon Denali with 132K miles on it. I have all the print outs on the work done at the dealership when they took it in, plus the carfax. The previous two owner did most of the basic maintenance. They did not service the tranny. But it appears as if it was used for light towing at most. There's not hardly any scratches on the receiver and no trailer brakes. There's no particulates in the tranny fluid, the color of the fluid is good and it does not smell or look burned. It has the “Premium Smooth Ride” and Heavy Duty tow packs. PSR has the z60 “off road” self leveling shocks. Forums people complain that they blow if you try to rock crawl, but are fine for dirt / gravel roads; which is as wild as we get. They are expensive to replace. But the vehicle does not appear to have been used for heavy towing and still rides high. It also has a weight dist hitch rated receiver with a 7 pin. The PSR Heavy tow packs also includes a bunch of “intelligent” tow mode stuff that is supposed to keep the tranny from overheating and a “heavy duty” tranny cooler.

The base kelly / market prices for it is ~$5k at a private seller and about ~$8.5k at a dealer. I'm out the door at just under $10.4k. (Actually $9.3k base, but I'm having more done to it.)

It needed a ton of work when they got it. I have the techs work sheet. In addition to all the inspections they replaced both head gaskets and the oil gasket. It has 4 new tires that were mounted and balanced (the spec sheet does not show an alignment, but carfax shows one 10k miles ago). And they did a ton of little stuff like the hatch struts, dome light, etc.

I went in to see another one and ripped it to shreds. They wanted $7k, I told them I would give them $3k b/c it needed $7k work. I think I hurt their safe space when I told them they over paid for it at $5k. So they showed me the Denali, which was not even listed yet and was still being prepped for paint when we saw it. We haven't done a test drive yet or gotten an independent inspection.

It fires right up and sounds clockwork. Cold the mix smelled a little rich (not horrible) and was a little sooty on rev: I'm thinking of maybe adding a top end fuel system flush to my order.

The ton of stuff they already did totaled out retail to about $3k parts / labor plus a set of tires. So $9.3k is basically the private seller price ($5k) plus retail on the work it needed, plus dock and title.

I am dropping another $700 on having them do a full tranny service since it has never been done, a new set of plugs, servicing the transfer case and installing trailer brakes. That puts me out the door at $10.2k (I know I quoted dif above). It does not have a radio. The after market upgraded radio was removed before trade in and was unplugged, not cut, so I can get a new cheap one installed. They gave me a $250 credit. I am considering going ahead and having them flush the coolant system. That would bring me up to about $10.4k. It's not due for ~18K miles, but I wouldn't have to worry about it for another 150K miles.

If I add a top end fuel system clean it will bring me up to about $10.6k out the door. I'm not *too* concerned about a little rich and a little soot at 132K (even w/o an independent inspection) with it never having been cleaned and running like clockwork. And if I do all this it won't be due for another big service for 50K miles barring failures / repairs.

It's a gas, not a flex, so I'll run Lucas Oil ethanol treatment in it since all you can get any more is E10/15.

We didn't get to test drive it yet. We will check the park brake, alignment and neutral safety switch when we do. If it fails they will fix or we will walk.

It has a 6.0L vortec V8 with a 3.73 rear end and is rated at 8.2k #'s towing. I figure using the .8 west of the Rockies calc that equals 6560 #'s towing capacity.

We have a down payment on a 2013 kingstone springdale 179qbwe. NADA is $9k, we paid $10k plus paperwork.

Travel weight with a full pot tank and our full cargo load will be 5.3k #'s (well within trailer specs). Max wet weight will be 6.3k #'s. (I won't travel that way, but we've stayed places with water in and no sewer out and I want to be able to get up the hill to dump.)

I'm having a hard time finding GCWR. But, I figure since tow w/o the .2 west of the Rockies knock is 8.2k #'s and my TT travel weight is 5.3k (with cargo in the TT and the potable full w/ empty gray and black) if I remove the third row seats, add me, the wife and a full tank of gas I figure I can still max the interior bed payload at 700 #'s and be OK. That's the geny (travel, not run), some fix a flat, a tool box, yadda, yadda.

I still need to find the weight rating on the rear bumper of the trailer and see if I can get a small platform to put a couple of jerry cans back there. I'll get a 4 stroke geny and the truck and geny will be able to run the same gas. I'd like to be able to lock down 2-3 jerry cans back there in addition to the spare tire.

As a part of the package they are doing a full punch list on the trailer for the $10k.

I'm considering having them add a 200w solar system with a 2 battery bank. I want to be able to run my heater / fan off and on all night.

But, I also want more than that. It has LED light all through out. I'd like to be able to run some lights for a few hours after dark, maybe listen to the radio, maybe charge a PC or a couple of phones, maybe watch a *little* TV.

***Should I upgrade to a 4bank 400w system to do all that or will a 2bank 200W system do what I need?***

After prepaying one years insurance on both the truck and trailer, doing all services, paperwork, paying taxes and upgrades I'm expecting to get back on the for ~$23.5k and still needing to replace at least some stuff like the genny. ($300 on sale for a 4kw start 3kw run gas 4 stoke w/ RV plug).

We have $26k currently. The wife is bringing in $2.5 a month until the end of January. As we get in to this, even though we'll have to spend cash to drive up to ID to get things done, monthly living expenses will drop as we move out of a hotel and in to an RV an hour plus outside of Vegas.

We will stay in the Vegas area for about two more months until my neck heals for weather / doctor acess / ease of dealing with one insurance office.

I know I am cutting it close. But I am expecting an $8-10K check for the personal property in the next 10 days. I can go tomorrow and put $2k more on the trailer (in addition to the $500 I've already put down) and they will store it for a couple of months w/o storage charges. Which will leave plenty of working capital until the last check clears the bank.

Just about the same time that the wife's current gig expires in January I should be able to go back to at least light duty work.

When all is said and done and everything basic is replaced to start over I am hoping to have about $7.5k left over in pocket and looking for work.

***Which is exactly where we were before all this happened!!!** We we going to work camp our way through life. We had lot's of plans for that but that's another story.

With an almost perfect reset we will have a truck that is 10 years newer than the last one and a trailer that is 15 years newer than the old one with all the equipment we need to boondock and for me to feel that I can take the wife out in the middle of nowhere, with a good chance to get back to civilization and even a few upgrades (solar) that we didn't have the last time around.

Have I missed anything? Does anybody see any glaring holes I've missed?

Please feel free to punch any holes in this that you see and to comment on the 2 bank 200 w vs 4 bank 400 w solar systems.

Thanks everyone.

[stevennlv]

A couple of things:

1) Anybody reading this who might be trying to buy something at the TNT / Clark County auction in Vegas tomorrow: RUN, do not walk, away. I found out today that *everything* for sale this time has been sitting neglected in a CC storage yard for the last 3 years and was never prepped for storage. Oils break down over time, lubricants dry, wires corrode, etc. You might get lucky and get the crankcase drained, the sludge flushed and the oil changed before the engine seizes. And then there's all the issues that running gas that old through the engine on the way to the mechanic could cause with the fuel system / top end. I'm not taking that chance with my money.

2) The insurance company finally got the police report and talked to the eye witnesses who saw the jack wagon throw the tire bomb at us. ***And now there is no more fighting over anything.*** My medical is now not only being covered by our 10k medical, but is now also covered by our 250k un/under insured. They are also settling the trailer for 7k; which is fair market / actual cash value and what we actually paid for it. And they still have to go through the personal property list we filed for the claim by category maximums, but have already told us that they will be settling for something close to the full value of our 10k personal property coverage. So we should be clearing somewhere close to 17k on the TT and property. It will be finalized in the next week or two. Then we just have to wait for the checks to clear the bank.

We are going to be made completely whole plus about 4k; we spent right at 35k to get on the road the first time. *Now* the math works on 15k trucks (even though I will try to get off cheaper). So if we can find good used equipment quickly and not burn tons of cash sitting here we will be able to get back on the road!!!

[stevennlv]

Well, we're still trying to get our feet back under us.

The wife is going to call around and see if we can park a tt at a park w/o a way to move it b/c dealers will deliver and rent at a lot of parks is $500 or less. I don't think they will let us do it. But if they do I'm not sure if I want to put the cart before the horse. What happens if they want to kick us out or have us move spots and we've got no way to do it.

As far as 1k a month will get a killer RV: That's not a budget we can carry for years like a payment plan. I'm currently not working, not able to work, not drawing anything and the wife's gig expires in less than 60 days. Who knows what comes next. If we have to we'll get an apartment and day jobs.

The math doesn't work on a 15k truck. It will need work. Every used car I've ever bought did. Even good ones usually need about 3k work. The sales taxes in ID are 6%%, Most rear hitches are only good for 5k #'s, unless you get lucky and they put on a HD tow pack, so 1k for an upgrade or $1500 for a 5r. Plus tools, fluids, hoses, repair kits, etc: We lost all that. Plus dock fee if I get it from a dealer. Plus title fees. Plus replacing things that a lot of used trucks often don't come with, like a jack and a spare. It has been my experience that when you pick up even a really good project truck you're looking at about another 5-7k to turn it in to something that I would trust to haul my wife out in to the middle of nowhere and still have a reasonable expectation of getting her back to civilization. Plus, the only thing that saved our lives was the headache bar on the flat bed. After what we went through any truck we own will have a roll bar, so that's another $1500 since most don't have one.

If we can't get back on the road fairly quick we'll have to quit burning cash and go back to regular joe, boring 9-5 lives.

[bid_time]

If you got $22K for the truck, why don't you go buy one of those $15K "Non-auction trucks that will do what we need" and your half way there. Then you got at least $4K± plus the insurance settlement on the RV to get living quarters again.

You got to take some steps headed in the right direction or you're just pissing in the wind. How long can you continue to spend $1,000+ per month to fight with the insurance company? $1,00.00 per month will buy one hell of a RV. Either that or go start a Go Fund Me Page.