We finally decided to join the RV lifestyle!

[Mrs_Rosas]

Hello fellow RVers,

My husband and I are in our early 50's. I retired from the federal government early last year and he's still working. Although we are new to RVing, we are veteran tent campers with too many items that were meant to make our camping experience more fun and enjoyable. As a result, after our last, and I do mean "last", tent camping trip, we decided to make life easier for ourselves and buy an RV. This has been our dream. We had been looking around for a bit and had an idea of what we wanted. Being that this was going to be our first RV, we wanted a gently used RV that was reasonably priced. And we found her less than a month ago: a 2002 Fleetwood Tioga with a slide and less than 40,000 miles on it. We are so thrilled about our new toy and have decided start out slow by taking a couple of local trips until we get to know how everything works and how this Class C handles.

So what's my question? I have a lot and don't know where to start. I would certainly appreciate some ideas and thoughts from the veterans out there on #1) the absolutely have-to-buy-to-have-on-hand items and #2) what do we have to watch out for since this is an older model? Since we are having problems cranking up the generator without the help of the engine, we figure we'll probably have to replace the auxiliary batteries soon. That being the case, any recommendations on solar panels for when we are "dry camping" or is it called "boon docking?"

I'm sure I'll have more questions as we get to know this coach and we certainly appreciate any and all valuable info. We'd like to benefit from your experiences. Appreciate your time and words.

[wa8yxm]

Welcome to the club.. Glad you found us.

As to the "Abosoultly must have".. About the only universal things is a couple of high grade pastic Retangles.. VISA and Master Card will do for starters :).

Seriously IT all depends on so many things it's hard to cover them all.. But Haz-Mat gloves for use when dealing with that kind of "Stuff" is good. Extra (extension) cords come in handy too.

IF your RV does not have a proper RV SURGE GUARD, I'd suggest one. Likewise an Autoformer.

NOTE: hat Spike Supressors are NOT the same as surge guards, though surge guards are also spike supressors. Progressive Dynamics makes a good one.

Beyond that.

Ask and ye shall be answered.

(Being trained as an Electronics Technician... I tend to the electrical side of life).

[wbwood]

Welcome Marc and Darcy. Congratulations on your purchase. One thing to keep in mind is that with an older rv there will possibly be some issues coming up that will need to be repaired or replaced. Before going out and spending money on things that are additional, I would have the unit gone over with a fine tooth comb to make sure what is supposed to work, works and works properly. Just as you have found with the generator. Nothing more frustrating than getting out and something break. Will ruin a good camping trip quickly.

As you mentioned about the house batteries, test what you have first and see how old they are. If they are more than a few years old or don't charge fully.

[deleted-2]

🙂
Welcome Mrs Rosas and spouse.
Have fun out there take good care!

[bikendan]

dry camping usually means camping in a campground that has no hookups of any kind available. stopping over in a Walmart parking lot or rest stop, with no hookups, is not dry camping. it's just parking overnight!

boondocking is usually camping in undeveloped areas that don't have any designated campsites or facilities, like national forests or deserts.
"out in the boondocks"!

[Mrs_Rosas]

Wow. Thanks for all the replies from you folks. I really do appreciate your time and words of wisdom. We will certainly heed your advise and look forward to many, many adventures.

See you on down the road.

Good night and sweet dreams.

Marc and Darcy

[Roy_Lynne]

There are a lot of camping styles, some folks go into the wilderness and boon dock and for them having a working generator and a solar panel is ideal. Some only go where they can hook up to electricity and water and for them, a solar panel would be a waste of money. Then there are those who only go to resorts and again, solar panels would be pretty worthless.

[Matt_Colie]

Mrs. Rosas,

I must bring up an important issue with a 12yo RV. Check the age of the tires. There is a date code on them, and even if they are in terrific condition, seven years is about the maximum safe life. This is real serious and please do that check before you leave the neighborhood. Brake fluid should also be flushed with new and the engine coolant replaced. Remember, it is a 12yo truck witha 12yo house on it and treat it accordingly. 40k miles isn't really very much, but the rubber parts will age out no matter what.
An Important Maintenance Note for older coaches:
If you can't prove it was done, it didn't get done...
So check tires, change brake fluid and coolant, check the batteries.

(Does this guy know what he is talking about?? Look at the sig pix. We put near 12k miles on that antique this year and are planning more next year now that we are both retired.)

APU (genset) are notorious for bad battery connections. If the house battery is not a disaster already, you may get by just cleaning the connections that have been carefully ignored for a decade. Or, maybe you need a new house bank.

You will get a real thrill out of this kind of "camping".
My definitions are:
Dry Camping is anytime you are stopped for the night without any utility hookups.
Boondocking is like dry camping, but there is no pavement and when you turn off your lights, there is none. Maybe you can hear owls and other animal calls, but no truck engines or music.

Solar is nice if you do extensive doondocking. If you have enough and little enough power demand, you can go a long time before you need to run the APU to recharge the house bank. If you don't plan to do that, it is sort of expensive and good for not much past bragging rights.

What you will really enjoy is the set-up and strike time.
- Done -
Actually, depending on where you stop, you may need to get out block to level the unit before you shut down. (This in no-way compares to pitching a tent in the rain.)

What I will suggest is that if you have not been camping recently, you do your first night in the driveway. If you are like everybody else, you will discover what you overlooked.

Learn all about the coach systems, where the fuses batteries and the pump are, and how to dump the black and gray systems. More than that, collect all the documentation for the coach and its equipment that you can and carry it on board. Start a notebook with everything you did and discovered, if you have that as long as we have had ours, you will forget some things and just just because you are old (you aren't - yet)

Safe Travel

Matt

[darlingtontrio]

We just took our camper out for the first time this past weekend. We originally packed our supplies we used for tent camping. One important thing I learned this weekend, take basic tools.

[DutchmenSport]

Welcome to the forums! Congrats on your new purchase too!

I'll give a quick response to #1. It's really very easy.

#1) the absolutely have-to-buy-to-have-on-hand items:

Answer: Anything YOU want! Simple: Stock the camper with a scaled down version of your house, from bed linens to your tooth brush, from your favorite brand of toilet paper to your favorite cooking pot, and everything else in-between, and you'll be happy! (I told you, that was easy!)

Hey! Congrats again! and I wish you much happiness and success in your travels!

[donn0128]

You will probably find most of your questions answered if you use the search function above for each question. Most newbies have lots of questions and fortunately most of us have have also gone through these learning pains ahead of you.