Fulltime Capable RVs

[martymain]

I just read Tucker Ballister's article, "The Best RVs for Full-Time Living." I was disappointed not to see some of the high-end manufacturers and their quality products listed. Manufacturers of 5th wheels like: Spacecraft, New Horizons, Luxe, DRV build sturdy and very well quipped and beautiful RVs that will stand the test of fulltime living and travel. And manufactures of Class A motorhomes like: Liberty, Country Coach, Marathon, and Newell (to name just a few) do a stellar job on the best coaches (most built on Prevost busses) out there.
And to me, conspicuously absent were Super Cs motorhomes (those built on Heavy Duty (semi tractor) Trucks. Again high end manufacturers like; Showhauler, NRC, Haulmark, and Renegade RV.
While all these brands are VERY expensive, most of these RVs are not built in a production-line fashion, but are constructed in a partial or complete custom manner, one copy at a time. For the most part, these units a very well built and last many, many years of fulltime living.
And thought most of these units, new, start at $250k and can rise to at least $1 million each, used units can be had for considerably less. Then they can be upgraded/updated. We did this with a New Horizons 5Th Wheel trailer (see See the Watts on Wheels YouTube video interview and now have a quality unit they can house us for years to come.
Perhaps a future article can cover these high-end units and every updating/re-decorating them.

[JimK-NY]

mr_andyj wrote:
....
Outside of just a gigantic 5th wheeler with 4 slide outs I just have not seen a production camper that is built for full timing.....

It depends on how you live as a full timer. When my wife and I took off as full timers along with 2 cats, we lived in a truck camper without slides. It was perfect. Great for travel. Great to have with us at all times during the day. It had enough of everything for comfortable living: full queen sized bed, dinette, kitchen with double sink, 3 burner stove, microwave (hardly ever used), refrig/freezer, heat, A/C, solar panels and generator, wet bath, and plenty of storage.

I remember visiting the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone. The big rigs were parked many miles away. Those folks traveled in their little toads with a bag lunch and stopped to use the outhouses you could smell a mile away. If they were lucky they had Purell to use afterwards. We stopped at the side of the road watching the buffalo while we ate a decent lunch, then took a nap, used our own bathroom, and eventually travelled some more. By late afternoon the toaders were worn out and started the long drive back to their hook up campgrounds. We had dinner and stayed until after sunset watching all the animals start to move in the late afternoon and evening.

Yup, some rigs are just too big for enjoyable full time adventure.

[mr_andyj]

What is interesting when you look at full-timers, whether they have money or not, is the modifications they ultimately make to their rig, whether a home-made rig or a production camper/RV.
Most everyone who has any skills or thinks they do ultimately scraps most of the RV amenities and rebuild or replaces them The little plastic nick-knacks and clever RV gimmicks are great for camping, but get old when living in it. Who wants a 1/2 gallon sized bathroom sink? Who wants a little kitchen sink you can't get the pot in? There is never enough counter space. How useless is that little oven? The water tanks are too small. Needs more storage for living in. Too much wasted space, full-timers will make use of every crack and crevice. There are 1,000s of little things individuals will obsess over when having to live in it.
Outside of just a gigantic 5th wheeler with 4 slide outs I just have not seen a production camper that is built for full timing.
Interesting topic to hear what full-timers need that is different from people that camp.

[free_radical]

Full timing to me means four season rig one can live in any weather.
Plus 40C to minus 40.
And to able go anywhere 4x4 is esential.
Good luck finding such rig,I havent seen any at reasonable price,will need to built it myself someday.

[Mommalu]

This is why I love this forum. It's not a one size fits all, my way or its wrong group of people.
Successful RVing brings out creative thinking, and the more we use our rigs the more we define what we're willing to put up with, or pay for and its vastly different from the most basic and simplistic to more creature comforts to skies the limit technology. Most of us are somewhere in between.

[scbwr]

Any discussion about "best for full timing" is more commentary than anything else. Anyone that has been rving for awhile knows that people can "full time" in many types of RVs as it depends on what one considers important, necessary or affordable.

In our case, with a limited budget, we could full time in our Bay Star if we had to. It would require some creative thinking and careful decisions regarding what we really need to have in order to keep the weight down.

But, we would probably want to move up to a slightly bigger rig, and I think the DW would consider an onboard washer/dryer a necessity. But, you see a lot of folks full timing in smaller rigs, and that may be more applicable to folks that plan to full time for a shorter period of time and then settling down with a S&B home and RVing part of the year.

[Jarlaxle]

Fidel Gastro wrote:

martymain wrote:
I just read Tucker Ballister's article, "The Best RVs for Full-Time Living." I was disappointed not to see some of the high-end manufacturers and their quality products listed.

Quality products? LOL. I have found the quality only exists in the RV Industry on websites and brochures. Go high end, something on a Prevost foundation. Do that and it's clear you have enough coin or credit line/debt to have others maintain and make the repairs which will be needed at some point. High price is no guarantee of anything, especially so quality, which is subjective in itself.

Other than 7-figure bus conversions and Airstream, most RVs have sub Soviet Bloc build quality.

[Dutch_12078]

larry cad wrote:
Is there a question here?

Does there need to be? The thread looks like commentary and opinion to me...

[larry_cad]

Is there a question here?

[Dutch_12078]

A good friend of ours full timed with a teardrop and a minivan for nearly 20 years until ill health took her off the road. All RV's are "full time capable" if they fit your life style and are properly maintained. We've full timed in modest gas Class A's since 2008, and have no desire to move up to higher end RV's.

[Dukecity426]

Fidel Gastro wrote:

martymain wrote:
I just read Tucker Ballister's article, "The Best RVs for Full-Time Living." I was disappointed not to see some of the high-end manufacturers and their quality products listed.

Quality products? LOL. I have found the quality only exists in the RV Industry on websites and brochures. Go high end, something on a Prevost foundation. Do that and it's clear you have enough coin or credit line/debt to have others maintain and make the repairs which will be needed at some point. High price is no guarantee of anything, especially so quality, which is subjective in itself.

Well said I totally agree.....

[old_guy]

could be he didn't do very much research on RV's before he wrote the article

[valhalla360]

wanderingaimlessly wrote:
Most articles along that line are geared toward mainstream units and brands. Folks who are just starting to look into the possibilities.
Going after the Half Mill and up market is generally folks who have already been using RV's for a while, and wont look to an article like that for guidance, they already know what they want from having seen them on the road and in the camping resorts.

The scary thing is you do come across people who buy these high end units with no experience and then 6 months later they are dumping them because they don't like the lifestyle.

Keep in mind the high end units have more complicated systems that cost more to keep up.

[wanderingaimles]

Most articles along that line are geared toward mainstream units and brands. Folks who are just starting to look into the possibilities.
Going after the Half Mill and up market is generally folks who have already been using RV's for a while, and wont look to an article like that for guidance, they already know what they want from having seen them on the road and in the camping resorts.

[BB_TX]

Not likely any two people would fully agree on what constitutes a full time unit. Or most anything else for that matter. People full time in million dollar rigs. People full time in $25,000 rigs. And each are happy doing it. I don’t put much faith in some writer’s opinion of what is best. Too much personal bias.