KC10Chief
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Re: We're you apprehensive going full-time?
I've been thinking about my house too. It's not paid off, but getting there. Once it's paid off, I'll still owe thousands in taxes every year. If I stop paying the taxes, it won't be my house any more. So, it's never really mine. Not to mention the costs. I pay thousands in insurance every year. Utilities cost me thousands every year. I had to replace my air conditioning unit. Thousands of dollars. It needs to be painted, needs some dirt work done, and the roof is shot after a recent hail storm. Yeah, it might appreciate in value, but I can't take it with me when I die. I'm coming to resent my house and feel tied down by it. I'm 40 years old. The only reason I haven't gone full time, is our 12 year old daughter. We plan to be full time in another six years when she moves out or gets kicked out. HA!435Views0likes0CommentsRe: starting to look at trucks
I have a 2018 F-150 Lariat with the 3.5 EcoBoost, 10 speed transmission, and 3.55 gears. My trailer is almost 35' from tongue to bumper and over 8,000 pounds fully loaded. Power is not a problem at all. I feel like the truck could pull a lot more weight, easily. However, I feel like I'm maxed out on suspension. I have spent a lot of money to get the truck to handle the weight. E-rated tires ($1,200), Bilstein shocks ($300), Hellwig rear sway bar ($400), and the big one, a ProPride 3P-1400 hitch ($3,000). The truck tows great now. No problems. Gas mileage is about 8 mpg at 65 mph. If I had it to do over again, I'd be getting a 3/4 ton diesel. This setup works great for me now though and the F-150 is an awesome vehicle. I absolutely love it. I do plenty of non-towing driving and the 3.5L has gobs of power. It's like a sports car! No way in hell I'd buy the 5.0. I plan on keeping the truck for a few more years until we go full time. Then I'm getting a one ton dually.588Views0likes0CommentsRe: Sway issues
Before you go getting crazy with $1,000 in new tires, make the simple changes first. 17' isn't a big trailer. Like others have said, get some weight forward. The trailer should be level or slightly nose down. I tow a 29', 8000 pound trailer with my F-150. As an experiment, fill your water tank full and tow it down the highway. See if there's a difference.536Views0likes0CommentsRe: New tow vehicle hitch set up questions
I have the same truck. I'm also using a ProPride hitch to pull my 29' trailer that's over 8,000 loaded up. It's a great setup and I also use 2,000 pound airbags. I like the airbags because I do a LOT of driving when I'm not towing. I can't even tell they're there. When I'm towing, I can get my truck and trailer level with my ProPride hitch. Then I put 35 to 40 psi in the airbags just to stiffen up the ride a bit. It all works great.383Views0likes0CommentsRe: I'm looking for some TT advice from experienced RVers
We have the same truck other than the motor. Power is not a problem for my EcoBoost. You're 5.0 has almost as much power. We are towing a Cougar 29BHS. It's 7,000 empty. I wouldn't go much heavier than that. I'm closer to 8,500 loaded up. If our daughter wasn't still living at home, I'd go without the bunkhouse. The Cougar is a real nice trailer but their smallest one is 26' and still about 6,600 empty. If you're wanting a nicer trailer and can live without a dinette, check out the Grand Design 2250RK. I looked at Grand Design and they're really nice. They just didn't have the floorpan that was perfect for us at the time. The Cougars have king size beds. My wife and I are both tall so we like that. That 2250RK has the walk around bed and theater seating. It's also 5,500 pounds dry. Easy for your truck. It would be a perfect weekend getaway camper for a couple I think. I don't know if you've towed anything with your F-150, but it's a great TV. I tow my trailer between 65 and 70 on the highway. No problem maintaining speed up long hills. I do have a ProPride hitch and airbags in the rear for a more solid feel. But it's no problem. I'm confident I could tow even more but the experience would probably be less enjoyable beyond what I'm doing now. You're 5.0 only has slightly less power than the EcoBoost so, you'd be good there too.546Views0likes0CommentsRe: Evoke by Travel Lite
I was interested in these a while back. I wanted to go look at Travel Lite RVs somewhere but they are hard to find. There's a lot of dealers selling these that also sell used cars, ATVs, etc. It's weird. I was hoping that the Evoke would be lighter than they are, but there's nothing special about them. I do like that they have king size beds up front. Their advertising feels like a mix of hipster and sleazy used car salesman.865Views0likes0CommentsRe: Just bought a new Keystone Cougar! What else do I need?
Thanks for all of the replies! Like I said, I've heard all of the advice on my truck. The F-150 is what I have and I love it. I'm confident that it is plenty adequate for what I'm doing. Especially with my hitch setup. We have been shopping! I bought the Predator 3500 watt inverter generator from Harbor Freight. Got it on sale for $669. I used it with some power tools recently and I'm super impressed with this thing. Just as quiet as the Honda. I also got a 14x50 storage unit. I had a smaller one previously and moved everything into that already and there's plenty of room to spare for my new trailer. I bought the Progressive Industries 50A surge protector. Their top of the line one. We also ordered a new custom size king mattress on Amazon. 12" thick. I plan to just leave the factory mattress at the dealer. The hitch is here too. It's a fine piece of equipment. I can't wait to hook it up. My wife already bought Camco plates and bowls with little campers and trucks on them. HA! Towels, sheets, pillows, hoses, water pressure regulators, filters, chocks, leveling blocks, etc. It's all here. I just need the camper to get here! We are super excited about it. Hopefully no more than two weeks. We'll be camping every weekend I'm sure.804Views0likes0CommentsRe: Just bought a new Keystone Cougar! What else do I need?
Thanks for all of the replies! All of this stuff has already been purchased and I've read all of these things about my truck and trailer over and over and over. I'm aware of the risks and feel I'm mitigating them pretty well. I bought the fancy hitch not because I thought my vehicle was inadequate, but because I wanted the best towing experience. We get some nasty cross winds here in Oklahoma and semi trucks. We have a couple long downhills down south on I-35 but they're pretty straight and not terribly steep. And if I find that my tow vehicle is indeed inadequate, this is America! I'll go trade it in on a Super Duty! HA!232Views0likes0CommentsRe: Just bought a new Keystone Cougar! What else do I need?
DutchmenSport, thanks for the reply! I appreciate the time that took! I am also looking into the voltage regulators. I plan on getting a 50A portable one and some 30A adapters for it for when I need those. I had considered just filling my tank rather than hooking up to city water just for that reason. When I bought my house, I discovered that the water pressure coming from the city was 130psi!! It still is too. I have since installed a pressure regulator in the house. The trailer has a 60 gallon fresh water tank. After owning a camper in the past, I know that I will be bringing my own drinking water and use the camper water for showers and dishes and things like that. This camper has an outside fridge as well. That will be my beer fridge though! Ha! I do plan on purchasing pressure regulators though. I still have chocks from our last camper too. Another thing I am upgrading immediately is the mattress that’s in the camper. It can hardly be called a mattress. We are super excited about this! I’m looking forward to camping with my family and getting outside more and hiking and biking around and enjoying more of the simple things.233Views0likes0CommentsRe: Just bought a new Keystone Cougar! What else do I need?
Wow! Thanks for all the replies! Our camper is wired for 50A service and prewired for a second air conditioner. Time will tell if I need another one here in Oklahoma. When running on 30A, the controller will run them in a racetrack. One at a time. My favorite type of camping is state parks and we are planning to do a lot of that. Many of my favorite ones have 50A service. We will stay at RV parks too. I also plan to do some occasional boondocking for various types of events. I plan on purchasing a 3,000+ watt inverter type generator. When we had our last camper, we used it almost every single weekend. It was unusual if we were at home on a weekend. We did a lot of boondocking too when I would race my dirt bike. These days, I fly a powered paraglider and go to some events where I’d be camped out in a field. But most of my camping will be at state parks and I’d guess at a minimum, we will be using it every other weekend. Our plan has been to get back into this and when our daughter moves out in another six or seven years, sell everything we own and go full time. In something much bigger of course. As for my truck, it has almost as much power and torque as the 2002 F-250 I used to have. That won’t be the issue. I figure that I’m going to be at the upper end of my payload capacity. Most people don’t realize that your payload capacity already takes into account the weight of over 300 pounds of passengers and cargo. Still, I’ll be on the upper end of that. I think my biggest issue would be long steep descents. My engine won’t have the engine braking ability that a diesel does. There aren’t any of those here in Oklahoma. But if we go somewhere that does, I’ll choose my route accordingly. I bought my F-150 for this purpose. I could have afforded a new super duty if I wanted. But that presents other challenges. My commute is 25 miles each way. It also would not fit in my garage and I like to keep my vehicles inside. My F-150 barely fits. But yes, I am fully aware of my capacities, capabilities, and how to mitigate them the best I can.232Views0likes0Comments
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