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Looking for RV advice from people who have done it


Sudsy

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10 hours ago, phishallways said:

I choose a 36 ft 5th wheel. Unhook, set up camp.. go wherever you want with your truck.. Mostly outer beach camping, self contained or not. But also all over the continent. Need to get groceries? Drive to store. Simple. Breaking camp is a pain every time you need to leave, like going down to the point to catch a tide twice a day. And the wife may want to watch some tv or read. Never got stuck, the Cummins could have pulled anything (and did) on the beach. Get the right truck, choose your camper, and done. Next one will be a true “four season” unit for BC and Alaska. I probably will get a new truck for peace of mind on long trips.

Still drive the original truck 17 years and 200k + miles later. My firewood beast.

 

Only would consider a class A with a “toad” upon final retirement journey, if i choose a powered camper.. With a flats boat to tow.

This is exactly what I did for years (Except with a GMC)... And the 5th wheel has a lot of advantages... I recently bought the class A and "toad", as hooking up, unhooking got to be a bit much for this old man... The toad is a 2000# Suzuki Samurai, and takes maybe, 5 minutes to hookup and unhook... The rest is all push button.. Self-leveling jacks, slides, and awning..

 Sudsy.. Think about getting the self-leveling jacks... They are sooo nice... I use them in the desert, but not sure how well they work in soft beach sand....

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Guy I know has a Sportmobile like that, lifted, completely tricked out... gorgeous !!!

I've been drooling over it for years

 

Wife and I would kill each other within a week in something that small 

I just wanta play everyday despite small nagging injuries --

and go home to a woman who appreciates how full of crap I truly am. ~ Crash Davis

 

Social Distancing since 1962

 

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We opted for a hard sided popup. Easy to tow, hard sided so fairly secure, goes up and down in minutes.

I didn't like the idea of having to break camp every time we ran out of beer..

The RVs we looked at just seemed either to small to live in, but were easy to drive, or nice to live in, but too big to drive easily in tight places.

A 4wd van is a gas hog, much worse than a pickup that can tow 7000, to 10k pounds. My F150 gets 15mpg towing, and about 18 around town and 20 or so on the hwy.

 

Our camping lifestyle is such that the trailer is mainly a sleeping, and food storage vehicle. When camping, very little actual time is spent in there. Cooking and eating is done outside, unless the weather is terrible, then the screened room goes up. We use the trailer as a base camp, and explore the area, unless we are on the road stopping overnight, and on the road first thing.

 

Your equipment is a personal thing, but it helps to get an assessment of how you will actually use it, and keep from having to buy twice.

Material abundance without character is the path of destruction.
-Thomas Jefferson
There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.
-Soren Kierkegaard

 

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We bought a Mercedes’ Travato and 5 yrs of going everywhere. Gaspe to Key West and every family or grandkid sport. 8 trips to Cooperstown and enjoyed the size for maneuverability, wife could drive easy and was fully self contained, Being 6.4 inside height and shower was ample. The now make a 4x4 . Sticker is way over what they can be bought for. Ours listed for 139,000. Bought ours at the Boston RV on last day for $91,000, put 50,00 miles on and sold drove 5 yrs and sold for what we paid, :rav:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Decided we wanted a Coachman Freelander 26DS. 27, 5" on a Ford E450 chassis.

Went down to the dealership to order one fully expecting to wait 6 months to a year to get it.

What just came in, a Leprechaun 260DS - exact same thing with a few more bells and whistles.

 

We pick it up in two weeks after the checks have all cleared the unit is prepped, and the additions, solar, slide covers, vent covers..... are done.

We'll play with it for a year and then it goes to U-Joint Offroad for the 4x4 conversion. They can't fit us in until next March. 

This is going to be a long year !

 

 

20220126_141628.jpg

I just wanta play everyday despite small nagging injuries --

and go home to a woman who appreciates how full of crap I truly am. ~ Crash Davis

 

Social Distancing since 1962

 

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1 hour ago, connman said:

Leprechaun for the vertically challenged RVer. 

Figured you'd all be having fun with that (and my last name is Kelly to boot)

 

 

 

I just wanta play everyday despite small nagging injuries --

and go home to a woman who appreciates how full of crap I truly am. ~ Crash Davis

 

Social Distancing since 1962

 

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Not sure if a truck camper is of interest to you but I have a Lance 1010 on a Ram 2500 with cummins diesel. The lance has all we need: Solar. Ac, generator, refrig w/ freezer, wet shower b/r. Microwave, stove/oven. We're on the beach almost every w/e april to november. However, we've done mostly short trips for 2-3 days, home to beach is 18 miles. I wouldnt want to live on it for much more that a few days. Fir what we use it for we have no complaints. If Truck was a 3500 dually, it would be better. However, i take the camper off for the winter and the 2500 is easier to get around with. 

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On 2/2/2022 at 8:48 PM, Sudsy said:

Decided we wanted a Coachman Freelander 26DS....

 

20220126_141628.jpg

 

:clap: 

 

Man I'm jealous of all that space. That's a nice floorplan. :th: 

 

How much solar? Lithium?

 

Curious on how quiet the Onan in gas is.  I have the tiny 2.5kw in lp in the sprinter.  While it's quiet enough, it's not a sound I want to fall asleep to if I "need" the ac on overnight. The AC is loud enough. 

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180 amp from the panels

Not lithium, I'm still not 100% comfortable with a battery that can explode into flames

 

I just wanta play everyday despite small nagging injuries --

and go home to a woman who appreciates how full of crap I truly am. ~ Crash Davis

 

Social Distancing since 1962

 

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And it's the standard Onan generator, sounds as annoying as the rest of them

Edited by Sudsy

I just wanta play everyday despite small nagging injuries --

and go home to a woman who appreciates how full of crap I truly am. ~ Crash Davis

 

Social Distancing since 1962

 

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11 mins ago, Sudsy said:

180 amp from the panels

Not lithium, I'm still not 100% comfortable with a battery that can explode into flames

 

 

LiFePo's are safer than lead acids. Don't even need to be vented. Pretty pricey but they'll last longer, charge faster and give you more AH than lead acid. Make sure it has low temp charging protection. Not for safety, but to avoid wrecking the batt.

I'll have mine on the rocks.

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