What a wonderful place I just found. Tons of great information and what looks like a great group of people.
My status, 100% decided, 50% ready. Already started getting rid of stuff, put the house on the market and it sold quicker than I thought it would in this market. So I have a goal to be out the door and on the road by March 31.
I'm shopping real hard right now. Tough decision. It's one thing to buy a car, yet another to buy a house, now I'm buying both in 1 and talk about some tough choices to make. 90% sure I'm going with a 5th wheel but keeping my eye on pushers as I may want to add a trailer later.
I've been reading so much lately, talking to so many salesman, I found myself almost starting to believe the brochures and actually thought one salesman was telling me the truth and cared about what I wanted. I got over that real quick.
Anyway, thanks for the great site. So much valuable, and most important, credible information. It means more when it's coming from the people who live the life rather than those making money off of us who do, or are about to.
I hope to see you down the road somewhere soon. I was looking at the rally schedule and thinking I definitely want to make it to one in the near future.
-- Edited by Surfbum on Tuesday 9th of February 2010 07:55:04 PM
Onawave said
09:48 PM Feb 9, 2010
Welcome to the site. (We are new to it too).
We went 5th wheel (aka 5er) and truck. There seems to be room in a 5er, plus we didn't want 2 drive trains to worry about. (if you add a toad). Plus, for those really tight turns, or back ins.. it's nice to have that pivot point in the center.
This is an awesome site! I have a few great sites on myspace below. (in "fun Stuff"), that is RV related. One site I just found is called RVMods. Great site.
Paul
Gravy1159 said
09:34 PM Feb 11, 2010
Congrats to you Surfbum, We hope to be out on the road later this year also. This is a great site that Howard and Linda have here. You can ask any thing you want to know about and I'm sure there will be some guidence from members here that have been there and done that. Great people here! Looking forward to meeting you down the road full timing!!!
Terry and Jo said
09:50 PM Feb 11, 2010
Mack,
We are also planning on the fifth wheel route. Mostly because it is cheaper, but also because it seems to be insulated better. We'll be "static" full timers in one once we sell our property. At least for a few more years until retirement. Then, we'll hit the road big time.
While researching the options of motorhome or fifth wheel, we test drove a couple of Tiffin Phaetons. One was a 40' and one was 42' with a tag axle. With the Phaetons, the turning radius was great as they are designed to make short corners, thus making them pretty easy to back into campsites.
It is possible that other manufacturers also have a good turning radius, so don't necessarily give up on the diesel pusher if that is what you really want. Just make sure that you can get to test drive them. In our test drives, we took the 40 footer on about a hundred mile round trip and the 42 we took on about a 200 mile round trip.
Welcome to the forums. You will find a lot of knowledgeable people here that are really willing to help.
Terry
Hdrider said
06:55 AM Feb 12, 2010
Congrats Surfbum on selling your house in this tough market! Now on to the better times for ya.
We had a fifth wheel (40' toy hauler) a few years back. Not something we wanted to stay in for longer periods of time but served it's purpose well while we did have it. We sold it and bought a 40' tiffan pheaton. And thats what we will be full timing in when the house sells
Good luck in your search.
Jim01 said
07:19 AM Feb 12, 2010
Welcome to the forum.
You're probably feeling pressure to get that new RV/home soon, but take your time and don't let those salesmen talk you into something you don't want. Like you said, it's a big decision and you don't want to end up with something you that won't work for you.
My status, 100% decided, 50% ready. Already started getting rid of stuff, put the house on the market and it sold quicker than I thought it would in this market. So I have a goal to be out the door and on the road by March 31.
I'm shopping real hard right now. Tough decision. It's one thing to buy a car, yet another to buy a house, now I'm buying both in 1 and talk about some tough choices to make. 90% sure I'm going with a 5th wheel but keeping my eye on pushers as I may want to add a trailer later.
I've been reading so much lately, talking to so many salesman, I found myself almost starting to believe the brochures and actually thought one salesman was telling me the truth and cared about what I wanted. I got over that real quick.
Anyway, thanks for the great site. So much valuable, and most important, credible information. It means more when it's coming from the people who live the life rather than those making money off of us who do, or are about to.
I hope to see you down the road somewhere soon. I was looking at the rally schedule and thinking I definitely want to make it to one in the near future.
-- Edited by Surfbum on Tuesday 9th of February 2010 07:55:04 PM
We went 5th wheel (aka 5er) and truck. There seems to be room in a 5er, plus we didn't want 2 drive trains to worry about. (if you add a toad). Plus, for those really tight turns, or back ins.. it's nice to have that pivot point in the center.
This is an awesome site! I have a few great sites on myspace below. (in "fun Stuff"), that is RV related. One site I just found is called RVMods. Great site.
Paul
Great people here! Looking forward to meeting you down the road full timing!!!
Mack,
We are also planning on the fifth wheel route. Mostly because it is cheaper, but also because it seems to be insulated better. We'll be "static" full timers in one once we sell our property. At least for a few more years until retirement. Then, we'll hit the road big time.
While researching the options of motorhome or fifth wheel, we test drove a couple of Tiffin Phaetons. One was a 40' and one was 42' with a tag axle. With the Phaetons, the turning radius was great as they are designed to make short corners, thus making them pretty easy to back into campsites.
It is possible that other manufacturers also have a good turning radius, so don't necessarily give up on the diesel pusher if that is what you really want. Just make sure that you can get to test drive them. In our test drives, we took the 40 footer on about a hundred mile round trip and the 42 we took on about a 200 mile round trip.
Welcome to the forums. You will find a lot of knowledgeable people here that are really willing to help.
Terry
We had a fifth wheel (40' toy hauler) a few years back. Not something we wanted to stay in for longer periods of time but served it's purpose well while we did have it.
We sold it and bought a 40' tiffan pheaton. And thats what we will be full timing in when the house sells
Good luck in your search.
You're probably feeling pressure to get that new RV/home soon, but take your time and don't let those salesmen talk you into something you don't want. Like you said, it's a big decision and you don't want to end up with something you that won't work for you.
Good luck,
Jim