We are Paul and Jo. Not yet at full retirement age, but feel it's time to get out of the rat-race and experience more of what the world has to offer and work on our Bucket list! We love hiking and exploring new areas. Being on the move is nothing new to us as over the last six years we have moved four times due to job situations. We have now found ourselves with no jobs, no kids (at home), no pets and no debt except for monthly living expenses, currently in a rental home. Don’t own anything besides our older paid off vehicles, furniture and stuff… lots of stuff! Where and how did we accumulate all this stuff? So the plan? Get rid of the stuff, furniture and cars then buy a fifth wheeler, towing truck and hit the road. Do workamping along the way to bring in enough money that will supplement our very small pension, to help pay for camp sites, food, gas and see the beautiful USA.
Our rental lease is up in December, can we do it by then? Is this possible? I have been lurking on this site for the last 6 weeks and it seems I keep coming up with questions then find the answers only to come up with more questions! I want to thank Howard and Linda for all the information that I have gathered so far from this wonderful forum.
Should we buy new, have the security of the warranties or buy used and hope that everything will be okay? On our first adventure of looking we thought a 2011 Keystone Montana 3615RE, with either a Ford 250 Diesel or a Chevy Silverado for towing. But those are both new and would really take a big chunk out of our bankroll. The goal would be to pay in full for the RV and tow vehicle so we stay debt free. Do we drain the savings to buy what we really want or settle for something that is just okay. We have definitely decided on a fifth wheeler. We figure this will be our home for the next 10, 15, 20 years.
Any suggestions? Warnings? Advice?
Have company this weekend but next week will be looking at more fifth wheelers and tow vehicles.
Jo
-- Edited by Paul and Jo on Friday 23rd of July 2010 11:45:30 AM
Denise said
11:41 AM Jul 23, 2010
Welcome to the forum. No you are not NUTS! There are lots of us that have the same plans. I am forty-nine retired and recieve a small retirement payment each month. We plan on doing the same thing. We already own a 5er and truck. We bought the trailer new several years ago and the truck was used. We have started to shed ourselves of all the STUFF and will be putting our house on the market soon. We are really looking forward to the life of FULLTIMING.
Terry and Jo said
11:56 AM Jul 23, 2010
Welcome to the forums. And, no, you aren't nuts. If you are, you have a LOT of company.
You have the advantage in that your biggest job now is research, research, research, and get rid of stuff.
I would suggest choosing a fifth wheel first and then get a truck that is rated to tow that size of trailer, based on its weight. For instance, the model of Montana that you mentioned weighs in at 15,545 lbs fully loaded. The Ford F250 diesel, based on the 2011 Ford brochure on Superduty models, shows a towing capacity of 16,000 to 16,500 lbs depending on the style of cab. The Gross Combined Weight Rating of the F250 is 23,500 lbs, so you want to make sure that the weight of both the truck and trailer, fully loaded and with fuel and passengers, does not exceed that weight.
Many, including myself, will advise you to make sure that the truck you get doesn't come in too close to the Gross Combined weight. While a truck may "pull" a trailer close to its rating, how well will it do in cornering and especially in hard, emergency braking.
When researching the weight capacities of the trucks, make sure you see the weight ratings in an official manufacturer book and not be reliant on the "word" of a salesman. Ford Superduty brochures are online and GM brochures "may" be available. With GM, you may need to look at GMC's website instead of Chevrolet's website.
Otherwise, feel free to ask questions. A lot of people here are willing and eager to help others with some guidelines and suggestions.
Terry
Luvglass said
12:20 PM Jul 23, 2010
Since vehicles and RV depreciate quickly the first few years, there are considerable savings to be enjoyed by purchasing used.
After full timing for almost 5 years, we would never purchase new again.
NorCal Dan said
01:01 PM Jul 23, 2010
We bought a used class C to use as a trainer (we didn't know if we really wanted to do the full-time thing or not) as we had no prior experience with any type of RV. The class C allowed us to ease into RV'ing and not spend a lot of money up front.
While shopping around it didn't take long to figure out how little I knew about RV's. We found what appeared to be a well maintained 1994 Jamboree. It was obvious that the owner took good care of it and maintained all the systems. Compared to others we had looked at, some newer and some older, this rig was by far the best looking rig we had found. Some were in such bad shape that the DW wouldn't even go inside! But this one was ready to go...inside was clean, carpet clean, good tires, engine clean and ran good.
As it turned out, it was a great rig, and after 2 years of use we had only 1 problem with it, the engine a/c quit right before a trip to Idaho. Finding engine/chassis parts for older rigs can be a problem, but the local Ford dealer had the part.
Today, with a little more experience under my belt, I would never buy a rig based solely on appearance. We were very lucky in our purchase. It could easily have turned out differently. Save money, buy used, but do your research and find an experienced RV'er to help look over rigs your interested in buying.
53 Merc said
01:10 PM Jul 23, 2010
Terry and Jo wrote:
Many, including myself, will advise you to make sure that the truck you get doesn't come in too close to the Gross Combined weight. While a truck may "pull" a trailer close to its rating, how well will it do in cornering and especially in hard, emergency braking.
Otherwise, feel free to ask questions. A lot of people here are willing and eager to help others with some guidelines and suggestions.
Terry
If you are nuts, join the club club club club DUH, I sometimes get hung up. Terry is correct, find the RV, then get something that will comfortably haul and stop it all.
I somewhat disagree with Terry in that I feel the trailer brakes should be capable of stopping the trailer, in and of itself. The new transmissions, such as Ford Torqueshift, GM's Allison and the Dodge Aisen do provide a tremendous amount of assistance in stopping the rig. Either of the transmissions are a great help in downhill speed retardation, almost, but not quite, negating the use of trailer brakes. If the trailer is equipped with the new iteration of brakes (hydraulic disc), they are much more capable. The addition of an exhaust brake enhances the performance of the transmission.
Selection of the brake controller is also important. Do not be misled by, this one is just as good as-----. The Ford Towboss is an excellent system. Maxbrake is another excellent choice. When all else fails, the Prodigy P3 is about the only electronic one I would trust. It applies trailer brakes based on deceleration, not time of application.
You are in an excellent position now. You have the time to do adequate research and time to wait on an excellent deal on a previous owned unit. IN fact, I think there was one or two excellent units offered on this site. Look under "Classifieds". Remember this, there ain't no such thang as too much truck.
Terry and Jo said
01:22 PM Jul 23, 2010
53 Merc wrote:
I somewhat disagree with Terry in that I feel the trailer brakes should be capable of stopping the trailer, in and of itself. The new transmissions, such as Ford Torqueshift, GM's Allison and the Dodge Aisen do provide a tremendous amount of assistance in stopping the rig. Either of the transmissions are a great help in downhill speed retardation, almost, but not quite, negating the use of trailer brakes. application.
You are in an excellent position now. You have the time to do adequate research and time to wait on an excellent deal on a previous owned unit. IN fact, I think there was one or two excellent units offered on this site. Look under "Classifieds". Remember this, there ain't no such thang as too much truck.
Actually, I'm not sure that 53 Merc and I disagree on anything other than Texas. (Oh, wait. We're supposed to be civil here.)
Looking at the bolded parts above, while I agree that the trailer brakes should function as something to help stop things, I prefer to have a truck that is also more capable of handling things just in case the trailer brakes fail. That is why I agree completely with the last bolded statement above.
Terry
TxYellowRose said
02:59 PM Jul 23, 2010
Like others have said...um...nope, you ain't nuts! Either that or there are a bunch of us nutters out here!
We are not quite retirement age. Have a $$ cushion, no debts, and rig is free and clear. We will be workamping to supplement our income.
We planned to go full-time Spring 2011. Bought our F-350 SRW new to us July 2009 with no concrete plans except "if we decide to go full-time some day." Got a heck of a deal on a 2008 model.
Traded our travel trailer in for a new 2009 Montana we "stumbled upon" back in November 2009. Took delivery in December. Again, got a HECK of a deal with our trade-in. We feel it was also during the right time to buy, as prices were still good and dealers motivated to sell.
In mid April, we accepted a workamping job at KOA in WI starting August 1. In a month and a half, we sold our possessions and got ready to hit the road. No house to sell, as we were resident managers of a storage facility with a nice residence provided. Still, there was STUFF to get out the door!
On June 24, we moved into our 5er and commuted back to the office for two weeks to transition the facility over to the new managers. We then hit the road!
On arriving here in MO, we got an email saying our workamping job in WI was no longer...they did not need us!
YIKES! <---- we actually said more than that and in more colorful words
We landed well here at this cute little park and had decided to sit tight for a while until something came along that we wanted.
All things happen for a reason...this morning the owner/manager offered for us to keep up the grounds, clean the bathrooms (only 2) and so on for our site rent.
Sweet! We are happy campers!
Pursue your dreams...never say never <giggle>... do your research...make your plans!
Cheers!
karen948 said
07:05 PM Jul 23, 2010
Welcome, and no you are not nuts! We are on our count down to full-time and just got back from a 3 week trip that confirmed this is what we want to do. We purchased a lightly used motorhome and were able to buy a warranty that covers everything. We saved a lot of money doing so and it keeps a lot more of our cash for us and we have the security of the warranty and still got exactly what we wanted in a rig. In this economy there are some great deals out there. Have fun shopping! Good luck to you, Karen & Bob
Paul and Jo said
10:37 PM Jul 24, 2010
Well, if nothing else , if we are nuts, we seem to be in some really good company.
Thank you for all the replies. We'll be heading out to look at some fifth wheelers this week and get a better feel for what we want/need.
Jo
mktobob said
06:07 PM Jul 25, 2010
I feel so much better now.....nuts all around me. I feel so at home with all of you! Please keep us informed on your progress....this is exciting!
Paul and Jo said
07:56 PM Jul 25, 2010
Jo here...
Since our visitors are gone until next weekend, we took a ride up to Myrtle Beach to look at a few more RV’s. Stopped in one place and looked at TT’s. Naw, not quite what we want. Next, off to Camping World. The salesman there insisted that we look at Motor Coaches, “This is what you’ll need to go Fulltime”. Well, we looked at several, some were very nice, others were just okay, but none of them gave us the feeling of “Wow, this could be home”. The salesman was also plugging cheap gasoline, just did not feel right. So, off to look at Fifth Wheels again.
This time we looked at several slightly used Fifth Wheels. Some nice and some okay. We decided to look at a couple of the new ones. We keep coming back to one model we both really like, it’s a 2011, which means buying new. But walking in it, we both felt “this could be home”. Now, my thinking ... if this is going to be our home for the next 5, 10, maybe longer years, what is so bad about buying new? Oh well, tomorrow we are busy, no looking until Tuesday. This will give me a day to research other questions I have floating around my head. I think we’ll be heading south to Georgia to look at Dick Gore’s Camping Sales.
On the way home we stopped at a National Forest Recreational campground and talked with a couple of campers. One a full timer (they only stay up and down a very small area of the east coast) and a part timer who camps several times a year but doesn’t travel more then 100 miles from the coast. It was good to get both point of views. Washer and dryer? A “no” from both of them. Generator? “Yep, you’ll need on of those!” plus “get an air compressor”. Pro and cons of buying new/used. Filter your incoming water. And a recommendation to check out Florida RV dealers, as there are some really good competitive sales going on down there. In fact both of them invited us to take a look at their homes, a 2008 Keystone Everest Fifth Wheel, which was bought new, and a much older Fifth Wheel, bought used about 7 years ago. It was good to see a “lived in“ version instead of an empty showroom version. The consensus is that we will be focusing our search to Fifth Wheels.
Paul is researching the towing truck! F250 Lariat or a F350? He's narrowing down his choice but will wait until we have a Fifth Wheel picked out. No harm in looking, right?
Racerguy said
08:14 PM Jul 25, 2010
I would consider nothing less than a 1 ton( 350,3500) dually or even a good used F450.That way you could handle most 5th wheels.Been there done that towing with a 3/4 ton,as it cost me the price of upgrading trucks when I realized I didn't have enough truck.
Sailbad said
08:32 PM Jul 25, 2010
You are not nuts! I made the decision in Sept. and was on the road the last of Nov. So it can be done.
If you can find a good used trailer, go ahead and get it. After you have lived in it for a while you may decide that there are enough changes that you would like to warrant a different trailer.
Make sure you look at the "livability" of the rig. See if you can turn around in the shower. Is the toilet area big enough. What about the kitchen? If you have hobbies, is there room for the computer? sewing machine? ect.
Can you access the kitchen. refer and bathroom with the slides closed? If boondocking is something you would like, then tank sizes and room for batteries become important.
If I might suggest, go ahead and get your rig. Park it in the driveway. Start by loading those things in the rig that you want/need. When it's loaded, get rid of everything else.
Racerguy said
09:16 PM Jul 25, 2010
A lot of people put stock in accessing the kitchen/bath/bed with the slides in.I would not let that one insignificant thing keep me from buying one if you like the floor plan.You spend much more time in it with the slides out than in.
53 Merc said
06:40 AM Jul 26, 2010
Way to go Racerguy, you have hit the nail on the head. Access to anything other than the potty is not required. Ol' tiny tanks (DW) insisted on access to the bathroom while traveling. She stops about every hour, while I fume.
Paul and Jo, I suggest you tell the salesman to go away and let you sit in something you might like for an hour or so. Assess the storage for YOUR stuff, check out the outside storage, look at mechanical things like axles, tires, shock absorbers, suspension etc. Then determine the actual weight of the unit. It is required to be posted in the rig somewhere, normally inside the cabinet door. Use reasonable numbers for the weight you will carry, add to the actual deliver unit. Then decide if you want a generator (I do not have one). Some people use them all the time. Depends on YOUR use of the rig.
Remember what I said, there ain't no such thang as too much truck. A 250 will pull it. A 250 has adequate brakes, if the brakes on the 5er are adjusted properly. A 250 will wear quicker than a heavier truck. Fact of life, not opinion.
ourZbiz said
09:14 PM Jul 28, 2010
Although we're not full-timing yet, we had an Eagle 5th wheel a couple years ago that was around 14K GVWR and we pulled with a F350 Dually.
There is no way I'd tow with a F250 and I'm not afraid to say it.
I agree...There's NEVER too much truck!!!
By the way, I'd buy used next time around. Just my 2 cents!
-- Edited by ourZbiz on Wednesday 28th of July 2010 09:18:15 PM
picolina said
07:57 AM Aug 1, 2010
After 18 months of looking at rigs we found it was better for us to buy a new fifth wheel and a used truck. Finding a used rig that fit our needs was to hard to find, as for the truck, it was easy.
Please take the time to find what is best for you. I know we did, and we love our combination. And we cant find one thing wrong with our fifth wheel, to us, it is perfect! We LOOOOOVE it!
Terry and Jo said
12:52 PM Aug 1, 2010
Back onto the "can't get a big enough truck" topic, we brought our Mobile Suites fifth wheel home yesterday after having initial problems repaired. During my walk-around, I noticed that some trailer lights weren't working just right, but I figured to try to fix things at home instead of paying high labor rates. So, Jo and I just drove it home, pulling it with the Ford F450.
In checking out the electrical connections at the truck, we found that not only were the lights problematic, but we drove home with no trailer brakes either, because there was no power to them when I pressed the brakes. However, the F450 handled it fine in stopping. I am glad, though, that there was no need for a panic stop.
When stopping, I never got a sense that the trailer was trying to "push" the truck. Everything seemed to be in control. Now, I have found the problem is in the wiring from the original truck wiring for the trailer connections below the bumper to the new connector for the fifth wheel in the bed. Fortunately, I should be able to fix that myself and save $98 an hour.
Our rental lease is up in December, can we do it by then? Is this possible? I have been lurking on this site for the last 6 weeks and it seems I keep coming up with questions then find the answers only to come up with more questions! I want to thank Howard and Linda for all the information that I have gathered so far from this wonderful forum.
Should we buy new, have the security of the warranties or buy used and hope that everything will be okay? On our first adventure of looking we thought a 2011 Keystone Montana 3615RE, with either a Ford 250 Diesel or a Chevy Silverado for towing. But those are both new and would really take a big chunk out of our bankroll. The goal would be to pay in full for the RV and tow vehicle so we stay debt free. Do we drain the savings to buy what we really want or settle for something that is just okay. We have definitely decided on a fifth wheeler. We figure this will be our home for the next 10, 15, 20 years.
Any suggestions? Warnings? Advice?
Have company this weekend but next week will be looking at more fifth wheelers and tow vehicles.
Jo
-- Edited by Paul and Jo on Friday 23rd of July 2010 11:45:30 AM
No you are not NUTS! There are lots of us that have the same plans. I am forty-nine retired and recieve a small retirement payment each month. We plan on doing the same thing. We already own a 5er and truck. We bought the trailer new several years ago and the truck was used. We have started to shed ourselves of all the STUFF and will be putting our house on the market soon. We are really looking forward to the life of FULLTIMING.
You have the advantage in that your biggest job now is research, research, research, and get rid of stuff.
I would suggest choosing a fifth wheel first and then get a truck that is rated to tow that size of trailer, based on its weight. For instance, the model of Montana that you mentioned weighs in at 15,545 lbs fully loaded. The Ford F250 diesel, based on the 2011 Ford brochure on Superduty models, shows a towing capacity of 16,000 to 16,500 lbs depending on the style of cab. The Gross Combined Weight Rating of the F250 is 23,500 lbs, so you want to make sure that the weight of both the truck and trailer, fully loaded and with fuel and passengers, does not exceed that weight.
Many, including myself, will advise you to make sure that the truck you get doesn't come in too close to the Gross Combined weight. While a truck may "pull" a trailer close to its rating, how well will it do in cornering and especially in hard, emergency braking.
When researching the weight capacities of the trucks, make sure you see the weight ratings in an official manufacturer book and not be reliant on the "word" of a salesman. Ford Superduty brochures are online and GM brochures "may" be available. With GM, you may need to look at GMC's website instead of Chevrolet's website.
Otherwise, feel free to ask questions. A lot of people here are willing and eager to help others with some guidelines and suggestions.
Terry
I somewhat disagree with Terry in that I feel the trailer brakes should be capable of stopping the trailer, in and of itself. The new transmissions, such as Ford Torqueshift, GM's Allison and the Dodge Aisen do provide a tremendous amount of assistance in stopping the rig. Either of the transmissions are a great help in downhill speed retardation, almost, but not quite, negating the use of trailer brakes. If the trailer is equipped with the new iteration of brakes (hydraulic disc), they are much more capable. The addition of an exhaust brake enhances the performance of the transmission.
Selection of the brake controller is also important. Do not be misled by, this one is just as good as-----. The Ford Towboss is an excellent system. Maxbrake is another excellent choice. When all else fails, the Prodigy P3 is about the only electronic one I would trust. It applies trailer brakes based on deceleration, not time of application.
You are in an excellent position now. You have the time to do adequate research and time to wait on an excellent deal on a previous owned unit. IN fact, I think there was one or two excellent units offered on this site. Look under "Classifieds". Remember this, there ain't no such thang as too much truck.
Actually, I'm not sure that 53 Merc and I disagree on anything other than Texas. (Oh, wait. We're supposed to be civil here.)
Looking at the bolded parts above, while I agree that the trailer brakes should function as something to help stop things, I prefer to have a truck that is also more capable of handling things just in case the trailer brakes fail. That is why I agree completely with the last bolded statement above.
Terry
Like others have said...um...nope, you ain't nuts! Either that or there are a bunch of us nutters out here!
We are not quite retirement age. Have a $$ cushion, no debts, and rig is free and clear. We will be workamping to supplement our income.
We planned to go full-time Spring 2011. Bought our F-350 SRW new to us July 2009 with no concrete plans except "if we decide to go full-time some day." Got a heck of a deal on a 2008 model.
Traded our travel trailer in for a new 2009 Montana we "stumbled upon" back in November 2009. Took delivery in December. Again, got a HECK of a deal with our trade-in. We feel it was also during the right time to buy, as prices were still good and dealers motivated to sell.
In mid April, we accepted a workamping job at KOA in WI starting August 1. In a month and a half, we sold our possessions and got ready to hit the road. No house to sell, as we were resident managers of a storage facility with a nice residence provided. Still, there was STUFF to get out the door!
On June 24, we moved into our 5er and commuted back to the office for two weeks to transition the facility over to the new managers. We then hit the road!
On arriving here in MO, we got an email saying our workamping job in WI was no longer...they did not need us!
YIKES! <---- we actually said more than that and in more colorful words
We landed well here at this cute little park and had decided to sit tight for a while until something came along that we wanted.
All things happen for a reason...this morning the owner/manager offered for us to keep up the grounds, clean the bathrooms (only 2) and so on for our site rent.
Sweet! We are happy campers!
Pursue your dreams...never say never <giggle>... do your research...make your plans!
Cheers!
Good luck to you,
Karen & Bob
Thank you for all the replies. We'll be heading out to look at some fifth wheelers this week and get a better feel for what we want/need.
Jo
Since our visitors are gone until next weekend, we took a ride up to Myrtle Beach to look at a few more RV’s. Stopped in one place and looked at TT’s. Naw, not quite what we want. Next, off to Camping World. The salesman there insisted that we look at Motor Coaches, “This is what you’ll need to go Fulltime”. Well, we looked at several, some were very nice, others were just okay, but none of them gave us the feeling of “Wow, this could be home”. The salesman was also plugging cheap gasoline, just did not feel right. So, off to look at Fifth Wheels again.
This time we looked at several slightly used Fifth Wheels. Some nice and some okay. We decided to look at a couple of the new ones. We keep coming back to one model we both really like, it’s a 2011, which means buying new. But walking in it, we both felt “this could be home”. Now, my thinking ... if this is going to be our home for the next 5, 10, maybe longer years, what is so bad about buying new? Oh well, tomorrow we are busy, no looking until Tuesday. This will give me a day to research other questions I have floating around my head. I think we’ll be heading south to Georgia to look at Dick Gore’s Camping Sales.
On the way home we stopped at a National Forest Recreational campground and talked with a couple of campers. One a full timer (they only stay up and down a very small area of the east coast) and a part timer who camps several times a year but doesn’t travel more then 100 miles from the coast. It was good to get both point of views. Washer and dryer? A “no” from both of them. Generator? “Yep, you’ll need on of those!” plus “get an air compressor”. Pro and cons of buying new/used. Filter your incoming water. And a recommendation to check out Florida RV dealers, as there are some really good competitive sales going on down there. In fact both of them invited us to take a look at their homes, a 2008 Keystone Everest Fifth Wheel, which was bought new, and a much older Fifth Wheel, bought used about 7 years ago. It was good to see a “lived in“ version instead of an empty showroom version. The consensus is that we will be focusing our search to Fifth Wheels.
Paul is researching the towing truck! F250 Lariat or a F350? He's narrowing down his choice but will wait until we have a Fifth Wheel picked out. No harm in looking, right?
There is no way I'd tow with a F250 and I'm not afraid to say it.
-- Edited by ourZbiz on Wednesday 28th of July 2010 09:18:15 PM
Please take the time to find what is best for you. I know we did, and we love our combination. And we cant find one thing wrong with our fifth wheel, to us, it is perfect! We LOOOOOVE it!
In checking out the electrical connections at the truck, we found that not only were the lights problematic, but we drove home with no trailer brakes either, because there was no power to them when I pressed the brakes. However, the F450 handled it fine in stopping. I am glad, though, that there was no need for a panic stop.
When stopping, I never got a sense that the trailer was trying to "push" the truck. Everything seemed to be in control. Now, I have found the problem is in the wiring from the original truck wiring for the trailer connections below the bumper to the new connector for the fifth wheel in the bed. Fortunately, I should be able to fix that myself and save $98 an hour.
Terry