Newbie Thinking about a 5th wheeler - RV-Dreams Community Forum

AndrewS · RV-Dreams Community Member

Newbie Thinking about a 5th wheeler

el Rojo and Pam · RV-Dreams Family Member

Welcome Andrew! Lots of information here. Go to the topic buying an RV this should give you some ideas.

Red

The Bear II · RV-Dreams Family Member

Welcome again to the world of RVing...

Your Globetrotter has retained value. If it's in good shape inside and only needs a little TLC on the outside you may have a gold mine. Vintage trailers, especially Airstreams are in demand right now. Many RV Resorts are using vintage trailers like cabins to rent to their RV challenged customers. And then there are the RV'ers that want a vintage trailer so they can re-live their youth or satisfy a dream.

A quick look on the internet and I saw 5 1964 Globetrotters in the $6500 to $10,000 range.

You may want to consider getting your Airstream reconditioned for the road and use it for a period of time to make sure the RV lifestyle fits, then pull the trigger on a 5th wheel. The Airstream will make a nice down payment towards a 5th wheel.

A-S Travelers · RV-Dreams Family Member

Welcome to the forum Andrew!

Suggestions:
-- Before you buy another RV, put some new tires on the Airstream and fix whatever needs fixing, even if you have to pay someone to get it ready. $1000-$3000 spent now may save you $50,000 in the future. It really is best if you get out into the RV'ing world and see what is there, what you like and don't like before spending tens of thousands of dollars on another RV.
-- Go to parent website for this forum www.rv-dreams.com/ and read the topics in the bar on the left side of the page. Lots of great info there.
-- Try to attend one of Howard & Linda's educational rallies. The rallies are listed one the opening page of this forum.
-- The Escapees RV Club www.escapees.com/ is a good resource for relocating to a cheaper state.
-- There is some great info from Escapee's about how to make Texas your "Domicile" (your legal address, place to vote, etc) www.escapees.com/MailService/Docs/texan.pdf
-- Read RV'ers blogs. Many people have a link to their blogs in their signature line.

If you have specific questions about any of the above, I suggest you open a new topic for each question rather than making additional entries in this one.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Andrew,

First of all, welcome to the RV Dreams forums. This is a very good site for asking questions and learning the advantages and disadvantages of many things. So, ask any question that comes to mind about RV'ing and the RV lifestyle. The only dumb ones are those that don't get asked and one makes a costly or time consuming mistake.

If you are able to do so, I'd consider the fixing of the Airstream and try it on a limited basis. (Limited meaning limited amount of stuff you have on hand, not limited in the amount of "camping" that you do.) There are some that have decided that RV'ing was their destiny and then later found that an expensive RV was suddenly in need of selling at a large loss when other events changed their plans.

If you continue the idea of a fifth wheel, consider how much you would be full-timing. (Will you house be sold?) Consider whether you will "follow the seasons," or whether you would need a fully 4-season RV. Consider the things you want to do while RV'ing. Will you have room for the things you want to do.

Also, when looking at the RV, if you don't have a truck, wait until you have made your choice for a trailer before choosing a truck. There have been folks that found a "really good deal on a truck," only to find out that it was too small to safely handle the size of trailer that they really wanted to get. So, trailer choice first and then choose the truck secondly. Pay close attention to GVWR (Gross Vehicular Weight Rating) and GCVW (Gross Combined Vehicular Weight) and don't consider empty weights as important. The only time empty weight is important is when seeing whether the trailer of interest has enough CCC (Cargo Carrying Capacity.)

Good luck with your research and planning.

Terry

AndrewS · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thanks for the input, folks!

I'm in no big hurry to run out and buy a new rig, but I am doing a lot of reading and research--and a lot of daydreaming! It will probably be a year or more before I can get my life settled to the point where I can take another long trip.

Actually, my first project will be to fix up the Airstream and take a few trips in it. Looking back on that 10,000 mile trip, I had no previous experience with RV'ing, and maybe it was just beginner's luck, but the whole trip went off without a hitch (except for the one connecting the truck to the trailer!). Of course, that Globetrotter is really easy to handle. I still have the 1999 Dodge Dakota 5.2 v-8 that I hauled the trailer with, still running strong.

So, I'll be lurking, and asking a question here and there.

Best,

Andrew

Jack Mayer · RV-Dreams Family Member

Andrew, Welcome to the forum. You will find lots of info here, in Howards website, and on the Escapees forums. You might also find my website interesting. jackdanmayer.com

AndrewS · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thanks, Jack & Danielle!

Looks like you have the dream rig setup! Thanks for the link.

Cheers,

Andrew

bigboomer · RV-Dreams Family Member

Welcome to the forum Andrew. You are on the right track by asking questions and will get lots of opinions but in the end do as much research as possible and do things that fit your budget and your needs. It took us 12 years of planning once we decided that we wanted to full time someday. We are in now heading towards our 3rd year of FTing and are loving the Dream as much as we did on the first day. Good luck, Les

WestWardHo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Welcome Andrew,

You are definitely in the right place to begin your exploration. May I suggest that you spend part of this year sorting thru "stuff" whether you decide to full or just part time. I've yet to meet anyone who doesn't have too much stuff. Secondly I'd suggest spending time thinking how YOU would prefer to spend your time on the road. You'll see those of us on here that prefer to go big and others that want to be off the grid in COE and the like. There are advantages to both.

Fixing up your airstream sounds like fun.

Sherry

AndrewS · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thanks again, folks, for your kind replies--here's my first question: What's "off the grid in COE" mean?

Best,

Andrew

A-S Travelers · RV-Dreams Family Member

AndrewS wrote:
Thanks again, folks, for your kind replies--here's my first question: What's "off the grid in COE" mean?

Best,

Andrew

Camping at a Corpus of Engineers CG (CampGround) (usually found on large lakes) without electric, water or sewer (off of the electric grid). Almost all COE parks have water spigots you can move your rig to, to fill up your fresh water tank and dump stations in the CG. Some COE CG's allow long or longer than 2 weeks stay in the non busy season. It helps to have solar panels for long stays when dry camping. Here is a link to a COE website where you can locate COE CG's. Click on the state you want to stay at to find the CG's.

A couple more terms you may not have heard: (my definitions some folks have differing opinions)

-- Dry camping: camping in an area which has defined RV parking spaces but no electric or sewer. Possibly water hookup. National Forest CG's, BLM CG, some state parks, etc. Parking overnight at a Walmart or similar location.

-- Boondocking: parking your RV in a place which does not have a defined camping area and away from populated areas. Such as in National Forests away from established campgrounds. (the NF's call this "disbursed camping". Much of the BLM land in the west allows camping on most of the land where you can find a place you would like to park your RV.

-- Edited by A-S Travelers on Monday 6th of October 2014 08:58:45 AM

AndrewS · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thanks--I'll check out the link