Any full time or even snow bird RVers?

[upnorth]

In roughly 3 1/2 years my wife and I plan on retiring and going full time. Our plans as they are today is to more travel than just go south for the winter and head north for the winter.  

Just wondering what people who are (if any) are using for RVs.  Mostly size and space and why?

[leech~~]

In roughly 3 1/2 years my wife and I plan on retiring and going full time. Our plans as they are today is to more travel than just go south for the winter and head north for the winter.  

Just wondering what people who are (if any) are using for RVs.  Mostly size and space and why?

Head south and north for the winter? So just doing circles.

[Ufatz]

Well U'north, you have some time to study and learn.  Get a couple of books on RV life....you will find some very useful books.  Join a couple RV Forums. We spent more than ten years traveling with a 30' Airstream and a big Ford diesel truck. You can find a solid trailer of that length or so,  does not have to be an Airstream.  But the Airstreams are so much more stable, easier to tow and built far better than all the rest.  But some of the less expensive trailers have more room etc.  But a square trailer is tougher to tow in the wind. Study the various systems that go into a travel trailer. They are basically simple but make sure whatever you buy the main components are easily accessible.  Learn how to repair and maintain them. Use good tires. Always have more than one battery. Use double propane tanks. Don't overload your truck or trailer.  You'll notice I am talking a truck/trailer combination.  We feel it gives you more flexibility than a 5th wheel set up but everbody has their own ideas.  If you will spend time learning NOW you will save a lot of time and money later.

And travel with RV's is not nearly as cheap now as it once was.   But we would not trade our time in the little Airstream for anything......many happy memories.

[upnorth]

You are right about the time and study, that is what I am doing.  We have ruled out a motorhome, because of price and having to tow a dinghy.

We currently have a 28ft 5th wheel and are leaning towards staying with a 5th wheel.  Mainly because reports are they tow better/safer.  We have an F250 Diesel now so we are pretty good at the truck level.

Yeah I am pretty handy at fixing many things.  So maintenance is a known issue.

Did you spend much time boon docking/free camping?  I have done some searching and there seems to be a fair amount of spread all over.  We are thinking of utilizing some of that to bring down some of the costs.  We are aware that for sanity and convenience we are going to need to pull into a full service RV park now and then to get things cleaned and flushed and take more than just a "Navy" shower.

But knowing you and I assume your wife traveled for 10 years in 30 foot trailer answers a bit of what I am looking for, sanity in small spaces.  Because of the the places we are planning on staying, a 36+ foot trailer/5th wheel is not real practical and looking to go as small as feasible to make travel/parking easier.  Our neighbors snowbird with 39 foot 5th and watching him park that beast makes me think small.  

You are right about the time and study, that is what I am doing.  We have ruled out a motorhome, because of price and having to tow a dinghy.

We currently have a 28ft 5th wheel and are leaning towards staying with a 5th wheel.  Mainly because reports are they tow better/safer.  We have an F250 Diesel now so we are pretty good at the truck level.

Yeah I am pretty handy at fixing many things.  So maintenance is a known issue.

Did you spend much time boon docking/free camping?  I have done some searching and there seems to be a fair amount of spread all over.  We are thinking of utilizing some of that to bring down some of the costs.  We are aware that for sanity and convenience we are going to need to pull into a full service RV park now and then to get things cleaned and flushed and take more than just a "Navy" shower.

But knowing you and I assume your wife traveled for 10 years in 30 foot trailer answers a bit of what I am looking for, sanity in small spaces.  Because of the the places we are planning on staying, a 36+ foot trailer/5th wheel is not real practical and looking to go as small as feasible to make travel/parking easier.  Our neighbors snowbird with 39 foot 5th and watching him park that beast makes me think small.  

[Ufatz]

Okay. You'll be fine.

[Powerstroke]

My wife and I plan on having a truck/trailer combo when we retire. Of course that is at least 20yrs down the road for me and her, but in the meantime, we should be empty nesters in the next 5-8yrs and can't wait to start easing into that lifestyle. 

 

We currently have a travel trailer, but I am still interested in the smaller 5'rs for a full time rig because of the ease of towing and backing as well as the opportunity to double tow. We really like to boondock so having a rig that can do that is huge for us. Easy on power and easy on water is great. 

 

For those who truly want to be full-timers, there are some companies out there that make high quality, durable trailers made for every day use rather than the weekend warrior. They are not light, but having a residential grade fridge, bath and even the possibility of in coach laundry would be nice, especially with some bigger tanks. 

[upnorth]

I have done some homework and thinking.  We have pretty much ruled out the laundry option.  Talked to the campground host at a place we go to and he full times and he does laundry but it takes a lot of power and obviously water too.  If you are boon docking that would not be very convenient.  We have looked at some RVs in the 32 -  34 foot range that have upto 80 gal of fresh water.  Boon docking that would be a plus.

A good part of why I threw this out there is to hopefully get some ideas and or things brought up that have not occurred to me.

You hear stories of people doing this too much on the spur of the moment and not planning winding up changing RVs several times over a few years and that gets pricey.

What we do do think we want now(subject to change) is:

32 - 34 foot or less -- navigation and getting into smaller campsites.

3 slides - prefer a wardrobe slide to a full bedroom slide.

65+ gal fresh water and 30 gal black water, 50 gal grey water tanks.

600 - 700 watt solar and 3000 watt inverter power system.

4 golf cart batteries -- 6 would be fabulous.

We have a yamaha 2400 generator, now not sure about upgrading, I like this one because I can power the air and still lift it in and out of the truck bed.

Would like the option I have seen on a few of 4 20# lp tanks instead of 2 30# tank.

Under belly enclosesd and insulated for any late fall cold weather surprises.

And of course enough storage for what we do need, but not so much that we start throwing in stuff that well never be taken out(in laws have their motorhome packed with so much stuff they haven't a clue if they have it or where it might be).

We do have an F250 with the diesel and the tow rating for a 5th is just under 16,000# so got some room, but would like to keep the weight within reason(dry weight around 10,000# or less).

I am sure there are things that I am overlooking, but...that is why I put this up.

 

[upnorth]

You are right about the time and study, that is what I am doing.  We have ruled out a motorhome, because of price and having to tow a dinghy.

We currently have a 28ft 5th wheel and are leaning towards staying with a 5th wheel.  Mainly because reports are they tow better/safer.  We have an F250 Diesel now so we are pretty good at the truck level.

Yeah I am pretty handy at fixing many things.  So maintenance is a known issue.

Did you spend much time boon docking/free camping?  I have done some searching and there seems to be a fair amount of spread all over.  We are thinking of utilizing some of that to bring down some of the costs.  We are aware that for sanity and convenience we are going to need to pull into a full service RV park now and then to get things cleaned and flushed and take more than just a "Navy" shower.

But knowing you and I assume your wife traveled for 10 years in 30 foot trailer answers a bit of what I am looking for, sanity in small spaces.  Because of the the places we are planning on staying, a 36+ foot trailer/5th wheel is not real practical and looking to go as small as feasible to make travel/parking easier.  Our neighbors snowbird with 39 foot 5th and watching him park that beast makes me think small.  

[Powerstroke]

I have no idea about the laundry options, but I know they are available. 

One tip I picked up from another fulltimers was to have two different Inverters. One in the 400-600 watt range and the other one being 2000 watts or larger. They require power to run, so he would keep the larger inverter on a switch and only fired it up when he needed the extra power. It saved those precious solar watts. 

 

When talking about picking a 5'r, remember to consider pin/hitch weight as much as GVWR. Your 3/4 ton will be slightly limited even though the truck shares much of the running gear of the 1-ton. I just checked a couple of the 5's we have been considering and there is a 600 lb hitch weight difference between two trailers that are the same length. 600 pounds in the bed is 20-25% difference in weight. 

[upnorth]

The inverter is a good tip.  I hadn't thought of that before.  Be some extra wiring, but might be worth it in the long run.

From what I can find the payload for the F250 is roughly 2600 - 2800# depending on the wheel base.  I tried posting the chart, but the way the columns lined up it was too hard to read in rather useless.

The stuff I have looked at tops at 2500#.  But yes it is for sure something to consider.  And that is partly why we want to stay away from a full bedroom slide and lean towards a wardrobe slide the bedroom slide seems to add more weight at the hitch.  

And from a safety standpoint, just being able to actually move something doesn't mean it is a good plan to tow it.  

[Powerstroke]

You are correct that there are several things to consider when trying to decide on a camper that you plan to live in, rather than just be a weekend warrior wagon. When considering an RV, I tr to maintain a 10% safety margin for weights. There is no one out there who will defend you if you play inside of a tight margin. Liability is too big nowadays for me to decide of an extra 100 pounds is worth the risk. 

Your point about the difference in pin weight can easily be affected by the type of slide in the room over the hitch, whether is be bedroom or otherwise. Great thing to consider. 

Without knowing the exact year and model of your truck its hard to know the payload for the bed of your vehicle. That being said, having a 5'r requires a little more math to make sure you're not overloading your truck as a whole. It pays to make a few trips to the local truck scale to determine what your truck weighs when you're ready to hit the road, with or without the camper. Knowing those numbers will help you determine how big of a rig you can support.