Camping trailer, motorhome

[Gone]

What you say above is how I feel, which makes me think of the trailer route. It seems that all the affordable motorhomes are powered by a Ford V10 & the diesel pushers are a huge jump in price & size. I imagine that a V10 equipped motorhome pulling a vehicle is going to have the acceleration of a fully loaded '78 4-banger Pinto. Why they don't use a Powerstroke or Cummins diesel baffles me?

What I envision us doing is using a campsite as a base & then traveling the area to see what sites are around, and them move onto another location. Is this what others do?





Lastly, if being out on the road for a month is long enough, is the motorhome/trailer route worth it, or just fly to a destination, rent a car and stay in hotels for a couple weeks?

All are good points. It's a really tough decision. When I was retiring, my wife and I talked about selling the house, buying a motorhome/fifth wheel and traveling the country. I think that had we done so we would have went with the fifth wheel because it offered greater flexibility. Ultimately, I'm glad that we talked ourselves out doing neither. Today, if we were to do so we would still go with the fifth wheel. To me, the full-up motorhomes are like a boat or swimming pool...a whole lot of upkeep for what you get out of them and eventually they fall into disuse and you're stuck with them.

 

[G.V.Charger]

A few friends of mine, usually buy a good used unit, use it for one summer, or one family trip, then sell it, for pretty close to what they paid for it the year before. The idea came from checking rental prices, apparently, to rent a fair sized motor home and drive it across the nation, would cost upwards of 7,000.00 to 10,000.00. These guys are buying in at 15,000.00 to 20,000.00, using it for a year, and the selling pretty much for, what they paid, and....no rental fee's.......used it for close to nothing!!!

 

[Gone]

A few friends of mine, usually buy a good used unit, use it for one summer, or one family trip, then sell it, for pretty close to what they paid for it the year before. The idea came from checking rental prices, apparently, to rent a fair sized motor home and drive it across the nation, would cost upwards of 7,000.00 to 10,000.00. These guys are buying in at 15,000.00 to 20,000.00, using it for a year, and the selling pretty much for, what they paid, and....no rental fee's.......used it for close to nothing!!!

Yeah, I also went through the "let's rent a motor home and go on an extended vacation with family members" phase. My research showed that for what it costs to rent them, pay "extra mileage" fees that kick in after a couple of hundred miles, buy fuel, food for meals, plus having to drive that big sucker all over the country, I determined that we could stay in nice hotels and eat at nice restaurants for about the same price AND have a more enjoyable time (no worries about what groceries to buy, who's driving, who's cooking, who's cleaning up, etc.).

 

[Ironbuilt]

A large motorhome is basically a big rig without the trailer. They have the same drivetrain as a semi, and maintenance/repairs are NOT cheap. Most people that I have encountered use them sparingly and want to sell them. Now, if you're independently wealthy, they can probably be a lot of fun.

 

[BeeKool]

They are also high maintenance. They are prone to leaking. If you can build a pole barn to park it in, they will last longer.

 

[64BEL]

Lastly, if being out on the road for a month is long enough, is the motorhome/trailer route worth it, or just fly to a destination, rent a car and stay in hotels for a couple weeks?

This is a very good question. More and more we're doing the hotel thing because it's easier, but we still enjoy the camping experience. When we started camping, we had a tent for 4 years. Then we had a popup for 4 years. The popup is a great way to go for the camping experience, btw. After that we progressed to the travel trailer. We went that way because we wanted to take cross country trips and setting up and taking down a popup for a one night stay enroute to a destination (especially in the rain) wasn't appealing. We bought our travel trailer in 2001 and still have it. We thought we'd eventually move on to a 5th wheel, but keeping the bed of the truck available (see pic) was important. Then we got to the point where the trailer is paid for, and we don't go as much as we did 20 years ago, so we just haven't felt a need to trade up. We take good care of our stuff, so even though dated, our trailer is in great shape.

Our longest trip was 3 weeks traveling from Wisconsin to California. It was 5000 miles of towing, and it was a great time. Our daughter was 9 then. But, diesel was $1.20/gallon then. That trip would be much more expensive, now. The escalation in fuel prices cut back on our cross country towing trips. We mainly stay in state when camping, now. In the cheaper days of fuel we also towed to the east coast twice - once to Maine.

To sum up this long-winded post, our trailer has served 2 main purposes. First, it's for the camping experience, which we like. Second, it's an economical way to travel (less now with the high cost of fuel). You're always in your own bed, and packing and unpacking are only at the beginning and end, not at every stop along the way. The adventure aspect is appealing (a little lesser so as we age), and the freedom to go and stop wherever you want is what I like best. i'm not a fan of flying. The flying itself is fine, but having someone else control my movements, dealing with airlines, etc... - not a fan.

Here's our trailer. It's nothing fancy, but it's very comfortable for us. A slideout and fiberglass sides would be nicer to have, but this one was more affordable for us in 2001 when we were younger and a lot poorer. We paid under $12,000 for it brand new back then.

 

[Darter6]

Well let's see, I started with a travel trailer back in '78.Over the last 40 years, 4 travel trailers, 1 Lance camper in the bed of a Dodge dually diesel and 2 motorhomes.The dually and motorhomes pulled the car & trailer that I raced all over the country for about 20 years off and on.
They both have + and -'s so you need to figure out to the best of your knowledge,what the long term plan might be.Like how often will you really use it.We now have a class C set up to tow a 10,000 lbs trailer.Though we don't race and pull the trailer any more, we still use the motorhome for outings of about 4 to 6 days every month.
We joined a RV group for planned outings,anywhere from 12 to 20 rigs,plus doing our own thing.We rack up about 5 to 6,000 miles a year now.
It's not for everybody but we sure do enjoy it.

 

[QuickBpBp]

What you say above is how I feel, which makes me think of the trailer route. It seems that all the affordable motorhomes are powered by a Ford V10 & the diesel pushers are a huge jump in price & size. I imagine that a V10 equipped motorhome pulling a vehicle is going to have the acceleration of a fully loaded '78 4-banger Pinto. Why they don't use a Powerstroke or Cummins diesel baffles me?

What I envision us doing is using a campsite as a base & then traveling the area to see what sites are around, and them move onto another location. Is this what others do?




Lastly, if being out on the road for a month is long enough, is the motorhome/trailer route worth it, or just fly to a destination, rent a car and stay in hotels for a couple weeks?

Yes when we go for a week we normally only go to one place. We unfortunately can't get away much longer than that with work and our kids/pets..

For me when you travel getting there is part of the trip enjoying the views, seeing people's homes, shops and stores. We also enjoy cooking and eating outdoors. When we go down on the bay there is nothing like crabbing then coming back having fresh crabs, beer and corn on the cob. Most campers are pleasant to be around you don't get that in a hotel room and like my wife always says when we go away with/in our own stuff no need to worry about how filthy hotel rooms really are.....

 

[6PKRTSE]

I am driving this one home soon to pluck the 440, trans, and Dana 60 out of it. Only 40,000 on it. Great shape rust wise but inside is ruined and water damaged.

 

[Bad Sport]

or just fly to a destination, rent a car and stay in hotels for a couple weeks?

If you're an adventurous type, you will absolutely miss a lot. If you have plenty of time to "just go" I suggest taking your accommodations with you. You may stumble upon something that you'll want to spend a day and check out.

 

[64SF]

Have had both travel trailers and MHs. Here are my thoughts.

If you're going to stay in one spot for more than a couple of days the travel trailer worked best for us...for short stays, a day or so, the MH worked better.

Had a 40' diesel pusher that was a rolling small home...it takes up a lot of the traveling lanes on the express ways and most of the road on the back country lanes. If your wife doesn't mind seeing the mail boxes only inches away from her passenger window or not seeing the shoulder and only the deep canyon on her side it will be fine...it terrified my wife.

Also had a 32 foot E450 Ford (B-Plus) motor home and flat towed a Jeep Cherokee. It worked well...it was cozy.

Storage, maintenance, insurance, fuel costs and not using it enough we decided it was best for us just to stay in a nice hotel or with friends and family.

 

[69 GTX]

RC I have done both travel by car & with a tag trailer. You either pay for extra gas to pull the trailer or the hotel. Most camp sites are 12-20$ a night so you need to figure that in. In the end I get points off my creditcard purchases. I usually have enough points to pay for 1-2 weeks of hotel stays. Plus navigating some mountain roads with a RV/trailer can be a nightmare. Just my 2 cents.

 

[greycharger]

They can be rented too. Make a couple month long reservations in a two places; go in one camper and somewhere else in the other.

 

[MiradaMegaCab]

I like my motorhome that was given to me for free from a buddy that was getting a divorce .
Typically 5 to 8 people come along for a getaway. We party during the ride, that’s one benefit that seems to be mentioned in this thread.
I frequent the Pocono Raceway for the NasCrap race. I have aluminum diamond plate roof and I used Rigid Aluminum Electrical Conduit for safety rails.
That’s an 8’X8’ pop up tent on the roof (Party Deck) and we stay on the infield from Thursday to Monday doing a lot of drinking. Lol Other road trips include tailgating at SuperCross and watching Punkin Chunkin.

 

[BeeKool]

There are some places where a Hotel & rented car cannot replicate.
Spending 3 weeks every summer camping on the Upper Peninsula. The Rockies, Appalachia ect.

You can also tailgate like a mo-fo in them.
Perhsps RC & Bob Kraft can tailgate at Gillete Field and run a massage parlor from the RV.

 

[ITS A 72 RR]

I bought a 24 ft motor home last year because of size limitations at many parks. I did spend an extra 10k for the Mercedes 6 cylinder diesel but I average 16 mpg . I tow a small cargo trailer 5x8 for the gold wing and all the other crap the wife thinks we need. So far every trip has been a great. But most people say it's like owning a boat with 4 wheels. Happiest days are when you buy and sell it

 

[MarPar]

 

[Slap Stick]

I tow a small cargo trailer 5x8 for the gold wing

Silly, trailers are for boats! (And Harleys...)

 

[64BEL]

And don't forget about the most glamorous part of a trailer or motorhome. You just can't get that up close and personal with your waste in a hotel. Now, on a cruise, well that's a whole other topic.

 

[Cojohnso1]

I have this fantasy of spring/summer traveling around the country in an attempt to visit every NHRA sanctioned track. (As a possible early retirement endeavor.) Towing drag car. But my bank statement says. "Back to reality for you numbnuts!" It would take millions in liquid assets. If I sold everything? Cashed out all hard assets? Take lumpsum retirement option? What could possibly go wrong?