Your Full-Time RV home on Wheels

The choice of your Fulltime Home on wheels, will have a huge impact on your Fulltime RV Lifestyle. If you do not have an RV yet, you will have more decisions to make. We could call this a step in your Full Time RV Lifestyle plan. What are your Fulltime RV plans? Sightseeing? Live on a Property you have purchased? Travel the country to satisfy your bucket list?

Choose the RV you will Live in

What size and type of RV fits your personal style? We will look at the different style of RVs without going into too much detail. Visiting RV shows, looking online, or going to RV dealerships can give you a better picture of the type of RV you may want. I would recommend that you purchase an RV that really fits your needs. Upgrading later or downsizing later, can put a large dent in your wallet. RVs tend to lose a lot of value and are not always easy to resell (the pandemic has made the RV market more expensive and harder to get the coach that you want). Let me mention the type of RVs that would work best for Fulltime living.

Motorhomes come in three different styles

Class A motorhomes come with gas or diesel (often called a diesel pusher), most are built on a bus chassis, they are available in 18-to-44-foot versions. Ask yourself, what am I comfortable driving? And make sure to test drive varied length coaches to know what you are comfortable with. Most Class A motorhomes have less beds than say, a Class C, so, how many people are traveling with you?

Class B motorhomes come in gas or diesel and are built on a van chassis. They are easy to park, drive, and maneuver. Typically, they sleep up to four and very compact. What do I like about them? You can go to a crowded National Park and still get front row parking, whereas the 38-foot Class A that my wife and I travel in, would have to be in the larger further away parking lot. If you enjoy camping outside and only go inside to sleep, the Class B motorhome is perfect for your needs.

Class C motorhomes come in gas or diesel and are built on a smaller box truck chassis. They come in 18 to 32-foot versions and typically can sleep up to 8 people. When I had my four children I had a 32-foot Class C for the sleeping capacity. When I went Fulltime, I traded up to the Class A because there was not enough closet space in the Class C motorhome, and my four children are grown so I do not need the beds.

Travel trailers come in a variety of lengths and sizes, from pop-up tent style to the larger toy haulers or park models. Do you need bunk beds? How many slides do you want? My Class A has two, more slides would give more interior room. Is the truck that you have capable of towing your desired trailer safely? Remember that older RV Parks cannot accommodate anything over 28-feet.

Fifth Wheel trailers are easy to maneuver and drive on the highway. Like travel trailers, a fifth wheel will require a good diesel or gas truck to haul it. I loved my fifth wheel, but it did not have any slides. I loved the ease of backing into a camp site.

Trucks

Most people seem to recommend a Dodge Ram one ton dually truck, for power, stability and stopping ability on mountain roads and steep grades. The make or brand of truck that you purchase, is personal choice, (some people love Fords, others like Chevys) just make sure that you stay within the GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Recommendation) that you find in the manufacturer’s vehicle manual. I see campers come to our campground, hauling 20-foot trailers with a ½ ton pickup truck. and either leaking coolant or transmission oil due to the strain of having the wrong tow vehicle. If that same camper had a ¾ ton truck, they would have been in better shape towing their trailer.

GVWR

You must consider the Gross Vehicle Weight requirements any vehicle (whether it is a SUV, like a Chevy Suburban). If you do not follow this requirement, you take the chance of not having enough braking power to stop your RV. Do not exceed this requirement, it is a requirement.  I tow a Jeep Grand Cherokee, it is within the GVWR of my motorhome, but the receiver hitch broke on a recent trip. I had a shop double weld every joint, hope that never happens again.

A good idea is to go to a public scale. Measure your motorhome, trailer, or fifth wheel tires or wheels separately to know how the vehicle is loaded on each tire. This will allow you to redistribute the load, thus possibly saving you from a blow out and better braking power.

What is a toad

Your consideration for making the decision to buy a travel trailer or a fifth wheel, over that of a motorhome, is the convenience  of having a vehicle to get around in once you are parked in a campsite. A motorhome will require you to tow a vehicle (often called a toad) behind your motorhome.

Tow Bars

 Most RVers like to tow a vehicle four-down or on all four tires. This means that you have to get a tow bar and braking system on the towed vehicle. You will have to have the vehicle that you are planning on towing, have a base plate welded to the front on the vehicle. Don’t freak out about that. The base plate is designed to not be seen once you take the tow pins out. There are several different manufacturers of tow bars. Your installer will likely recommend a tow bar to you based on the weight of your toad or tow vehicle.

Car trailer or Tow Dolly

You can alternately get a car trailer or a tow dolly. The issue with a dolly or car trailer is where to store it at the campground. Make sure to consider the weight of the car trailer or dolly and the weight of the vehicle and calculate the GVWR of your tow vehicle or motorhome.

Other considerations

If you are going to tow four down, your vehicle must be capable of unlocking the wheels so the transmission on the vehicle is not turning. If oil is not flowing in the transmission of the towed vehicle, the built-up friction will cause the transmission to seize. You must consult the user’s manual for your vehicle or any vehicle that you are considering towing before doing so. Car and Driver Magazine has a yearly list of cars that can be flat-towed or towed four-down, or you can do an online search.

A few more comments

Just a few more comments on shopping for an RV. Shop around but when possible, buy from a private party or used from a dealer. Have a licensed RV inspector check the unit out before you purchase, you may save yourself thousands down the road, in unexpected repairs. The NRVIA ( National Recreational Vehicle Inspectors Association) is recommended. Unfortunately, a lot of RV parks do not allow RVs over 10 years old in their parks. Some will except a picture of an older RV before you arrive and will let you stay there if the RV meets their standards. Other parks are sticklers to their rules. Just consider this in not only your camping preferences (RV resorts or boondocking, US forest or State parks) or buy something that is newer than 10 years old. I love the restored 50’s trailers, but these RV parks also will not allow them in. I have heard that it not the RV park owners desire to be snotty, they have experienced issues with owners of older RVs abandoning them, and the RV park owner has to deal with getting rid of the RV. Typically, owners of newer RVs have paid so much for them, they won’t abandon them.

Trailers, Trucks, and Towing

It is difficult to write a course on RV choices as there are many styles of campers, trailers, and motorhomes. It really comes down to personal choice as you can image. I just hope that I gave you something to think about. You really do need to make your own list of questions, features, and inspection points for your own RV Choice.