newbie Introduction

dssamuels · June 2, 2017

I have been lurking and learning a lot from all of you so I thought I would introduce myself. I live in Connecticut with my wife, two young kids and our puppy. We are planning to do a cross country trip for 4-6 months next year. We originally planned to go this year but we needed to postpone for a year. We are very excited to do this with our kids before they grow up and leave the nest.

We currently have a 39 foot bunk house fifth wheel that weighs 13.5k fully loaded. We typically stay in the Northeast and take 5-6 weekend/week long vacations in it a year. I have been pulling it with my LDT. But with the planned trip, it seems safer to move to the HDT. Plus, it will help with putting in some miles with the kids as opposed to them being more crammed in the pickup for the cross country trip

To that end, I have been looking into the HDT for the trip. I have actually spoken with Gregg from RVHaulers but because of the limited use that I really need the HDT, the price of one of his great trucks just doesn't make sense for us. I am looking for a double bunk model at a cost point that I can afford to use it as the RV hauler instead of the pickup after the trip for our more typical 5-6 trips a year. From what have gathered from lurking, It seems that if I can find an HDT in the range of 30K-$50K, it may avoid having significant repairs.At that price, I can keep it after the trip as the RV hauler. Does this sound feasible or am I just looking for trouble by having it sit for periods of time. Additionally, most of the trucks seem to be in Texas and other areas. Is there a company that people recommend that I can hire to inspect the truck?

Other than the proper air hitch/fenders and double bunks for the family, I am not seeking anything special. Just a solid safe truck that will not give me issues on the trip. My hope is to buy it soon so that I can become comfortable with it. Thanks for any and all guidance.

David Samuels

bluflame11 · June 2, 2017

Hi David and welcome! Your story sounds eerily similar to mine and we recently returned from our first trip in our hdt!

It worked really well so if you have any questions don't hesitate to shoot me a pm!

Mike

jeffw · June 2, 2017

We bought used from a forum member about a year ago. We were in the low to mid of your price range. Last year we spent around $6-7k on maintenance items (needed turbo and EGR delete, and some brake work). This year it's been better, just needing 4 drive tires (which we were planning on).

The truck was set up to haul an RV (with an ET hitch), and had an inverter and separate battery bank, along with a fridge and microwave. We were able to register it as an RV in MA.

So yes, your price range is reasonable, but plan on the likelyhood of having to spend $5-15k your first couple of years to take care of deferred maintenance items.

VegasFlyer · June 2, 2017

2 hours ago, dssamuels said:

I have been lurking and learning a lot from all of you so I thought I would introduce myself. I live in Connecticut with my wife, two young kids and our puppy. We are planning to do a cross country trip for 4-6 months next year. We originally planned to go this year but we needed to postpone for a year. We are very excited to do this with our kids before they grow up and leave the nest.

We currently have a 39 foot bunk house fifth wheel that weighs 13.5k fully loaded. We typically stay in the Northeast and take 5-6 weekend/week long vacations in it a year. I have been pulling it with my LDT. But with the planned trip, it seems safer to move to the HDT. Plus, it will help with putting in some miles with the kids as opposed to them being more crammed in the pickup for the cross country trip

To that end, I have been looking into the HDT for the trip. I have actually spoken with Gregg from RVHaulers but because of the limited use that I really need the HDT, the price of one of his great trucks just doesn't make sense for us. I am looking for a double bunk model at a cost point that I can afford to use it as the RV hauler instead of the pickup after the trip for our more typical 5-6 trips a year. From what have gathered from lurking, It seems that if I can find an HDT in the range of 30K-$50K, it may avoid having significant repairs.At that price, I can keep it after the trip as the RV hauler. Does this sound feasible or am I just looking for trouble by having it sit for periods of time. Additionally, most of the trucks seem to be in Texas and other areas. Is there a company that people recommend that I can hire to inspect the truck?

Other than the proper air hitch/fenders and double bunks for the family, I am not seeking anything special. Just a solid safe truck that will not give me issues on the trip. My hope is to buy it soon so that I can become comfortable with it. Thanks for any and all guidance.

David Samuels

Welcome to the forum David and family!!

You picked a good time to get started, truck prices have gotten a lot better for buyers in the past few months.

oldride · June 2, 2017

David welcome to the forum. Yes your price range is very reasonable. Just keep your eyes open and ready to buy when you see a deal. Look at racing junk.com and other areas like horse and rider rodeo and various searchs. The family will love the space and you will be much more relaxed at the end of the day.

Heavymetal · June 2, 2017

First of all welcome!

David we bought our first hauler a 2010 Freightliner Cascadia for $36k and put on all new tires and brakes along with a few smaller items. The truck had 500k on it and a drove like a dream. We used it on one long 4 month trip and ordered a new truck. We had $45k in the Freightliner and sold it for $45k. So yes you can get a nice/good truck for 30-50k.

Richard

Jack Mayer · June 2, 2017

There are a couple of points I'd stress:

Look first for a truck that has already been in RV service for some time, and from an owner that has been using it. DO not buy a truck that has been sitting for a long time. If you can find one from someone fulltiming, even better. That truck will have "more" of the inevitable "issues" worked out of it.
It is worth waiting to find the right truck - do not rush into things.
But an automated transmission of some sort. It will have better resale, and it will make your experience much better, IMO.
You can find something in the price range stated. Keep at least $8K in a repair-only reserve. Do NOT spend most of the funds you are allocating to this for the truck. Up your total budget if required, but you WILL need a repair budget.
Plan on spending some additional dollars on the interior. You are going to need seating and other changes directly targeted at the kids.
Make SURE that you can license and register the truck in your home state the way you need it to be. AND that you can keep it at home....there are many city and HOA ordinances that may be obscure and can/will be invoked by your neighbors.

Good luck. There is general info on my website you might find helpful.

jkoenig24 · June 2, 2017

Welcome, David!

You may have heard this from Gregg Shields already but, plan on giving your HDT a GOOD run EVERY month. Even if you just take it out on the highway for a Sunday jaunt. You want to get everything up to normal operating temperatures for an hour or so.That will keep fluids flowing and seals will stay sealed.

I hope to see you at an HDT Rally in the future (it's WELL worth the drive!).

Brad & Jacolyn · June 2, 2017

Welcome David,

Another option would be to contact Rick Lacombe thru this website. He is in Canada and he found my truck 8 years ago. I do not know if he is still doing this but he used to locate, inspect and broker sales for forum members.

Brad

dssamuels · June 2, 2017

Thank you to everyone for your suggestions and advice. As Jack mentioned, our town does, in fact, not allow RVs to stay at the property. We keep the 5th wheel in a storage center. We will do the same with the HDT. I am trying to be sensible with the budget for the HDT keeping in mind the reserve that I will need for repairs and changes to the interior for the kids.

I realize that there is no guarantee but I hope to get the HDT soon and use it frequently so that I can try to work out the majority of the issues/repairs before the trip. On a 4-6 month trip, I would rather not be delayed a week or so dealing with major issue. I will also definitely make sure operate it a few times a month.

Based on my understanding of the DMV requirements in CT, I can register it as an RV providing I have the required items. My full time job requires me to interpret statutes and regulations frequently, so I am pretty comfortable that I will be able to get it registered in CT. However, if anyone has actually gone through the process in CT, I would love to speak with you.

Brad, thanks for the info about Rick. I would like to work with someone or a company to basically serve as a broker and help me by searching for and inspecting a potential truck. It is worth the money to us to pay for that service. Does anyone know of a company or someone that has experience and is wiling to do this for a fee to locate a truck in the states? Again, Gregg and RVHaulers comes to mind, but unfortunately my current budget doesn't quite meet that business model of the significant work and restoration that they put into their trucks. When we are on the road full time (hopefully, in about 10-11 years), we will certainly look to Gregg.

Please email me at davidssamuels@aol.com if you want to PM.

Thanks again!

Dave