Attention Visitors and Lurkers - Please Read and Respond to this Request

[10-9jc]

Lurkers 'R' Us Thread . . . .(bump)

 

along with -

dreamers, schemers, wannabees, . . .

[skp096821]

Been Lurking for the last 6 years.

[ejdbfdhi]

Good Morning,

 

I am a serious lurker and spend a lot of time reviewing the posts on the MDT and HDT pages. 6 months ago I thought I was the only one looking to use a HDT with a fifth wheel. Now thanks to all you folks I do not fear getting duped by some krafty salesperson when we buy our MDT/HDT. We retired in January 2005 and towed a 28 ft Hi-Lo for about 6 thousand miles. Due to the wife being alergic to something in the Hi-Lo we sold it just after we were wiped out in Ft Lauderdale by Hurricane Wilma. The Hi-Lo got us through the homeless stage after Wilma but at a cost to the wife's health. We toured Florida looking for a new place to live. So now we are relocated and as soon as we get ourseleves rejuvenated financially we are going to get serious about a new HDT/MDT to tow our yet to be purchased 36-40 ft fiver. It is so good to see the wealth of information on this forum. Thanks to all who provide the information about HDT/MDT's and fivers.

[seamo]

Hi Hippe--We also have a Landmark Grand Canyon 07 and we are here at the Rally. Come next year and have fun like we have had.

 

Christina

[Augie]

OK OK so you all pulled me out of the closet so to speak.

 

I spend a good deal of time riding motorcycles ( Partial to a German brand at present )

I do get tired of staying at friends houses when I travel. I am an active member on a dual sport motorcycle forum. I decided that I hate being a leach to the members of the other board, so I was looking at upgrading by pickup when I discoved the toy haulers. HMMMM this could be interesting. street bike for the road and a dual sport for the off road adventures.

 

But you see there is a problem with this whole situation. I can load the bike and slab it to the mountains for our rallies or ride it. Makes no difference to me whether it's 700 in a vehicle per day or that or more on the bike per day.

 

Tough decision since the adventure begins when things do fall according to plan. On a bike things are always an adventure be it 100+ degree days, crosswinds that blow, rain It's all good.

[PeteWarrior]

Yikes! Lurker sounds so....sneaky. We have been "lurking for about a month now. We finally were able to buy our dream trailer (for this phase of our lives anyway!) a 2008, 41' Weekend Warrior SLC 3905. Time to retire the '02 super duty. Enter my brother with a "can't pass up oportunity on his '95 Pete. This site, specifically certain members, has been a wealth of useful information. We look forward to becoming acquainted with other members and taking our now childless (yee hawww) lifestyle to a new level. Thanks for a posting that got us off our duffs and registered with Escapees! Grant and Janice

[gene burge]

met Sibernut in cape may on labor day weekend. he's got a sweet set up.already had my pete for a month or so. sibernut told us about this discussion forum. been here every other night since then.

[sparky69]

I have been lurking since December 2006, registered August 2007. Bought a Dodge Ram 3500 before I decided on the right toyhauler. Due to maritial status my life took a 180 degree turn. Presently selling house and will be living full time in a 41' toy hauler. Got very interested in HDT's because I know the Dodge will have a slow painfully death if used more than just a weekend hauler. I am currently looking to find a Volvo 770 that I can convert, my only draw back is that I am young and still many years to retirement. I know I will probably never wear out the HDT, but I won't use it as much as people on this site. That worries me because of maintenance that could arise due to lack of use. Whatever I decide, I have learned alot from reading everyones posts, you all are walking books of knowledge.

[calpalmer]

Hey, Grant... "Lurkers" sounds better than "Newbies", and Dan had to come up with something for the thread -- it's been a lot of fun, and of course welcome to all the lurkers...

 

BY THE WAY< WHERE IS DIESELDAN??

 

Cal

[Gary n Linda]

I've been lurking here since July. I did some research and bought a 1998 610 then I found this forum. Seems like I made a good decision. There is a lot of information here. I've been a truck and auto mechanic for 32 years and now have my business and home for sale and we will traveling to Mexico to work at an orphange for about 9 months a year. Been getting lots of info on setting up my truck.

[Hippie]

hjsdds,, Thanks. I just found your reply, I had forgotten that I had posted it... "CRS" I guess. Thanks for the help. Take care, See you later.

[wa5vhu]

Originally posted by Gary n Linda:

we will traveling to Mexico to work at an orphange for about 9 months a year. QUOTE]

 

Gary,

Be careful about trying to get into or out of Mexico with your truck without your trailer in tow. There is something about the law that is a problem. The thread was discussed here.

 

Welcome to the group!

 

Charles

[Lee Jacobs]

CharlesLee, it's a good idea to point out potential problems to folks planning a trip to a foreign country..... in Gary & Linda's case, however, there's more to it than the scenario of going into or out of Mexico with an HDT not towing a living unit. Gary & Linda, you may have already gotten information on how long you are permitted to stay in Mexico, types of Visas, etc. If you are going as part of a mission group, they may be working out the details for the group. If not, you'll need to know what your limits and responsibilities are if you intend to stay for 9 months a year. A tourist visa is good for up to 180 days. If you intend to stay longer, you must apply for and be issued an FM-3 or FM-2 Visa. FM-2 is what those who either own a business or are working in Mexico apply for, and I am not very familiar with what is required. An FM-3 is for folks who wish to live in Mexico for longer than six months a year. Each year, we are required to produce a printout of our bank statements for three months, showing proof of adequate income to live in Mexico. And, of course, we produce photo ID, etc, etc, before we get our FM-3 Visas renewed. Rather than turning this forum thread into one about getting into and out of Mexico, if you want more information, I'd suggest starting a thread with your specific questions, or just asking for information. There are many of us who travel extensively or live in Mexico who will be happy to help you out.

 

Again, CharlesLee, thanks for pointing out possible pitfalls...... good thinkin!!

 

Lee

[vn75003]

This site is great and so informative! I've been lurking for a few months now and have so many questions!!

P.S. It's funny to think my dream truck used to be a Ford F350 Dually Crew Cab Lariat. Now it's a Volvo VN630, or maybe the 730, or the...

[captralph]

You guys (and gals) are fantastic! I have been looking for you for months (not very effectively) and "lurking" for about an hour. I have a HDT (now I know what to call it). I have a 1979 Kenworth that I have planned to use to haul a 5th wheel. I had questions ( and still do ) but am gradually finding the answers here. I am sooooo happy . Wait till I post pics of the Kenworth. It is not a new Volvo but it is a beaut!

[RickW]

Hello, my name is Rick. Been a Lurker off/on for about a year now. My Wife and I live in the Dallas area. The more I learn about doing a HDT conversion the more practical I am finding it to fit our lifestyle.

 

As we examined our current lifestyle and the lifestyle we want to live. We learned that we did not want to give up the Sticks & Bricks. We want to travel for a few months, return home for a few months and repeat. We are both about 40 and see ourselves semi-retiring. We are both self employed and can work from anyplace with an Internet connection. It is important to find a rig/setup that can handle the miles we will do since our home will still be our home base and we will return frequently.

 

Our first thought was a Class A Diesel Pusher, Bus Conversion or Kingsly Coach. Everything else we looked at I felt we would have to replace at 50k miles or less. I have to admit that spending more for a RV (depreciating asset) than I did for the House (appreciating asset) gave me heartburn. While I don’t mind spending money for quality, at heart I am a cheap skate.

 

So this leads us to believe that a used Bus Conversion was going to be our best solution. Best bang for the buck. Well rewind 2 years, in a weak moment I ran for City Council and won. The practical side of thinking kicked in and spending the $$$ on a bus did not make since I am kind of tied to the house for the next 3 years and traveling for extended periods of time would not be feasible. But we did not want to wait to do some traveling; we knew that we would just have to do shorter trips.

 

Well I already owned a 2001 F250 PowerStroke. So we decided to purchase a 5th wheel for the time being that could be pulled with the truck we already have. We decided on a 30ft unit weighting 8500# (dry). After a few long weekend trips we quickly realized that 5th wheel was not a bad way travel. We did not need a toad since the tow vehicle can do that duty and were already driving the truck daily anyways. And we can take the dog with us!

 

All this to say that we quickly learned that a 5th wheel would work just as well or better and at a fraction of the cost. Did I mention that we are cheap? We know that our current trailer is not a long term solution. I quickly realized that trailers built to the standards that I am looking for are going to weigh over 16000# and as we all know no 1 ton truck is safely going to pull/stop that weight. So I started to think about a MDT, but I was not sure how comfortable one would be. I sometimes will drive 600~800 miles a day with the 5th Wheel.

 

I saw a HDT pulling a 5th wheel and thought why not? I found this forum and started reading and digesting. The more I learned to more it seems to make sense. The wife agrees (I feared she would think a HDT was too big and would not want to ride in a “Big Rigâ€). The wealth of knowledge here is unbelievable.

 

Right now my biggest concern is the toad. I don’t want to have to depend on the HDT for transportation when we arrive where we are headed. I have ruled out triple towing due to length and not legal in all states. Deck loading a Smart is a good idea but I do want the flexibility of having something with 4WD like a jeep. So then the issue is the length of the HDT if I deck load a jeep or something. Also there is the feasibility of getting something like our 350Z on the deck if we wanted to take that with us instead of a Jeep. So now I am leaning towards a toy box hauler 42’ to 45’ I figure. It means a longer trailer but much more flexible in the toad we want to use.

 

So just like this intro is long so is the journey that has got us to thinking about a HDT setup. I still have a few things to figure out but I am sure that they questions I have can and will be answered here.

 

Thanks!

Rick

[FL Fireman]

Welcome captralph,

 

Let us know when you post those pics of your truck.

[bobt35]

Hi,

 

Just a thought or two---

 

Most "toy haulers" are not built to haul things as heavy as cars, Jeeps etc. They are designed to haul "toys". [Quads, off road bikes, etc.] Your Z car may not have enough ground clearance to load and off load easily.

 

You are right about double towing. However, we have double towed a Jeep Liberty for a year and a half, [10,000+ miles] been passed by dozens of highway patrol cars, in mahy states, and never once been pulled over. However we are not trying to convince anyone to do it, But except for one case, we heard about in Penn. any one else that was stopped was simply told to unhitch the car from the trailer and let the wife drive it. JOHO

 

Oh, welcome to the forum.

[wa5vhu]

Rick W,

I sent you a PM. We are currently in the Dallas area if you want to take a look at our 770.

 

Charles

[110psi]

Have been checking out for 4 months. MDT owner.

[Hippie]

You did a great job on your truck. I hope we can get ours painted next year. I posted some pic's on webshots, but mostly to show DJW what the hitch area looked like. Looks like I need to move the hitch back another 25". Take care and Hope to meet you one of these days.I'm on QRZ> Ralph,,, KE5DXI.

[PeteWarrior]

Captralph... Good luck on your hdt conversion. It took me about 2 months of "study" on this sight and others but am in the final stages of my preliminary conversion. Jack Mayer's sight was also quite helpful. (Thank you Mr. Mayer) Take your time and make sure you get the hitch formula right. Good luck!!!

[Radman]

I have a 2002 T2 in process of a garage/motorhome conversion. I have been lurking for some time now and find that I have learned a lot about the trucks b4 I purchased mine. Thanks for sharing the information that you do.

[FL Fireman]

Welcome Radman!

Glad to see another KW out there soon. How about some pictures for all to see.

[ain'tbeenthere-yet!]

Hi, I am a fairly recent addition to the "lurkers list", and I "pick and choose", as oposed to reading each and all posts. I don't have a rig yet, but am an ex-liveaboard boater, and very interested in becoming a full-timer. A fiver would be my first choice, but it all depends on the real estate market. When it comes back up, I hope I can find a real deal on a fiver, or a decent class C. Til then, still doin' my homework, like mama made me do fifty years ago. Thanks a whole lot to you guys who are willing to share your knowledge with those of us who need the help. Most best regards to you all. H