Star Dreamer

Another option might be a used super C with a garage but we have only saw one that had a separate bedroom when they have a garage. Most just used the bed over the cab area or a pull out sleeper which we did not want.

Slope is all about your wants. I sloped ours because I want an easier way to load a vehicle from the rear. The plus of it allows an easier climb up onto the bed. As far as storage boxes go, we made our own so I could get deeper than standard available boxes. We also made our doors, but bought the hinges and latches. Our boxes slide in through the doors and rest on angle support brackets that are tied to the structure of the bed.

It is possible that the generator is feeding each of those 30 amp outlets and when on generator power the 30 amp cord is plugged into that outlet to power whatever is on that circuit. When shore power is available they would just unplug the cord and plug it into the shore power. We did a similar setup when we added a generator to a car hauler trailer and did not want to put a transfer switch in. This way there was no way to double feed since you had to unplug from the generator circuit to plug into the shore power. To be sure you will need to test each connection. You may need to find the 120 volt fuse panel (s) and if you have multiple of those, I would guess that would be what they did and wanted to keep them on separate circuits.

Don't forget that you cannot charge the lithium batteries when temperature gets below 32 degrees F. So either make sure they are in a heated bay or have a way to warm the batteries up. You can get some batteries with heaters built in. My battery bay is not heated and I am having a hard time finding heated ones that will fit so I am trying to decide if I want to move them to my basement. We were in below freezing temp in Texas early this year, do it does happen even if you try to avoid the cold.

Also they must not have a smart car on the bed as it is just a little wider than the trailer so no good way to try to line it up perfectly. I love our hitch camera!

Most of the HDTs don't have a back window to see out of and I know the one in our dually didn't work very well because the extra fuel tank and storage box in the bed blocked my view of the ball.

We had a GE 24" apartment size range installed in our 5th wheel when we had it built. Much larger oven than the typical RV units. It was converted to LP gas by the trailer factory and has been working great. You will need to have any natural gas ones converted to LP if you plan to use your regular LP gas supply. One item, we did notice is the broiler is electric (Broiling is done in the oven and not in the drawer below) so we need to watch to make sure we are on shore power or generator when broiling, not sure how long our batteries would last if using our inverter.

Regarding the gooseneck ball vs 5th wheel, I prefer the fifth wheel for easier hookup. You do not have to get perfectly lined up with the pin and no safety chains to hook up. I also think you get more air bag travel with the ET hitch than you do on the goosebox but I am not an expert on those.

We will be up just East of Grand Rapids at Alice Springs RV park. Which is about 1 hour North of the museum. I was just planning on driving our smart car. We will be coming in on Wednesday so probably not enough time to unload our custom van and drive down to the cruise-in with it. May just plan to stop by on our way past from Elkhart. Thanks for the info.

Our travels out thru KY were thru the west on I24, maybe try for the way home.

Thanks it is on our list to do. We will be fairly close to it when we stop near Grand Rapids.

There will be a lot of other parts that will need replacement on a million mile truck if there is no history of them being replaced. Also I would question why the engine had to be rebuilt at 500k when they should easily go 750k - 1000k miles before rebuilding. Is it one of the troublesome engine?

Welcome. Truck lengths vary based on how they were spec but you can make a very short singled Volvo with sleeper as well as other brands. Jack Mayer had one for his first truck and I think he said it was about the same length as his F450 was. Check his website out. Just be aware that you will be limited what you can put on the back of a singled short truck and keep your length under 65'. Alot also depends on what length trailer you go with. We have a 47' trailer, have a Freightliner Century singled short but with a long bed to carry a smart car and we are at 72' long. I have a 20' garage in our Toyhauler, do you could easily shorten the whole set up to get under your 65' limit. Just be sure to plan out your mission profile to include future wants so you can one truck to do what you want. Plan a visit to a rally to be overwhelmed!

We have just started a 2-1/2 month long trip, about 6000 miles that will take us zig zagging across the Midwest. From South Carolina we head to North Central Missouri for a custom van event, then to Central Indiana for Memorial Day weekend for another. We will spend a week at Indiana Beach visiting with the kids, then work our way around Lake Michigan and head to Madison WI to see the father in law for father's day and birthday. Then we head to South Dakota to the black hills area for a week. On our way back, we will stop in Minnesota for our National Custom Van show, then back to Indiana for a week for family reunion, then home. It is tricky planning a trip to cover family events, shows and site seeing but this is what we hoped for when I retired! We are currently at a truck stop at the NC SC border heading to Old Mill Campground near Cookeville TN.

Alot depends on if you are going new or used. New you can obviously order what you want but you also want to deal with someone that is knowledgeable in the RV use. Used, just try to get the best one that meets your needs and wants and in your price range. There are some engines to avoid and they vary depending on the year and make, if you want an automated or automatic transmission that may limit your choices, if you want a non-smoker truck that will really limit your choices. Adding to many items like gear ratios, locking rear ends will really limit your choices. Volvos are more car like in comfort, Freightliner dealerships are in many major locations, Kenworth and Peterbilt have there following. We went with a Freightliner Century over 9 years ago as it had what we wanted and was in our price range.

Since you mentioned no slides but also did not mention if you had RV'd before, I suggest you take the dimensions of the units you are looking at, marked it off in an area of your house or garage and put stuff in it to simulate the cabinets and furniture and see if you both can survive in a small area for 6 months. Not all of the time is spent outside so you need to be prepared to do the aisle shuffle! Also be sure any unit is properly prepared for the type of boondocking you plan to do, with enough solar panels, water tanks and generator to keep you comfortable. Do you expect to be in any colder climates, if so then you want a unit that can handle the temperature extremes. If you haven't camped before, suggest you get the one over in Sweden first and then it will help you in your decisions for a unit here.

So since you are not building ETs anymore, and should now have lots of free time, any possibility you can redesign a new RV plug that allows for better and easier wiring? I can't see any reason why it couldn't be made longer to help out.

We use the TST 507 system and have been for probably at least 8 years. We have 12 sensors and I believe we have replaced 4 so far. We keep spare sensor batteries on hand (they are available cheaper thru Amazon in larger quantities)

On our mid roof, I think I have brackets on both sides of the cab and I would run a support from one side to the other side and then do a hinged mount for the panel on that, so you can pivot it up when parked and be level or slightly above the cab. Then when traveling you could pivot it down against the back of the cab for protection. It may also allow you to pivot at an angle and get more sun depending on the trucks orientation when parked.

If all you have to extend the frame is 4" to keep the leveling valve in its original position, I think you can have the ET extend past the rear of the frame by that 4" without any issue except for mounting lights. Check with Jack Mayer or Henry Szmyt.

I should clarify that we have a Freightliner without any light control computer.

We tied into the reverse lights at the back of the truck and ran a line to the RV plug from there.

I don't think you need to do anything. For example currently our trailer has solar charging the batteries all the time plus the batteries get charged when either we are hooked up to shore power or to the generator thru the standard battery charger converter in the trailer so there are two different sources with out any isolators except the normal fusing. The solar charge controller should be able to handle the voltage your alternator is putting out.

Assuming the rear part is bent up, the only way I can think of as to why the frame is bent upwards would be because the rear end was dragged so badly in bent the frame. If the side wall panels are not affected (not sure how they could not be) then I probably would try to fix it. I would think you would do more damage or have to rebuild the whole rear of the trailer to even be able to try to straighten it out. If it is bad enough, then really it is just cheaper to buy a new trailer. If it bent once, what would prevent it from bending in another spot if the frame is that weak? You could try a place that works on semi trailers to see if they have any equipment to to it. Is it a Lippert Frame?

Like others, we suggest you plan to park it for a few weeks or so to help you get use to it and be around others that can help answer questions. We basically self taught ourselves but we started from tent camping and moved up in size over the years. Probably the most scariest thing is dumping the tanks so you do not look like Robin Williams in the movie RV (which is probably good to watch to know what not to do!) Understanding weights and how to locate items for safe traveling down the road is also good and having the unit weight allow with your tow vehicle will help you understand that. Good luck and safe travels! Don't be afraid to ask for help.