bruce t

There's a large group of folks out there that just hitch it up and load it up without any regarded for their safety or the safety of others. Unless some tough action is taken nothing will change. And change will only come from law enforcement officers doing checks. Here in Australia police are now very active in doing roadside checks. Weights being the big issue. It's starting to work because of the large fines.

Why would an extra few inches of width make a difference? Does wheel base also change? (Wheel back to wheel back).

Kirk an often overlooked factor is the wheelbase of the tow vehicle and the distance from the rear axle to the tow ball. Here in Australia the vast majority of RVs are caravans/trailers. Weight and setup is always a hot discussion.

No more responses from the OP. You guys have frightened them away!!! To much negativity and to many assumptions. The OP never gave enough details but that's no excuse to be negative. To the OP. Every problem has a solution. You just have to figure out if finding that solution is worth it. Good luck.

Weren't the FEMA units built to be fixed in place? No holding tanks etc?

The sad thing is that the media only wants negative headlines now days. These sorts of stories should be the headlines. We don't want doom and gloom. We want positive news. thanks for sharing

Life is full of risks. Sitting at home staring at the fire is one of those risks. OK not exactly an RV story but an 'on the road' story. We've traveled to the USA many times since 1982. I estimate we've crossed the Pacific around 60 times. We spent most of 1995 to 2018 traveling in the USA. 2 motorhomes and later a pickup staying at hotels. Never any real issues. Sure minor car and motorhome issues but that can happen driving to the supermarket. In 2018 I had promised a client in Nth Carolina a delivery. But for some reason for the very first time something was telling me not to fly to the USA. But I ignored that feeling and we flew to the USA. On arrival I never felt very well. But after a 16 hour flight who feels well? 3 days after arrival we had to meet our friends Pam and Kirk in east Texas. I had to cancel the first meeting and made it the next day because of pain I was experiencing. Listen to your body!! Well 3-4 days later we got to Nth Carolina and did the delivery. I was feeling very off. So we found a clinic. I was afraid of DVT from the flying. 2 doctors at the clinic examined me and said nothing to worry about. "Highly unlikely in a high risk patient" were their words. So we headed towards Lexington. Long story short. I ended up in ER. I was given a 40% chance of not making it through the night. Acute multiple pulmonary embolism. I had quite a few rough days in hospital. Back to hospital 3 more times before I was allowed to leave Lexington. QANTAS gave me the all clear to fly home. OK so what am I on about? You see things happen. It's a part of life. You can't live your life wrapped in cotton wool. Manage the risk. But live life like there is no tomorrow. If you sit at home scared of the 'what ifs' then what's the point? Common sense is key. But remember the cemeteries are full of folks with dreams but no memories. PS. Every chance I have I like to thank the folks at St Joseph hospital in Lexington. They saved my life. They never knew me. They never asked for a credit card. We were foreigners in trouble and they did everything possible to saved my life. They offered a bed for my wife in my room just so she could be with me. I was wheel out in a wheel chair and I'm now here to tell the story. And as luck would have it they handed me an account. WOW, how much. But again luck/god was on my side. I had used our credit card to book the flight over. That came with insurance. At the end of the day the insurance company and St Joseph came to an agreement. Cost me $00.00. I'm still unwell because of consequences and side affects. But we purchased a new camper back in Australia and we hit the road every chance we get. Thanks for reading. bruce

Outback Australia has seen many deaths because drivers don't know their limits. The USA has rental RVs in Death Valley in summer. As I said no laws against stupidity.

Which state tests for stupidity? Being stupid isn't illegal. Maybe it should be. But every day you see stupid acts in the supermarket car park. So why would anyone treat RVers any differently?

Something to consider. A B class is often built into a production van. Thus it may be narrower than a C class. The walls may also sloped in at the top. A C class will be that bit wider and have vertical walls. Doesn't sound much but going small means less space. A C class foot for foot will have a more usable storage solution. We currently have a B class van. Its a Fiat Ducato. RAM in the USA. After 3 40ft motorhomes it was a bit of a shock. But there are 2 of us and find it great. Stress is way down. Drives like a car. 9 litres per 100k. We free camp and almost never run out of power with our solar set up. Poke around all the back roads. No dead end road worries. Parks in a supermarket car space. But that works for us. And what suits us isn't for every one.

Have these units got different gear and diff ratios?

We had 3 40ft motorhomes. Now have a 20ft B class. Less stress. U turns are easy. Park it any where. Ideal for a single. Cheap to run. B class are just like a car but with a house inside. I would look for a used Born Free.

It's a how long is a piece of string question with no real answer.

FWIW. Again! I told the story above of our meeting 2 drivers at the campsite provided by Holiday Rambler for folks getting service. Well wait, there's more. The campsite was no more than a vacant lot. Flat gravel. No fences. Had a driveway at each end. So no issues getting in or out. Or so you would think. The lot was adjacent to a residential lot. Nice house with a nice flat mowed grass yard. No fences. Yeah you guessed it. A 40ft DP drives straight across their nice grass to get to the camping lot. We watched him in amazement. Just a few yards short of the camping lot the rear end of the DP dropped 4-5ft. Yup. He had found their septic system. The weight of the DP had been too much for the septic tank. He was really in it. Well 2 wreckers came. They wet themselves with laughter. No way were they going near it. Long story short. A mobile crane came and lifted him up and over the camping lot. Er yes there was 'stuff' everywhere. Yes it's a true story. And we worry about needing a license? How about a license for common sense?

FWIW. Some years back we were at the Holiday Rambler factory having some work done on our motorhome. A DP pulled into their camping area. A 90 year old male got out. As we talked he mentioned getting a ticket for speeding. He was caught doing 90mph in a 40ft DP. It was his first trip in a motorhome!!! Next day a 35ft gas A class pulled in. He was in his 80s. First ever motorhome. He was their because the motorhome could not maintain 80mph up hill. These are just 2 examples of who is in that RV who just flew past you on the road. So should there be a test? In Australia anything over 4ton needs a different license. Over 8ton. etc etc. License is based on weight and axles. You can't turn 70. Go out and buy a 40ft anything and hit the road unless you have the appropriate license. And you need to have x amount of experience before you step up to another level. So think how lucky you are with so few regulations in the USA.

We had a bus conversion with a domestic fridge. The compressor was replaced with a 12v danfoss compressor. Never missed a beat. Our current camper has a modest size fridge. 12 volt only. Never missed a beat. Camper has a smart alternator and dc to dc. One 210 amp battery and 200watts of solar. Never without power or frozen ice cream. If the sun doesn't charge the battery while camping we can start the camper up and idle for about 30 minutes. Battery full again. They key is your expectations. But here in Australia a huge percentage of new campers are almost all electric with diesel heating. A/C it the weak link.

Ok I'm not an expert on the subject. Here in Australia we are far more self sufficient. The basis is that vehicles have "smart" alternators and rvs have DC to DC converters. Many, many 4x4's have large fridges. Kirk has seen them all lined up in our stores. Many RV's only have compressor fridges. Few Rvs have inverters to run refrigerators. The key to having a cold fridge while travelling is both the smart alternator and the dc to dc chargers. We have a 12volt compressor fridge in our rv. It works off the battery. While travelling the smart alternator charges not only the chassis battery but also the house battery. Someone with more knowledge than me can explain it better than me. But the key is the smart alternator and the dc to dc converter.

Just as an aside I know of a very large RV dealer who won't have a used rv on the site that is over 5 years old. Claims banks won't finance them. So any trade in over 5 years old goes straight to wholesalers. Age discrimination?

bigjim the fine is actually A$65000.00. I have no idea if it is ever inforced. But I read that some folks have been fined A$2500.00 per rabbit. It's also illegal to keep any native animals. Where we live they say almost every second house has a python living in their ceiling. So mice aren't an issue!!!

So a 2000 build $1000000 Prevost doesn't qualify! What about a Newel?

I have no issues with mice as a living thing. But when it comes to health you have to decide between mice and human welfare, then I choose human welfare every time. bigjim the rabbit proof fence is still there and still maintained. There are in fact more dog fences than there are rabbit fences. Just as an aside, getting off topic, The state of Queensland is more than twice the size of Texas. Rabbits are illegal. $50000.00 fine if you have a pet rabbit. There are no rabbit proof fences along the 1000+ k of the southern border. The big issue is with the illiterate rabbits that ignore the signs on the border!! Back to the OP. As far as I'm concerned there is no tolerance for mice when it comes to human health.

FWIW our daughter has mice and rats in her freezer along side the ice cream. She has a pet snake. If you like mice them I suggest you Google the mouse plague in Australia. See how they chew through netting over babies. Leave dropping in your pantry. Chew holes in your cereal box. They have devoured whole hay stacks. Catch and release? Your joking.

Simple answer. Mice carry diseases. Mice get into your RV. Name me another animal that can enter your RV and leave it's dropping. FWIW I love all animals and avoid stepping on ants. Just yesterday I fished a large lizard from our pool. Dried if off and sat it in the sun to warm up. But if I see a mouse in our house it has to go.

They carry diseases. Why would you catch and release?

Thanks for the link Kirk. We were in Washington state and picked up a few mice. For about a year will still had mice. (They never got inside the motorhome. Just the ceiling and basement). We visited the motorhome manufacturers factory for another issue. They removed the rear cap and found a colony of nests and mice. They removed everything and sealed the rear cap when they reinstalled it. Then they took the motorhome outside and gave the underside a high pressure wash. No more mouses. They told us about the scent trails.