Jack Mayer

If you are not staying in TX but simply passing through why bother with it? Simply drive through - if you get stopped, then you are "on your way home" after being out of state for 3 years. That is perfectly legal. You have at least 3 days AFTER reaching your home. If you do not get stopped, continue to self-certify as usual. This will not work if you are staying in TX for any length of time - then you should get the inspections done. Presumably you have a current registration on the vehicle, since you self-certified. You are VERY unlikely to be stopped. It would have to be for another cause. BTW, you should remove any OLD inspection stickers from your windshield. They are no longer used. Only the registration sticker is on the windshield.

We are down for the night at a Casino at Exit 92 in LA. Frog Leap, the RV park here that we have stayed in many times before did not "have space" once they found out we were a semi. Even though they DID have space moments before (on the phone call). So we are just boodocking in the back of the Casino. Way cheaper, anyway. Tomorrow we will arrive at Lake Conroe KOA for a week. We generally avoid KOA's but since Roger and Deb live there, we will make an exception

Thanks, Trey. It has always been that way...just checking to see if things had changed.

Yes....we are stopping to see R&D. Then heading to a friends ranch, then to Mission then to North Ranch.

Can you still overnight in the Cabellas lot?

You might want to wait a day with all the rain. We are in Pensacola and sitting it out....will leave Thursday. Will overnight at Frog City RV Park, Duson LA. Next stop is Montgomery, TX KOA.

The steps you see on the new Summit are exactly the steps that Excel used. They work identically. Brian is now at New Horizons and he brought the steps with him - so to speak.... There are many floorplans for the Summit; not all have the steps in the slide.

We are working the Tampa Rally With Gregg Shields and Marc Jones. Along with the New Horizons crew. If you want to see some pictures, look HERE.

We are at Mayo, FL staging for the Tampa RV show. Marc and Dawn Jones join us today. We head for the Vendor show campground on Friday. Come see us in Tampa at the show.....at the New Horizons display.

Yup....my truck. This is pretty much the process you have to go through to get it "right". It CAN be done in a driveway, and has been. But you have to have the skills/desire. And enough tools. But if you really want to you can do it. On my truck we also went farther than most do and did a LOT of preemptive maintenance. Gregg and I share the same philosophy - make the truck as reliable as possible. Replace things that are worn, but still functional. Replace things that show no wear, but statistically are "sensitive" parts...like air governors. Avoid "on the road" breakdowns. I LIVE on the road, I do not have maintenance facilities "at home". And most campgrounds will not let you do any significant wrenching. I have the skills to do the stuff myself - well, most of it. But I no longer really have the "desire" to do it. You need to factor all of this into your selection criteria, and need to perform an honest assessment on if an HDT really is right for you. You WILL spend money on it, despite the anecdotal stories of people buying 20K trucks and never putting a dime into them. That does happen, but statistically it is unlikely to happen to YOU. You also have to be honest on what comfort/convenience level you want or need. For example, I do not want to row gears. Ever. So that puts me into a relatively new truck. Others LOVE to row gears. That makes their choices simpler and (potentially) cheaper. HDTs are great, and allow for a lot of flexibility in their use. But they are definitely not for everyone. A new Dodge 5500 properly set up will pull almost any of the new trailers legally, competently and pretty comfortably.

I had speculated that we would be in the $34K or maybe even 35K area this year, since insurance for us is ridiculous. In all of our previous 15 years fulltiming we have been mostly well under 30K. Our numbers came in at a little over $33K for the year. This is the first year substantially into the 30's....I expect it will stay that way going forward.

Why don't you take a look at Mark Bruss' truck. It is pre emissions, low miles and well cared for. Autoshift.

This is just MY opinion, so take it for what it is worth. If you are an experienced tinkerer on cars, etc. and have the shop facilities and have the inclination, and don't need the truck soon ....then buying one yourself (assuming you have the skills to determine what a "good" truck is) and doing the conversion yourself is the way to go. You will know the truck inside out and ultimately spend less money. ASSUMING you get a good truck to start with. You can also buy the truck yourself, and then shop out some or all of the conversion to various shops. For example, Larry Herrin can handle the body, and he has a friend that will do a basic conversion for you. Then do the maintenance upgrades/work yourself. There are certain things you SHOULD do prior to the body going on. etc. etc. It all depends on the age of truck you want, and the condition of it. Also your level of risk you feel like assuming. There is a LOT to do to an older truck to get it in really excellent condition. But not all trucks need to be in excellent condition....and you may not need an "excellent condition" truck. Buying a 20K truck (in today's market) is not going to get you much truck. But it may be all the truck you need or want.

Gregg's prices are USD.

You might find my website helpful with the basics. Link in my signature. Welcome.

We are also debt free and have been fulltiming for almost 16 years. This year will be our most expensive year on the road, and we will come in at just around $34K We have never exceeded $31K in the past and have usually been in the mid-upper 20's. And we don't feel we skimp. It does depend somewhat on how you live, though. Our most expensive single expense has ALWAYS been insurance, and health insurance is by far our biggest expense at the moment.

David, we will be at Tampa, as you know. We will also be at Mayo (Palmers) from Dec 30 until we go to Tampa on the 7th. Marc and Dawn Jones will also be at Mayo. (I think).

Cool!!

Looks like we will cross paths. We leave Rainbow Plantation on the 30th for Mayo.

You going to Mayo? We will be in Tampa for the show, spending a week in Mayo on the way down.

We will hit $35K this year for the first time. ALL the additional expense is Health Care insurance costs.

Rich, looking at all your "indicators" (which I agree are good and I use them as well) I would say the economy has improved but I would not call it good. Some would though....It is certainly not booming. Wages are pretty depressed and fulltime jobs are at a fairly low rate. All are improving some though. And certainly those that want work can find it - although it may be less than 40 hrs and not at a rate that has you dancing in the streets.

Jeff, if you are going to be there all winter we will see you in March!! It will take us that long to get there......

The bed has nothing to do with tandem or single. They are separate decisions. For example, Rocky has a very nice hauler bed on his tandem. None of these decisions are based strictly on cost. If it was cost based you would keep a pickup - and an old one, to boot. Singling is going to run you around 4-5K these days. Brakes, tires and components will cost you that over time. It is pay now or pay later....like I said, a personal choice. However IF there is any chance of hauling heavy deck items in the future you want to stay tandem. Anything much heavier than a smart will overload a singled truck, assuming a heavy trailer.

6' 6" is "pushing" a smart, for sure. Nothing wrong with leaving the truck tandem if you want to. My first choice is singling, but if you are not sure of your weight carrying requirements you should leave it tandem. It will save you some money initially but you will spend that on maintenance in the long run. It is a personal choice. And you do not need a body on it - a flat deck or even just fenders on the tandems will be fine. I discuss many of these issues on my website which you may find interesting if you have not seen it yet. Link in my signature. The first place to look for a truck is on the forum....