NDBirdman

IF you go this way, tell him you cash the check and keep the RV until the bank says it cleared. Usually 3 days. Saying that, I've had a jacka## try that on me, did not fall for it. Probably a scam, the printers these days can print out a pretty convincing copy/fake check. Best to have him hand you the cash in front of the teller and have him/her check the bills for counterfeits. Those can be pretty convincing too. You'll pay off the remainder of the loan? Where have you been all my life?? I saw you posted same time I did, good. I was in NV once, had a retailer hand me a $100 bill. I was visiting and brought hundred $$ bills with me to spend. His bill looked good, could not tell the difference, had the micro thread even. Said, hold it to the light. I did, what I saw was a bleached out $5 printed over with $100 info. I could not tell the difference. Told me it (at the time) was the current scam to hit the casinos.

Welcome to the forum!

Welcome to the forum! I just looked that up, pretty interesting, might check it out when my local store gets them back in stock. I'm also looking at the cane one, would like to protect from a little farther away from those teeth.

I know your trying to be.. funny, but I'll explain my side. Most, unless ordered specifically with other brakes systems, come with drum/pad brakes. Some adjust automatically, some manually. Mine are manual. What happens when someone, not mechanically inclined, adjust his/her brakes incorrectly, or forgets and does not adjust them every 2k miles? They loose efficiency. What happens when they do a lot of hill/mountain towing? It's called brake fade. This is when you need to make sure, call it over-kill if you will, but you need to make sure your tow vehicle can slow down/stop/control your rig. As per my rig, I made sure my truck was over kill. But, I have yet to find a down grade I can not control with my truck, stay in lower gear, let the engine brake do the work and stay off my brakes as much as possible. This also means I'm not using the trailer brakes as much as possible. Now, that's just *my* point of view, tell me if I'm wrong? I'm open to all opinions without getting fussy, someone might even teach this old hard-head something new. I also did not post this to be argumentative, just as a teaching reply, teach me if I'm wrong. 🙂

I would examine the inverter's documents, it should state what gauge wires is recommended. Then examine the RV wiring to see what size is available to tap into, then go from there. IMHO

While I'm not a newbie, I don't do it full time. If someone see's me doing something wrong, or the hard way, or look clueless, PLEASE step over and help me. Not all of us are hard-headed and do appreciate the help. I might even offer you a beer or glass of wine if I have any. AND, like it or not, if I see you are frustrated or needing help, I'm there, get grouchy, I walk away but I do try to help. 🙂 As I was once told, the time to fix something is when you see it.

That's why I plan on installing a bigger tank, maybe 60 gallon in truck bed shortly.

Welcome to the Forum! I bet they won't pay for the non-VA Dr's visit either, unless it's an emergency. There's times I'm glad I have Tri-care.

I would measure the bike front tire to back fender/muffler. I would want the size for my bike that would allow me to close the tail-gate. I have a folding ATV ramp I use to load/unload my bike, it has at times scared the crap out of me! << Understatement!! Slip just a little backing down, the bike is going on top of you! I won't use it anymore, if I have to move my bike on/off truck, I find a ramp designed to work with semi-trailers and pay them a couple $$ if they want it. My best ramp recommendation, find a tractor dealer, they have unloading ramps with an incline on the front to the parking lot, very easy on-off. Another recommendation, don't cheap out on the straps, I hate seeing a bike fall over because someone used cheap Harbor Freight straps. Make sure the anchor points in the bed are big/stout enough to handle that weight getting thrown around on rough roads. I strap front and rear, I haul heavy HDs and ATVs.

Sweet! A cap on the truck would give you lots more storage room for many more toys.

Welcome to the forum! 2 different critters. TT is for travel trailer, ie bumper pull. I'm sure you mean what you first said, 5th wheel RV. Those 2 different types of RVs have different hitch weights. I see 2500s pulling 5th wheels, they make some 5th wheel RVs as light enough for a 1500. While you try your best to keep within manufacturer weight recommendations, what plays a big part in what's *legal* and not, is the ratings of the tires themselves without going crazy over the factory recommendations. Yes, you can go way over the stated factory recommendations, your truck will pull it just fine. With RAMs, your 2500 drivetrain is not much different than my 3500. The biggie, is on how well your truck can *stop* all that weight. That's more of a safety item, would not want to go too big and not be able to stop at a red light, not have the weight push you too fast down a steep downgrade, etc. Check the tires on the RV. That's not cheap if you want good tires and most used need them. I needed 4, bought top of the line (IMHO) and spend for tires/mount and balancing, $1,400. Don't cheap out here! China bombs can/do cause lots of damage, again, $$$. IMHO, sell your truck and get a 3500, if possible, a DRW. RVs, to make them lighter, they skip on quality and go with cheaper/lighter building materials both in and out. Cheap RVs tend to need more repairs, more $$ thrown in them in the long run. Did you mention, is this for a weekend warrior, snow-bird or full timer? Again, *IMHO*

Are you a handyman? There is a school bus someone started converting for $3500. Under it is also a van conversion for 14.5k. More on there like that if you look for a bit. I know absolutely nothing about either of these but this is just one route for inexpensive camper options. Probably some close to you if you look. These are on a MN/ND facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MNNDRVCampersForSale/ To answer your question, what is a good book to read/have, etc, can't help you there. We just learn ourselves from 40 years of experience in tents/rented RVs and finally owning our RV, we just do it. Adding we have always been weekend warriors, going snowbird shortly. We learn something every time we go out.

Most camping sites in my area list lengths of each site individually so you can pick the one that fits you. Many also let you pick an unimproved RV site (separate from tent sites) for much less. I've seen some out of our area but I don't know how many states/parks etc. offer this. Most, at-least in my area again, do not let you run gen. sets during a set quiet time. As far as size difference, makes no difference to me. Bigger is not always best, mines only 32ft. To each his own. A place we like to go, most times we end up parked between tenters. Does look a little off being bigger, but we don't care, we do it for our enjoyment not some one else's. We find more often than not, everyone is friendly and will sit and chat regardless of what they/we are in. Just enjoy, if they don't like it, it's their loss.

Darn good point!

That's kinda far from the septic dump if your trying to use the stinky slinky that far. IMHO, I would not want to go more than 20ft with one.

Some campers have hyd leveling, some manual. For manual, u can use blocks of wood under the wheels, hyd I would still put wood blocks under them so they don't sink in the ground over a long period. Leveling them out is fairly easy as long as the slope is not crazy. Gravel also would work, just level the pad well. Question is, do you want the gravel to stay in place after you move the camper? Your call, could be a place to park yearly when your not using it to live in. Again, your call but yes, would work.

Check with a septic tank manufacturer. If they don't make them, maybe the would make you a septic tank lid with an RV hose inlet like the campgrounds use to replace the round concrete (Plug) that goes over the tank. I'm thinking of checking on that myself for my set-up. Electrician can install the power outlet to match the campers requirements once you get your camper (30 or 50 amp). Water, just a good potable water hose. Camper, if not motor-home, what do you have you can move/haul it with? IMHO, if I were going to live in it stationary like you mention for a year or so, I'd look towards a travel trailer. There are some nice ones out there and they have the best interior room, IMHO. I'd definitely look for a good used one, ie not new prices. If you've never camped as you said, you may grow to love it, or hate it. You would have a rough time selling a newer one for much without taking a huge hit. You did not mention where you live. While most states are doable with winter camping, some are not. Take where I am, no way in heck would I attempt it, I live in ND. Winterizing should be done carefully/fully regardless of what the RV is built for, sewer/water lines are still on the outside in the elements. Good luck!

Darn good engine, Ford should have stuck with it! IF you go this route and get a Ford, DO NOT get the one with the 6.0, it can be VERY expensive and a nightmare (my engine did a meltdown at 60k miles and cost $18k for dealer to replace). Otherwise, great choice. (Don't get upset ford fans, I was a diehard ford fan until this engine, it's the reason I now drive a RAM)(yes, they too have their problems)

Welcome to the forum! A not so new pickup truck with shell on back, lots of storage room pulling a not so new 20-30ft travel trailer a possibility? With this set-up, drop camper and have independent transportation. In your price range I think your going to need the ability to turn a wrench on minor repairs. A repair account as mentioned would be needed. Boon-docking is a possibility for you, some or most campgrounds offer basic no frills camping spots. Work-camping would certainly be a very good option (I have no personal experience in this but lots on here do). A light (small) solar setup, or small genset would give you basic but limited power. Big set-ups for lots of power = not cheap. You can get a genset little under/over 1k, or a 200 watt suitcase solar panel ($5-600 or so) and a couple batteries (don't go cheap here) for about the same range total. I'd vote the solar depending on where you want to stay, some campgrounds don't like the noise. But then, if you stay at a campground in a camper you can connect to power/water/sewer but pay for the full hook-ups over bare camping. Just a thought, you can listen or ignore, I could be out in left field as usual... LOL You say you have ~20k to work with. I'd try to spend only $15k and stick the $5k left in the bank as an emergency repair fund, it will happen eventually. That would tend to put you in an older vehicle range, but if the newer one you purchase needs repair, you could be stuck in the middle of ? with no way to repair said vehicle, then what? I see older class-As (lots more internal space) in your price range too but would need lots of .... wrenching ability. It all boils down to, do what makes you happy! IMHO

I use a flexible line on my grease guns, removed the hard line that comes on grease guns. If you can get to the zerk, you can replace it with a 45 or 90 degree zerk to hit it from a different angle. About all hardware/auto parts stores carry them. I have seen extended zerks like you are thinking but I don't recommend them, being under the RV it might be easy to bounce a rock or wood into it bending/breaking it making it a bigger pain to repair/grease. IMHO

Welcome to the forum! Not sure of exactly what you are asking but here are a couple lists that shows what corporations owns/makes what brands. I'm leaning heavily towards the first company as the second I keep hearing a lot of bad stuff such as quality. http://www.forestriverinc.com/rvs/our-brands https://www.thorindustries.com/brands I have personally not seen a site to choose what you want and bring only those up. I have noticed, both companies, the lower end units are, well, low end in quality big time. We narrowed down our search then traveled to a couple stealerships to see them in person and walked away shaking my head. One in particular, on sale for 90k, fully expected good quality, set up just the way we wanted until I started looking at fit/finish. There are a few more which someone else can mention with their personal experiences. Another one I want to look at is Grand Design, they seem to be pretty good so far. My best suggestion, narrow it down to what you want, visit a show or stealership and nit pick! You said ya'll are going to hit the road. Are you talking full-time with no stick n brick, weekend warrior, couple months at a time or just snow-birding like we plan on doing starting this fall. How soon do you plan on hitting the road? Good luck and again, welcome to the forum! edit: When you get close to picking out your RV, go to a forum about that manufacturer and read what others say. There are some eye-opening comments from folks that have used/lived in some RVs and others that has nothing but good comments.

ME TOO! But my wife is still working and she gets very unhappy when I suggest I going camping without her, sooo.. LOL

Feed the troll, here's a bucket for chicken feed for him.

Cool, will do Dave! Maybe I can talk my better half into wearing her Wonder Woman outfit and use her bracelets to deflect the meteor away from the Terra-forma. I'll have our Karate Kid son with us, he can chop away the big ball of rock if we miss it. If ya gotta go, may as well go in style.. LOL

A zipper in the middle, now there's a fix they should have done a long time ago. Ours was very comfortable until each time the Valley of Pain developed. I don't know if it would work for us even with the zipper with the way we sleep. Even with our upcoming 37th anniversary on the 24th, we sleep spooned in the middle and probably caused the valley more than not. Either way, it freaking hurt the backs bad when it developed. For a couple that each claimed a side and stays on their side each night, they may never develop the valley.