Kirk W

Just an observation: Whilst it's early days, it's interesting to see that half of those responding thus far, fall in that $30K to $50K range, which more or less brings it on average target for the suggested $41K, which within plus or minus 10% we've found from tons of our research the majority have fallen into we've spoken with.

Without a doubt, the very best writing on the subject of fulltime budgets that I have ever read was a column that I read in Motorhome Magazine way back in 2001, titled How Much Does It Cost and written by the late Gaylord Maxwell. It applies just as much today as it did at the time of publishing. I really think that it is worth reading for anyone who has not yet done so.

Although this survey would give a 'general' idea it would really be beneficial to see a questionnaire where one had to actually fill in numbers and answer questions such as what kind of RV, towing a vehicle, etc. as this makes a difference in fuel costs, etc. so that everyone submits the same itemizing and also some extra questions as to how much you stay in a place before moving on and what type of RVing you do - private parks only, public parks only, boondocking only or a mix of the three. With that additional information a newbie could then zero in on the kind of RVers they are and get a little more realistic idea of cost.

While I do agree with you, I really don't know how that could be done via the forums. If there were a way, I'd sure give it a shot. It might be possible to publish a list of questions about such things here and ask others to respond to those items if they have such data available. Otherwise it mean a series of polls with one question each.

 

Just to clarify... you're asking for "nut" budget figures, right? Just what's necessary for day to day travel/life, lodging, maintenance, etc. Minus any 'optionals' like entertainment, donations, upgrades, etc. Ie., include things like internet, cellular, satellite, clothing budget, eating out, etc., but exclude entertainment/sightseeing, donations, one time costs.. like a roof replacement, etc? Just so everyone is on the same page.

Good question. I read it to mean everything except indebtedness.

I included everything that we have spent living on the road. Averaged over the 3 years we have been doing so.

That is what I had in mind. Whatever you spend, excepting payments on an RV or vehicle, since that is one of those things which many choose not do have at all. The idea is that if we narrow things too much it becomes a very personal lifestyle thing. We all spend something on entertainment, hobbies, and a lot of other things. My thought process was that by lumping everything into a single category, we can remove some of the differences from personal choices and preferences. Most of us adjust our optional spending downward when repairs or such are needed but then spend more on entertainment and such when we have a budget excess. It is an attempt to arrive at some very loose ideas on what people spend on the road to live reasonably well and enjoy our travels.

Why the big range from 50-75K? All of the others were 10K range, that one is 25K.

My thinking is that it was enough once we reached an annual figure of $50K, and first had that as my upper number as $50k and up. So I did go back and edit the responses to $60, $70, and $80 and up. If you were in the $60K group you may want to edit your response. One has to stop somewhere.

It has been a long time since we had done this sort of general poll but the cost of living on the road is always one of the concerns that those who contemplate taking up the life must consider. While it is a very individual thing and is influenced by lifestyle, domicile, and a host of other things, I still believe that there is value to the researcher in knowing a range of what most other people find to be sufficient. Before we returned to part-time we posted our annual budget and while it is still available, it is also becoming outdated. How about folks here anonymously sharing the total amount they spend in a typical year of travels on the road?

I ask that you simply lump in everything you spend with exception of any RV or vehicle payments, savings plans/investments, or other optional expenditures. If you have some expense that is likely unique to your situation, please also leave that out. Since this should be a general figure it isn't critical that each of us combine the exact same things into the numbers or that they be totally accurate. Lets just do our best to give those who are new to the road some idea of the range in actual expenses incurred in a year of travels.

If you wish to post some general information about your response or more specifics to your budget, that too might be helpful but nothing is expected or required. Because we have now been part time for nearly 5 years, I am not contributing to the poll as I hope to keep the information current.

Thank you in advance for your assistance in helping others to life on the road!

I am starting on it again tomorrow, so I will post pics of the (Disgusting!) interior the

Before you go too far, examine all of the walls, ceilings, and floor for any signs of rotted wood as that RV most likely has wood wall construction. You want all traces of dry-rot removed before you start to reassemble things. That could be your biggest challenge. You want to be certain that the structural parts are solid and in good condition.

You will be working with the RV inside, I presume?

Somehow, the stock market seems like it is suffering from inflation.

Can it be that too much money was pumped into the economy and it fled to the stock market?

Answer that one and you can become very rich and famous!

When I first saw this post I thought that it was a joke..... It seems that Amazon has a bunch of them so this must be real.

It seems like it may be an expensive problem ....

It very likely will be and you should be very careful about what RV shop you take it do as many RV techs are weak on refrigeration and air conditioning. You will probably need a new cooling unit and if the refrigerator is 10 or so years old it may make better sense to replace it.

 

It did not work on propane that i know of ..

Do you keep propane available to the refrigerator, as in the valve open, tank full, and the refrigerator controls set to auto? If not you should try supplying it with propane first to see if it will work. You will need to try at least a half dozen times to make sure that any air has vented from the lines. This is an important test as it will go a long way to narrow the possible causes If you know that it has propane available and then observe to see if there is a spark that attempts to light that propane, it helps as the two heat sources use the very same control systems.

 

If the fuses are good could it be a bad circuit board?

Yes, that is possible but it is only one of a lot of different things that it could be. Circuit boards are not inexpensive and if you buy one and install it you will not be allowed to return it for a refund. I know of no company that will accept a circuit board for return if the package has been opened. The reason is that they have no way to know that the circuit board was not subjected to something that will cause it harm. If you look at the service manual in the most common problems section, for your symptoms they list 6 possible problems. You should do some trouble shooting to narrow things down.

If you have no panel lights, then they suggest it could be either of two circuit boards. If you can get it to operate on propane the possibilities change markedly. If you don't have propane available, the 120V heating element should be checked as it can cause it not to cool, with power available and the fuse good. The element in yours should read 44 ohms through it with power removed. Low DC voltage can also cause the unit to fail to cool. The voltage to the circuit board should be between 10V & 14V, even though the panel lights will continue to light up until the DC voltage falls to about 4V. For either circuit board, most RV repair facilities will test them for you as it is very difficult to do with an ordinary meter. There mat be a small charge for testing. If not the manual does have a procedure for testing with an ordinary volt/ohm meter.

You can get the service manual in .pdf format from Bryant RV, service documents website.

The 3a fuse for the 12V side would prevent any operation, but the 5A, 120V fuse would prevent it cooling on electricity but not prevent propane.

I now have the same issue with my fridge. We had a bad storm and it was plugged in 120v and had a few power surges. Power finnaly went out and stayed out for 3 days. Now the fridge does not work at all on AC or LP ... The heating element seems to get hot on the back of the fridge .... but will not cool at all.

First of all, welcome to the Escapees forums. We will do our best to help you here. If you do not get many replies, you may want to post this again as a new topic, since this thread is now 10+ months old and so it may not draw much interest.

While the power problems might be the issue, with refrigerators there are other possible problems. When you were without shore power for three days, did the refrigerator continue to cool using propane for power? And have you tried shifting to propane to see if it will cool then? The control circuitry of an RV refrigerator is powered by 12V-dc from the battery & converter system but the heat must be supplied either propane or 120V shore power. Since you indicate that the heater area is getting hot, that would seem to indicate that the 120V fuse on the main circuit board is not open(blown) but if I were you I would use a meter to verify that the heater is receiving 120V, and if you don't have a meter, just for fun look at the main circuit board and check the two fuses located there. In most cases there will be a 3a fuse for the 12V-dc and a 5a fuse for the 120V-ac to the heater. I would remove both 120V and 12V power before fooling with those fuses and they may be open even if they look to be good. An ohm meter is the only certain way to determine if they are good or bad. If there are any indications on the refrigerator's control panel, that would show that there is 12V available and that the fuse for 12V is good. There is no easy way to be sure of the 120V (5a) fuse.

Let us know a bit more about this and we may be able to help you. If you also share the make and model of the refrigerator, there are service manuals available for most of them via the internet.

Is this market timing? Or is it risk adjustment? Or is it foolishness? Who knows?

I don't think that I'd base my investment choices on forum discussions. Many posts on a subject doesn't make me an expert. Do your research looking at the professional opinions and choose.carefully. Remember that on the forums we are all able to claim to be anything we wish to with no documentation or proof.

Thanks again everyone for all the good things to know about large breeds and restrictive breeds. Also, your pet peeves and knowledge that we will be taking LOTS of walks.

We have always had smaller sized dogs since moving to the city and then into an RV, but one of our most loved dogs was the malamute that we had when living on an acreage in WY. I guess we just love dogs in general.

The main issue as long as you are a responsible owner who controls and picks up after his pet is that many commercial RV parks do have restrictions on some breeds that at times might include yours and the more common issue is the size restriction. It isn't all parks so it can be done but you may want to make the park aware of your pet just to be sure that they do not object.

Most RV parks do welcome pets that are leashed, quiet, and that have good behavior. We were fulltime with first a mini schnauzer and then with a 40# corgi mix. It has never been a serious problem and we have experienced very few issues with pets of other RV folks. Our pet peeve is the owners who do not pick up after their pets.

Why when I go to the job board to find out what work there is for me, it says I"m not authorize to view this report. I AM a member.

Are you a member of Escapees or just of the forums? If a member of Escapees, have you registered on the site?

Those of us who participate in any of the forms of work-camping can do a lot to make this new service get more useful quickly by sharing this information with the agencies which we have worked for/with. Many potential employers or volunteer coordinators are looking for better ways to recruit good help and free services which reach good people are not all that available. Lets all help to promote this by sending a link to it to those we believe to be good places to work-camp!

So I gather that no resolution is yet available?

Are you sure that your problem is that valve? In most RVs the fresh water pump also acts as a check valve to prevent the city water from back-flowing through it to the tank. If the pump needs rebuilt it can cause the same problem. A quick way to test that is to turn on the pump with water in the tank and city water off or disconnected. If the pump then runs every few minutes or more it means that pressure/water is leaking back through the pump & into the tank.

Is this what you have?

 

Four Positions, Four Functions

1. City – Pressure feed fixtures from 3/4" hose connection on backflow preventer.
2. Normal – Pump from the on-board tank to the fixtures using on-board pump.
3. Tank – Pressure fill the tank from 3/4" hose connection at backflow preventer. 100 gallons
   in 7 minutes.
4. Sanitize/Winterize – Draw in sanitizers and winterizing fluids from a bucket utilizing the
   on-board pump.

I highly recommend a transmission cooler too, for anyone towing with an automatic.

Assuming that the vehicle's tow package didn't include a transmission cooler, as some do.

I hope you are keeping your eye on your transmission fluid. This is the weakest area for failure after a long haul. Personally, I think that your choice of vehicles is questionable and I would strongly suggest that you entertain the idea of a pick-up truck.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion. I learned many years ago to monitor all fluids in vehicles on a frequent basis and so continue to do this. I have also used an oil analysis service for both engine and transmission for most of my RVing experience. If it will make you feel better, the transmission was just serviced 3 days ago & early by service mileage charts, as a prep to our coming month of travel. Fluid was at normal level and only slightly discolored, as reported by the servicing dealer and Blackstone Labs just give the sample a positive analysis report.

Edit: I should have mentioned that the manual calls for transmission service every 36,000 miles. It has been serviced at 30K since I purchased it.

Is that typical for you, Kirk? Or is it atypical for your rig that you ascribe to an unusual situation, ie. did you fight a strong headwind, tow at high speed, etc.? Could it be that your V-6 SUV is underpowered for your trailer's frontal area? My low profile Aliner doesn't hardly affect my 6.4l diesel's

As stated, that was for the total trip from Texas to Goshen, IN and then to Hot Springs, SD then to Cheyenne, WY and then back to Texas by way of Kansas, from April 29 through September 28, 2014. There was wind on occasion but nothing notable and clearly not for the entire summer. We did drive up some hills but we also came back down and we were never towing in major mountains. I tow at speeds of 55 to 65 mph depending upon conditions, probably averaging 60 mph over all when out on the highways.

There is a huge difference in towing a popup with very little frontal area and most of that below the tow vehicle's roof line and towing a travel trailer of full size, even if there is no difference in weight. We have some friends who tow a travel trailer that weighs about 1400# more than ours with the same vehicle except that theirs has a V-8 and they actually get about 4 mpg less than we do when not towing and they get about 2 mpg more than we do when towing. A larger engine is less effected by the added weight & wind drag than a smaller one, but you must buy the fuel to feed it even when you don't need the extra power.

Our tow vehicle is rated to tow up to 5000# and our trailer has a GVWR of 3600#. I have considered trading for a stronger tow vehicle and at some point we likely will do so, but you must remember that most tow vehicles spend no more then 20% of their time actually towing something and many are far less than that. Last year we drove our tow vehicle a total of 18,000 miles and of that somewhat less than 4000 miles was towing. It might be a good decision to get a stouter tow vehicle if it was used only to tow, but since we own only one vehicle it must be balanced between performance when towing and performance when not. I find our current tow vehicle to be a pretty reasonable choice for our use.

Last summer we towed our 20' travel trailer, weighing only 3600# for more than 6K miles with our V-6 SUV and we got an over all average of 11.8 mpg. Most of that was in fairly level country.

 

How do I switch my domicile for this purpose only?

 

I have a concern with what you seem to be saying here........ You can't change your domicile for education without changing it for everything. As several of those articles point out, you may only have one legal domicile for any/all purposes. If you want to educate your family under Texas laws, you need to move your domicile here with is what the booklet How to Become a Real Texan explains. But you must move all of your domicile and legal address to Texas in order to do this.

On the education side of things, I suggest that you drop a private message to Kinsa and discuss the TX education issue with here and home schooling here as she does it and also spent a year on the road doing so. Better to get advice about Texas from Texans who have done what you are looking into.