RV Recommendations for Newcomer

Kirk W · February 24, 2016

No safety issue, but any truck that is not loaded will ride more stiffly and so not be very comfortable. If you think of it, the majority of pickup trucks sold actually spend most of their road time running empty or nearly so. Even a truck used primarily for towing an RV for a fulltimer is probably towing the RV less than 1/2 of the road miles since you park the RV and you go shopping, visit tourist sites, and all of the daily things we do. When we were fulltimers we drove a motorhome and towed a CR-V so it was very easy to compare the miles with the RV to those without. We put roughly 70K on out motorhome in the same period we put more than 250K on our towed vehicles. While we didn't travel as constantly as some, I'm sure that everyone puts far fewer miles on the RV than on the daily driver.

jacks · February 24, 2016

Hi,

I may be taking the plunge into full-time soon as I am just putting my home on the market.

I like the coachmen Prism, but I don't think they were designed to be lived in full time. Not sure though. I don't want an RV over 27 feet, I will be in the city and like the manuverabilty of the shorter RVs in exchange for interior, I think?

I have a 2013 5.3 GMC 4-wheel drive 1/2 ton but I really like the idea and lifestyle of a motorized RV.

I'm single 61 and out of work. I've only rented an RV once for a week, loved the freedom. All I do now is watch TV, play tennis and eat basically, not many friends. Its either move into a small condo and get a truck camper to use sometimes and have a partime job. I may not have to work again if I live full time in the RV. I think I would like that:) A big leap.

Kirk W · February 25, 2016

Welcome to the Escapee forums! Glad you have chosen to join us.

I may be taking the plunge into full-time soon as I am just putting my home on the market.

I like the coachmen Prism, but I don't think they were designed to be lived in full time.

I'm not familiar enough with the Prism to evaluate it but I'd suspect that it is to the low side of the quality scale, particularly for living in for a long term. If you get one on the Freightliner/Mercedes chassis/engine combination you will likely have one to last a lot time and lots of miles. In class C models the top ones are Lazy Dazes and Born Free, but they also cost considerably more.

jacks · March 1, 2016

Thanks Kirk. I enjoy your posts. Yes the prism is on a a freight liner/Mercedes chassis/diesel , can't afford a new one:) hard to tell if I would get cluster phobia in a class c or not, only one way to find out. I think a high degree of mobility is important to me so the class A might not be a good choice, but the short class A's do look good as well. I guess it's a bit like jumping off a cliff making the decision to liquidate everything and go full timer. Thanks again!!

Laara · March 11, 2016

I did not see that anybody mentioning tanks' capacities. We found out that 35g fresh water tank, 22g black and 25g grey (we carried canister with extra 14g of fresh water), are way too small for boondocking. The maximum we could do is 5-6 days and it was with no 1 or 2 navy showers. I think you need also to take it into consideration.