Crawgator Posted September 20, 2017 Report Share Posted September 20, 2017 Howdy folks! Wife and I are in the process of researching what is needed to full time in an RV. We have been researching off an on for the last 2 years. We have it narrowed down to a Wanderlodge (or similar older bus) pulling and enclosed trailer or a truck and 5th wheel toy hauler. Really leaning toward the 5th wheel route now. We would like to use the HDT as a daily driver. Lots of good info and I have been reading the guide, FAQ and all I can find. I just made hotel reservations for wife and I for the HDT rally in Kansas. I need to sign up for the rally as well. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ms60ocb Posted September 20, 2017 Report Share Posted September 20, 2017 Welcome to the Escapee's I have a 40 foot Fifth Wheel and tow with MDT. Personally I think it is a good choice and can't imagine all the difficulties of parking a Bus towing a trailer if a pull through spot was not available for short term. For long term FW 's provide more space in the kitchen then a Class A. My wife says she couldn't cook in a Class A as she wouldn't have the pan she needed as so much of the storage is in the basement. Happy TRAVELS Clay DRV MS 38PS3, FF M2 106 Sports Chassis Clay & Marcie Too old to play in the snow Diesel pusher and previously 2 FW and small Class C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ms60ocb Posted September 20, 2017 Report Share Posted September 20, 2017 Welcome to the Escapee's I have a 40 foot Fifth Wheel and tow with MDT. Personally I think it is a good choice and can't imagine all the difficulties of parking a Bus towing a trailer if a pull through spot was not available for short term. For long term FW 's provide more space in the kitchen then a Class A. My wife says she couldn't cook in a Class A as she wouldn't have the pan she needed as so much of the storage is in the basement. Happy TRAVELS Clay DRV MS 38PS3, FF M2 106 Sports Chassis Clay & Marcie Too old to play in the snow Diesel pusher and previously 2 FW and small Class C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Mayer Posted September 20, 2017 Report Share Posted September 20, 2017 You might find the information on my website helpful to get you started. jackdanmayer.com There will be lots of info at the HDT Rally, and I'll look forward to meeting you there. If you want to talk further about daily driver trucks that is one of my personal interests. The truck we used as a daily driver is below....and our current truck, that carries a smart, is at the bottom. There is a significant size difference. Jack & Danielle Mayer #60376 Lifetime Member Living on the road since 2000PLEASE no PM's. Email me. jackdanmayer AT gmail 2016 DRV Houston 44' 5er (we still have it) 2022 New Horizons 43' 5er 2016 Itasca 27N 28' motorhome 2019 Volvo 860, D13 455/1850, 236" wb, I-Shift, battery-based APU No truck at the moment - we use one of our demo units 2016 smart Passion, piggyback on the truck -------------------------------------------------------------------------See our website for info on New Horizons 5th wheels, HDTs as tow vehicles, communications on the road, and use of solar powerwww.jackdanmayer.com Principal in RVH Lifestyles. RVH-Lifestyles.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crawgator Posted September 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2017 2 hours ago, ms60ocb said: Welcome to the Escapee's I have a 40 foot Fifth Wheel and tow with MDT. Personally I think it is a good choice and can't imagine all the difficulties of parking a Bus towing a trailer if a pull through spot was not available for short term. For long term FW 's provide more space in the kitchen then a Class A. My wife says she couldn't cook in a Class A as she wouldn't have the pan she needed as so much of the storage is in the basement. Happy TRAVELS Clay DRV MS 38PS3, FF M2 106 Sports Chassis Thanks for th info! The biggest issue for us is we will be traveling with 5 animals. One 48lb lab mix, 3 cats and one bird. That is the only reason the class A was appealing. I am still leaning toward the 5th route provided I can have space to carry our critters and 2 humans. The HDT was appealing in that it has bunks above I could make a contained space for our cats while traveling and our dog Bella can rest/ride on the floor. Sparky the bird can chill in his cage somewhere in the cab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crawgator Posted September 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2017 1 hour ago, Jack Mayer said: You might find the information on my website helpful to get you started. jackdanmayer.com There will be lots of info at the HDT Rally, and I'll look forward to meeting you there. If you want to talk further about daily driver trucks that is one of my personal interests. The truck we used as a daily driver is below....and our current truck, that carries a smart, is at the bottom. There is a significant size difference. Jack, I've read your webiste top to bottom several times. You are on my list of interogees I'd like to talk with at the rally to talk about your 610. One issue I need to address is I want to have some type of storage enclosure on the back big enough for a few recumbent trike's and a 2 wheel bent as well. Plan is to visit the rails to trails and ride as much as we can. I need the capacity to carry our bikes on the truck so we can stage at a campground and use the truck to go to the areas we want to ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Mayer Posted September 21, 2017 Report Share Posted September 21, 2017 It won't be any issue to build a drom for carrying Bikes. If you are not carrying a car on deck you will have lots and lots of room for that. Jack & Danielle Mayer #60376 Lifetime Member Living on the road since 2000PLEASE no PM's. Email me. jackdanmayer AT gmail 2016 DRV Houston 44' 5er (we still have it) 2022 New Horizons 43' 5er 2016 Itasca 27N 28' motorhome 2019 Volvo 860, D13 455/1850, 236" wb, I-Shift, battery-based APU No truck at the moment - we use one of our demo units 2016 smart Passion, piggyback on the truck -------------------------------------------------------------------------See our website for info on New Horizons 5th wheels, HDTs as tow vehicles, communications on the road, and use of solar powerwww.jackdanmayer.com Principal in RVH Lifestyles. RVH-Lifestyles.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crawgator Posted September 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2017 33 minutes ago, Jack Mayer said: It won't be any issue to build a drom for carrying Bikes. If you are not carrying a car on deck you will have lots and lots of room for that. I'm thinking at this point no car on the back but room in the dorm for bikes and maybe a scooter. Like a Burgman 400 or 650. Initial thoughts are we get the HDT now and use it as a camper and bike hauler for a bit. We continue to research best full time 5th wheel toyhauler for us. I guess it would be like a small class c. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Mayer Posted September 21, 2017 Report Share Posted September 21, 2017 1 minute ago, Crawgator said: I'm thinking at this point no car on the back but room in the dorm for bikes and maybe a scooter. Like a Burgman 400 or 650. Initial thoughts are we get the HDT now and use it as a camper and bike hauler for a bit. We continue to research best full time 5th wheel toyhauler for us. I guess it would be like a small class c. You could do a large drom that would hold the scoot, and the bikes, or a smaller drom that held the bikes and have the scoot on a loader that stayed outside. Or, the scoot could be on a loader that went inside. Lots of choices. Jack & Danielle Mayer #60376 Lifetime Member Living on the road since 2000PLEASE no PM's. Email me. jackdanmayer AT gmail 2016 DRV Houston 44' 5er (we still have it) 2022 New Horizons 43' 5er 2016 Itasca 27N 28' motorhome 2019 Volvo 860, D13 455/1850, 236" wb, I-Shift, battery-based APU No truck at the moment - we use one of our demo units 2016 smart Passion, piggyback on the truck -------------------------------------------------------------------------See our website for info on New Horizons 5th wheels, HDTs as tow vehicles, communications on the road, and use of solar powerwww.jackdanmayer.com Principal in RVH Lifestyles. RVH-Lifestyles.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueLghtning Posted September 21, 2017 Report Share Posted September 21, 2017 My wife and I left full time back in August. We have a Volvo 610, with a 5th wheel toy hauler and 4 motorcycles we are carrying with us right now. We keep 3 in the toy hauler (along with 2 bicycles) and one of the smaller dual sports on the back of the 610. We don't have a car with us. The majority of the time we take the bikes, but it's really no issue to go in the truck either. The bikes are nice if we are headed to town and parking is tight as they can fit anywhere, but we'll jump in the Volvo and head to dinner or the laundry mat, etc. I think the only thing I kind of wish is that we had more room on the truck with a drom box to store maybe the smaller dual sports on there in an enclosed space. We have a large garage on the 5th wheel(14ft), but it's also my office, so I have to unload at least 1 or 2 bikes to make use of it comfortably. At least the bikes store nicely under the 5th wheel part as long as we aren't too far nose down. We do plan on being at the rally and finally make it to see all the truck setups. Dan (Class of 2017) - 2012 Ram 3500 & 2005 Alpenlite Valhalla 29RK Contact me at rvsolarconsulting.com or Two Wheel Ramblin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJohns Posted September 21, 2017 Report Share Posted September 21, 2017 Don't forget to look at truck conversions. Many have small garages for dogs etc. They are like class A DP but are way more easy to service and are suited better to pull large trailers. I sometimes wish I had gone this route but oh well. You can find many for sale on the racin junk web site. 2002 Beaver Marquis Emerald C-12 Cat 505 HP 2014 Volvo 630 D-13 I Shift SOLD 2017 New Horizons SOLD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crawgator Posted September 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2017 20 hours ago, BlueLghtning said: My wife and I left full time back in August. We have a Volvo 610, with a 5th wheel toy hauler and 4 motorcycles we are carrying with us right now. We keep 3 in the toy hauler (along with 2 bicycles) and one of the smaller dual sports on the back of the 610. We don't have a car with us. The majority of the time we take the bikes, but it's really no issue to go in the truck either. The bikes are nice if we are headed to town and parking is tight as they can fit anywhere, but we'll jump in the Volvo and head to dinner or the laundry mat, etc. I think the only thing I kind of wish is that we had more room on the truck with a drom box to store maybe the smaller dual sports on there in an enclosed space. We have a large garage on the 5th wheel(14ft), but it's also my office, so I have to unload at least 1 or 2 bikes to make use of it comfortably. At least the bikes store nicely under the 5th wheel part as long as we aren't too far nose down. We do plan on being at the rally and finally make it to see all the truck setups. Nice rig! What access or travel restrictions have you run into driving your rig with no trailer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crawgator Posted September 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2017 11 hours ago, Dan Johnson said: Don't forget to look at truck conversions. Many have small garages for dogs etc. They are like class A DP but are way more easy to service and are suited better to pull large trailers. I sometimes wish I had gone this route but oh well. You can find many for sale on the racin junk web site. Thanks Dan! I have looked at those. Nice rigs but holy moly at the $$$$$$!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueLghtning Posted September 22, 2017 Report Share Posted September 22, 2017 On 9/21/2017 at 6:48 PM, Crawgator said: Nice rig! What access or travel restrictions have you run into driving your rig with no trailer? None really. I mean I pay attention to heights, but it's a mid rise sleeper, so not nearly as tall as the condo height ones at 13'6" and it really is very manuverable. I'm still surprised at how well this thing drives. I bought my rig in April in CA and drove it 2k miles home. On the way home, we parked in an Applebee's parking lot for dinner one night. In the months getting ready to leave, I drove it quite a bit around home before we left just to get familiar with it, plus it's a manual so I was praticing that too. Since the rig is singled short and with Volvo's 50" wheel cut, it actually turns way better than most 2500/3500 trucks. I can easily make a u-turn on a 4 lane divided highway from the turn lane without getting anywhere near the curb in the 2nd lane. Most 3/4+ trucks you'd be up over the curb if you even attempted it. I'm not hesitant at all to take it into most parking lots or drive down smaller roads with it. Dan (Class of 2017) - 2012 Ram 3500 & 2005 Alpenlite Valhalla 29RK Contact me at rvsolarconsulting.com or Two Wheel Ramblin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad & Jacolyn Posted September 23, 2017 Report Share Posted September 23, 2017 Welcome. I agree that you need to come to a rally even if only for a day or 2. Lots of info to be learned just by walking around and talking too people. Brad Brad and Jacolyn Tucker the Wonder dog and Brynn the Norfolk Terrier 2009 Smart "Joy" 2004 VNL630 "Vonda the Volvo" 2008 Hitch Hiker 35 CK Champagne Edition VED12 465 HP, Freedomline, 3.73 ratio, WB 218" Fulltiming and loving it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crawgator Posted October 4, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2017 Hotel booked and we signed up for the rally today. 13 hour drive so splitting it up into 2 days. We will be there mid afternoon on Sunday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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