RVing And Fifth Wheel Blather
 

my wife and i will both be retired full time a year from now....

we think we want to buy a fifth wheel but my best friend has a diesel pusher motorhome...

so blather is in the title of this thread because we don't know what we want and don't know what we're talking about....


wifey has arthritis big time so air ride seats, air ride cabs, or air ride suspension is a must....

i've got a whole year to study up on all this stuff and maybe learn something. i'll try to keep this thread updated....

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we want our first rig to be as resalable as possible. we don't even know yet if we'll like RVing or if we can stand being together all the time...

we are interested in adding a $2000 air ride suspension to our existing 04 2500, but almost all the RV's we want will be too big for our truck.
the hauler industry is huge. there are too many different vehicles to choose from but i'm just learning. everybodys got a RV hauler, freightliner, peterbuilt, chebby/GMC, ford, and maybe dodge.


the pics below show that i'm still thinking about a diesel motor home.
it hasn't been ruled out...i'll cover my opinions on motorhome versus fifth wheel later... it's complicated and there's no perfect answer. both require some compromise...

If ya got the money get a big ol pusher and a lil pickup to pull behind it.................if not there are some real good truck/trailer combos out there

In about 10 years we wanna get a big ol Cummins pusher too

I know little about the motor homes like you showed in that piucture but you mentioned a diesel pusher which is a commercial bus converted to an RV and you mentioned a 5th wheel. I'll comment on these.
As I'm sure you already know there is a huge difference in RVing when your comparing a diesel pusher to a 5th wheel. A 5th wheel will never hold its value like a diesel pusher. You will spend alot more on a diesel pusher but you will have 10 times the ride, comfort and resale value of a truck trailer combo. 5th wheels are nice but put on a pair of work boots and gloves and you can walk right through the walls of one, not the case with a converted bus RV. Don't get me wrong, i just bought a medium line 5th wheel for my family but i can't afford a diesel pusher and I already had the rig to pull it but it is flimsy and I am seeing that more and more. It will last us for several family vacations i hope and when i am done with it, it won' be worth hauling off so its finacially not a good purchase but thats the price of having fun.
If you can afford it i would definately look into the Bus, they are designed to go a million miles without issues...be sure you get the 3rd "helper" axel thought.

to both chenry and whitmore,

we can afford a diesel pusher but we don't know if we'll like RVing or if her athritis will allow her to travel 3 to 500 miles per day....

this info is a very small part of what i've already learned....
but you can buy the best fifth wheel (Teton) used for about 40 to 70K.
i've already turned down 2 Tetons on e-bay both were 42 to 45K...(new value on the Tetons about 150K)
Or you can buy a cheap new pusher for 95K. (sportcoach-cross-country)

http://www.mhsrv.com/sportcoach-cross-country.htm


thanks for both of your comments clearly i need to spent more time studing about diesel pushers..

once we find out how much my wife can travel and if she likes it, our decision will become easier....

buy a real nice pusher and run it for 10 years then sell it to me.all will be cool :up:

With the 5th wheel your wife will be confined to the cab of the truck, in a diesel pusher she will be able to move around, get up and walk around, lay on the bed, sit on the couch, etc. Seems like that would be a better fit for the situation if she has arthritis.
In some states it s legal to ride in a 5th wheel camper while goin down the road but trust me when i say, she won't want to do that. Its very rough back there.

thanks again guys!

Economizing can be "penny-wise but pound foolish".

forgetting about this, could have been a huge mistake.
my first priority is to try to keep the wifey happy and traveling with me....

fifth wheel rvs with a hauler might be cheaper and offer better mpgs but i don't think she could or would stand for long trips with out being able to stand up and move around...

now that i've ruled out 5th wheelers,
my search will be for a motor home between 95K and a million.
i can rule out the 999K motor homes because i can't afford those....

they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks but i've learned something here.....a good motorhome really could last 10 years and throughout that period it would have a greater resale value as well...

first pic shows a 999k home
third pic shows the same brand in a 94 model for 150K.
second pic shows a medium priced home @245K http://motorhomespecialist.rvusa.com....asp?id=358687

i'm not interest in the rv below but just wanted to show the pic
http://imgplace.com/directory/dir432...12087_4407.gif

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whitmore,
wifey wants to go to the northwest first.

and since wyoming is somewhere between the NW and okie land,
we'll be coming to visit you and gf in a year or 18 months....

150k will buy you a VERY nice rig...theres lots on Ebay usually.