SunflyerHigher
USA-ks
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Joined: 10/04/2006
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About living in the back acre's...my waterhose from the tap to the RV will probably freeze no matter what l do. I'm working at chiseling through dry ground to get it buried. (anybody own a jack-hammer?)I'm running it through a plastic pipe, wrapping it with heat tape, and then burying the hole thing. I'll let you know how long it takes to freeze them!
I found a handy little thing thats suppose to help keep the holding tanks from freezing. Don't know if it will work but am willing to try! It's about $100. It has to be mounted under the basement carriage and plugs into electricity. It's supposed to be thermostatically regulated; comes on at 44 degreess and off at 5o degrees. This is supposed to keep my holding tanks from freezing. I'll let you know how that works out. I'd like to hear from some of you about that. Also, you asked about dumping. Well....another handy gadget comes up...another expensive little toy, but maybe it will help. I'll have to drive up closer to the house and then dump right into their sewer line. If it dowsn't work, I'm stuck with the road trip to dump. I haven't bought it yet so can't remember all the spef's...will keep you posted. Any suggestions or comments are really, really appreciated. I'm having fun learning-when I'm not too busy worrying- I really appreciate all of you here. It has eased my mind considerably knoing that even out here I'm not really 'all alone' ! Thanks again! Ellen
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gchazel
Bethel Park, Pa.
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Joined: 08/10/2006
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which is better the ford engine or the chev ?
In a class a motor home
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French Cookie
St-Jean sur Richelieu, Québec
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Joined: 10/18/2006
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Awesome! This post is just great and what I have been looking for on the web. We are first time buyer of a motor home as I ill be retiring Aug 07, we will be selling our home and travelling and living in a Class A Motor home for 3 to 5 years and intend to visit all of north America.. We have looked at many motor homes over the past year and will be really doing it seriously starting march 07. I found your article most enlightening and numerous items you mention will be added in the list we will used in selecting a motor home.
Merci beaucoup ![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/tongue.gif "tongue")
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1oseph
albuquerque New mexico
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Joined: 08/31/2006
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Thank you for your input on this subject .
I am looking into a Fleet Wood Discovery , 2000 type today and I am taking your list for things to look for on this used coach .I have owned a 5er forever
and now it seems is the time to go for the coach as I do a lot of traveling ,
I hope this will be the one for me . Been looking for over a year for the perfect one . This is really going to help !!!
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vettepilot
Enterprise, Alabama
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Joined: 11/13/2006
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Wow, nice write-up.
As you can see I am new to this forum, in fact we haven't even taken delivery of our motorhome yet. Hopefully this Thursday or Friday. I know, I saw the part about avoiding Friday delivery, but we are buying from a private party, and have already spent two days with them going over the entire coach and walked through the procedures for getting up, going, parking, leveling, fresh water fills, black and grey water dumping practical exercise etc. electrical hookup, generator operations, tire maintenance, other systems maintenanance and operations. Our sellers are very helpful, even going so far as to give us tips on where to refuel, dumping etc. water conservation and holding take conservation based on their experiences. We are getting a 2005 Expedition 34H DP.
DP how about that, don't even own it yet and I already know one abreviation.
A little about myself, I retired from the Military in July 2000 having been an Army Aviator for just over 30 years, and because of strict saving and investing we are able to live comfortably, own a nice home in Enterprise, Al, a rental in Clarksville, TN and in just two days now a motorhome. I was 49 when I retired, and I mean RETIRED. No second career for me.
The real saving came when both our sons joined the Military, so the college investments were suddenly all ours now, they will have most of their higher education covered by the GI BIll. The eldest has been in the Air Force 10 years and hopes to go to 20. The youngest did 4 years in the Army, he turned 21 in Iraq in 2003, but made it out in one piece. He got out in August this year, has now completed his Para-Medic licensing, and will continue school to eventually become a Physicians Assistant.
We have been traveling around the country for several years starting with a 2001 Chrysler T&C then got a 2005 T&C because we put so many miles on the 2001. We put 35,000 miles on the 2005 van the first year of ownership. The only States we haven't driven to since retirement are Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, North Dakota, and I think we somehow missed Iowa.
Our excuse for traveling is that we are looking for our ultimate retirement home. Come to think of it, I think we are about to take possession of it. It was just a fluke that this opportunity to purchase this particular motorhome came about. The price was right, the sellers purchased it new in May of this year, and only put 6000 miles on it. They needed to sell due to unfortunate circumstances that caused their construction business to partially fail. They needed to reduce their outflow of cash, and we were able to get a good deal on an almost new motorcoach.
So here we are, about ready to enter the world of RV traveling. I am all ears, so from time to time I may ask some questions on how to avoid trouble and hope that maybe somebody out there has some words of wisdom for a newbie.
If we have the title, registration, and insurance completed by Friday of this week, we plan on traveling to RI to visit my wife's family for Thanksgiving. We are planning on using Wal-Mart, Crackerbarrel, truck stops and other such places for free overnight parking, (we are figuring 3 1/2 days to do the 1250 mile trip) and restroom facilties to conserve fresh water and holding tank capacities. I'm figuring,(hoping), to get about 7 MPG,(CAT C7 300 HP engine) so about 180-190 gallons of diesel at an average price of 2.55/gal should cost us about $459 - $500 for fuel costs one way. We normally budget $1000.00 per week for lodging, food, and fuel when traveling in the mini-van. So we are thinking we are going to spend about the same amount for diesel fuel and the few meals we will eat when we get tired of fixing our own in the galley during this first trip.
Barring any unscheduled maintenance, does this cost sound about right for this trip mileage? Am I just being hopeful on the 7 MPG from the C7 engine?
One last question, any other Corvette people out there, do you tow your Vette?
What is a good tow method for a vehicle such as the T&C mini van, dolly or trailer?
Thanks in advance!
Stan and Karen Kennedy
2005 34h Expedition DP
2005 Chrysler T&C
2002 Corvette Z06
2000 Chevy S-10
* This post was
edited 11/14/06 10:30am by vettepilot *
2005 Fleetwood Expedition
34h floorplan, C7 300 HP DP
2007 Saturn Vue Hybrid
2002 Corvette Z06
2000 Chevy S-10
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Gaylene & Rick
Central Tennessee
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Joined: 01/30/2006
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I have a classic cream puff restored 641/2 mustang convertable. If I towed it I'd use a trailer.. stones do get thrown now and then and Ive already had to repair our honda element toad windshield.
Regarding mpg.. we have a cat 330 and going at 55 we get 10-101/2 mpg on a 40' alfa seeya. If we use the generator while underway for cooking or whatever (I often cook dinner in a crockpot all day while on our way) then we get 9 1/2 or 9
Goodluck on your adventure! ![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/smile.gif "smile")
Rick, Gaylene and LadyPup the travelling beagle
2004 40' Alfa Seeya #1909
Not yet retired.. can't wait!
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JE M
Charlotte, NC
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We're "fivers" now, looking to upgrade to a DP. I am not having any luck finding the links to the three articles that cwdavis posted about used Class A pricing. Specifically: Post II Evaluating Used Class A Motorcoaches- NADA Expected Margins; Post III NADA Low Retail vs Wholesale Prices and Post IV: PPL Sales and Margin Analysis.
Thanks
J&B
Sunnybrook Titan 31BWFS
Sierra 2500HD, Duramax, Allison
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Mr.Mark
Out West and Mid South
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Joined: 09/24/2006
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Vettepilot.. In the past, I rented a 2005 Fleetwood Expedition (38ft. 3 slides) and a 2006 Fleetwood Expedition (38ft, 4 slides) that both had the 300 Cat diesel. My 2005 trip covered about 2,000 miles and I average about 8.5 mpg's. This year on my 2006 trip I drove about 1,400 miles and got exactly the same mileage as before, 8.5 mpg.
I did not pull a dingy and drove somewhat under the speed limit. If it was 70 (in California) I drove about 65, if was 65, I drove about 60.... I tried not to go under 55 as I didn't want to be a hindrance to the other vehicles around me.
I didn't have the need to carry a lot of extra water so I released it because, I think, I had a 100 fresh water tank. They say water weighs about 7 lbs per gallon so that's a lot of extra weight. I kept about 25 gallons in the tank just in case I needed water at rest stops.
One odd thing about the Fleetwoods... on both the windshield wipers didn't work. I pulled, twisted, pushed that darn knob and couldn't get the wipers to come on. Thank goodness the "squirter" function worked so with one push of the washer button, I got a couple of swipes with the wipers. Also, I didn't run into much rain.....so, a little spray from other cars were easily taken care of with the washer button.
Happy motorhoming! Keep us updated on your trips and experiences!
Mr.Mark
Mr.Mark
2021.5 Pleasure Way Plateau FL Class-B on the Sprinter Chassis
2018 Mini Cooper Hardtop Coupe, 2 dr., 6-speed manual
(SOLD) 2015 Prevost Liberty Coach, 45 ft, 500 hp Volvo
(SOLD) 2008 Monaco Dynasty, 42 ft, 425 hp Cummins
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D.R.Bain
Michigan
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Joined: 11/14/2006
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vettepilot wrote:What is a good tow method for a vehicle such as the T&C mini van, dolly or trailer?
Stan, One of the best ways to find out how to tow older vehicles is to look up old issues of Motorhome magazine either online or at your local library. and consult their Dingy(toad) Towing guide. On line they go back to 2002. This may answer all of your questions.
Go to: http://www.motorhomemagazine.com/
I hope this helps.
D.R.Bain
2007 Damon Daybreak
Dan, 2007 Damon Daybreak 3270
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vettepilot
Enterprise, Alabama
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Dan,
Thanks for the tip. We are currently,(seriously) thinking about a trailer. that way we would have the option of bringing one of our three vehicles, 2005 T&C, 2002 Corvette, or the 2000 Chevy S-10 pickup, depending on where we will be traveling, and to what events.
Our 2005 Expedition has a towing cap of 10,000 lbs, so with the trailer and one of those vehicles we should be well under that and the max 1000lb tongue weight.
Stan
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