Mr.Mark
Out West and Mid South
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Joined: 09/24/2006
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I have a Monaco product and they are really good except for the dealership. The Dealer service dept. is SO full it's very hard to get an appointment. If both of these units are at the same dealer, ask the dealer how full their service dept. is.
My selling dealer is about 15 miles from my house but I take it 60 miles away as their sister store has more service bays and more flexibility in appointments. I didn't think about that when I purchased. It's not really a big deal as I like to drive my coach and I make a fun day of it. It might get old later.
Also, your tow vehicles are rather heavy (5500-6500 lbs). I have a Land Rover LR3 that I thought about towing but decided to park it and get a Honda CR-V. It's lighter and less expensive if it gets rock chips, broken windshield, etc. My Land Rover has a heated windshield that would cost over $700 to replace.
Actually, I have become a real Honda fan as this little CR-V is perfect... it's seats 5 comfortably, has leather, heated seats, navigation, AWD and gets 20 mpg's city, 28 hwy! It is amazing how much I can put in the back as it has a two level storage area. The Honda only weighs 3,400 lbs.
As far as a supplemental braking system, I chose the M&G system that attaches the Dynasty air-brakes to the Honda's master cylinder. Whenever I apply the brakes on the coach, the Honda's brakes are applied at the exact same pressure. I'm very please with this system because you don't have to remove anything from the front foot-well area like a Brake Buddy.
Connecting everything for towing will take 10 minutes max!.
Happy travels! 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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pons
Tyler, Texas
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Joined: 09/25/2007
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Well I'm a virgin at this so be gentle guys and girls. I an RN and 55yo. I want to go full time with the wife doing travelling nursing. They will give me a $1100-$1600 housing stipend each month tax free plus my wages which will be about 80K-130K depending how much I work. They also offer a health plan with dental and eye care.
I have $50,000-$100000K to put down on a coach. I just started looking and the first one was a Foretravel U320 2004 heavily optioned coach. It was alot of money $342000 but they are quick to drop price to $315,000. I don't understand why dealers advertise so high but readily drop prices without me asking them to. I read on here somewhere to drop 35-40% off a new coach price and maybe 27% off used. Is that the deal?????? Can we live full time on less than 2k a month. My housing will be supplemented and want to put as much money away as possible. They will pay .42c a mile first 400 miles out and same deal coming back. My assignments will be 4-13weeks long. I c take as long as I want off between assignments but figure no more than 2 weeks each time. Can I make this work if I buy a high optioned 42 foot coach to full time in (like a American Eagle 42F or a Monaco Dynasty) that Id buy for between $180,000- $250,000. Are nice parks close to large cities easy to find?? What do they cost per month? I know you guys are bright and will jump in here and educate me.................HELP!
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Gale Hawkins
Murray, KY
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Joined: 07/22/2007
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James it sounds like you are considering doing two new things at the same time so your cup may be full. Taking short term nursing positions in different locations can be interesting I am sure. Living fulltime in a motor home can be interesting I hear.
Unless you are 100% certain about both you may consider picking up a very nice used motor home say for $40K - $50K even although you could find some really nice stuff in the $20K - $30K range. As I am sure you have read on this site some do not have full access to their new coaches for the first two years as sometimes they come with factory defects like things do no work correctly, they leak or have other issues being complex machines. While going with a late model used one does not insure no problems either but one way or the other you might consider purchasing one at least 6 months before you would take a position as a traveling nurse and do a lot of 2 day trips in it to learn the ropes of towing and living on the road if this is actually your first time.
While I believe in being positive if both of these major life changing decisions do not work out and you decided the full time MH living was not for you then you could give away to a needed group a $50K used motor home and still be $$$ ahead over buying a new $250K+ rig. If you are going to be working at a new job in a strange city leaving your wife in a strange RV park every few months I expect you can find a way to test the waters even if it meant getting an apartment the first time or two out.
Doing what you are planning could be the best or worse move you will ever make and while you can hear some thoughts on here remember adjusting to a different career and living style can be more of an emotional adjustment than a physical one. Best of luck and my thought is if you really want to make the move then go for it. Regrets can be expensive emotional things as well. ![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/smile.gif "smile")
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pons
Tyler, Texas
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Joined: 09/25/2007
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Thats some good food for thought. I could start out small and stay in thier housing at first and camp between assignments until I decide if I like it or not. Thanks Gale,
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bigbubba1959
Illinois
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Joined: 09/04/2007
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My wife is a travel nurse now for 3 years.We love the traveling and we are looking into going at Rving full time within the next 6 months. We hate that part about them paying for an apartment and feel as if we are missing out on tax free housing stipend. Let the company pay for our motorhome!!
if once you dont suuuceedd
If once you deont succeed
If once you dont succeed try tryyyy
If once you dont' succedd
Ok if once you dont succeed just freaking DO IT!!!!!!!!!!
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Barry E.
Orlando, Florida
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Joined: 09/11/2007
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John,
My wife and I have found a wealth of very helpful information on this site. Thanks in large part to your posts, as well as the input of so many others, we made the final decision yesterday.
and pick it up tomorrow...
Barry
Fleetwood Pace Arrow
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alwims
Wheatland Mo.
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Joined: 08/15/2007
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James, my wife is 55yrs old and has been a Traveling RN for about a year and a half now. Her specialty is OB, 15yrs. I'm 52 and disabled on SSD, but can still get around ok to do the driving and housework, etc. We decided to go full time RVing on the last couple of assignments so we purchased a very inexpensive Motorhome, ('95 Rexhaul RexAir Widebody, $24,000 invested), just in case we didn't care for the RV lifestyle. So far we are loving it.
We love the freedom of taking the stipend and staying where we want to. The only problem we have encountered is, we are in Maplewood MN. and all the campgrounds shut down except the Casino because the water freezes. We've got 3 weeks left after Nov. 1st, which is when this campground shuts down, so we'll be going to the Casino to camp. They shut their water off also, but still let you camp at a lower rate. You have to use your on-board water, but they let you fill up for free. The problem with the Casino campground is it is 44 miles from the hospital my wife is working at. Be prepared to encounter these kinds of problems.
Also, take this advice to heart. When living in a Motorhome with your spouse, LOVE alone will not sustain your marriage, as a mater of fact, Love ain't got nothing to do with it, You really have to LIKE the person you're living with. We like each other and are best friends so it works out great for us.
BTW, what company are you with. We switched to Nurse Choice when we went full time RVing and are very happy. It's a quick response company and the assignments are 4 to 8 weeks. The Motorhome allows us to pack up and move to the next assignment rather quickly unlike when we stayed at their housing. Example, we were in Show Low AZ on a 13 week assignment with the other company and my wife re-upped for another 13 weeks staying in their housing. We could not believe how much packing we had to do before we could leave for the next assignment.
Keep us informed as to what you do. BTW we like this Motorhome so well, we'll probably wear it out before we upgrade. Yes we could use a little more room, but we are surprisingly very happy with it.
37' 2004 Montana 3650RK 5th Wheel
Long Timing with;
Alan the DH
Carol the DW
Pistol Pete the Maltese
Jasmin the Maltese &
Cali the Calico Cat
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maggie00
Dallas Fort Worth
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Joined: 05/22/2006
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Very informative. We have learned through our years with various types of RVs what we think will be appropriate for a Class A which we hope is in our near future. From a pop-up we went to a travel trailer. Using the pop-up taught us what things we wanted to improve as we moved to a TT. The TT has certainly been beneficial in teaching us what to look for in the living arrangement of a MH. Thankfully via our good Sam's connection we have seen numerous RVs and gained knowledge from fellow RV'ers. We are not glued to one particular floor plan, the floor plan just has to have certain aspects, and all the storage possible. All of that we can handle -- we are just frightened of deciding the mechanical specs since neither of us are mechanically savy.
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simplewebs
shanghai
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Joined: 10/18/2007
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very good information!!!
A RV fans from China.
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ACDCROCKER
Niles
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Joined: 10/22/2007
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Hi all. Im new in rv-ing, but in the same respect im not. My grandparents would take the family on trips frequently in the 1987 Sunsport. My grandma, being 83, drove it, a 30 some odd foot motorhome. My grandparents are now passed away. Im 19, 19 years later and still love the idea of the motorhoming. The motorhome currently sits with no title (qoute on qoute) from what the family says. My first question is how to do I get the title? The motor home hasn't been on a trip for 5 years. Before stating it up, what do I do? My idea is to empty the fuel tank and put less than half in of new fuel. After this put new oil in it as well as a newer battery. Theirs no reason it shouldn't start, since their isn't that so called computer stuff in it....Which all in all makes life simpler. The tires look reasonbly good, but I would like to replace them, im guessing their about $175 a peice? The tires them selves are not dry rotted and have decent tread on them. Other than that it's a few cosmetics. I love the thing and I would hate to see it get wasted and just sit. I hate seeing cars sitting, and Im not even a pure car guy. I know it gets 4 miles per gallon and cost about $140 to fill, which isn't bad considering the fun, you know? Im not married, I have no kids, I just want to have fun whikle I can, smartly with lesser chance of breaking down or breaking anything.
Thanks for the help, it's greatly appreciated. And sorry for the long post.
Thank-you
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