The DW and I are considering getting a new TT or 5th wheel to live in for the next few years. I have averaged moving about every 2 1/2 to 3 years due to my Army job.
If possible can you all share some things with us to keep us from making any rookie mistakes when starting full time RVing
We are also wanting a TT or 5th Wheel with a king size bed anyone have any recommendations.
It will be just the wife and me and possible out 17 year old daughter. Also have a HD so a Toy Hauler might be nice. Could use the garage as a mini gym when bike not there.
Some of the things to consider are do you want to buy new or used; you are talking about a fairly big TT or 5th Wheel if you looking for a king size bed. The tow vehicle will also limit what you‘re able to pull. Maybe a class A with a toy hauler might be good? I think http://www.rvtraderonline.com/ is a good website to look at possible purchases, but there are a number of good websites.
As a veteran I see a lot of active duty doing full-time RVing on military bases. There are some pretty good FAMCAMPS. Since you are military USAA is great for financing RV’s, especially for service members.
I went RVing part-time before full-timing so I did not jump in cold, and I learned as I went along. Your being in the military you have some advantages, like FAMCAMPS, on base gas stations, commissary, etc., that a lot of other full-timers don't have.
First, Thank you for your service for our country. Second, go to lots of different RV dealers and look at everything. Sit on the toilet and make sure you feel comfortable in there. Lay on the bed - - -we bought a mattress pad from Sams and our bed is so much more comfortable. We love our KZ but we just have a queen bed.
DH, me and our 3.5 lb Yorkie "Missy"
2006 Dodge 1Ton
2008 KZ New Vision 41RLN
2005 HD Road King Custom
We're on our 3rd FT unit. Biggest mistake was buying a new one within our budget just to see if we "liked" the lifestyle of moving every 3-6 mos. We did love it, but were "forced" to trade up to a new better insulated one after only 10 mos.
If I had it to do all over again, we would have tried harder to start with a used FTing unit such as a Teton or DRV (formerly DoubleTree).
We've had 3 different floorplans and found this one is the best that suits our needs. We have 2 or more people. We get a GD every summer and last winter had a son living with us until he found an RV of his own. This floorplan has worked so much better than the others.
Figure out your needs & wants to narrow down your search.
We found we preferred: enclosed bath, dual pane windows, island kitchen, washer/dryer, lots of storage and a Queen bed.
We also replaced nearly all the furniture in all 3 RV's. Buying used allows you to replace furniture with residential. Some of which you may already own.
2009 DRV Mobile Suite 38TKSB3....our custom home
2008 Ford F450 Lariat CC 4x4......his office
Working Fulltimers since 3/2005
"Shoot for the Moon! Even if you miss it, you will land among the Stars."
I agree with Hitchup. We had 2 inferior fivers before we ordered our Teton. It was so far superior to the prior ones that there was no comparison. I feel you would be $$$ ahead to find a good used high quality fulltime rated unit.
Dianne
Donnelly, ID
DataStorm
HAM WB6N (Terry)
2010 Ford F350, 4x4 SRW, xcab, longbed (will not be pulling the Teton)
2005 Teton 39' Frontier Grand
Life Member Good Sam
Escapees
Geocache..."RVcachers" RV net Blog
Well as I tell everyone No thanks Needed its just my Job. We currently have a 28" TT but need to move up to a larger one for full-time living. We are wanting the Toy Hauler so we can use the Garage as a mulit-purpose room. The only reall thing we want to be sure to get is a King Size Bed.
Take the thanks, Sgt! You probably don't remember the lean and angry years we went through. Thank goodness that's over! Still, you want to look around for a good used unit to start out with, mostly because if you finance a new unit it will eat you alive in payments. There are a lot of good barely used units out there right now due to the economy and the money you save buying used will allow you to fix up the interior the way you and your wife want. And when you decide to trade up you won't be owing on the current rv and have the rest of the money owed tacked on to the next rv's payments. Take it from me - that's an ugly sight! You also need to think about vehicles - a HD is nice in the summer but let's face it, a bear in the winter. And when the three of you need to get somewhere it's also useless. So check into the used fifth wheels - you'll double-tow but it's legal most places and in the others it's rare to be hassled if you're just passing thru. From my experience. And get rid of as many bills as you can before you start out! Been there, done that, still struggling. Hope to meet you on the road!
SgtCoffey - we do love you and thank you for serving us and our beloved country.
Here is what we did when trying to decide on which MH to buy. First, we set a limit on how much money we were willing to spend. This eliminates a lot of ooing and ahhing over units that are over the top of the budget. Then we looked at what we could get for the money; amenities, etc. We made a list of what we considered "must haves" and a few "would like to haves". Further elimination of units that didn't fit the bill resulted.
We window shopped online to see exactly what we would be looking at as far as our lists and budget. We had to make some trade-offs, such as we didn't get the king-sized bed, which in retrospect I would prefer over the jacuzzi tub and W/D combo. Nothing on the used market matched everything we wanted. Units with King beds had interior designs I hated.
Shop, shop, shop until you find the one that you both agree suits YOUR needs for the foreseeable future. I recommend PPL's site, lots of pix and floorplans to review.
The DW and I are considering getting a new TT or 5th wheel to live in for the next few years. I have averaged moving about every 2 1/2 to 3 years due to my Army job.
If possible can you all share some things with us to keep us from making any rookie mistakes when starting full time RVing
We are also wanting a TT or 5th Wheel with a king size bed anyone have any recommendations.
It will be just the wife and me and possible out 17 year old daughter. Also have a HD so a Toy Hauler might be nice. Could use the garage as a mini gym when bike not there.
Thanks
We appreciate all your help
M & C
Don't cut too many corners on buying your house on wheels.
We had read and have since met folks who have bought two or three RV's before getting it right losing money often times on the trade ins.
We took our time and got something we could see ourselves in. We met to use it 2 months out of the year now we live in it.
The biggest mistake I see us make is rushing. Take your time is the number one thing to suggest.
Mallo
Eloise - 2000 F350 7.3 DRW XL, Reading Flatbed, King Ranch Leather, AIS, MBRP 4" Ex
The Chinese Princess - 2007 Hitchhiker II LS 32.5 LKSBG
Your Kung Fu is weak!
Are you living in the TT currently? If no, I would start out in that and mudle thru. Why? You may find what seems important now is not what will seem important when you are full timing. 6 months from now, you will have a much better idea of what features are important.
Assuming you haven't been full timing already, I would be very hesitant to buy an expensive unit (new or used) right off the bat. Buy a used unit for $10-15K and find out it's not what you wanted, you should be able to sell it and at worst be out $2-4K. Buy a $50K unit new you are going to be out at least $10K, maybe twice that, if it's not what you want.
Not important for us, but if the king size bed is important: We saw very few king size beds unless we were looking at large high end units. That said, if we sacrafice one of the storage cabinets at the head of the bed, we could retrofit a king size matress shifted to one side or the other. The lost storage could be made up for with the space created under the matress. If you are handy with that type of work it would be relatively inexpensive (the new matress would be the main cost and that can vary dramatically) and open up a lot of units that are much less expensive.
Living the advice, picked up a 28' Sunnybrook 5er for $5500 last month and other than a few minor items I can address, it's in great shape.
Tammy Mike & the Bilge Rat (AKA: Diego)
Ford F250 7.2L
1997 Sunnybrook 27' 5er
1995 Gemini Sail Catamaran 34'
Full Time spliting time between boat and 5er
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