Open for debate: RV or Rig and trailer?

[Ashton]

Stars are aligning and things are working out and the dream of traveling the country while working from the road is almost a reality. The woman and I are able to finally make serious considerations as to what our home and travel vehicle will be for this adventure. We went and saw some RV's... van based, truck based and bus like. We loved the space and amenities that the larger rigs offered and fell in love with the 30' RV with 4x4 on a Dodge chassis. It's set up for being off grid and out of the way, just like we like.

We haven't had a chance to view or walk through similarly set up 5th wheels and trailers. We know what features we want in a travel home, but I wanted to get the view points of others on this forum about their experiences and ideas and thoughts.

Debate away!! I'll be including a lot of these thoughts and ideas in our continued search. 8-10 months and we will finally be living our dream!

 

[Comanche Scott]

My thoughts are:

Continuous travel = Motorhome and towed.
Staying in one place for 3 or more months at a time, and exploring around the area(s) = 4x4 shortbed truck and 5th wheel.

Congrats on making the great escape.

 

[upcruiser]

My wife and I bought our travel trailer to use as a house on wheels while she travel nursed. She ended up taking a good offer locally right after we purchased the camper but had weighed the options about what would be the best setup for traveling around and living. For us it was a Suburban with a comfortable camper with an aluminum frame to hold up to occasional dirt roads while setup off the grid. A supplemental motorcycle on a rear rack of the camper was going to be the secondary vehicle. This way you have a good vehicle to drive around daily and explore with as well as a moto to do the same as well. Driving an RV around daily means having to pack up and be mobile daily. Doing the van life thing is less of an issue but you also have less amenities. Our camper is 23ft, weighs around 5,000lbs when loaded, has respectable tank capacities for freshwater, grey water, and black water(most small rv's have small capacities and it makes your logistics more complucated), has a full range/oven, c shaped dinette, bunk beds for our children, a bedroom and a queen bed for us, a large fridge freezer, good size bathroom with small tub(great for kids), a ton of storage, and 300 watts of solar panels. It tows great, even with our relatively small Colorado Duramax. We originally planned to travel with it and our 2500 Suburban. While we didn't end up living out of it, we use it all the time for basecanping now for mountain bike trips, traveling, doing music feats, etc. Its pretty ideal for our needs. You just have to do your research on them. Take into account the construction, capacities, and the environments you plan to expose them too.

 

[Grenadiers]

We just got back from a month in Baja with our new to us, Swiss army vehicle camper conversion. We had decided on no 'toys' for our maiden trip, due to nervousness on possible vehicle failure or, falling off of Highway 1. However, none of that happened, and having a small boat, and ground transportation would have made for a better trip.

 

[OCD Overland]

I'm a bit suspicious of the 30' RV that's "set up for being off grid and out of the way". Link?

 

[skyfree]

With that much time before you need to make a decision, try renting first. Class C RV's are readily available in various sizes. A's and B/B+ like the Sprinter-based vans are available in some areas. Family RV in San Jose has them, as well as a couple of 5th wheels. You might also consider a large Truck camper like an Arctic Fox 990 on a 4WD truck. We found that to be really spacious inside with the slideout, and the rig was more compact so could be driven into small parking lots easier. It really depends on your needs and what kind of travel you plan to do.

 

[Ashton]

I'm a bit suspicious of the 30' RV that's "set up for being off grid and out of the way". Link?

They are called the Dynamax Isata 5 36DS.

 

[Ashton]

Great info to go on so far. We love to explore and we generally just camp out in the long bed of our truck, with the camper shell overhead. We want to maintain that kind of 'portability' with a rig, but we also recognize that if we are going to live in a mobile set up, there are some comforts and necessities that we feel we 'need'. A shower and a separate potty have been deemed necessary. My morning constitutionals need not affect the pleasantness of a warm morning shower for the woman (and vice versa). We want some sort of partition that allows us space, if we need to get out of each others space. She needs a desk type area to do the planned work and we need a little extra space for our two dogs. I have a teenage daughter, so an over the cab sleep set up or a similar type of 2nd 'bedroom' that can be privitized for her privacy is also a desire. We kind of like the toy hauler lay out, with a 'dirty' room that could be a living room and the potential for a 'porch' hanging off the end.

We haven't decided on towing a car, but we will most likely have a moped or dirtbike or 250cc motorbike on there somewhere (I do travel medical stuff so I need to be more mobile). We don't want to add a car, behind a 30'+ trailer AND a rig to pull it (if we go that route). I have little to no experience, so i will definitely use the idea of renting these things before hand for the experience. I don't look forward to trying to pull into spaces in a 50 foot set up but I do like the idea of planting a base and sprouting out from there. We will want to be mobile, traveling around when we see fit, but some of my contracts will keep me planted in a space for a couple/few months. I am leaning more towards a trailer pulled by an adventure rig, but the comforts of a RV certainly appeal to me.

Thanks for all the info folks!!! Keep it coming, i'm making mental notes and being forced to review my own hopes and dreams more.

 

[Mighty Dodge Ram]

We have a 32’ Class A. Love it...hate it. Others have checked in with their their experiences and insights. I’ll just add this to the mix: with the motorhome you’re looking at (a “Super C” from the looks of it) you have the additional expenses of another chassis/engine and the SIX larger tires that it rides on...and a matching spare makes SEVEN. Be sure to factor all of that in. Good luck! ?

 

[Ashton]

We have a 32' Class A. Love it...hate it. Others have checked in with their their experiences and insights. I'll just add this to the mix: with the motorhome you're looking at (a “Super C” from the looks of it) you have the additional expenses of another chassis/engine and the SIX larger tires that it rides on...and a matching spare makes SEVEN. Be sure to factor all of that in. Good luck! ��

I'm finding that the money we assumed to save on rent and utilities gets gobbled up in maintenance, servicing, fuel and other expenses pretty quickly. We've determined a basic budget to include car and trailer payments and basic bills and 'living expenses'. We are going to have to redo that guestimation, me thinks, to include the real costs of road life that we hadn't considered before.

 

[LovinPSDs]

We love to explore and we generally just camp out in the long bed of our truck, with the camper shell overhead.

After spending a bunch of time with my family in a camper and REALLY looking forward to the weather coming around this year, I would suggest a small(ish) camper for you. With how much money your looking to spend on the C-Class you could get a REALLY nice setup that can be stationary and allow you to still explore with your truck & Bikes!! The real question is how big you'd like to go. There are plenty of 5th wheels that are considered 1/2 ton towable, and other bigger options that would work with your truck (or bigger for way less than that C-Class). If you wanted to go all the way up to a Toy Hauler there are some interesting options for that as well, partially dependent on if you want to keep all our toys out of the weather at all times or not.

As for campers... Opposing slides are what I love, gives you a big space in a small package. It changes a bit if you want a separate room for your daughter.

 

[peekay]

They are called the Dynamax Isata 5 36DS.

Super Cs are cool. But that rig you found is so low, with an overhang so long, that it couldn't get into all driveways without scraping the rear on the ground. To me, it seems the 4wd would be of limited use. Beautiful rog though.

 

[Ashton]

Slide outs are definitely going to be needed, the added space is invaluable in a 'small' living situation. A king bed (for us and the dogs) is a high desired item. We would like LNG stove and may be an oven, but can skip out on the fireplace 0) if we really have too (sarcasm)... though it would be neat. A separate shower and potty area, much needed, and a tall shower I can move around in. I still haven't found one in a configuration that I can operate in comfortably. We would like it to have solar installed and a generator, but we can get those on our own if needed. So far, these are the only 'demands' we have. We are pretty much sold on wanting a rig and a trailer, for all the obvious reasons and because we think a trailer could be converted into a more permanent living solution on our New Mexico property, if/when we decide to settle.

Going through all these travel threads on the forums and checking out the various options. This is more fun than I thought. Super excited, we are getting to take care of a HUGE chunk of our debt this week, going to put us a couple months ahead of goal. SQUEEEEEE.

 

[Ashton]

Super Cs are cool. But that rig you found is so low, with an overhang so long, that it couldn't get into all driveways without scraping the rear on the ground. To me, it seems the 4wd would be of limited use. Beautiful rog though.

It is super beautiful, inside and out and on the Ram chassis, super familiar. I had instant issues with the ride height and rear drag factor... where exactly would the 4x4 be useful was my first thought, then I started thinking about the costs of ride height adjustments, tires, wheels, suspension upgrades.... the 180K price tag was the killer.

But she was seriously beautiful.

 

[Comanche Scott]

Renting and learning from others.

Really like the idea of renting different types of rigs.
Another thing to consider is your first rig doesn't have to be the penultimate rig. Maybe it is a great used rig that gets you out there, without taking a big loss on resale if you don't like it.
Nothing beats experience, especially personal experience.

Another great place for information is people who blog and do videos as they work from the road.
So many little things come up that can become a "burr under the saddle". If you find folks out there with similar interests and needs, that might help you pick up on the little things that can mean a lot.
My Brother and Sister in Law have traveled the country a few times for a year+ each time. They've also had all kinds of different RVs. So when I was looking to get an RV, my girlfriend and I sat down with them, and asked all kinds of questions. They asked us all kinds of questions too. Then we went through their motor-home, so they could show us the good, the bad and the compromises.
Since we hadn't owned anything other than a tent, this was huge for us.
We ended up buying a really nice used 5th wheel. Kept it for 5 years and comprised a list of likes-dislikes, oohs and awes. Just sold that 5th wheel last year, and are looking at upgrading.
Also replaced the original tow rig with a newer truck that fits the goals better.
Thanks to their sage advise and wisdom, all said and done, those 5 years of fun cost a bit over $10K difference between purchase-maintenance costs, and sales return.
The lessons learned are priceless.

Here's to your new adventure! :beer: