Family of 4, lower 48 trip

[Octagonal Drake]

Ok hello all, this is my first post and will come off as newbie-ish, because it is. I have done some searches and looked for a FAQ, so please excuse me if these types of questions have been asked and answered already. I'll be happy to read any links if you have them handy.

My wife and I are discussing taking a year away from home approximately 1.5 years from now. So maybe we'd take off early 2022 and try to get to visit a good chunk of the lower 48 states in a 6-12 month time span. Obviously we're at the very beginning of this. We'll have one kid that will be 5 years old and another that will be 1 (she's baking right now). The first consideration is if we can find an RV to meet our needs within budget.

Budget and RV size is flexible, but I'm hoping we could get something RELIABLE and big enough for around $30-40k. I'm thinking around 30' with a gas engine. Reliable is more important than probably anything else. Is it reasonable to expect to find something like that? If so, we can move forward with the planning. If not, we'll re-evaluate.

Thanks!!

 

["EZ"]

Right now used RV prices (as well as cars, trucks etc) are extremely high. Who knows where they'll be a year and a half from now? A year and a half ago no one would have believed how much things have gone up so far. I hope for your sake that prices come back down.

 

[Jim]

I don't want to throw gloom-n-doom on your project before you even get off the ground, but with no prior experience, you are taking on a huge endeavor. Can it be done? Well, sure, anything can be done, right?

As I see it, not knowing knowing what you don't know is the big problem. But you will only learn from talking to others (like you are now) and then going out and applying what you leaned.

Anyway, reliability at $30K will probably be the toughest part. At that budget, I would shoot for a well maintained truck and tow a travel trailer. Then the major maintenance issue (travel wise anyway) will be the truck. And finding places to fix a broken truck are easier to find than places to fix a broken Class A, B or C.

To get a little experience, take your truck and trailer out on weekend, close to home jaunts, and get to know it. That's the fastest way to learn. At least you will be close to home when/if things go South.

When I was (much) younger, my then wife and I took off across the united states in a 1952 panel truck. That was in 1975, so the truck was pretty old at the time. We slept in the back and traveled from California to Florida and then back again, stopping in Oregon to visit with my parents.

It was an experience and we survived. We learned a lot. Being young helped as we were fearless, stupid and we were sure we could handle anything that came along. And we did.

So that's my take on it, a truck with a travel trailer will probably be your best bet. With a little luck, you'll do OK. You're sure going learn a lot, that's for sure!

 

[Retired]

IMO you dont have the budget to pull this off.

With a 1 and 5 year old, its a challenge to travel in a truck. When ever there is a problem in the back seat, you have to stop.

I would wait until the youngest is out of diapers and talking.

A 3/4T truck and a used 5th wheel is the way to go for a family full timing.

You can setup camp and still have a vehicle to drive around. For 50-55k you can buy a nicely equipped new F250 or F350. For 20-25k you can get a nice used 5th wheel.

Thats my advice, wait a couple more years, save your $ and do a 5th wheel.

We just spent 28k on a 2006 Class A, Im putting another 5k into it before our first trip and have another 10k set aside for emergency repairs on the road.

 

[FL-JOE]

Pretty good advise given so far. I suppose if you got an extremely good buy on a low mileage 3/4 ton truck then you could possibly end up staying around your budget, but you would certainly end up shopping for a travel trailer in the 28' to 30' range and a few years old.

Your other issue as I see it would be living/traveling expenses for that 12 to 18 months. We try to be conservative and save whenever we can on campground fees. Our annual average (full timers) can still be anywhere from $24 to $28 per night. Gas and diesel has gone up and my guess would be it will stay very high for the next couple of years or longer. Trying to see a lot of the lower 48 you will be burning some petro my friend, maybe $8,000 to $12,000 per year. Other expenses for you and your family may or may not change much, food, laundry, medical, etc......

I'm guessing with different RVing expenses and living expenses a family of four would need at least $3,000 a month minimum, maybe a little more.

 

[Octagonal Drake]

Thanks everyone, I'll definitely give some more thought to your comments with my preliminary responses below. I could go to $50ish on an RV if I had to, but would prefer not to if I can. I see RVs, through private sales, in the $30-50k range that were made in the early 2000s and often have less than 50,000 miles. From a lay man, that seems relatively low/unused but I know there can be other problems than just the motor. Is there a rough guide as far as age and miles that I should look for? Obviously I'll be particular about how well it's interior and exterior are maintained. I'm hoping that will be a signal to how well they maintained everything. I would also pay someone qualified to truly go over it before I bought as well.

I don't want to throw gloom-n-doom on your project before you even get off the ground, but with no prior experience, you are taking on a huge endeavor. Can it be done? Well, sure, anything can be done, right?

As I see it, not knowing knowing what you don't know is the big problem. But you will only learn from talking to others (like you are now) and then going out and applying what you leaned.

Anyway, reliability at $30K will probably be the toughest part. At that budget, I would shoot for a well maintained truck and tow a travel trailer. Then the major maintenance issue (travel wise anyway) will be the truck. And finding places to fix a broken truck are easier to find than places to fix a broken Class A, B or C.

To get a little experience, take your truck and trailer out on weekend, close to home jaunts, and get to know it. That's the fastest way to learn. At least you will be close to home when/if things go South.

When I was (much) younger, my then wife and I took off across the united states in a 1952 panel truck. That was in 1975, so the truck was pretty old at the time. We slept in the back and traveled from California to Florida and then back again, stopping in Oregon to visit with my parents.

It was an experience and we survived. We learned a lot. Being young helped as we were fearless, stupid and we were sure we could handle anything that came along. And we did.

So that's my take on it, a truck with a travel trailer will probably be your best bet. With a little luck, you'll do OK. You're sure going learn a lot, that's for sure!

I've debated a truck and trailer. My biggest issue is that we'd have to stop every time someone needs to use the bathroom. The kid(s) would get restless, etc as retired said below. If I can find what I need within my budget, I think and RV would be fit our needs better. I understand that it might not be feasible. I would probably willing to go to $50k if I had to. Anything over that and I'd probably scrap the plan unfortunately.

IMO you dont have the budget to pull this off.

With a 1 and 5 year old, its a challenge to travel in a truck. When ever there is a problem in the back seat, you have to stop.

I would wait until the youngest is out of diapers and talking.

A 3/4T truck and a used 5th wheel is the way to go for a family full timing.

You can setup camp and still have a vehicle to drive around. For 50-55k you can buy a nicely equipped new F250 or F350. For 20-25k you can get a nice used 5th wheel.

Thats my advice, wait a couple more years, save your $ and do a 5th wheel.

We just spent 28k on a 2006 Class A, Im putting another 5k into it before our first trip and have another 10k set aside for emergency repairs on the road.

I think our only window is where I outlined. After that, our oldest will be in school and would be difficult to just take off like we're discussing. We probably would be ok home schooling in kindergarten, but beyond that we will prefer she be in school.

Pretty good advise given so far. I suppose if you got an extremely good buy on a low mileage 3/4 ton truck then you could possibly end up staying around your budget, but you would certainly end up shopping for a travel trailer in the 28' to 30' range and a few years old.

Your other issue as I see it would be living/traveling expenses for that 12 to 18 months. We try to be conservative and save whenever we can on campground fees. Our annual average (full timers) can still be anywhere from $24 to $28 per night. Gas and diesel has gone up and my guess would be it will stay very high for the next couple of years or longer. Trying to see a lot of the lower 48 you will be burning some petro my friend, maybe $8,000 to $12,000 per year. Other expenses for you and your family may or may not change much, food, laundry, medical, etc......

I'm guessing with different RVing expenses and living expenses a family of four would need at least $3,000 a month minimum, maybe a little more.

I've compiled some expenses. Most are soft numbers, but I have to start somewhere. I'm assuming a monthly expense of around $5k. I'll see if I can paste spreadsheet info below

One time Expense		Monthly Expenses
Item	Cost	Item	Cost
RV	$ 40,000.00	Health Insurance	$ 1,200.00
RV Repairs	$ 5,000.00	Gas/Fuel	$ 650.00
		Food	$ 600.00
		RV Park Fees	$ 750.00
		Self Storage	$ 400.00
		RV Insurance	$ 125.00
		Car Insurance	$ 100.00
		Phone Bill	$ 150.00
		Entertainment	$ 500.00
		Child Expenses	$ 100.00
TOTAL START UP	$ 45,000.00	TOTAL MONTHLY	$ 4,575.00

 

[Octagonal Drake]

Here's just an example of one I've seen online. It seems to be clean and maintained. But I fully admit I'm not very aware of little gremlins that could be lurking like you all would be.

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["EZ"]

I've debated a truck and trailer. My biggest issue is that we'd have to stop every time someone needs to use the bathroom. The kid(s) would get restless, etc as retired said below.

Even in a Class A the kids are supposed to be seat belted in for their safety. So in reality there is no difference in traveling in a Class A or a pickup truck. In a head on collision an unbelted 5 year old becomes a 50 pound missile headed toward the front windshield. In a Class A they have more runway to gather momentum too. Ask Neal about having to slam on the brakes to avoid an idiot and what happened to his computer monitors that normally sat just fine on his desk while he travelled.

 

[Octagonal Drake]

Even in a Class A the kids are supposed to be seat belted in for their safety. So in reality there is no difference in traveling in a Class A or a pickup truck. In a head on collision an unbelted 5 year old becomes a 50 pound missile headed toward the front windshield. In a Class A they have more runway to gather momentum too. Ask Neal about having to slam on the brakes to avoid an idiot and what happened to his computer monitors that normally sat just fine on his desk while he travelled.

That makes sense. I don't want to give the impression everyone would just be running around anyway, but yea it makes sense that you would need to pull over to use the bathroom or whatever.

 

[Retired]

There are a lot of low mileage RVs on the market.

My 2006 35" Fleetwood only has 37k on it. Its still a rabbit hole. I just spent 2k on 4 shocks, F&R trac bars and a steering stabilizer. Thats parts only, Im suppling the labor.

Im also changing the tranny fluid and engine oil. Thats another $250.

All the hoses are past due for replacement. Tranny cooler, eng oil cooler, PS, radiator, bypass, heater, brake hoses, thats another $1500-2000. Some of the hoses are discontinued, so I will have to have a shop make them. My tires were new last year so I got lucky on that 3k expense.

On my 06 all the appliances are 15 years old. Who knows how much longer they will last.

I have a Workhorse chassis which is no longer being produced. As far as parts availability goes, stick with a Ford, Freightliner or Spartan chassis.