Lifestyle Weekenders, Boondockers, Full-Timers: Looking at RVs

[Filthy]

holy smoke - sorry for not updating this thread. We've done 2 round trips to Iowa since the last update.
Had our first breakdown on the side of the road this trip. The 'hubcap' (simulator) on the rear wheel came off and took the valve stem with it.
But the stem stayed in for a couple hundred yards until I turned toward that tire and WHOOOOSH. 356 miles of drive that day, and lost a tire with < 4 miles to go. Fuck me. I just heard the whoosh and figured I rolled on something nasty, needed a new tire.

But it was literally at the beginning of bridge construction, and I had a giant concrete pad behind orange barrels that I could pull on to and get out of traffic flow on this 2-lane state highway near Tucumcari, NM. Felt safe there, but getting a mobile tire repair out to us at 430PM on a Saturday WITH a right-size tire is a hassle. (Note: most RVers don't carry "spare tires" because of space/weight, and you don't want to be doing it on the side of the road. Pro-Tip is to carry just the tire - no rim - so any tire service can hook you up.) Eventually, after many phones calls and begging, found a service. Guy came out, we kind of had a non-verbal 'tech check' where I asked him I could help by doing anything except getting out of the way. He laughed, but later when he changing the valve he said "reach in that truck box and grab me a tire bar".
Still, $200 to put a valve stem in so it wasn't like we bonded.

Then late that night the blower fan on the heater started to whine, not a big deal to fix if you have one handy. Otherwise you're camping the next night without running the heater.

So we decided to sell this RV and Build Back Better. I'll let you know how the fix up and sell goes. Market is supposedly still pretty hawt right now, hopefully I don't lose all my ass on this. Wife says that this sale money plus my COBRA reimbursement money will be the budget for the next RV. Hopefully that gets me in a custom Super-C

 

[Filthy]

Sold the RV today for a tidy profit to some nice people. We're spending the summer at a vacation home in NoCal, and when we get back the kids will (theoretically) be back in school. In the market for medium-duty trucks, wife wants to build or buy in the fall.

but it'll be a long time before I sell anything on Craigslist again.

 

[Qat]

Sold the RV today for a tidy profit to some nice people. We're spending the summer at a vacation home in NoCal, and when we get back the kids will (theoretically) be back in school. In the market for medium-duty trucks, wife wants to build or buy in the fall.

but it'll be a long time before I sell anything on Craigslist again.

The one you worked on? Did you count your hours and material and put it on the price?

 

[Hauler]

Sold the RV today for a tidy profit to some nice people. We're spending the summer at a vacation home in NoCal, and when we get back the kids will (theoretically) be back in school. In the market for medium-duty trucks, wife wants to build or buy in the fall.

but it'll be a long time before I sell anything on Craigslist again.

Not sure how I missed this thread. Very cool.

The RV market is crazy right now. My bet is that the used market will be interesting in a year or two. Pandemnic over, people getting back to normal life and the wife bitching about the giant monstrosity parked in the side yard that hasn't moved in 16 months.

Should lead to a ton of gently used RVs popping up for sale.

 

[BeardOfKnowledge]

The one you worked on? Did you count your hours and material and put it on the price?

Are you looking for the truth or his truth?

 

[Qat]

Are you looking for the truth or his truth?

 

[Filthy]

The one you worked on? Did you count your hours and material and put it on the price?

materials, yes. Labor, no.

no one ever counts labor in the price of a vehicle if it's not done by a professional, and even then nobody really cares how much you paid.
outside of ~$500 of 'personal taste upgrade' in the counter tops, everything had a receipt so it's easy to show a buyer what parts are actually new.

the other thing about the labor is that I don't count the value of the learning that I gained in the last year. There a couple of reasons that I went through every system from the roof to the tires when I bought it. Safety, Reliability, Resale Value, Understanding. My wife has no doubt that when I tell her I can project manage a custom RV that I know everything about that particular size of RV.

EDIT - an example is the anti-sway bars and shocks. $1500. Took me a Saturday to put everything on. I had 3 full price offers, all from people who had driven other RVs. The only low-balls I got were from people who had never owned an RV before, and it was really frustrating to deal with those dipshits.

 

[Filthy]

Not sure how I missed this thread. Very cool.

The RV market is crazy right now. My bet is that the used market will be interesting in a year or two. Pandemnic over, people getting back to normal life and the wife bitching about the giant monstrosity parked in the side yard that hasn't moved in 16 months.

Should lead to a ton of gently used RVs popping up for sale.

that's my guess. People are spending fake money, but the pinch is coming soon. I think there will be a little boom after Memorial Day, when the TSA clusterfuck is fully felt by the travelling public. But around November there's going to be some folks who aren't all about that RV life.

 

[Qat]

materials, yes. Labor, no.

no one ever counts labor in the price of a vehicle if it's not done by a professional, and even then nobody really cares how much you paid.
outside of ~$500 of 'personal taste upgrade' in the counter tops, everything had a receipt so it's easy to show a buyer what parts are actually new.

the other thing about the labor is that I don't count the value of the learning that I gained in the last year. There a couple of reasons that I went through every system from the roof to the tires when I bought it. Safety, Reliability, Resale Value, Understanding. My wife has no doubt that when I tell her I can project manage a custom RV that I know everything about that particular size of RV.

EDIT - an example is the anti-sway bars and shocks. $1500. Took me a Saturday to put everything on. I had 3 full price offers, all from people who had driven other RVs. The only low-balls I got were from people who had never owned an RV before, and it was really frustrating to deal with those dipshits.

As long as you feel you gained something from it that's good.

I always work for free for @Let Love Lead and he promises me that someday we gonna make a trip together. I feel it's worth it.

 

[member 1013]

As long as you feel you gained something from it that's good.

I always work for free for @Let Love Lead and he promises me that someday we gonna make a trip together. I feel it's worth it.

Soon Bruv!!

 

[Filthy]

As long as you feel you gained something from it that's good.

I always work for free for @Let Love Lead and he promises me that someday we gonna make a trip together. I feel it's worth it.

I sold my development system for profit.
I'll try not to throw my shoulder out patting myself on the back.

 

[Filthy]

officially - In The Market for a medium-duty (Class 5-6) truck.
but not in a hurry, and I think I've narrowed my search to an International Durastar or Freightliner M2, extended cab (cab swap is doable, but not worth the hassle at this point), ideally air ride/brakes with a DT466 or CAT 3126, 2003 or older...which is actually 2001-2003 and 2002-2003.

that seems to be the sweet spot of modern engine/chassis and 1950s emission requirements.

 

[ThatOneDude]

officially - In The Market for a medium-duty (Class 5-6) truck.
but not in a hurry, and I think I've narrowed my search to an International Durastar or Freightliner M2, extended cab (cab swap is doable, but not worth the hassle at this point), ideally air ride/brakes with a DT466 or CAT 3126, 2003 or older...which is actually 2001-2003 and 2002-2003.

that seems to be the sweet spot of modern engine/chassis and 1950s emission requirements.

Yea, that's what I was thinking too. Probably upgrade the turbo, adjust the fuel pump, and roll some coal across the country.

 

[Filthy]

Yea, that's what I was thinking too. Probably upgrade the turbo, adjust the fuel pump, and role some coal across the country.

apparently if you got the 210 HP or lower, it's not just the turbos/pump/ecm, it's also pistons/rods, cam, and injectors (and they changed the injector style every 6 weeks just to piss people off)

TIL that having US and Mexico plates on your truck adds $5k to the price. I found PERFECT looker in San Diego, and I'm out there next week...but the price he quoted was high and when I asked why he said the dual plates added $5k. Fuck.

 

[Filthy]

but I could legitimately take a modern OM460 out of a Class 8, do a diesel-delete, and have a bad mofo. Issue with making real power with the DT466 isn't the engine, it's the transmission.