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What size and type RV do you use to full-time?

DallasSteve
Nomad
Nomad
What size and type RV do you use to full-time? I am leaning towards a Class A about 35 feet long. I'd like to go a little larger, but there are several well-known advantages to going a little shorter, too. A 40 foot Class A begins to look like a monster.
2022 JAYCO JAY FLIGHT SLX 8 324BDS
2022 FORD F-250 XL CREW CAB 4X4
All my exes live in Texas, that's why I live in an RV
54 REPLIES 54

pnichols
Explorer II
Explorer II
JimK-NY wrote:
Yup, to each his own. When I retired and took off with my wife and cats as full timers we picked a truck camper. We did not have any interest in sitting in RV parks or spending long periods of time in one place. Our goal was to do photography and visit the grand and beautiful areas of the West. We rarely stayed where there were hook ups. We rarely spent more than a few days or at most a week or so in one place. The truck camper proved to be a good choice. I remember a couple of times being envious of the campers in the big rigs. One of our first stops was Yellowstone. Most of the big rigs were either at Fishing Bridge or staying outside of the Park. During the day, they would drive their toads often long distances. One of the first days in Yellowstone we went to the Lamar Valley. One of the big rig owners told me how great it was to be in a nice RV park nearly 2 hours away in Livingstone. Of course they carried a sack lunch, had long drives, and used the stinky outhouses. We pulled our camper to the side of the road, looked out the window while we ate a hot meal. We had our own rest room and took a nap on the queen sized bed. Early afternoon the big riggers took off for the 2 hour drive to Livingstone so they could arrive for dinner. We took our time and drove back to the Mammoth campground while the sun was setting. The road was empty except for the wildlife.


Great comments on the merits of going small! I agree completely.

When we visited Yellowstone in our non-towing, non-slide, 24 foot Class C our experience was the same. We stayed right inside Yellowstone at an intimate little campground without hookups in a campsite that would not have held a big rig. We had our restroom, refrgerator, food, and comfortable chairs right along with us at all times as we stopped and parked throughout the park to view the sights.

The two of us and a small dog have taken a few long trips in our little self-contained RV - with our longest so far being for 10 weeks and around 10K miles. We could have kept on going, too, when we started home at the end of this trip.

I'd like to see a discussion thread along the lines of "What size and type RV do you use to full-time or take long trips in without towing?"

I kindof consider towing another vehicle as "cheating" ... in that you're in the strictest sense not really taking a trip and living in only an RV when doing that. We sometimes even take our small Class C RV off-highway to explore and overnight camp way out there, and it's great having everything right along with you at all times. Even though it does have pickup type ground clearance all around 4WD on it would at times be better, however.
2005 E450 Itasca 24V Class C

JimK-NY
Explorer II
Explorer II
Yup, to each his own. When I retired and took off with my wife and cats as full timers we picked a truck camper. We did not have any interest in sitting in RV parks or spending long periods of time in one place. Our goal was to do photography and visit the grand and beautiful areas of the West. We rarely stayed where there were hook ups. We rarely spent more than a few days or at most a week or so in one place. The truck camper proved to be a good choice. I remember a couple of times being envious of the campers in the big rigs. One of our first stops was Yellowstone. Most of the big rigs were either at Fishing Bridge or staying outside of the Park. During the day, they would drive their toads often long distances. One of the first days in Yellowstone we went to the Lamar Valley. One of the big rig owners told me how great it was to be in a nice RV park nearly 2 hours away in Livingstone. Of course they carried a sack lunch, had long drives, and used the stinky outhouses. We pulled our camper to the side of the road, looked out the window while we ate a hot meal. We had our own rest room and took a nap on the queen sized bed. Early afternoon the big riggers took off for the 2 hour drive to Livingstone so they could arrive for dinner. We took our time and drove back to the Mammoth campground while the sun was setting. The road was empty except for the wildlife.

carp65
Explorer
Explorer
We full-timed in a 2005 Georgie Boy Pursuit for 10 years. What you don"t need
is a lot of "stuff" "Stuff" only adds weight and chances are there will be
much "stuff" you really don't need or won't need. We upgraded to a 37' Allegro
Open Road and have elimiated "stuff" we had in the Pursuit that we had not used
in 10 years. To each his own!

Picinisco
Explorer
Explorer
Dick_B wrote:
The October 2017 issue of Trailer Life has an excellent article on 5ers supposedly built for full-timing including what to look for in a rig to be used for that purpose.


http://www.trailerlife.com/digital-editions/
2007 Jayco Jayflight 28.5 RLS 5th Wheel
2005 Dodge Ram 3500 Dually

debandi
Explorer
Explorer
We have been full timing on and off for the past 16 years. We have tried everything from a 28ft travel trailer to a 40 ft class A. They all worked but after a few months the travel trailer got toooooo small. We have had gas class A motorhomes and diesel pushers. We prefer the diesel. Now we have a 40 ft motorhome with two slides and plenty of storage underneath.
You have to look at a lot and see which one works best for you.
John Spear RMCS(SW)USN RET '88
Debra is my 'nagagator'! She tells me where to go.
Enjoying our 2006 Roadtrek Adventurs RS

Gjac
Explorer III
Explorer III
2gypsies wrote:
nodepositnoreturn wrote:


You may want to think about getting what my wife and I use currently,a Lance truck camper, talk about getting into remote places! I remember going down a fire road on the north rim of the Grand Canyon and backing up to a place called marble canyon if I remember correctly. 10 feet out my back door we had the entire view of the canyon. For free. Many similar trips like that. youโ€™ll need a stout 3/4 or 1 ton truck.


Lee's Ferry National Park campground is in Marble Canyon right on the Colorado River and can accommodate a 40' RV. We've been there.
That is a great area did you ever fish there? I caught more trout in one trip that I normally catch in a year. The trip from the dam downstream is beautiful.

Bill_Satellite
Explorer II
Explorer II
DallasSteve, ignore the noise makers. Some folks like telling folks that they are not doing things right (they way they would do it).
I understand your question and there are "some" very good responses to help you with your poll.
What I post is my 2 cents and nothing more. Please don't read anything into my post that's not there. If you disagree, that's OK.
Can't we all just get along?

rhagfo
Explorer
Explorer
We are full time in a 32โ€™ 5er in our signature, just our second 5er, but learned our lessons in our first! We have a good amount of storage even with a smaller basement. We are nine months into retirement and loving it.
We are just finishing three months of hosting at an Oregon Coast Park, maybe 50โ€™ from the Pacific had high surf, high winds and loved every minute of it!!!
Russ & Paula the Beagle Belle.
2016 Ram Laramie 3500 Aisin DRW 4X4 Long bed.
2005 Copper Canyon 293 FWSLS, 32' GVWR 12,360#

"Visit and Enjoy Oregon State Parks"

Almot
Explorer III
Explorer III
It depends on the purpose of collecting information, I guess.

To answer your question - what rigs people full-time in - anything from truck camper and up. Doesn't help much, does it...

DallasSteve
Nomad
Nomad
Almot wrote:
I'm curious what the purpose of the thread was - if it was not to help decide what rig to get.

I am leaning towards a Class A about 35 feet long. I'd like to go a little larger, but there are several well-known advantages to going a little shorter, too.

I'm curious why you care. Is it wrong to collect information before I make a decision?
2022 JAYCO JAY FLIGHT SLX 8 324BDS
2022 FORD F-250 XL CREW CAB 4X4
All my exes live in Texas, that's why I live in an RV

Almot
Explorer III
Explorer III
I'm curious what the purpose of the thread was - if it was not to help decide what rig to get.
Advantages, disadvantages and the very type of rig depend on user's particular situation. Otherwise, it's too broad a topic.

DallasSteve
Nomad
Nomad
My original question at the start of this thread was:

What size and type RV do you use to full-time?

I wasn't asking what should I get. I just want to see how others are full-timing and that can help me to better decide. Seems like a reasonable question to me.

Almot wrote:

Agreed on all points. Too broad question.

To add,
If you're seasonal, staying put for months - get a big TT or 5-er with slides, rather than class A. More room, less money. It feels better with slides, they add a dimension, not just a few square feet of space. Yes, could be colder with slides, so your climate zone is another unspecified variable.

Also, - how many people.
IMO, TT or 5-er under 26ft is a bit small for 2. If you never lived in RV before, or didn't stay for more than a weekend, then practical experience is the best way. Rent something, to see better what your needs are.
2022 JAYCO JAY FLIGHT SLX 8 324BDS
2022 FORD F-250 XL CREW CAB 4X4
All my exes live in Texas, that's why I live in an RV

Almot
Explorer III
Explorer III
Aridon wrote:
What do you want to do with it?

If you're a vagabond that wants to sleep on the streets of major cities then smaller is better.

If you're insistent on avoiding any campground at all costs then smaller is better.

If you're insistent on being an off road warrior, smaller is generally better.

If you're the kind of camper that continually is in and out of state parks, smaller is probably better.

___________

Aside from being an outlier above, in general, floor plan is by far the most important thing.

Agreed on all points. Too broad question.

To add,
If you're seasonal, staying put for months - get a big TT or 5-er with slides, rather than class A. More room, less money. It feels better with slides, they add a dimension, not just a few square feet of space. Yes, could be colder with slides, so your climate zone is another unspecified variable.

Also, - how many people.
IMO, TT or 5-er under 26ft is a bit small for 2. If you never lived in RV before, or didn't stay for more than a weekend, then practical experience is the best way. Rent something, to see better what your needs are.

JD5150
Explorer
Explorer
Aridon wrote:
What do you want to do with it?

If you're a vagabond that wants to sleep on the streets of major cities then smaller is better.

If you're insistent on avoiding any campground at all costs then smaller is better.

If you're insistent on being an off road warrior, smaller is generally better.

If you're the kind of camper that continually is in and out of state parks, smaller is probably better.

___________

Aside from being an outlier above, in general, floor plan is by far the most important thing. We've been in 26ft TT, 43ft DP and a 45ft Fifth wheel, never had a size issue. I think in 10 years out FT we had one or two instances where the park we wanted to stay at couldn't fit us. That includes state parks. In every case there were other parks more or less a mile or two away that fit the bill.

So size was never an issue for us. We aren't allergic to commercial campgrounds and we do our boon docking while traveling like the rest of the RV folk. No issues.

You couldn't of said it any better. Everyone has a different way of doing things, including camping or full timing.

I am not full time but I have owned and camp in for days in a non slide 26 foot travel trailer, 35 foot fifth wheel with three slides and a truck camper with one slide. I hated every one of them. I will never buy another camper with a slide. Warmest and the easiest to cool was the travel trailer without any slides. Easiest to travel with and move around everyday was the truck camper.

Truck camper without a slide or a DIY cargo van is the best for a traveler/full timer moving every day or up to every four to five days. I could not stay in one place any longer than five days. Change would be calling me in two days but I could stretch it too 5 days if the scenery was there.