Soon to be FT

[Hooligan House]

OK-I'm totally new to this & ended up posting in the wrong place. Try again....
We'll be leaving work next year to FT. I have stacks & stacks of brochures...lots of sites in my favorites...& have lost track of the books I've been reading. Right now we're leaning towards the RT 28RKW as we plan to do LOTS of boondocking (50%?) since I'll be 2 yrs from soc sec & Larry 7 years away. We're still tent camping so it's not a totally alien concept. Living near the Windy city there are NO Excel dealers anywhere near us. We'll be at LoW in IA in May & are considering a side trip to the PI factory. Do they have models on display there? Do you just call to set up a tour? there's nothing specific on line. How long does the tour take? Thanks for listening!!!

[Hooligan House]

OK-I'm totally new to this & ended up posting in the wrong place. Try again....
We'll be leaving work next year to FT. I have stacks & stacks of brochures...lots of sites in my favorites...& have lost track of the books I've been reading. Right now we're leaning towards the RT 28RKW as we plan to do LOTS of boondocking (50%?) since I'll be 2 yrs from soc sec & Larry 7 years away. We're still tent camping so it's not a totally alien concept. Living near the Windy city there are NO Excel dealers anywhere near us. We'll be at LoW in IA in May & are considering a side trip to the PI factory. Do they have models on display there? Do you just call to set up a tour? there's nothing specific on line. How long does the tour take? Thanks for listening!!!

[ChiefJohn]

Welcome Linda and Larry to iRV2.com and the Excel Owners Forum. It's best to call ahead and get on the list for the factory visits. They can also tell you if there are models that you can go through.
John

[Hooligan House]

Thanks John. We'll give them a call. I've not seen any posts by people with the 28RKW, but was hoping someone might see it & respond. We really want to make an educated/informed purchase. Thanks again!

[d.duin]

You will enjoy the tour and as I recall it takes about 2 hours. Also stop and see the service facility and meet Jack the manager and staff. My only suggestion if your going to FT would be to consider something a little larger. I think most FTers do at least a 30'. I have a L33RSE and wouldn't want anything smaller but then the wife and I are 6'4" and 5'11" so we need a little extra space. Enjoy and welcome
Ace

[Hooligan House]

Thanks Ace. We started looking bigger- bring it on, I want it all! But we know we want to continue going to alot of the same kind of places we tent camp in & there are often restctions. Plus we want to spend as little time as possible on interstates. We're making spreadsheetsw & trying to weigh pros/cons of all of it. And we do value input from the people who have "been there". You guys ARE living the dream now.

[LarryGodby]

We had a 30 ft SKO and just moved into a 33 RSE. We did have somne problems going to some of the parks we use to tent camp in. One I had to remove the site marker to open the slide, another took 10 min to shimmy in place and the third the rock caused all kinds of problems.

We just decided to frequent other parks that would take bigger rigs, a few of the state parks in CO are now going to the big rig sites. 50amp, pull throughs on a level cement pad with water and sewer.

I guess it is all a mindset, you were camping, now you are RVing. Campers don't throw a switch and let their sat dish lock in on a signal and forget washing you clothes at the pump, just throw them in the washer.

[D and J]

Isn't there an Excel dealer in Dekalb ??

[Still Working "NOT"]

There is also a dealer in Iowa. Can't think of their name but should be in the dealer location list on excelrvs.com. Since they are one of the larger dealers, I would check there when you go to LoW

[camperguy]

Linda and Larry...There are four Excel dealers in Iowa. Just go to the top of this page and click on Excel Dealer Locater.

[vblarry]

I've got 2 dealers for ya. First and highly recommended is Couler Valley RV in Dubuque, Ia. Bought mine from them a year and a half ago and they still very attentive to my needs and questions. Second is Holiday Hour RV in Dekalb. They just inked the paper last week and were at the RV show this last weekend in Rosemont. You will definitely enjoy the whole Excel experience.

Larry B

[LindaH]

Please don't let others talk you into something larger if the 28RKW is what you want. *All* of us fulltimers don't need to travel in a huge RV. We have the 30RKE which is 32' long (actually, 31'11" ) and it's plenty big enough for us. We wanted something small because we do a lot of boondocking/dry camping and even with the smaller rig, there are places we can't go because we're too big. We would have gone even smaller except we wanted both a washer/dryer and a king size bed, something we couldn't get in the smaller Excels.

Another thing to keep in mind if you do go with a larger rig is that you're going to need a larger truck. Our 2007 Excel has a GVWR of 15,000# which we're 100# over if we travel with a full fresh water tank...and it makes us 100# over on our truck's GCWR, too (thus, we never travel with a full fresh water tank except for the very shortest distance possible...usually we wait until we're at the campground to fill up). So if we had a larger fifth wheel with a higher GVWR, we would have had to get a larger truck, something we didn't want to do.

[Hooligan House]

Some great info. We had planned to go to the RV show this past weekend-I printed the dealer layout & checked all dealers for comparable sizes & a few "maybes". (NuWa & Forest River) Had our route mapped...measure tape ready. And dang if I wasn't home sick end of week. The Dekalb dealer must be new to Excel. Closest I was able to locate was Dubuque & Springfield.We talked last night & are planning a weekend trip to Couler in Dubuque & visit to Galena. I GREATLY appreciate all the input.

[L44SPD]

Hi
We were at the Chicago RV Show this past Saturday and talked with Bryan for a a few minutes(he was trying to make a sale, hope it worked out Bryan), he was there with Holiday Hour RV out of DeKalb, Il. Talked at length with the owner Rick who just stared selling the Excel line and was actually well versed on the units, so much so I almost was ready to buy a new one . He's really gung-ho on Excel and rightfully so,its still the best unit on the market in my opinion. We toured the plant back in 2002 and were really impresseed with the employees and their committment to quality, they make about 95% or so of what goes into the units. Good folks to work with when a problem pops up. God luck in your quest.

Holiday Hour RV