Start Up advice, all please pitch in

[mhudson]

nevermind deleted.

[2500HD]

Originally Posted by Mike and Cha

Who know's, if it was a typo, but I agree with Tetonchief. Although I would encourage MFToes to buy an RV and go on trips, and get out there and have some fun. But If he were my son I would encourage him first to seek a career where he can support his lifestyle, maybe a family some day, and that has a retirement pension that will support him in later years, so he can continue RV'ing and exploring. Unless he is independantly wealthy and will not have to worry about these things down the road, I think it's irresponsible on our part to encourage someone of this age, and minimal experience in what life can bring down the road to put fun before hard work and a career that will sustain his lifestyle long into the the future. Who is going to provide his medical costs should he have an injury or get sick down the road. A simple appendix surgery costs thousands these days. What happens when he decides down the road, maybe 5, 10 years that a career would have helped him to achieve all his goals, including this one, but now he is that far behind most of his age group, that he will have a hard time entering the job market and will have postponed his real retirement for alot of years if at all.

MFToes there are a few stories in life experience to the point of put your work in now, pay your dues now, be patient and in the end you will be able to do all the things you want to do for as long as you choose because you put your responsibilities first and planned for the future, but if you skip right to the fun things in life, it will most likely not last very long if at all. So with that being said get an RV and enjoy life camping on your weekends and vacation time( and you can still meet us all out there), but have a job that will support your financial and medical needs. You asked what would make you the happiest and in my honest opinion this is what will make you happy now and for along time to come. I would bet that if you polled those of us who can spend 100's of thousands of dollars on these rigs and be able to drive the country using them, you would find very few, if any at all, of us who started out fulltiming at 26, before developing a career and/or a solid financial future

Im 31 ad couldn't agree more he needs to establish some sort of foundation. Unless like you said he is well off.

My wife and I are much further established than most folks in our age group and we are able to set aside enough funds to do long weekends all summer and the occasional week long trip. But that because we work work work towards our goal and building a life. And we will continue to do so that we will be able to take our grandkids In our 40ft DP 25 years from now.

[Mike and Cha]

Thanks 2500HD...hopefully he will read this, I didn't realize the post was so old when I saw it yesterday. We did it the way you are doing, put my 40+ years of work, camping and boating on weekends/vacations and now have a comfortable lifestyle, a lifelong pension, and a new MH....The first trip we took we took our 5 year old grandson with us and he is convinced it's his MH. When your grandkids come it's a new lease on life and you kind of get to live it over again, it's great...Take care...Mike

[MFToes]

Originally Posted by Tetonchief

What? Did you hit the lottery? Grow into your trust fund? 26 yo and contempt for life? What does that mean? What's going to make you the happiest? You gotta make your own happy! Get out and experience life! Before you settle in to living in a box, take a year off and go travel the world. Join the military or the Peace Corps. AT 26 I was already married, had my first child, had been in my first war, seen a few far and exotic places, lived in 6 states since I had joined the Air Force and was more than 8 years into a career. Sheesh, what is it with young people today? Thay want it all and they want it now.

So quick to judge, already joined the military, traveled a lot and still going, have someone, we don't want kids, and as far as i am concerned my motives are none of your business, thanks for your waste of space, and for future reference please don't post on my wall again, ever.

[Fred1609]

ok guys...take a breath....I agree we shouldn't jump to conclusions about folks.....but lets move forward...MFToes where are you now in terms of a rig and tow vehicle? My suggestion is get out there and look at as many rigs as you can find both at dealerships and on the net......we looked at rigs for about a year until DW told me what I wanted........If you are looking at an older Tow vehicle, I would suggest you stay away from the 6 litre Ford....check out you tube videos for more info....We had one and had about $9k in warranty work in the 3 years we owned it, which included 2 turbos, intercooler line, high pressure oil pump and front bearings. Im a Ford guy but I would suggest a Ram if your looking 2011 or earlier.....As for rigs, I would go with a 5er. I personally think they are easier to control with about 6 feet of 5er sitting on the bed of your truck. I particularly like the setup in a 5er as well......Full time rigs are more expensive than the entry and mid entry models.......Take your time looking for a rig.....ask lots of questions and folks here will be glad to answer any that you have......You'll always come across someone that will rub you the wrong way, just move around him and move forward.....Good luck with your search...

[kimbashaw]

Originally Posted by jammer3025

As far as a poweplant for your tow vehicle, I prefer the Cummins, that comes in the Ram trucks. Im parcial to them, and have worked on them, and serviced them for over 40 years. Ive never seen a a Ford, or chevy diesel engine used as an industrial application. I have seen many, many,many Cummins diesels in the field in the most extreme conditions, and they run forever. Now I know this is not the same as running a diesel in a pu, but just saying. I also know the Duramax is an Izuzu, and up until Fords new 6.7 diesel came out, Fords diesels were International Harversters.
As far as Rams transmission's go, if you buy a new 3500 get the Asian transmission. Its a medium duty trans that is used in commercial trucks. The Rams Cummins engine is made in tbe USA.

Buy the biggest trailer you can afford, if you plan on living in it, for long periods of time.

The Duramax is indeed a byproduct of Isuzu and Chevrolet joint venture. They partnered in 1998 to build the 6.6 L. Isuzu is a well respected worldwide leader in diesel engine production. Quite a long and successful history of building the product and married to the best transmission in the world (IMO) the Allison.


Duramax Diesel FAQ

[hturner12]

My thoughts. I some states not all you will need a NON COMMERCIAL class A driver's license (plenty of other threads on that). If possible rent/borrow a rig first. The weight of the trailer has to be con side red when getting the truck. I does you no good to buy a 18000# trailer and a have a truck rated at 15000#. It is better to have more truck than you need but if you have more trailer than truck your kinda stuck. Hit the rv show's maybe a passport ticket to a Good Sam rally. Sit down with those that are going to be with you on the road and each make a whish list of everything you want in features. Now pick a budget.Look at the lists and scratch off things that will out pricenter you or purely out of the question. Example in my case here at the house I have a projector and 100 in screen for a TV and a 1200 watt home theater to go with it. It is practical for me to have it in an rv no. Projector maybe if we had kids and wanted an outdoor movie night. For just the two of us no. Just remember evertyping has weight which is critical in any RV. Not to get in your bussiness if you do have to work as most of have or do, can you do it on the road.If it is a Web based then your going g to have to have some type of satellite Internet. (not cheap) plus more weight for the dish. If you have not done it already go to gorving.Com and request the CD. Do not go look at any units by yourself take someone with you that knows about rv systems and what to look for and what to stay away from. (There are alot of used car guys selling RVS). Most important get what you can afford and use it

[nola69746702]

In doing research, try the RV shows, the Hershey RV show in Sept has a lot of seminars. You can get a 5 day pass for $30-just to get in and look at all the RV's and etc., I took 6 seminars-all free.... they will cover topics that you did not even know you would need.

[wingnut60]

Thanks for catching that timeframe, missed it completely.

But, maybe he didn't care to stay around when most replies told him what to do with his life instead of just trying to answer the question. While I agree with all the suggestions, and I too would wonder how he could make it without a real job/income, there are those who can and do get by without following our lifestyles.

Joe

[Racklefratz]

Originally Posted by wingnut60

Thanks for catching that timeframe, missed it completely. But, maybe he didn't care to stay around when most replies told him what to do with his life instead of just trying to answer the question.

But there wasn't just "a question". The original post asked many questions, some overly broad, and some nebulous, to the extent that anyone trying to reply was almost forced to recount their entire RV life's experience. Then, after many people took time from their day to post replies, he comes back a year and a half later with an attitude, and a warning for people not to post on "his wall" ever again. That speaks VOLUMES about today's "it's all about me" generation.