How Big is Too Big for Bookdocking?

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by Dan McMartin

We limited ourselves to 35 feet but preferred shorter. But we were looking at gas coaches. Hard to find DP's less than 36 feet. But if we were looking at a DP, we'd stick to 36-38.

Take a look at the Newmar New Aire, it's a DP and 33'. But then it's all electric too so while small enough it still wouldn't be a great boondocking rig.

[Dan McMartin]

Originally Posted by Mr_D

Take a look at the Newmar New Aire, it's a DP and 33'. But then it's all electric too so while small enough it still wouldn't be a great boondocking rig.

Put enough solar on top and it would be fine so if you're willing to pay the other $300k, we'll do it

Seriously, we like New Aire a lot. Just not in our budget. But it is nice to see some shorter DP's being built. I hope Newmar sells a lot of them and expands the line. Maybe in 5-7 years we could upgrade to used NA.

[MTSam]

25 ft or less. This is the true limit of many national parks.

At a certain point you are 'taking over' the environment -- and are an eye sore for those there.

Just because you can get a big rig somewhere doesn't mean you should, or will be greeted with smiles.

When you bring in bigger units, you are just creating a parking lot that's in disarray in the environment. It's not like the smaller units that tuck out of sight better.

Like so many things in life, just because you can doesn't make it a good choice. Respect of all to where you are at is a real factor...

[nothermark]

Guess our 30 ft C is too big?????

[Itinerant1]

Originally Posted by MTSam

25 ft or less. This is the true limit of many national parks.

At a certain point you are 'taking over' the environment -- and are an eye sore for those there.

Just because you can get a big rig somewhere doesn't mean you should, or will be greeted with smiles.

When you bring in bigger units, you are just creating a parking lot that's in disarray in the environment. It's not like the smaller units that tuck out of sight better.

Like so many things in life, just because you can doesn't make it a good choice. Respect of all to where you are at is a real factor...

Maybe you would like to add age of rv's. I'm sure by your post there must be some that are "an eye sore for those there."

[Busskipper]

Originally Posted by TacomaSailor

We are new to this forum and need some good advice!

My wife and I have been full time long distance sailboat cruisers for the last 17-years. We are now looking to purchase a larger Class A for landside touring six to nine months a year. We plan to also cruise more in the boat.

We know a bit about the full time RV lifestyle because my parents did it from 1975 thru 1990. My wife and I occasionally traveled with them and took several long time trips in their 36' Class A while my parents enjoyed our beautiful view home overlooking Puget Sound.

We've lived aboard our 40-foot sailboat in remote and desolate locations for months at a time. We really understand living in small spaces and how to be independent of all services. We spent 3-years living aboard in the Sea of Cortez and spent fewer than 60-days tied to a dock. The rest of the time we were anchored offshore and once went 7-weeks without visiting a village, town, or any kind of store or shop.

Our big question is How Big is Too Big when purchasing a diesel Class A motorhome, which we will use for extended dry camping in remote areas?

I have many years and miles experience driving charter buses and school buses, most of them more than 40' in length. I've driven those buses on long cross country multi-day trips and thousands of hours in downtown urban settings. I did a lot of multi-day ski and camping trips on paved back roads and gravel logging roads in the Cascade, Sierra, and Olympic mountains while driving a 45' charter bus. I do appreciate the problems a large bus can experience in rural and remote areas.

We plan to wander around the United States, Baja California, and Canada. We do not like fancy and expensive resorts or RV parks. We would like to do as much dry camping as possible and to spend as much time as possible off the interstate roads and in the wilderness. We recently drove from San Diego to SW Florida without every going on a 4-lane divided and controlled access highway. We needed 25-days to make the trip but really enjoyed the back roads and small towns. We followed the Rio Grande from El Paso to Brownsville and Padre Island and then the Gulf Coast to SW Florida. About every 25-miles my wife would comment "I sure wish we were in a big comfortable RV so we could stop here for the evening."

We are financially secure and can easily afford the annual operating expense of a 45'RV.

We will not own a home during the next three to five years. We will spend all our time on either our boat or in the RV so we want a big, comfortable coach with a lot of load carrying capacity. We will have four bicycles with us for road and mountain bike riding. We will also carry a 10' Portebote and 2 HP outboard because my wife loves to fish. The Portebote has been our only dinghy for 17-years of sailboat cruising.

We have looked at, literally, hundreds of coaches in the 38 to 45' range during the last five years as we plan for the transition from boating to RV life. We think we want something in the 38' to 45' length, probably a tag axle chassis. We know we want a diesel because I absolutely hated driving gasoline powered buses.

I would like comments about limitations and restictions we might encounter when owning a newer 40-foot or larger Class A coach when driving and parking in:

- National Parks
- National Forests
- BLM land
- State Parks
- County and City parks
- desert SW back roads, both paved and dirt
- less expensive RV parks off the interstate system

I've reviewed the web pages for dozens of private and public rural and remote RV parks and campgrounds. Many have 36' or less limits. Will we be able to find a wide variety of low cost, remote, and off the normal path sites to accomodate a 40' or larger coach? Unimproved and dry camps are OK for us.

The very large coaches and buses I drove in the Western mountains and wildress usually had a bit of extra ground clearance. Will a normal air suspension Class A in the 42' to 45' range experience ground clearance issues on dirt roads in National Forests and BLM land?

My parents spent a lot of time in Baja California and Alaska in 36' and 38' gas coaches (e.g. Winnebago Super Chief) and I've seen a lot of pictures of them high centered or dug into loose dirt. They did not have air-suspension so I wonder how much extra ground clearance that option could provide.

What other things might we have to give up when owning such a large coach?

Is it practical to dry camp in remote areas with a nicer, newer, 40-foot plus coach?

What issues with owning a full time tag axle Class A coach am I ignoring or unaware of?

What protential problems should I be thinking about when considering a big Class A for off the interstate and back country full time use?

Thanks for any comments or advice you can offer.

Will Post prior to reading any of the other answering posts - You truly want a Land Yacht - so the first thing you need to do is narrow the field - right now the RV- business is Humming and it is much harder to get the custom Features you desire -

Newmar and Entegra would appear to meet your criteria, but not sure how much "Custom design Changes" you can get - the only real way to know is to push your way into the Factory Sales Reps office/phone - Hershey would be a good place if you were in the Area next week - everything is there - and if you have three or four days you might be able to see what might work for you. https://www.prvca.org/rv-show/consumer-info

Couple of things you have mentioned that need to be on your "Spec" list;

Gas cooktop -
Non Residential Refrigerator - Propane -
Large Propane Tank -
Wired for Solar - not just to the Roof but also to the Inverter and Chargers -
Think about the Engine Size - Not sure you are looking for 650HP?
Booth or Table and Chairs - we've had both - seldom if ever sit at the table so we selected a buffet with a fold up table that stays out of the way and use lap plates.
Shower size is big issue for many -
Fisher and Paykel D/W uses less water than hand washing -
Combo washer dryer? or two separate units? less/more storage?
Hydro Hot heat -
TV or TV's?
Wi - Fi ?
Chais or sofa?

List can go on and on.....

So you need to take the spec's that worked on the Boat and improve to work on the Land Yacht.

IMHO you will not be well served with a standard Spec unit your unit needs to be "Custom Built"

Will be interesting to Follow and see how you handle your decisions - You seem to Know what You Want now to see if someone will built it on something other than a Prevost Chassis, which is the 1-3 million a copy.

Best of Luck,

On Edit;

IMHO a 40-45' unit will park where you want to be - we do not use FHU's but say 40 per cent of the time, and our 42+ works for us.

Toad will also be critical - 4X4 will get you that last mile - you can choose among many but a small/short Jeep would work - My DW demands a much more comfy ride so we are moving from a 2001 MDX (300K miles) to a 2007-9 GX 470 - the GX should be able to push a Jeep but cruise with a sedan. (Lot's of Grandaughters so need the seating)

[CountryFit]

Originally Posted by Mr_D

Take a look at the Newmar New Aire, it's a DP and 33'. But then it's all electric too so while small enough it still wouldn't be a great boondocking rig.

don't think all electric is a restrictor for boondocking. since last oct we have been here without plugins, for wife's medical procedures in ucsf. it's more than adequate to live a comfortable life with our 2160w solar system.

we have not started generator for a/c yet as it's so cool here, but we have it ready if need be.

[Pa Miller]

Originally Posted by TacomaSailor

We are new to this forum and need some good advice!

My wife and I have been full time long distance sailboat cruisers for the last 17-years. We are now looking to purchase a larger Class A for landside touring six to nine months a year. We plan to also cruise more in the boat.

We know a bit about the full time RV lifestyle because my parents did it from 1975 thru 1990. My wife and I occasionally traveled with them and took several long time trips in their 36' Class A while my parents enjoyed our beautiful view home overlooking Puget Sound.

We've lived aboard our 40-foot sailboat in remote and desolate locations for months at a time. We really understand living in small spaces and how to be independent of all services. We spent 3-years living aboard in the Sea of Cortez and spent fewer than 60-days tied to a dock. The rest of the time we were anchored offshore and once went 7-weeks without visiting a village, town, or any kind of store or shop.

Our big question is How Big is Too Big when purchasing a diesel Class A motorhome, which we will use for extended dry camping in remote areas?

I have many years and miles experience driving charter buses and school buses, most of them more than 40' in length. I've driven those buses on long cross country multi-day trips and thousands of hours in downtown urban settings. I did a lot of multi-day ski and camping trips on paved back roads and gravel logging roads in the Cascade, Sierra, and Olympic mountains while driving a 45' charter bus. I do appreciate the problems a large bus can experience in rural and remote areas.

We plan to wander around the United States, Baja California, and Canada. We do not like fancy and expensive resorts or RV parks. We would like to do as much dry camping as possible and to spend as much time as possible off the interstate roads and in the wilderness. We recently drove from San Diego to SW Florida without every going on a 4-lane divided and controlled access highway. We needed 25-days to make the trip but really enjoyed the back roads and small towns. We followed the Rio Grande from El Paso to Brownsville and Padre Island and then the Gulf Coast to SW Florida. About every 25-miles my wife would comment "I sure wish we were in a big comfortable RV so we could stop here for the evening."

We are financially secure and can easily afford the annual operating expense of a 45'RV.

We will not own a home during the next three to five years. We will spend all our time on either our boat or in the RV so we want a big, comfortable coach with a lot of load carrying capacity. We will have four bicycles with us for road and mountain bike riding. We will also carry a 10' Portebote and 2 HP outboard because my wife loves to fish. The Portebote has been our only dinghy for 17-years of sailboat cruising.

We have looked at, literally, hundreds of coaches in the 38 to 45' range during the last five years as we plan for the transition from boating to RV life. We think we want something in the 38' to 45' length, probably a tag axle chassis. We know we want a diesel because I absolutely hated driving gasoline powered buses.

I would like comments about limitations and restictions we might encounter when owning a newer 40-foot or larger Class A coach when driving and parking in:

- National Parks
- National Forests
- BLM land
- State Parks
- County and City parks
- desert SW back roads, both paved and dirt
- less expensive RV parks off the interstate system

I've reviewed the web pages for dozens of private and public rural and remote RV parks and campgrounds. Many have 36' or less limits. Will we be able to find a wide variety of low cost, remote, and off the normal path sites to accomodate a 40' or larger coach? Unimproved and dry camps are OK for us.

The very large coaches and buses I drove in the Western mountains and wildress usually had a bit of extra ground clearance. Will a normal air suspension Class A in the 42' to 45' range experience ground clearance issues on dirt roads in National Forests and BLM land?

My parents spent a lot of time in Baja California and Alaska in 36' and 38' gas coaches (e.g. Winnebago Super Chief) and I've seen a lot of pictures of them high centered or dug into loose dirt. They did not have air-suspension so I wonder how much extra ground clearance that option could provide.

What other things might we have to give up when owning such a large coach?

Is it practical to dry camp in remote areas with a nicer, newer, 40-foot plus coach?

What issues with owning a full time tag axle Class A coach am I ignoring or unaware of?

What protential problems should I be thinking about when considering a big Class A for off the interstate and back country full time use?

Thanks for any comments or advice you can offer.

Dang could ya'll adopt a 60 year old teenager looking for adventure

[saddlesore]

Originally Posted by nothermark

Guess our 30 ft C is too big?????

Gather that he considers our 40'+ a non conforming eyesore as well.....
The fish, deer & elk do not care...
Yes I'm a 2nd hand vegan........ Cows eat grass....I eat cows,deer,Elk...

[saddlesore]

Originally Posted by Busskipper

Will be interesting to Follow and see how you handle your decisions - You seem to Know what You Want now to see if someone will built it on something other than a Prevost Chassis, which is the 1-3 million a copy.

Best of Luck,

Newell & Foretravel also make their own chassis (However Foretravel is now using a Spartan hybrid chassis. IE:Foretravel wide stance on the air bags)

[Scottybdivin]

Originally Posted by MTSam

25 ft or less. This is the true limit of many national parks.

At a certain point you are 'taking over' the environment -- and are an eye sore for those there.

Just because you can get a big rig somewhere doesn't mean you should, or will be greeted with smiles.

When you bring in bigger units, you are just creating a parking lot that's in disarray in the environment. It's not like the smaller units that tuck out of sight better.

Like so many things in life, just because you can doesn't make it a good choice. Respect of all to where you are at is a real factor...

The primative campers may think the car campers are an eye sore. The car campers may think your 25' is an eye sore. You have a 25' so anything larger is disruptive. Kind of a "close the door behind me" attitude.

My pet peave is when 25' RV's pull into one of the few 70' - 100' sites, when there are plenty of shorter sites available.

[Gordon Dewald]

Originally Posted by MTSam

25 ft or less. This is the true limit of many national parks.

At a certain point you are 'taking over' the environment -- and are an eye sore for those there.

Just because you can get a big rig somewhere doesn't mean you should, or will be greeted with smiles.

When you bring in bigger units, you are just creating a parking lot that's in disarray in the environment. It's not like the smaller units that tuck out of sight better.

Like so many things in life, just because you can doesn't make it a good choice. Respect of all to where you are at is a real factor...

Do you limit size to a 2 man tent or is a 5 acceptable? Parks are there for everyone's enjoyment. Size has nothing to do with being there.

[Busskipper]

Originally Posted by MTSam

25 ft or less. This is the true limit of many national parks.

At a certain point you are 'taking over' the environment -- and are an eye sore for those there.

Just because you can get a big rig somewhere doesn't mean you should, or will be greeted with smiles.

When you bring in bigger units, you are just creating a parking lot that's in disarray in the environment. It's not like the smaller units that tuck out of sight better.

Like so many things in life, just because you can doesn't make it a good choice. Respect of all to where you are at is a real factor...

Think this ranks in the "Fake News Division" - Might just be the Dum**st thing I ever read on the Forum (Sorry)

Thinking you probably have never visited a National Park or any BLM land in the States, or you would know better.

Again Sorry, just hard to believe some one could even think this.

JMHO,

[Reed Cundiff]

25 to 28' is probably a good limit. We have driven into a number of National Parks in our pickup and decided our 34' 5th wheel would not fit into them. There are sometimes two or three for big rigs but they are filled and swing room is limited (Olympic, Glacier, etc). Height can be a real problem. We drove into Calukmal Biosphere (Mexico, Guatemala border) and decided our 5th wheel could not go under the trees (our Roadtrek can and plan to do such this winter).

There are some great campgrounds in Yellowstone that bigger rigs cannot get into. Fishing Bridge is the only CG in Yellowstone that is designed for big rigs and it is usually full. Lewis Lake is gorgeous but limited to 25' and we decided that our then 28' TT was to large. You can fit in perhaps but it would hinder others in their swing room

Larger is a real problem on a lot of BLM spots we enjoy due to problems with high siding in a longer vehicle. Our 19' Roadtrek does have low clearance and we had problems going over topes in San Cristobal de las Casas (the RV guide suggests nothing over 21' in that town). But the Roadtrek worked great in Newfoundland/Labrador a year ago and we could boondock in places that a larger rig could not approach. The same is true in Mexico. There are places you could not get a large rig - and if you did, you would never get it out.

If you have a big rig, you had best scout out the approach, the site, and the ability to get out. Elaine had to back our 34' fifth wheel half a mile, uphill, on curves, in traffic, in San Miguel del Allende. I had failed as a navigator.

Reed and Elaine