Contemplating RVing, need advice

[Fun4family]

We are a family of 7, with kids from toddler to teen! We would love to capitalize upon our family time by RVing. Since we are a large family, we want to purchase a used RV with ample sleeping. Also, my husband is 6'2" so he wants space for driving, walking and sleeping. We'd ideally like to travel every 3 months and be out for 4-14 days at a time. We homeschool and own our own business, so we need space to do both while on the road.

We are considering a 2007 Newmar AllStar 3950 diesel pusher with 62,340 miles but not sure if $99,995 is a wise choice for our first RV. We like the layout with the bunkhouse in the back for the kids to hang out, the littlest to nap, and a separate sleep area from living area. We also are considering a 2013 Fleetwood Bounder Classic 36H gas with 42,898 miles for $64,995 as well as a 2016 Georgetown Forest River 3 Series GT3 31B gas with 33,000 miles for $71,500. We have read that Newmar are well-built but have also heard that Forest River are a good option. I read that the side bunks can quickly become too small as kids grow, but like the idea of separate sleep spaces for our 5 kids (or at least 3 of the 5), versus sharing couch pull-out /dinette.

Also, if we are not full-time RVing, how important is in-cabin and "undercarriage" storage? How important is fridge size?

One of my concerns is buying "too large" and having difficulty navigating campgrounds/national parks. I have read that some don't allow larger rigs--is this true?

Also, we would plan to tow a minivan or suburban. Thoughts?

Looking for advice on price, year, etc in purchasing.
Thanks!
Fun4Family

[K Charles]

We started with a tent, then a pickup camper and a tent. We got a popup camper and the kids wanted us to bring the tent. We had a ford excursion with 3 row seating an it could pull a good trailer so we got a 28 ft with a slide out. The kids said it wasn't camping any more, they wanted the tent back. We got a
bigger TT and now a MH, the grandkids and some of the great grand kids have asked to use the tent.

[theroc]

Welcome to the forum.

I'm going to kind of work backward and give you some of my thoughts but I'm sure you'll get a lot of feedback from other forum members who know a lot more than I do.

You say that you want to tow a minivan or Suburban. I can't think of any minivan that can be flat-towed without needing major modification, i.e. lube pump or some kind of a device or mechanism to decouple the drive shaft. Therefore, you'd have to use a tow dolly.

I'm just guessing right now, but I'm thinking that a minivan will weigh around 4,500 lbs and a tow dolly at least 500 lbs. so that means the total weight to be towed will be at least 5,000 lbs.

The curb weight of a Suburban will be at least 5,500 lbs. --again, I'm guessing right now-- and it can be flat towed.

The two gas units you mentioned I believe will have a towing capacity of 5,000 lbs. Therefore, the Suburban is out and you're going to be really close with a minivan on a dolly. This is with the motorhome loaded to its GVWR. I'm going to assume with that many people and gear, we will have to assume that you'll be very close to if not at GVWR. Be sure to weigh your coach when loaded for travel to make sure you're not over the GVWR.

Therefore, the Newmar diesel pusher, which should have a towing capacity of around 6,000 lbs (again, we'd have to check for sure and that would be at GVWR) would be the only unit you mentioned that would be able to tow a Suburban or a minivan on a tow dolly.

My thinking on your issue of not wanting something too big is moot with a family as large as what you describe. You'll need as much room as you can get. I'd put maneuvering in and out of camping spots as a secondary thought. But I don't know your family or how much room you need or lack of room you can tolerate.

Let's see what others say.

[MSHappyCampers]

Hi ! Welcome to IRV2! We're sure glad you joined us!

If the budget can handle it then I would go with the diesel pusher. With a family that large you will need all the room you can get! You can usually find a campground near national parks if the NP campground is too small.

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

[Isaac-1]

I am going to start off by saying, you need to determine what is right for you, I know most people will tell you to get a large bath and a half diesel pusher, and that might be right for you, but also if you want to get into more primitive campgrounds in many national parks, that would be difficult or impossible to do in a large diesel pusher, we have found many such campgrounds tight in our 28 ft class A. Just so you know what is possible with a large family in a small motorhome, there was a woman who was active over on the rvforum board a couple of years ago that took her 6 adopted kids on an intended 48 state 12 month trip in a 30 ft? Thor Ace towing a small car, unfortunately their trip was cut a bit short by covid after only visiting about 30 states, here is a link to her VERY long trip message thread on the rvforum https://www.rvforum.net/threads/lower-48.116059/


Also you need to think of this more like buying a house than buying a car, mileage matters very little on most motorhomes, instead condition is FAR more important, as mileage tells you nothing about how it has been maintained, or how / where it was used, since miles tells you nothing about how many nights people have slept in it, then comes condition, did the do beach camping, or camp on salt flats and allow the underbody to rust out, ....

[SomeDay]

Just thinking outside the box here but ........ Have you maybe considered a towable or 5er or even utilising a "chase" vehicle bearing in mind the size of vehicle you would like to tow to accommodate all passengers?

Just thinking if you are only using maybe 4 to 8 weeks maximum a year, you might find one of these other options could work better in many way, and the towing vehicle maybe utilised at home the rest of the time?

Just a thought and for extra sleeping either a tent or Gazebo type set up with collapsible cots/blow up mattresses at sites for a couple of the older children to sleep in and probably enjoy that side of camping.

When I consider how much depreciation we saw of our Motorhome versus our initial Fifth wheel for how much use it got in our working and schooling years, as well maintenance/repairs difference we should have kept with the 5er or a trailer from a financial standpoint. In later years of course we use the Motorhome a lot more being almost fully retired nowadays.

Just another angle to consider and of course everyone has their preferences on type of RV and why.

Enjoy the journey and treasure the memories of these special family years together.

[puttin]

We did this with our Winnebago Sightseer (35'). It's a bunk model and with the other arrangements in there we could sleep 8- although getting around was a challenge. It has a king bed so your husband should like that. Now, every place we went camping had some sort of car rental around- which is what we did. It saves thousands of $. We still have this rv and even though it's just the 2 of us now the bunks offer great storage.

[Max Headroom]

Originally Posted by Fun4family

We are a family of 7, with kids from toddler to teen! We would love to capitalize upon our family time by RVing. Since we are a large family, we want to purchase a used RV with ample sleeping. Also, my husband is 6'2" so he wants space for driving, walking and sleeping. We'd ideally like to travel every 3 months and be out for 4-14 days at a time. We homeschool and own our own business, so we need space to do both while on the road.

We are considering a 2007 Newmar AllStar 3950 diesel pusher with 62,340 miles but not sure if $99,995 is a wise choice for our first RV. We like the layout with the bunkhouse in the back for the kids to hang out, the littlest to nap, and a separate sleep area from living area. We also are considering a 2013 Fleetwood Bounder Classic 36H gas with 42,898 miles for $64,995 as well as a 2016 Georgetown Forest River 3 Series GT3 31B gas with 33,000 miles for $71,500. We have read that Newmar are well-built but have also heard that Forest River are a good option. I read that the side bunks can quickly become too small as kids grow, but like the idea of separate sleep spaces for our 5 kids (or at least 3 of the 5), versus sharing couch pull-out /dinette.

Also, if we are not full-time RVing, how important is in-cabin and "undercarriage" storage? How important is fridge size?

One of my concerns is buying "too large" and having difficulty navigating campgrounds/national parks. I have read that some don't allow larger rigs--is this true?

Also, we would plan to tow a minivan or suburban. Thoughts?

Looking for advice on price, year, etc in purchasing.
Thanks!
Fun4Family

IMO, the gas bounder is out of the question, given your stated desires and use.
I think the Newmar is going to be marginal.
It really sounds like you need a +40' tag axle DP rig, with more motor. Something north of 400hp.

My boat is a 40' non tag. Has a 10K towing capacity, BTW. If you want to tow something besides an economy car, you need more than 5 or 6 thousand towing cap.

The problem with big boats is tight corner roads, tight CG lots, and sites that are only laid out for 32ish rigs.
In general the more length (also means more weight) you have the fewer places you can go. In my case a ton of boondocking is off limits to me. Roads are too tight, too rough, too soft. I think once you get over 32', you're pretty much limited to well maintained two lane gravel roads as a minimum. Once you get to 40 and +40, even that might be pushing it. Some older RV parks, CG with small sites, and not enough power (30A max) might be a problem, but most are doable. Again, the parking pad may accommodate your rig, but getting to your site on the CG road can be tricky sometimes.
As far as driving NP and similar places. If it's paved and two lane, most of the time you're fine. Most, but not all the time. Some places are just to steep, tight, or have low clearance issues. There's no one answer here.

Basement storage is one of the main selling points of the DP. Less of your stuff crowding the living area. I'm one guy, with two dogs, and it's amazing how fast storage gets used up in my 40' DP with ample basement. Can't imagine owning a gas rig with little under rig storage for anything more than 'a couple of days at the lake'.
Also the 'basement' is where a lot of support items are located in DP's. It's nice to have enough room that you don't have to unload a ton of stuff just to reset the inverter, or some other minor thing that pops up.

Something you didn't mention is what is the tank capacity of those coaches?
With that many people you are going to want big fresh/gray/black tank capacity, big propane, big fuel tank. Oh, and big genny.
It's one thing to tough it out with a maxed out to capacity RV once in a while, but I think you'll soon tire of it if that's your norm.

Suggest looking at Monaco Signature, Crown Royal or Executive, or something equivalent in Beaver, maybe Safari.
Maybe look at Prevost, possibly a tour bus or a half and half. Maybe a Newell or Wanderlodge.

What did the guy in Jaws say? "We're gonna need a bigger boat."
My short answer is buy bigger, buy DP, even if it means buying an older high end coach.

[Isaac-1]

Consider a late model the Ford Flex (I think 2019 was the last year they were made) for a possible flat towable vehicle it has seating for 6-7 (depending on second row bench vs bucket seats), is flat towable (with certain transmission options), and weighs in under 4,500 pounds in base trim so it can be towed by most gas class A coaches which tend to have a 5,000 max towing capacity.

[Iceclimber]

I think this list of requirements will be tough to meet, I am trying to imagine where to safely put 5 kids in a Class A, or for that matter a 5th wheel tow vehicle. Not impossible just daunting. Home business...home schooling ? That is a small space either Class A or tow behind to do those things. Also one has to be realistic about balancing equipment and where you aspire to camp. You might want to get your tall husband in some Class A's vs. a 5'er too. Good luck.