Newbie to large coaches - Info Sought

[MartyMain]

Greetings! Previously we have only occasionally camped primarily at Pismo Beach, CA with a 28' Fiver pulled by a PU truck. But now we are considering several used ('05-'07) diesel pushers for full-time RVing to travel across the US and wonder about the difficulties with camping at national parks, commercial RV resorts, boondocking and overnight stays along the way with a 35' to 40' MH pulling a Jeep Wrangler. Could anyone (or two, or three) enlighten us? TIA!

[Jake21]

We are in a 40foot pulling a jeep. There are only a few places we can’t fit. Mostly those are CA state parks along the 1. Rarely is there a commercial rv park where we can’t fit.

7 years on the road and over 100,000 miles.

[MartyMain]

Originally Posted by Jake21

We are in a 40foot pulling a jeep. There are only a few places we can’t fit. Mostly those are CA state parks along the 1. Rarely is there a commercial rv park where we can’t fit.

7 years on the road and over 100,000 miles.

Great to know. How about driving your rig? My wife wants to help drive, but is apprehensive to handle such a large coach. THANKS for the advice.

[Wayne M]

Just remember that State and National RV parks were built when RV's were 20-25 feet long and no slides, so best to call ahead for those parks.

For commercial parks, call or use campgroundreviews.com and then check the campground web site. Best to call ahead and see if there is an opening. Summertime can be difficult for weekends as kids are out of school and camping is on the upswing. Holiday weekends are difficult.

KOA's may be a bit more expensive but their on-line reservation system lets you see if there is anything available for your type vehicle.

[MartyMain]

Good to know. THANKS!

[Jake21]

Originally Posted by MartyMain

Great to know. How about driving your rig? My wife wants to help drive, but is apprehensive to handle such a large coach. THANKS for the advice.

I jumped right in with no problem. My wife does not drive. She is not as good at seeing things before they happen. i think that is key to driving a big MH.

Also, the Allstays app is good for seeking out rv parks. You can click on an icon and get a quick info tab pop up. Here is a example. Note that the info is not always correct. For instance, you can easily get a MH over 40ft into this park. We pulled in and didn’t unhook the jeep and still had over 15 feet of space.

[MSHappyCampers]

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

Better get busy, you've got a lot of tire kicking to do!

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

[momdoc]

Welcome to the forum.

You are joining a good group of folks here with good info to share. We have a 40' DP and have very little problem finding campgrounds and our favorite places to camp are COEs, State, county, local parks, NPs (but a bit harder because of size but still doable for the most part) NRAs and other recreational areas. Our least favorite places are large RV resorts. We like the ambiance of actually camping

Good luck and enjoy the adventure!

[Wayne M]

It would be nice to be able to find parks to stay at. Just today we were trying to "find our way" to Flagstaff, AZ. Since we didn't care what time frame in July would be available we would leave it up to the campground for a two week stay. No such luck. All were booked up for the entire month and then there were those that we would not stay at. We will have to cancel to reservation stops and re-think where we want to go.

North to Ohio maybe. Oh, and we are 43 feet plus TOAD.

[Bubba1]

Our coach is only 36 feet so it's really not that large in the DP world, With that said we've had no problems so far getting in and out of national or state parks and campgrounds or commercial parks.
My wife drives our coach occasionally to help out on long trips. She was apprehensive at first, but once I explained it was somewhat like driving an oversized SUV and that the motorhome has power steering, power brakes and automatic transmission like her SUV she felt better about it.
I did take her out on some back roads and large empty parking lots to learn how to turn it and back it up. I then hooked up our towed vehicle and showed her how the towed turns behind the motorhome. She now helps me with driving on long trips, but only on what she calls chamber of commerce weather days.
As others have said, it's best to check on availability of larger spaces in National and State Parks when driving a rig 40 foot or longer.


Mile H

[twogypsies]

We had no issues staying in public parks with our 40' motorhome.... national parks, national forest campgrounds, state parks, Corp of Engineer, county and city parks. We've stayed in Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Zion, Bryce, Canyonlands, Big Bend, etc., etc.

We also both drove it alternating every move, including to Alaska. Alternating keeps both of us refreshed to driving and gives the other a chance to enjoy the views. We also took turns with hookups and dumping. You never know when one gets sick or injured. You both need to know how to do everything.

[saddlesore]

1st.. View the "tag" lines at the bottom of the responding posters..
To give you an Idea of where they are coming from and the equipment they have.
2nd.. KNOW your Budget!

Keep in mind..
Your 1st coach of any new configuration is simply a learning tool..
When You tour/view "In Person" any perspective coach..
View it First with all slides retracted,
If the coach is fully usable without the slides extended, then give it a second look.
(Think wally-docking,rest areas,truckstops...DW needing to use the bathroom & getting you a soda on the way back up front while traveling and don't want to stop.....or any where that you cannot/do not have room for the slides to be extended when parked)

BUY USED! & buy one with everything you "think" you want and will need..
IF anything in the perspective coach seems a bit small but still "DO-Able" .......REMEMBER!!!
What seemed small... becomes unbearably TINY after being Coop'd up" for a week or more due to weather...
(AKA.....Cabin Fever)
And.... You WILL make mistakes and have booboo's We all have.....(sometimes more than twice..)
Within a year or two you will discover..about the RV

What you love about the RV...
What you can kinda-sorta tolerate with the RV..
And what you absolutely hate about that !@#$%^%$#@! RV.
Then you can go get what you should have gotten in the first place..
Happy Hunting

Remember!!!!
Every day you "put off" retiring...is just one LESS day you have remaining to enjoy being RETIRED !!!

[UTTransplant]

Originally Posted by MartyMain

Great to know. How about driving your rig? My wife wants to help drive, but is apprehensive to handle such a large coach. THANKS for the advice.

In my experience, driving a 40’ class A is easier than driving the pickup and trailer. Apprehension can go away if you both take a class from RVDrivingSchool.com. They have teachers across the US. I was used to driving a 50’ rig (30’ trailer, 20’ truck), but our instructor taught us all kinds of handy things.

Regarding where you can find a site, we have given up staying inside most national parks (there are exceptions), but there is always an alternate place to stay nearby. We just take our toad, a Grand Cherokee, into the park. Oh, and we dry camp and boondock a lot, even with a residential refrigerator. Get as many 6v true RV batteries as you can fit easily, wire them as 12v in series, and use your generator as needed to keep them in good shape. If you dry camp/boondock a lot, you might want to invest in solar, but you don’t have to do so with a built in generator.

[Gary RVRoamer]

A 28 ft fiver plus a pick-up is probably 35-38 feet long, so not much different as far as size goes. Of course, you can park the truck elsewhere once you get on the site.