Realistic time to get from East to West Coast in a Class A gasser?

[saddlesore]

2810 miles.
500 miles a day more or less will take you 6 days.
Overnight parking....
Since You are only interested in getting there ASAP.
I suggest with a motorhome use truckstops/casino's/Wally Worlds and using a RV campground every other day (tank dump and water fill)
good luck

[Ray,IN]

Originally Posted by saddlesore

2810 miles.
500 miles a day more or less will take you 6 days.
Overnight parking....
Since You are only interested in getting there ASAP.
I suggest with a motorhome use truckstops/casino's/Wally Worlds and using a RV campground every other day (tank dump and water fill)
good luck

Many years ago I had a 1976 Allegro MH, gasser 28'. Your scenario is close to what I experienced from Indiana to LA. I did all the driving. We overnighted/dry camped 2x then FHU CG 1 night to replenish.


Can't understand why OP wants to stay in a motel when driving a MH, he can overnight free at many spots and use the saved money to buy fuel.

[Aimer553]

One question no one else has raised: how new is the motor home you plan to drive? If you’re planning to drive a new / newer MH, the 300-mile day is doable. However, in an older MH the shocks and suspension may need to be replaced or upgraded in order to make your drive less tiring. I speak from experience. Our first MH was a used one, and if I had known then what I know now, I would have had the suspension improved before taking it on a 1400-mile trip.

[Bahamaniac]

300 is easy with 2 drivers. 400 to 500 is very doable with 2 drivers.

[elite wa]

A 300 hour day is nothing that’s just a tank of gas in a motorhome. Should be able to make 500 easily with two drivers. We normally do 400 to 500 days with just me driving.

[Isaac-1]

I have put about 12,000 miles on my current coach since buying it in 2016, in general I try to plan 300-350 miles per day for travel days when traveling to distant destinations, I will occasionally push that a bit to get to a planned stop. On a handful of occasions I have pushed that past 400 miles, and once to 499 miles in a single day, each time I have looked back on it and regretted doing over 400 miles in a given day. As mentioned above gusting cross winds can make 200 miles feel like 400.


Also if this is a new to you coach I would strongly suggest a few shake down trips where you get the engine up to operating temperature to lower the chances of something going wrong along the way.

[palasz]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and ideas.

The MH would be new but we would have it about a year before taking on the road.

I only thought of hotels because they are usually right off the interstate and seem like an easy option. If there are specific RV places easy to access we will look at all of those options.

Would a Class C with Ford 450 chassis be easier than a Class A gas MH to drive and handle? I know it is safer with the airbags...

I plan on renting and test driving a few MH's locally before deciding.

Thanks,

M.

[Waiter21]

This is very rare. If I need to be there, and the motorhome is the transportation method. I've run 800 -1000 miles a day, Driving 14 -16 hours a day with a short gas stop every 4 hours.


I typically run 400-500 miles a day. My general rule is: I need to be in my overnight spot by sundown.

[IC2]

I'll add my $.02 to the 300-350 miles per day. As a new owner and RVer, even that mileage may be excessive. A MH, whether a Class A, B or C takes some getting used to as it is not the same as driving your car at 70-80mph. Even the TT and 5th wheels take some getting used to for long miles per day. We have done 500+ mile days with a 5th wheel but have to say that it is tiring. Regardless of where you are driving, you will probably average 50-55 mph with traffic and stops for yours and pet comfort, gas/diesel fuel and maybe food. Then since you are going cross country, there are lots of things to see which can add time. Even having been there several times, would still want to revisit Grand Canyon and the national parks in Utah, Mt Rushmore and other wonder places in the US

[grindstone01]

According to the OP's post, this RV trip will be a new experience for them. I agree with the above post that a cross country driving trip is not the time/place to discover the RV pitfalls. Driving a RV for 300 miles in one day is one thing, now try that for 10 days in a marathon drive and a new to them MH. Also, how good do these animals travel going long distance?
There is a lot more to be considered here than just where to park at night, which will also be a new experience to them.
Overnight camping in a parking lot is not for everyone. I used to do that in a truck, but I won't do that in a RV. I just can't relax in a parking lot with vehicles moving around me.

[Nasdaqsam]

As you can see lots of different answers to your inquiry. It really depends on the person and M/H you're driving. Back when I had my gassers the first thing I did to all them was install air bags and upgrade the steering stabilizers. The easier they handle the easier it is to knock out miles. If you're fighting it all the way it gets tiring quick. I find the DP we now have is easier to drive than a car.

I plan my driving days by how far the ultimate goal is and how long we want to take to get there.

For a trip like yours, again all things being equal the M/H is running good and handling well, I would probably put 16 to 18 hour days in. I am just not one if I have to be somewhere to pull over and sit in a rest area if the sun is shining and if I am not tired. The DW likes to plan no more than 8/10 hours a day but that often does not work out because it is still nice out and I am not tired so drive until I am. The other thing is, is we are both early risers so we get a good early start.

This past fall my buddy and I did a trip from Upstate NY to FL to drop the Coach off at my FL home. The intention was to take 2 days to get there, play golf for a few days and fly home. When night came along I was still feeling good so kept going. Around 1am I started feeling it so we stopped for a few hours to take a quick cat nap and got back on the road at 3 am. It ended up taking us 22 hours stops and all. So gave us an extra day of golf.

Again to each is own but being flexible is key for a long trip. If you're tired pull over and walk around, take a nap, have something to eat. If that's it for the day so be it call it a day. If you're driving and feeling good keep going why limit it to a certain mileage? One thing to keep in mind with all good intentions of pulling over at location X make sure you leave yourself some buffer driving time if you get to X and no room you have to move on to the next available location.

[MRUSA14]

The ideal way to do it would be to stretch your trip out and take a year to cross the country <G>. So much to see and do and whenever I travel on a schedule I am acutely aware that I am missing precious sights and experiences along the way.

Apparently you need to do this in a fixed amount of time and I understand this. I do a 1700 mile trip twice a year and I usually drive 300-475 miles per day. My wife doesn't drive and if she did, we could easily go farther. BUT, after two days of this I take a day off. I try to choose a place to stop that will be fun and interesting to visit. After a relaxing day playing tourist, I am rested and ready for two long days of driving again. I highly recommend this to you as it will give you much more satisfaction than just driving driving driving for ten days straight.

It is great that you will have the RV for a year or so before the trip. This will enable you to get the bugs out of it and get used to driving and living in it. Once you have some experience with it, I predict you will forget about staying in a hotel.

[Aimer553]

Originally Posted by grindstone01

According to the OP's post, this RV trip will be a new experience for them. I agree with the above post that a cross country driving trip is not the time/place to discover the RV pitfalls. Driving a RV for 300 miles in one day is one thing, now try that for 10 days in a marathon drive and a new to them MH. Also, how good do these animals travel going long distance?
There is a lot more to be considered here than just where to park at night, which will also be a new experience to them.
Overnight camping in a parking lot is not for everyone. I used to do that in a truck, but I won't do that in a RV. I just can't relax in a parking lot with vehicles moving around me.

[emoji1303] Yes, your pets need to get accustomed to traveling. Take a couple day trips just to help them develop a new routine. We did it with two dogs. The big dog was fine, but the little dog almost always wanted to be held and he would bother the driver (my husband) unless I held him. If we crated him, he screamed.....that didn’t work! One more reason we switched back to truck and travel trailer. [emoji4]

[YooperVer]

Years ago, drove coast to coast in 3-1/2 days with 2 drivers in a VW camper van. Not my style now, but if in a hurry not hard to do. If only one driver not going to happen so fast. 300 miles per day is nothing if goal is only to get somewhere fast.