How Big is Too Big for Bookdocking?

[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.

[Unplanned Tourist]

Get lots of solar power. But I'm sure you already know that after the boating years.
The drawback to having a big rig is access to a lot of the remote areas that have un-even roads, so clearance is really a problem in some of the out of the way places. We miss our truck and camper for that reason only.
Have you thought about a 5th wheel toy hauler? Maybe that would work better for you. I see the new GM and Fords are coming with 440+ HP.
Good Luck and Happy Travels.

[TacomaSailor]

"Get lots of solar power. But I'm sure you already know that after the boating years. "

Sure Do! We have not needed to connect to shore power in 17-years. Lots of solar, big batteries, big inverter, really efficient refrigerator, and no Air Conditioning. We spent 3-summer in the upper Sea of Cortez with no air. It takes bit of getting used to but is OK after a while.

[okcnewbie]

Any chance you want to adopt a 53 year old (me) for at least 3 months of the year?
I know nothing about sailing but I'm very handy.

[Unplanned Tourist]

Originally Posted by TacomaSailor

"Get lots of solar power. But I'm sure you already know that after the boating years. "

Sure Do! We have not needed to connect to shore power in 17-years. Lots of solar, big batteries, big inverter, really efficient refrigerator, and no Air Conditioning. We spent 3-summer in the upper Sea of Cortez with no air. It takes bit of getting used to but is OK after a while.

So how long do your batteries last? And what kind were they?

[pointrow]

I wouldn't consider anything over 38'. Longer coaches just take too much room to negotiate around state and fed parks. I know there are exceptions but I have been avoiding these areas in my 42' MH because of these issues.
Boon docking wouldn't really mater in most areas I've seen.

good luck with your adventure

pointrow

[Frank Tamez]

This is what you need.

The video is of a Freightliner Super C 4x4.... You can have it custom made pretty much any way you please.

I have a Renegade Explorer being custom built as we speak. After having quite a few Coaches the last 20 years.

Including 25 foot Mercedes Chassis Class B+ (To Small)

A 32, a 34 and 36 foot Class A Diesel Pushers (All Alpine Coach... Nice but have some drawbacks)

4 different 45 foot Freightliner truck conversions built by Haulmark, NRC, and Chariot....This was during our Drag Racing Days. We toured most of the USA going from Drag Strip to Dragstrip pulling a stacker trailer, and Dry Camping at the tracks. 200 gallons of fresh water and 100 each gray and black. All upscale, Rode and drove great but a bit large and cumbersome.

The explorer Being custom built is 37 feet 10 inches overall and Penny and I believe its the best of both worlds. We hard loaded with things like Hydronic heat, Solar, Outside High intensity LED lights and such. Its big enough to be comfortable and small enough to get in almost anywhere. And they drive like no Class A i have ever driven. The Alpine Coaches were known for being some of the best handling Class As on the planet and don't even come close to how these drive.

Might be worth considering

IWS Motorcoaches in Mountain Home Idaho is the Dealer I ordered through. I'm a Car Dealer and know what customer service is or should be. They are fantastic to deal with.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FH9DZbHq9E&t=262s

[TacomaSailor]

Originally Posted by Unplanned

So how long do your batteries last? And what kind were they?

We installed the 4x125 watt solar panels in the summer of 1999. At that time we had two Trojan 8D gellcell batteries (12V 225 amp hours each) that had been in the boat since we purchased it new in February 1995. Those 8D gellcells lasted full time cruising until December 2002 (6.5 years) when we replaced them with six Trojan T-105 (6V 225 amp hour) lead acid batteries.

The six T-105's were still working well when we replaced them with six more Werker T-105s in September 2009 (almost seven-years).

At this time the T-105 batteries are working perfectly after 7.5 years use including another 4-years full time liveaboard cruising.

We lived and cruised in Puget Sound (47 degrees North to 55 degrees N) for five years and in San Diego and south to 18 N for the remaining 12-years.

We heat the boat with a diesel heater. Our 12V refrigerator runs about 8-hours a day while using 3.5 amps at 13V (about 45 watts). The ice box has 6" of insulation.

We have LED lights everywhere so our electrical use is quite low.

The TWO things I know for certain about keeping batteries fresh for years:

1- Keep the daily drawn down to less than 25% (we try for 15%)

2 - Recharge EVERY day to full bulk absorption voltage. Our solar panels will charge the T-105s to 14.5V and keep them there for 30-minutes before dropping to a 13.8V float. I know those are hot/high voltages but I never worry about sulphation developing because we knock the sulfate off every day. The downside is I need to keep a very close eye on battery water and check every cell at least once a month.

[cruzbill]

Try dipping your toes in this website:


Wheeling It – Living the Fulltime RV Dream with 12 Paws, 40 Feet and the Open Road

And think about lithium batteries, its the batteries that store the energy; solar is just a battery charger, when you think about it.

Sounds like fun, we just bought a new to us 40' w/tag coach and I, like you , would like to explore more boondocking sites.

[Freedom03]

The only thing I can say about big Diesel pushers is they are harder to level up especially when you get in the out of the way places that's the only thing I can think of that will be new to you other than that it is just a boat on land

[TonyDi]

A lot depends on how you'll wind up using it. I am in a 43' and I have visited a lot of Nat'l and State parks. I may not always be able to camp inside them, however I always find space where I can park. Am I limited in boondocking, not really. We don't do it often so I don't feel the need for it as a consideration. I sat down and decided what I wanted to do with my MH, and what were the things that were important. That's how I did it.

[UncleBilly]

EarthRoamer has a new rig based on the Ford F750 platform. Real nice [emoji12][emoji1303] I'm guessing around $700k [emoji30][emoji22] The biggest problem I've found with my rig going down Forest Roads or BLM areas is the ground clearance. Not much there. Also uneven roads will flex your rig. They don't like that. Lucky I haven't broke either panes of windows up front. A one piece windshield is even more susceptible too breaking. Good luck!

[YooperVer]

Ground clearance, wheelbase, and height all important in addition to overall length. Not black and white, but in my opinion as soon as you go over 30 feet you start to loose boon docking flexibility, and at 40 foot and longer you are seriously impaired. Of course it depends on where you go and how you define boon docking. Some people will swear that they can go anywhere in their 45 footer. Don't believe them.

[1bigmess]

You sound like you have experience with living differently than most other folks, even many RVers, would be able to think their way into, and then back out of again.

You also sound like you have an adventurous spirit. It will serve you well no matter what size RV you choose.

The larger the RV, the less able you will be to really get out to the smaller, harder to get to, and therefore more lonely and quiet places. That's just a fact. There are some, few, but maybe some, roads that may lead to really interesting places you might want to go that won't allow something the length and/or weight of the coach you are considering, especially if you have a toad.

Deserts and prairies tend to be very wide open places often with plenty of room for lots of folks. Forests not so much.

You have experience driving long vehicle with long wheelbases, and likely also engine brakes, air brakes, and other systems. You're already a huge step ahead in the game.

Now, I personally wouldn't call a 40+ foot coach "living small", but that's just me. I live in an ORV Black Rock 19B, and it serves me very well. I bought it because I wanted more flexibility to find places to go and park "easier". Note I did not say "easily".

Get what makes you smile, don't listen to me or anyone else about what is the right size or equipment, learn the limitations of your rig and yourself, then go out and have a damned good time. Just be ready to fix stuff.