← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Faust
Thread ID: 16059 | Posts: 11 | Started: 2004-12-22
2004-12-22 01:35 | User Profile
Motor Homes
Anyone know anything about Motor Homes? How hard are they to drive.
One sees old one sale as cheap as $3000. I wonder how hard are they to work on?
I only $1200 for car and have done nearly all the work on it myself. So I have some skills at repairing stuff.
2004-12-22 01:48 | User Profile
They are topheavy so you have to be more alert to make braking and steering corrections sooner than you are used to. Often you will find them with very low mileage, even when they're 15 years old. They are usually easy to work on, except for the rear brakes due to full floating axles. Check the rear backing plates for oil leakage before buying. The ones that include the front of a regular factory van or truck cab have better controls, wiring and instrumentation, since they were engineered for mass production instead of thrown together for a small production run. Many of the bodies are cheap and if they have been run by somebody like me on bad roads the vibration may have partially disassembled the framework and sheet metal. In general, many of them are a pretty good bargain all things considered.
GLTU
2004-12-23 16:15 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Faust]Motor Homes
Anyone know anything about Motor Homes? How hard are they to drive.
One sees old one sale as cheap as $3000. I wonder how hard are they to work on?
I only $1200 for car and have done nearly all the work on it myself. So I have some skills at repairing stuff.[/QUOTE]
Piers,
Get a reliable car; a good tent and a map to every campground. Those wheezing leviathans aren't worth it.
-HC, Jr.
2004-12-23 16:38 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Howard Campbell, Jr.]Get a reliable car; a good tent and a map to every campground. Those wheezing leviathans aren't worth it.[/QUOTE]
I tend to agree with this. A nice V-8 or Cummins Diesel with a trailer hitch is the way to go, in my opinion. Who wants another engine to have to try and maintain? Go with a camper or travel-trailer. Those goose-neck hook ups are pretty nice if you have 50 or 60 grand to throw around. :) :thumbsup:
2004-12-23 16:47 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Texas Dissident]I tend to agree with this. A nice V-8 or Cummins Diesel with a trailer hitch is the way to go, in my opinion. Who wants another engine to have to try and maintain? Go with a camper or travel-trailer. Those goose-neck hook ups are pretty nice if you have 50 or 60 grand to throw around. :) :thumbsup:[/QUOTE]
Took a crack at such whale-riding , once. Fine for retirees or novelists (thinking Steinbeck's delightful "Travels with Charley"), but those cans get stinky and claustrophopbic mighty quickly.
Even a "Motel 6" for a few nights would be cheaper than the gas and maintainence on a fat gadget one drove for less than a month out of the year...
2004-12-23 18:22 | User Profile
I agree with the anti-motor home crowd. Maybe if I were rich and old, I might decide on one (I'm not either one). I'd prefer a reliable car (actually, a minivan with removable seats and dark-tinted windows) and a tent. A car you can easily drive around town and park it anywhere without it sticking out like a sore thumb. It does much better on gas.
If you just want this for yourself, one person (maybe two people), throw a twin-bed mattress into the back of the van and don't bother with the tent. Throw in some extras, like one of those non-mechanical 12V car refrigerators.
2004-12-23 21:38 | User Profile
The reason I wouldn't have one is I couldn't get it into the mountain hideouts I can get into with my 4x4 Toyota Tundra. Get a pickup with a camper shell and you can practically live out of it and go to motels every third day or so to take a shower. Motorhomes are stressful to drive. Unless you are traveling from trailer park to trailer park they are pretty useless. If I had one I'd be wanting to take a vacation away from trailer parks.
2005-06-24 19:39 | User Profile
I wanted one (a motor home) for some time, but they do seem impractical. Does anybody know any good campgrounds in the northeast? I've got family in Upstate NY.
2005-06-24 23:59 | User Profile
Don't do it, at first it sounds like a great idea but is a waste of money in the long run.
Had one for a year and used it only three time and each time for less than three days.
2005-06-25 16:24 | User Profile
Ponce: If you want a nice, comfortable and enjoyable camping experience, I would [B]Highly[/B] recommend a travel trailer. Mine has a bathroom (complete with shower), a microwave, a refrigerator, plenty of storage space and, most important, air conditioning. In order to maximize space, the ends extend out to form two double beds. This gives me the same interior living area that would be found in a much larger trailer (it's 21' when not opened). The cost? about thirteen thousand two years ago. The wife unit and I have traveled everywhere from New England to Texas with our "portable motel room" and we love it.
2005-07-11 18:32 | User Profile
Howard Campbell, Jr.
Most likely a good idea. The cost of insurance on one is a good reason not to have one. The insurance on my one small car is bad enough.
I have some times wondered about those folding trailers. They look like they might be easier to deal with than the big guys.
[QUOTE]Get a reliable car; a good tent and a map to every campground. Those wheezing leviathans aren't worth it.[/QUOTE]