Touring US in RV Van

Cafe Society
1

The wife and I are seriously considering taking a 6-8 week tour of the the U.S. next spring. We live in NJ so the east coast and even New England aren’t really part of the plan. California, Oregon, New Mexico, Rocky Mountains, Dakotas are. We don’t mind sleeping in a tent but would rather have some sort of small RV like a Sprinter or similar for this trip. I see you can rent them but they aren’t cheap. 8 weeks would run about $7000 for a not-too-fancy vehicle.

Have any of you Dopers done this? I’m prepared to do a bunch of research but figured I’d start here. There must be a million things to know and do (or not do). Maybe there is a book like Camper Van Touring for Dummies or something?

I thought maybe buying a used one and selling it at the end might be an option but the sales tax alone on one these $80-100,000 RV vans would probably make this a big money loser.

I’d love to hear from those with experience.

2

I think a lot of people wouldn’t be comfortable driving one, so rent one for a weekend and try it now.

3

If 8 weeks (56 nights) costs $7000, that’s $125 per night (you can add in the nightly campsite fees, if you want, I don’t know how much those are). You could stay at some fairly decent motels for that*, and do the driving in your own car.

Neither RVing nor tent camping is something that interests me, so I haven’t done it since I was a teen. My father wanted to do that when he retired, but my mother flat-out refused.

*depending on where you want to go and where you want to stay/camp, of course.

4

Before my dad died, my parents used to take their RV out west (from just north of Baltimore) and on at least one trip, their RV fizzled out and they traded it in on a new one in Arizona. So that’s a potential issue. My sister and her husband have one also, and I seem to recall on one trip, they had to replace all the tires. I don’t know how that’s handled if you have a rental.

Personally, were I to do such a trip, I’d do the drive and motel route, but camping doesn’t appeal to me.

5

I don’t have any personal experience to share, but I have thought about this too. I’ve fallen down YouTube rabbit holes about RV touring. Set aside 3 or 4 hours in an evening and type ‘van life’ into YT search. You’ll find tons of info on ideas for kitting out your RV, where you can stay in your RV overnight for free, places to rent showers, and just plenty of tips and tricks.

6

Also consider there’s a reason people tow cars behind their RVs. Want to pop into downtown Portland on your trip? Fisherman’s wharf? The Mormon temple in SLC? Good luck in an RV.

That and the cost comparison to just staying in hotels has always kept me from pulling the trigger on this sort of trip.

7

I’ve owned three RVs from 20’ to 27’, and by far my favorite was Class B (van conversion) that was about 21’ long, made by Pleasure-Way (a Canadian company). The 27’ was very roomy, but a bitch to drive when there was any wind. Even a passing semi rig caused significant buffeting. Second problem was power. It was a Ford E-350 chassis with a V-10, but it was a complete dog when climbing hills. The Pleasure-Way, which was also a Ford E-350 (V-8) breezed up mountains at speed.

We spent six months on the road in the larger Class C (27’) and were quite comfortable, but as it turns out, we were just as comfortable in the smaller rig. We took our showers at campground facilities; the RV had a shower, but it was a pretty small bathroom. With the Pleasure-Way, we took two trips of over a month, traveling throughout the Southwest, and didn’t regret a moment of it. We drove the Oregon coast every summer, and our final trip was when we moved from Oregon to MN, where I sold it to a dealer. It was no more difficult to drive and park than a large pickup or van.

I personally don’t like the Sprinter-based RVs, but won’t go into details here. You pay a shitload of money for that Mercedes engine. The prices of new RVs has really gone up over the last 15 years or so, but if you buy a used one there are things to watch out for.

*Any bulging of the fiberglass exterior or staining of the interior finishes means there has been water intrusion. Walk away.
*A maintenance record is very important.
*Ask if the black water tank has been thoroughly cleaned or replaced. We never put solid waste in our tank, as it can build up and create issues.
*Ask if the windows have ever been resealed. The calking material that is used for them takes a lot of abuse from sunlight, vibration, rain, etc., and if it is breached you get water intrusion. You can usually see black streaks on the exterior where it has run down the sides or staining on the interior fabric where water has discolored it.

Bottom line: $7K is cheap compared to $120K for a new one. Oh, and while NM is okay, Utah has far more and far better parks to visit.

The real downside of owning an RV is the maintenance and upkeep costs. And if you live in a place where there are actual winters, it will have to be winterized and de-winterized every year. Generally, the less you pay for one, the cheaper the build and the higher the maintenance/repair costs. I had two RVs made in Canada, and for my money the folks up there know what they’re doing.

8

I have useful except to say that @pullin is an expert in this.

9

One consideration: the pandemic caused an explosion in RV sales, which has translated into unprecedented occupancy at many RV parks and campgrounds.

It might be good, as part of your research, to understand whether/how bad that issue is in the places you hope to go.

Also, as a guy who used to live in a Class A (motorhome) Airstream, it seems there are three kinds of RV’ers:

  • Those who enjoy DIY, and fix everything themselves;
  • Those who fix the small stuff, and pay for the more complicated repairs;
  • Those who pay for everything

If you’re in the second or third group, you’d want to understand the impact of the pandemic-induced RV epidemic on repair facilities and parts, too.

But the common thread of all three is: RV’s are like houses that constantly experience a 7.0 earthquake. Stuff frequently breaks or needs tweaking.

Make peace with that idea or … suffer :wink:

10

Thanks :smile: , but I’m not sure if “expert” is the right word. Maybe “made a lot of the common mistakes” is a better description.

To the OP; I have a lot of experience with RVs, but only the towable (travel trailer or fifth wheel) type. We tried renting motor homes a few times and decided: a) You’re going to be towing something anyway and, b) the TT/Fiver configurations get you a nice truck to use the rest of the time.

We started RV camping in 1981, and are on our 7th RV at this point (2 pop ups, 2 travel trailers, and now our third fifth wheel). As others have noted, it can be difficult to get quality, even at exorbitant prices.

The RV industry isn’t subject to lemon laws, and their warranties don’t work like automobiles. Everything in the camper has its own manufacturer’s warranty – the dealer covers almost nothing. If your fridge craps out, you get to use the Norcold, or Dometic or Furrion’s warranty. And they may want you to remove the fridge and ship it to them to evaluate. As you can imagine, many things aren’t worth the trouble or expense to get warranty work and you end up handling it yourself. Using a warranty usually involves cancelling a vacation. This is by design, BTW. There are Youtube videos of Grand Design owners discovering their entire RV frame had broken. The manufacturer basically told them that Lippert built the frame and they could remove part of the RV body at their own expense and ship the remains back to Indiana. But otherwise to FOAD, it wasn’t their problem. They, quite literally, had a new 6-figure fifth wheel that was worthless. Google “Grand Design frame flex” for a collection of horror stories. IIRC, this eventually ended up as a class action suit, but the hosed owners still can’t travel with their “new” rigs.

We just (last month) bought a new fifth wheel trailer. While testing everything at home, I discovered one of the waste tank valves was stuck. Since we’d had it only a few days and the fix was strenuous, we had the dealership fix it under warranty – that took 3 weeks. We knew this was a possibility and intentionally bought while we had time set aside for this sort of repair, so no ruined trips for us. But in the future I plan mostly DYI, even if it involves welding.

Most of the industry has been bought up by two main players: Thor and Winnebago. And they have pushed a weaponized form of corporate enshittification onto every brand they contaminate. If you heard in the past (as I did) of the amazing quality of the Airstream brand, forget it. Wally Byam died a long time ago, and his legacy has been turned into little more than toilet paper for corporate finance folk. Again, google “Airstream frame separation” for more stories.

If it sounds like I’m trying to scare you, I am. Most of these machines are designed to last from the dealership to your home – and no further.

So what should you do, and why am I still buying them? As others have said, it really helps to be a DIY-er. A lot of the repairs are actually pretty simple.

Again, I don’t claim expertise, but there are still a few, small manufacturers who aren’t part of the big cartels yet. I’m not sure of the trustworthy motorhome builders, but for trailers you can still find quality in the Northwoods/Nash, Oliver, and (maybe) Brinkley brands. Northwoods is in @Chefguy’s old stomping grounds and they make Arctic Fox and Outdoors RVs. There are probably some small motorhome builders who produce quality as well, but I don’t know which ones.

In addition to the excellent advice upthread, I’d add a few more suggestions:

  • Pay particular attention to the roof (unless it’s a metal one on a van). Find out if the rig has been stored under a cover instead of outside in the sun.
  • Try to look in cabinets, under sinks, and in all the interstitial spaces not normally seen on a walkthru. Are the water/gas lines just poked through holes in the bulkheads or are they supported/protected via grommets and such? What you see in the hidden spaces is an example of what was done beneath the floor with piping, wiring and ducting.
  • Crawl underneath and see how well the underbelly covering (Coroplast) is attached, and how well done the openings for drains and access are handled. Again, if it’s cheaply thrown together, that’s showing you the standard used elsewhere.
  • If you’re considering a model with slide outs (room slides), find out which types are used, and pay close attention to what is actually “sliding”. There are two main types, Schwintek (small, in-wall motors which must synchronize via computer to remain aligned) and Rack/Pinion (single large motor turning sizable gears beneath the floor - doesn’t require computers to operate). If the room slide is large, or has appliances in it (fridge/sink) then be really cautious. Remember, all those water/gas/drain lines have to bend repeatedly as it goes in and out. If a large slide is actuated by the Schwintek type motors, I would reject that floorplan. Those are designed only for very lightweight slide/boxes like a closet etc. Manufacturers continue to try using them for entire kitchens and it works fine from their POV. It doesn’t fail for a few years and you’re gone and it’s your problem. Insist on seeing the slides operate and evaluate them both extended and retracted, so you can see what’s accessible during travel. This should be a deal-breaker and non-negotiable.

Best of luck in your search, and I’ll be happy to answer any questions I can. Sorry about the dearth of actual motor home experience but hopefully I can help some.

11

These used to be industry standards. On a visit to the Winnie factory, they would have you do pullups on their cabinets to show how sturdy the construction was (try that on a Four Winds of the same era). Bigfoot was built to last and had some thermal insulation in the body and widows. They ended up going out of the motorhome business and now only build trailers. Can’t remember why that happened. I had to call them once about a problem and actually got a human on the phone who walked me though things. I hated to trade it in, but it was just too big for the Oregon Coast beach roads. But in the interim, I drove that thing up to Prudhoe Bay and up to Inuvik (NWT), and down the Alcan Highway without issue.

12

My two family members each bought a used Lance travel trailer. It’s a new experience for both of them and they are enjoying traveling many places from their Colorado home base. I forgot how long they are, it’s not a fifth wheel but pulled with a pickup truck. And both have a slide out section. One can park it behind a fence at home the other stores it in a storage yard maybe due to HOA rules.

A friend bought a brand new Jayco it’s been nothing but trouble. Fit and finish shabby, components not working. Brand new and sat at the dealers for months with nothing happening. Months turned to winter and the dealer let it sit without winterizing it.
Old couple they are, only wanted it to summer with the grands visiting at the man made lake and rv park 30 miles away.

Good luck go for it and expect to passed on the highway all day long. :wink::stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

13

Pullin (or should it be Pullthru?)Thanks for taking the time to write that thorough reply. Fifth wheels (trailers in general) and big motorhomes aren’t really under consideration. Its more of A. motel (& sometimes tent camp) out an SUV or B. an RV van with occasional motel sleeping. I’m beginning to lean towards the former, as this is likely to be a one-time adventure. I do see that there are AirBnB type business models but don’t know if I want to trust a complete stranger to come to my aid (in whatever manner) in the event of a mechanical problem thousands of miles away.

I’m in need of a newer vehicle for towing my boat and sailplane trailers so maybe this the time to get a good, used Explorer or similar. Maybe a get a bigger tent. We still have lots of time to think about it.

Even before Pullin’s post, I’d heard of nothing but nightmares with RV reliability issues and getting things fixed when they break or stop working, warranty or not.

14

When everyone was isolating, RVs were very appealing. But now that’s over, has the high levels of occupancy continued?