Family of 4 needing Advice!

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Status
Not open for further replies.
J

Joelegends

Guest
Long story short im married with two young girls and my parents are having health issues out on there property way out in no mans land. We cant afford a home out there quite yet so we've decided to move into an RV or something similar while we save up.

I'm kinda at a loss, we have a few options. We don't have a tons of a money by any means so were limited to about 4000. We are looking at an 83 Pace arrow RV and other than ugly old carpet i think is a great deal. My wife on the other hand wants a 5th wheel or travel trailer thinking there will be more room.

This will be something we keep for years to come, and i think having something with a working generator and the ability to move whenever we like would be best, but again my wife is dead set otherwise so i thought i would ask you all what you would think?

We have no experience what so ever with this stuff, and we have an appointment to look at the 83 arrow this Sunday and i don't even know what to look for, and i figure i should because the guy selling it is kinda a prude and isn't very helpful on details so i half wonder if he's just grumpy, or maybe hiding something.

Anyways, whats your thoughts on the matter? Are there more advantages to one or the other that me and my wife are over looking perhaps? Any advice will be greatly appreciated!
 
Listen to your wife........ If you are going to live in it and have it stationary for long periods of time a 5th wheel will have much lower maintenance costs. You may not even need a tow vehicle. It would be far cheaper to hire someone to move the trailer once a year then to buy, register and maintain a tow vehicle..... Just my opinion.

A "working generator" is a 2-edged sword also. We a have a 5KW Onan generator. It burns approx .5G per hour with a light load (about .9 running the AC). We also have a Honda EU2000i portable generator and it burns under .2G per hr to handle the same job 95% of the time. Actually, the only time that we use the Onan is if we run the AC or need 110V on the road (which is seldom). If you have a stationary rig, you might be far better off getting a portable.
 
Hi Joelegends, and welcome.

In my opinion, if someone with a family of four were planning to purchase an RV on a budget of $4000.00, and they were primarily going to be staying in one location with only occasional moves, I'd probably be focusing on travel trailers. Others may feel differently, and for good reasons, but used TTs, in good shape, can usually be had for a lot less than a similar sized motorized RV. A good used  TT will also be less expensive to register (although the state you register it in will have a lot to say about that).

Of course, you'll need a suitable vehicle to tow a TT, and many TTs don't have generators. If you can plug into 120 volts, however, that's no longer an issue. Another power option is an external generator, and those vary greatly in power and cost.

You've come to the right place, and you're asking the right questions. Take your time and look around this forum to see what others are doing. And don't hesitate to ask more questions. Good luck!

Kev
 
We tired two different forums and both are saying an TT over an RV. We have a VERY friendly fellow that heard what were going through and has offered us a 26ft 99 TT thats been very well taken care of for 3k. The RV were iffy from the lack of info the guy is willing to tell us about it. I kinda get the feeling he wants us to overlook things. But we have seen pictures, both have been very well taken care of and look great (as far as we know)

Some of the reason i want the RV is because we dont have a truck, although my parents do but i prefer to not need to rely on them if we need something. But you all make a good point, for the most part this will stay in one place, and if that RV breaks down on the way home were screwed. Maintenance is less on a TT...
Its a hard decision because we will be going from a double wide trailer to a box..
 
Joelegends said:
We tired two different forums and both are saying an TT over an RV. We have a VERY friendly fellow that heard what were going through and has offered us a 26ft 99 TT thats been very well taken care of for 3k. The RV were iffy from the lack of info the guy is willing to tell us about it. I kinda get the feeling he wants us to overlook things. But we have seen pictures, both have been very well taken care of and look great (as far as we know)

Some of the reason i want the RV is because we dont have a truck, although my parents do but i prefer to not need to rely on them if we need something. But you all make a good point, for the most part this will stay in one place, and if that RV breaks down on the way home were screwed. Maintenance is less on a TT...
Its a hard decision because we will be going from a double wide trailer to a box..
One thing to consider on whatever you buy is tires. Trailer (RV) tires have a useable life about 6 yrs. If this $3K trailer has 10 yr old tires, you may want to consider putting new tires on it before you even move it. If you hire someone to move the trailer and it has a flat, it could end up costing you more than the price of new tires in the 1st place. Also figure on installing a new deep cycle battery. Unless you are plugged into 110V somewhere, you will be depending on your battery(s) for lights, water pump and furnace blower.
 
He did say it needed one battery, and the more i read what everyone has to say about it the more it worries me. Your right, if something goes wrong on its 3 hour drive home were up the creek! We will be plugging whatever we get into a pole so we wont need to rely on battery's or anything. The generator is also a good point. I never thought about how much more it would use to a modern one, and we do own a new one so i guess that isn't needed.
 
Joelegends said:
He did say it needed one battery, and the more i read what everyone has to say about it the more it worries me. Your right, if something goes wrong on its 3 hour drive home were up the creek! We will be plugging whatever we get into a pole so we wont need to rely on battery's or anything. The generator is also a good point. I never thought about how much more it would use to a modern one, and we do own a new one so i guess that isn't needed.
If you are plugged into 110V, you won't even need a battery. In fact, you are better off not to have the battery hooked up.

If you have 2 batteries on the trailer, you should replace them in pairs. If it has 2, 12V batteries and one is bad, just leave the one that is good. Make sure that you charge the good battery at least once a month (even if it isn't connected) with a 3-stage "Smart Charger". Also be sure to check the water level and use ONLY distilled water. Tap water will ruin the battery
 
I know this is not what you are asking.  But have you considered having your parents move to senior housing instead of disrupting your lives and moving there?  It's just a thought, it is available and affordable.  My mom lived in a place for 20% of her total income for 5 years.  It was really nice.  Like I said just  athought.

ood luck with whatever you decide to do.  I too would go with the travel trailer.
 
Lol wow. No we would not consider that. I've worked in nursing homes and so has my Father. He's made it clear that if its time he needs to go to a home to just shoot him and bury him on the property he owns and now lives on. Its not disrupting my life, we hate where we live now as our neighbors are all a pain, cant speak English and even went as far as to di a flag once infront of us. We also value my parents and wanna be closer to just be around them and help out with things. Its 20 acres that i'll take over one day, and is now in my name even. I was raised to take care of your own, keep your family close and value your friends. Thats what i plan to do :)
 
Well, just be careful. Some states frown on shooting your parents. And others want you to pay for an expensive permit to bury them in your yard.
(You might consider doing it at night so no one sees you)

Kev
 
Kevin Means said:
Well, just be careful. Some states frown on shooting your parents. And others want you to pay for an expensive permit to bury them in your yard.
(You might consider doing it at night so no one sees you)

Kev


Lol, i'll be sure to remember that!
 
This may all be in jest but I'd be careful about posting this type of humor on the internet. These days, it could come back to bite you.... :eek:
 
I have no worries, unless there a total idiot with no common sense they will know its only a joke.
besides, if the authorities did get wind of it they would tell the person reporting the same thing. They
have better things to do that warn me about whats clearly only a joke.  :eek:
 
Joelegends said:
I have no worries, unless there a total idiot with no common sense they will know its only a joke.
besides, if the authorities did get wind of it they would tell the person reporting the same thing. They
have better things to do that warn me about whats clearly only a joke.  :eek:
My uncle shot himself in the head (88 years-old) rather than go on after my aunt died (married 70-years)............ There was quite an investigation when they were both found dead in the house and neither had health issues. Extrapolate from that....
 
Wavery said:
My uncle shot himself in the head (88 years-old) rather than go on after my aunt died (married 70-years)............ There was quite an investigation when they were both found dead in the house and neither had health issues. Extrapolate from that....


Now your just taking things WAY to far and has NOTHING to do with the topic! That has NOTHING to do with myself and i stand by what i said, unless your an idiot you will know "I", not someone else or your uncle was joking when reading what "I" said. This is the WORLD WIDE WEB, people joke around bud. Kevin got it and understands it was a joke

Kevin Means said:
Well, just be careful. Some states frown on shooting your parents. And others want you to pay for an expensive permit to bury them in your yard.
(You might consider doing it at night so no one sees you)

Kev

Hell i'd rather be shot than be sent to a home myself! But again, not really because thats  just a joke. I wouldn't go this far, but when you feel the need to start talking about dead realitives to defend yourself i think its time someone put you in your place. Lighten up and take stuff for what it is.  ;D
 
I just thought i would get on and let everyone know no one is getting shot or put in a home, instead today we bough a 1992 38ft 5th wheel with two slide outs with all the extras and everything works like a dream for only 3500. Most told us to do things we couldn't afford or that we were just wasting our time with the budget we had but it all worked out in the end. We really appreciate the advice and helped us make our decision and we thank you very much for that!

I'll try to get on in a few weeks and upload a picture :)
We feel like we won the 5th wheel lottery!
 
Joelegends said:
I just thought i would get on and let everyone know no one is getting shot or put in a home, instead today we bough a 1992 38ft 5th wheel with two slide outs with all the extras and everything works like a dream for only 3500. Most told us to do things we couldn't afford or that we were just wasting our time with the budget we had but it all worked out in the end. We really appreciate the advice and helped us make our decision and we thank you very much for that!

I'll try to get on in a few weeks and upload a picture :)
We feel like we won the 5th wheel lottery!
Congrats....... how are you moving it to it's new home?

BTW....... it's "unless you're an idiot"..... not "unless your an idiot"...... ;)
 
Hey! Congratulations! I really hope it works for you guys. My parents full-timed in a fifth-wheel for about four years after my dad retired from the car business. They really enjoyed it. They've since sold it and built a stick-house, but they sure had a great time and built some great memories.

On another note... I just came back to this thread and noticed that my joke may have offended a fellow forum member. I assure you that wasn't my intent. l've been a cop for 32 years and sometimes I forget that "cop humor" (a defense mechanism for us) isn't always viewed in the same light. Please accept my apologies.

Kev
 
Lol, I type all this from a phone. Being I've graduated long ago and figure im talking to adults who can tell the difference between "your" and "you're" in a sentence.
If correcting spelling makes ya feel like the big boy then toot your horn all ya wish buddy. Kinda just coming off as a smart ass in all this to me really.

In truth I think I've had enough of this forum though, I signed up for two at the same time and asked the same question. The other one was great and got to the point of my topic where here i feel like here its been taken out of context and twisted around. Put my parents in a home for one, then this tight wad cant take a clear joke and turns it into something serious like someone shooting themselves... I mean really?? Then were going to insult spelling like were 2nd graders.
I got on here for a question, not to get insulted or defend my spelling. So far this all seems off topic and childish so if i have ant future questions i think I'll stick to the other one.
Thank you to the few people who did try to help though!
 
I'm sorry too, didn't mean to offend. But assisted living or senior housing is a far cry from a nursing home. The first one mom was in when she was more able was a high rise with apartments you could decorate as you wish, TV, everything you could want, transporation available and everything within walking distance.  The later one mom was in had a grand piano, music at dinner.  Linen tablecloths, beverages available at all hours, laundry, and beauty salon.  They had an atrium that was very nice, library, hottub, etc.  I hope I can afford something like that one day.  I know many of the older folks only understand nursing home and there are many alternatives beside those.

Again sorry, just thought I might mention an alternative.

I hope it all works out well for you, sounds like you got a nice TT in  your choice.

Just a note, I tried to take care of mom for over a year or more, but I have a mentally challenged daughter and it almost put me down, I couldn't do it, lost my career, about lost my mind too.  Sometimes you make choices that are different then you would like to do.

It sounds like this will work for you and again I'm sorry if I offended you.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom