Future RVer

[jthibault15]

Hi all,

I'm hoping to get an RV in a few years when I retire so I'm starting research early. I lost my husband last year so I'll be traveling alone for the most part. I'm leaning towards a Class C about 26-28' with a bump-out or two. I will also be towing a vehicle which right now is a Ford Escape. Whatever I get must be easy enough for me to handle by myself and also allow me to easily connect my towed vehicle. I'm a little nervous about towing but I don't see a way around it. I'm hoping to start my tour in the northwest (I'm in the southeast). I want a new or near-new RV because I don't want to deal with a lot of maintenance. I've been to an RV show and looked at a lot of RVs and I have a pretty good idea of what I want. Any tips from lone RVers (or anyone really) are welcome.

 

[RVMommaTo6]

Welcome to the forum! A little bit about me, I'm also on my own, different circumstances, but I used to tent camp with my 6 kids. I had 3 in diapers and my oldest was only 8. People kept telling me to get a pop up but I thought that would be way too much work because I was on my own. I finally got one and couldn't believe how much easier it made life. Then a few years ago I added a 35' travel trailer to the mix, again a little nervous about how I could handle it. Now this year I added a class A to the mix. I was nothing short of terrified to make the leap, but picked it up last month and by the time I got home, I was very very comfortable in it.
Starting new adventures is scary when you don't have the support and assistance of another adult, but have faith in yourself and know that you're just as capable as anyone else. My kids are older now (18, 16, 15, 13, 12, 11) so I have quite a bit more help, but I did it for a long time on my own, you'll be fine!!

 

[HappyWanderer]

Welcome to the forum!

You'll want to make sure that Escape can be towed. Most can't.

 

[jthibault15]

Welcome to the forum!

You'll want to make sure that Escape can be towed. Most can't.

It can be towed with a trailer dolly near as I can tell. Also seems like a dolly would be easier to connect than a tow bar. I don't want to have to crawl around on the ground to hook things up.

 

[Arch Hoagland]

What year is the Ford and what  transmission?

Before you buy a dolly go look at them and push it around the parking lot. Then get on your knees next to it and imagine putting straps around the tires when it is pouring down rain.  Your Ford will need auxiliary  brakes too. 

4 down towing is much simpler. 

Have you ever used an RV?  If not I'd suggest renting a class C for a week or so, it'd be very educational.

 

[Isaac-1]

I will agree with much of what has been posted above, though I think it should be noted that RVMommato6 bought her class A coach 1,200 miles away from home, so had a few days to get comfortable with it on her initial drive.  I too bought my first class A over a thousand miles away from home, and was mostly comfortable with it by the time I got home, and continued getting more confident over the next 5,000 miles or so at which point my comfort level has mostly stabilized.

Now down to a few details, buying an RV is not like buying a car, new does not mean trouble free, simply put quality control on new RV's these days suck, they build them as fast as they can, and sort out issues later, plus they generally only come with a 1 year warranty.  It is common to hear about people having their brand new coaches in the shop waiting on parts for 5 or 6 months out of that first year, sometimes even having to take it back to the factory for major repairs to be made.  RV are also not covered by lemon laws in most (all?) states.  As to size consider a small class A instead of a class C unless you need that over cab bunk, the problem with many class B+ / C's particularly those built on the MB Sprinter platform is limited cargo carrying capacity.  A 25.5 ft  B+ or C Sprinter will be built on a  11,030 GVWR chassis, the Ford E350 is a 12,500 GVWR, and an E450 is a 14,500 chassis.  Compare this to just about any class A in the 27-28 ft range built in the last 15 years with side slides will be built on at least a 18,000 pound GVWR chassis (a few may be on 16,000 GVWR chassis).  The effect of this is typically having 2,500 - 3,000 pounds of cargo carrying capacity on these small class A's vs  500-1,200 on the class C's.

In the case of my personal coach, a 28 ft class A, when loaded for travel, and put on a scale I find I have about 1,500-1,800 pounds of stuff on board counting, pots, pans, bbq grill, camping table and chairs, tool box, spare parts, pop up canopy, clothes, food, passengers, spare tire (that is over 200 pounds with the carrier by itself) etc.  In my case I don't travel full time, and don't pull a car around (yet anyway) and my longest trip to date has only been a bit over a month, if I were to full time, it would likely be even more loaded down.

 

[Lou Schneider]

Also seems like a dolly would be easier to connect than a tow bar. I don't want to have to crawl around on the ground to hook things up.

Actually, you have it backwards.  When you tow 4 down the car has a permanent base plate installed, all you have to do is drive the car close to the motorhome, then extend each of the towbar arms to reach the attachment points near the car's front bumper and insert a locking pin.

This is done from a standing position with minimal muss or fuss.

Compare that to dragging a tow dolly around by hand to attach it to the motorhome, driving the car onto the tow dolly, then maneuvering the dolly's tie-down straps around each of the front tires.  There's no comparison.

 

[jthibault15]

Y'all have given me a lot to think about. I drive a 2017 Escape FWD. I was under the impression it couldn't be towed with 4 down although I haven't looked into why that is the case. I figured you could just put the thing in neutral and you're good to go. Guess not. There won't be any getting on my knees to hook things up. I had a my knee replaced and kneeling isn't something I can do. I've also had some pretty extensive surgery on my shoulders so that is another issue I will have to deal with.

I have never driven an RV really. I have driven a lot of large pickup trucks though. And occasionally I drove my parents' class B van. I will definitely look into a smaller class A. All the ones at the RV show I went to were huge or they were Class B that were too small. I'm pretty confident about my driving skills but I have never towed anything. Once I get an RV I plan to take some short trips before I actually head out for the long term.

 

[cadee2c]

Welcome to the forum. Im driving a 38 ft class A diesel pusher and I flat tow a jeep. Its actually a piece of cake to drive them. It takes all of a minute or two to do the hooking up. It was nerve wracking at first, but after a few days it was fine.

I lost my husband a couple of months ago so Im now going it alone. He was in poor health when we got the coach, so I made sure I could do everything that needed to be done. I even did all the driving. The previous owner of my rv taught me how to drive it. Ive had both knees replaced too and havent had many issues. My biggest struggle is with placing locks under my jacks. I try to stay on as level ground as possible and use my awning tool to move them if I need to.

Some on here have suggested that once you get your rv, camp out in your driveway or as close to home as possible. That way you get to know your systems, and know what you need for the rv. Just keep it level for your refrigerator. (I learned that the hard way)

Relax and have a good time. Its easier than you think its going to be and theres lots of good advice on this forum.

 

[BikerFlex&HappyJen]

Welcome to the forum! You are on the right track by gleaning info and learning as much as you can before your new adventure. Ask questions, read, and join the discussions. Many here are helpful and have a lot of knowledge to share and want to see you succeed. You most certainly can do this, even though you are solo. Camping/rving sure can be a fun experience, even when things don?t always go right. It?s certainly a learning experience.  Doing your research now will only help your preparation when you are ready to choose your rv as well as your upcoming traveling/camping. Enjoy!