We didn't start until about 10 years ago and bought a 1985 Class C to "see if we liked the lifestyle". Turned out we loved it, but hated that turkey RV. It was an E-350 based rig with the 460 motor with a carburator. Carburator is a French irregular verb that means "leave well-enough alone".
What a pile of junk that thing was. After a $1200 job to re-machine the exhaust manifolds and an $800 job to rebuild the brakes after the underhood heat cooked the brake fluid to almost a solid, we managed to dump it, at a substantial loss. We figured each overnight had cost about $400.00.
We waited a while and then bought our current rig (see signature). It's not perfect, but it's a big improvement. Ride quality is about what you'd expect for a lightly loaded 11-ton truck. With two people and one Labrador, we don't push the GW limit anywhere near close.
BTW, where is home base? I wish more new members would tell us that.
We love the size and comfort of a Class A. We looked at a few "C's", but the ones we found for sale were ridiculously long for their wheelbase. On a test drive on a 31' Forester, I stopped by the local scale and found that, with half a tank of gas, no potable water and empty holding tanks, the rear axle was within 100 lb of its maximum rating. How can RV manufacturers get away with that crap?
Obviously, the price of fuel is going to be a bnig factor in how much we can use the RV this season. At 8 mpg, each mile is running around 50 cents. Maybe we'll stay two days at a site rather than moving every day, who knows?
Welcome to the forum. I hope you have many interesting adventures and become an addict.
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Frank and Eileen
No longer RVers or FR owners
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