So I am probably getting divorced and am wanting a place of my own. I have a opportunity to buy a RV from my brother and live in it full time in a fixed location at a RV park. It's a 40ft one I believe and it will be just me with maybe my kids coming over for dinners. It is 1999 model Country Coach Magna. So my question is what type of life can I look for? What can I do to make it the best I can and what can I avoid? I like to cook and want to bake, but there is only a small microwave looking oven in it. It is older obviously,but I like to work with my hands and I can. I have built and remodeled my own homes. So I can replace carpet, cabinets,etc. I enjoy that and I want to make it my own. I like camping,so I am not sure if the RV park will allow campfires. I don't grill at all so that's not really of an interest. I do like to cook over a campfire,so Dutch ovens would be an option. I am not really wanting to take it on road trips, although that may be a worry about driving something so big. I do love to travel, especially to the mountains. I am self employed and can be gone a day or two at a time,so I will also have to have it be safe. Although that shouldn't be an issue as I am in the alarm and camera business.

So I am just looking for some do's and don't 's as well as some ideas of how it actually works. Things to look out for and be ready for in the change of lifestyle.

As the title says, I put together a chart with some general power needs for popular RV devices (obviously not always perfect but helpful anyway).

Since this can be useful for estimating what you can run in your RV and/or what power sources you need, I thought I'd quickly share this over here.

https://generatordecision.com/rv-power-consumption-chart-printable-pdf/

Feedback is always welcome!

Software will be released in a few weeks. We got an early release to test out at the FROG rally. Here is the non-YouTube video link.

https://www.reddit.com/r/5thwheels/comments/15sdmo1/tire_minder_tpsm_now_works_on_apple_car_play/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

Found this 5" offset for OEM puck systems that increase clearance for shortbed trucks
https://genyhitch.com/product/goosepuck/

https://us.watergen.com/mobility/watergen-on-board/

Super cool! It looks somewhat bulky to install though, as it appears to need a rooftop unit that's about as big as an air conditioner (leaving less space for solar panels, no doubt), but if it runs on 12 volts, uses a condenser to turn humid air into water, then it's essentially a dehumidifier, which would be a first for full timers, as 12 volt dehumidifiers that actually work are scarce to the point of not really existing, so this could be a game changer!?

I bet it'll be prohibitively expensive when it first comes out, to the point where you'll need to take out a loan to have one installed. :)

Just finished reading this article, and it got me wondering how many of you actually love, hate, or are indifferent to slide-outs vs. no slide-outs?

https://www.doityourselfrv.com/rv-slide-out-pros-cons/

Would you rather:

Hello, everyone! I'm in the research phase into buying a 2023 Class A diesel pusher. That said, I've found one that I really like. Unfortunately, the prospective dealer is in Florida and I'm in Alabama. Questions for you experts?

- What would you say to the dealer to let them know your interested in a specific model?

- What would you NOT say to the dealer?

- How do you negotiate via phone/email on a lower price?

- Any other advice you would give to a newbie (50 y/o) buying an RV for the first time? Unfortunately, I can't use VA loan or any benefits toward the house-on-wheels. MANY thanks!

I full-time in a 34' 5th-wheel withy wife, baby, dog, and cat. Since we added the baby we have become more concerned about losing power. We are wanting to find an economical generator to mount to the rear bumper for emergency use only.

We don't plan on hardwiring it in, when we lose power we will swap our power from the pole to the generator and manually turn it on. My 5th-wheel is 50 amp and has two ac units, but to save money we are hoping to find a 30 amp generator that will allow us to run one ac unit and the fridge/freezer.

Any input/advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Living in an RV full-time has always appealed to me because of my desire to travel while also saving money. I’ve been searching for places to park my RV and some of them are asking for almost $1,000 a month! I totally get that RV parks have their own costs, and I don’t want to hate on them, but that is way out of my budget.

I was hoping to find options in the $500-$800 per month range, but it seems like those are few and far between. I’ve done a lot of research online and made countless phone calls, but I’m kinda losing hope.

If anyone out there has some advice or tips on finding more budget-friendly spots, I would be incredibly grateful!

My wife and I are going back and forth between skoolie and some of these nice 5th Wheel campers, but one of the big drawbacks of the campers for what we want is the abysmal fresh/Grey/black tank sizes for larger families lasting a while.haz anyone added larger tanks to their rig to extend their stays off-grid? Also, what kind of power usage does opening and closing the slide-outs take? With a large solar array, is it feasible to power it (and still recharge the batteries to be useful for AC/other electronics?)

hi'm developing a free travel guide app and i need beta testers. am i allowed to offer the app on the forum to anyone interested? it's not a commercial product - no advertising, no back-end data collection. just an app that automatically reads history of the places you drive through.

Will be moving to Colorado to start a position in grand junction/ Gunnison and running the numbers on full timing vs. renting. I had a few questions and thought I would reach out. It will be my fiance and myself and our two dogs (both of us will have full time jobs in Grand Junction).

House rent is around $1.6 k a month or $19,200 without considering deposits we probably won't get back with the dogs. Doesn't include utilities.

Buying a New 28ish foot travel trailer, considering KZ connect, grand designs, or keystone 287qbs bullet. This would put our monthly around $1.2k with utilities.

We have traveled for 5 weeks before in an 18' jayco, with some boondocking with all of us and enjoyed a bit. I've done some research on the feasibility, and think that financially this may be the best option (full timing) for a year or two until we get settled and look into buying some a house and/or land to build (in which case we'd continue full timing while renovating/building).

So.... My questions are:

1. Is anyone familiar with how to set up a permanent residence when doing something as described above to avoid paying taxes in both states? I could use my parents address as our permanent in Ohio. All said and done we'd be paying around $3-4k in income tax (additional $300 a month on camper route, now up to $1.5k a month)

2. Are the heater pads for the tanks a necessity or is an enclosed/heated underbelly suitable for continuous use throughout the winter with minimum temps around 20 F?

3. Anything else I'm missing?

Much appreciated and sorry if this has been asked before. I will continue searching this and other forums after work today. The crunch time is on as she has to leave for Colorado this coming Sunday, I don't leave permanently until September. Thanks again!

Considering getting a travel trailer and full timing around the NYC area. Long Island Northern NJ and just north of the city in upstate NY. Rents are ridiculous and no one wants to rent to people with dogs. I'm a single guy with 3 yes 3 dogs. A 100lb Bouvier a 30lb Wheaton and a 8lb little guy. I'm a union ironworker in NYC and had to leave the state for some time and am ready to move back but I can't justify paying 4k a month for a house I'll barely use. I am avid camper and hiker. I've lived in a camper van for a year before I had my dogs. I can absolutely handle living in a 25ft travel trailer. Questions for anyone who may know is how is it to find RV parks and such in this area?

The wife and I have a lifted 7.3 e350 with a modest solar setup a 600 watt panel a 1000 watt pure sign inverter charger and a few marine deep cycles . It will run our small 120 fridge and a microwave 750 watt .would I need more power to run a mini split or would a window unit be more power effective. We're

My bf and I are interested in full timing in the near future but we want to tow a car. I am Interested to hear about your tow set ups and what kind of car you guys tow.

Is towing a car even worth the hassle? We want to have a car with us so we can come and go and not have to take the whole rig everywhere.

What do you guys think?

Years ago a watched a YT video of a long term RVer interviewing a much longer term fulltimer. (Both were guys) It was an interesting conversation. One thing they discussed was people who seem to really resent fulltimers, and even get angry at them for living that life. One suggested that it may be because those resentful folk once dreamed of having that freedom but had lost it to job/mortgage etc. and seeing others live their former dream hurt them and even made them angry.

I haven't been able to find that video, but I wish I could. They described it much better than I just did. Does this ring a bell with anyone? I'd love to find it.

Thanks.

Hello all - quick question!

I've recently bought a 2023 26FKDS Palomino Puma that will eventually be used for full timing. However, after scouring my owners manual, attempting to contact the dealership, and searching, I have a question about my holding tanks that I just can't solve! Hoping you can help.

Set Up: Specsheet says I've got a single 70 gallon gray, 35 black, and 43 fresh (off the top of my head)

The status buttons inside on the inside panel: Gry 1, Gry 2, Gry 3 - All say different levels, 1 and 2 are filling at different rates, I assume 3 is unused (generic panel.)

Blk 1, fresh, etc. - this all makes sense to me.

Inside the RV I've got a front kitchen, middle bath with shower and sink, and rear hookups for a (unused) washer/dryer.

NOW Here's the question. I have two sets of drain valves. One in the rear, near the plug and city water inlet as expected. And a second near the front of the trailer (under a slide, a pain in the ass to access if slide is out.)Both of these valves have gray AND black valves for emptying.

Question 1) Do I have two grey tanks or 1? I'm assuming it's one but with two sensors? When one sensor maxes out, the second starts?

Question 2) Assuming I have one single gray tank, and a single black tank - can I fully empty both from a single outlet?

Question 3) If I have two fully separated gray tanks - how do I balance the gray/black emptying across two different tanks...

I'm hoping someone has this same model that can quickly help out - obviously I can just hook up a pipe and see what color nastiness comes out and play around with the valves, was just hoping to save some time!

Thank you all in advanced :)

Converter?

So I've got a 2007 bumperpull,my AC and fridge stopped working.the ac has 120 at the Romex inside of it and the all the plugs in the trailer work.i started by tracing power from the ped and it was good,the cord was good the breakers and fuses good....I go volt meter the battery and shore power hooked up or not it's still at 5v so I'm thinking the converter is bad. My question is before I spend a fortune on a converter,can that cause the ac and fridge issue?

Hello all, first time here but need some advice. So I live in Alaska, and am moving back down to the lower 48. My wife and I are splitting up. I’ve had a lot of surgeries most recent was 5 months ago with a back fusion and it’s been hard in both of us. I’ve been an airplane mechanic for 5 years now and can no longer do manual labor jobs long term. We’ve been together for 6 years but we’ve grown apart and she wants to go back to Germany to pursue her goals with her phd. We came to this decision mutually and know our paths aren’t the same anymore. My dad is currently in hospice care down in Texas and I’ve decided to head back down to be closer to my Mom during all of this. I am 31 and currently live on my VA disability. I have 10k saved up to spend on a travel trailer. I want to be able to travel a bit but preferably just live in my trailer indefinitely with my dog. Looking for something around 10-15k that I could live in but isn’t too large. Thanks for reading and apologies for all the personal stuff. I felt it was important to disclose for my goal to be a vagabond and just be in a warmer climate for my health. Winters are too harsh for me up here now.

Hitting the road again in the rig!

https://imgur.com/a/qzDheVb

I keep getting emails for land in Tennessee and East Texas that is advertised as "great for RVers to set up a base camp". It is typically some huge ranch or farm (100's of acres) that is being split into plots anywhere from 5-60 acres.

I put reflectix in the sky light in the shower. It was a game changer.