40' RV too big?

[akrvbob]

I don't want to hijack this thread, so let me say the reason I'm leaving my trailer behind is because I'm going to spend most of my summer in the mountains on winding, narrow, switch-backed roads and for me a 40 foot rig would be totally unacceptable. It's antithetical to my life style. The engine works terribly hard on the way up, and the brakes work terribly hard on the way down.

Plus, I only do dispersed camping and the number of places a 40 foot rig can dispersed camp in the mountains are few and far between.

No more hosting jobs for me, the reason for July and September is that the wildflowers bloom in MT Rainer NP starting in mid-July so that's when I will get there. I'll probably be there a month and then work my way to Olympic NP for September. The reason for September is that the crowds will be down because school is in session and I've heard it was the best time for weather in Western WA.

I'd very much like to have a summer RTR, but finding a place big enough, central enough, free, with good internet and nearby shopping, is hard to do!

Anybody knows of such a place, let me know! BUT, it also has to be along my line of travel.
Bob

 

[highdesertranger]

hey bob, what do you consider close by shopping? and I assume you mean over the air internet? highdesertranger

 

[akrvbob]

At the minimum people will need to get water and ice and dump our trash so let's say those need to be at least within 15 miles. Those places usually have some shopping even if it expensive.

Yes, I need a decent Verizon internet data signal.
Bob

 

[Theadyn]

Ooooo.... We should start a Summer RTR thread, for ideas. That would be awesome!!

Already counting down to next January's RTR, as I missed the last one.

 

[ZoNiE]

If you're going upscale I would consider a truck based Super-C. Safer, better mpg, easier maintenance.

Super C's ride too hard and rattle everything to pieces in the house, from what I have been told by friends who have one.

 

[gcal]

Yes, 40 ft is too big. It will not only limit where you can boondock, it will shut you out of some national and state parks. You will be too big for the sites and you'll never be able to make it down the roads which can have tight curves lined by trees. Some have limits of 26 ft or smaller. Every foot down you go gives you more places you can tuck yourself into.

 

[Canine]

My .02 jives with the other comments about the size of your potential rig being a problem for some parks and campsites.  Case in point, just last week camping with my brother in Frisco Colorado at a state park, his truck and 5ver were a total of 52' long, which forced him to have to park facing the opposite way in the campground, per the campground host.  Right opposite him was a 40' Dynasty with a toad, it was over the limit too, and had to do the same.  While they both were able to camp, the park host said that if they were near full, he'd have told them no, as both vehicles stuck out onto the shoulder of the access road, limiting others ability to negotiate the turn...

The other issue with the really big 40's and up (like 45's) is their sheer weight, both for country bridges, some roads with load limits and especially any unimproved road or even a paved one with a soft shoulder.

Here's an excerpt of an article from "wheelingit.us":

Begin quote

"10 Things I Wish I’d Known Before Fulltime RVing…
September 22, 2011 by libertatemamo 217 Comments

Our svelte 32,220 lb monster. How little we knew when we first started out…
One of the beautiful things about aging is you carry along the wisdom of years of experience (that, and your wine gets better of course). By many standards you could easily call me but a pup in the great dog-park of life, but as our multi-year journey in RVing progresses I have managed to gleam a few gems of sageness which I can happily pass along. In that spirit, here are 10 things I wish I’d known before we went full-timing:

1/ Bigger is Not Always Better

Sometimes things are not as they seem. A fiery and dusty sunset in NM
I always imagined that you should try to buy the biggest RV you could afford. After all, who doesn’t want lots of space? Our travels over the past years, and perhaps more specifically the kind of travel we like to do (camping in public campgrounds, forests, state parks, off-the-beaten-track spots) has taught me that bigger is not always better. Our “beastly” size is super-comfortable but requires me to do quite a bit of detailed planning to make sure we can fit into the kinds of spots we like to visit. In retrospect, I would have wished for a smaller RV. For those camping mostly in private parks this is not a consideration, but for our kinda camping it sure would be nice with a few less feet."

End of quote

Here's another regarding vehicle weight:

Begin quote: The down side of owning a class A
Unread postby JBandMJ on Fri Apr 04, 2008 9:01 am

We were planning our spring camping trips and learned that two of the bridges we have to cross have a new weight limit of 10 tons, we weigh in at 26,800 loaded. After talking to a few other class A owners, they have experienced the same problems…
Jim & Marilyn
Mulvane, Kansas
2004 33 V Winnebago Adventure

***************************

Oh, one last point comes from this rv forum post, note the type of drivers license he needs in his state:

Posted 30 May 2015 - 07:40 AM
Yes, the proper driver's license in Texas for a motorhome over 26,000 pounds GVWR is a "CDL Class B Exempt".

http://dps.texas.gov...e/dlClasses.htm

0
Brett and Dianne Wolfe
2003 Alpine 38'
Moderator, FMCA Forums
Chairman, FMCA Technical Advisory Committee
Member, FMCA Long-Range and Development Committee 2007-2009 and 2014-
Moderator, http://www.dieselrvclub.org/(FMCA chapter)

 

[Canine]

Here's one final post quote based on size and weight. I fully understand that most any rv, from a small class C to the monstrous 45' class A, can get stuck. It's the weight that's being distributed by the rear duals that is the issue. After all, the psi of a dually is lower on the ground than a single, to a point, then weight takes over...

Begin quote:

We sank a 40 foot bounder once, I used the jacks to lift her up and place boards under the wheels and inched out 5 feet at a time.

The first time I laid blocks under the jacks and they sank about 10" then we retracted them and did it again until the blocks stop sinking, then I lifted the rear off the ground and put boards under the wheel, then repeated the front wheels. It took us about three hrs and a lot of pain killers, hard part was digging the blocks out of the ground the next day.
__________________
USN Retired, Life time member of the DAV.
Enjoying the 2008 Damon Tuscany 4056, no your eyes are fine, there are 6 slides

 

[ZoNiE]

Then again, a GMC motorhome has the issue with the FRONT wheels. No fun on wet grass. (GMC motorhomes have Olds Tornado front drive powertrains). Yes Front Wheel Drive with 455 Cu In V8. Also good for laying a patch across an intersection... I miss my GMC.

 

[compassrose]

Before we had the 40 ft Blue Bird, we were stripping down a 40 ft Eagle 05 highway coach. At the time, we lived in SW NC. We heard all the stuff about "you can't get a 40 ft RV into National Forest & State campgrounds". So we did some checking. Packed a picnic lunch and our 100 ft tape. Sometimes we took the popup with us as well and made a mini vacation out of it. We looked at the places we liked to stay in NC, GA, TN, SC. We did a lot of measuring. What we found was there were no campgrounds that we frequented that we could not put a 40 ft bus into. That included a lot of the campgrounds that had size limits. Spoke to a lot of park rangers too. Found out about those "limits".

I like to use www.forestcamping.com for information. Unlike many sites, it will list the largest pad size like one "Largest Parking Apron Size: 16' X 74'" for Cable Cove which I believe has (or had) a 30 ft max limit posted. Yet we saw many 40 ft and larger RV's in there. Now there are some, like Sandy Bottom (Chattahoochee NF) that has a switchback to get into the campground (and the thru road has been closed so you can't come in from Betty's Creek any more). So you have to pull in, back up and pull in again (or several times) but it is doable in a 40 ft RV, as indicated by the number of 40 ft RVs that are always there. Largest Parking Apron Size: 12.5' X 47' and that is for most of the sites in there.

 

[Canine]

Compassrose,

I'm positive you fit your schoolie in lots of places. I can only comment on the few state parks that I have been in (mostly back years ago) where it was impossible for a 36+ footer to safely make the turns or back into a spot. Heck, the spots themselves were often no more than 25 feet deep. Some were doubled so that trailer pullers could park beside their trailer but still.

Now I admit my state park experiences are rather dated (except for last week) however there's still length limits. I just wanted the OP to fully consider what it will be like to pilot that big honker around. Not only are there switchback roads that would have you brushing the rock walled sides, but you'd also be over the yellow lane divider and into oncoming traffic. Think some parts of the gorgeous 101 coastal highway in N California, Oregon and Washington, and supposedly some access roads into Yosemite (never been there).

It's quite accurate that many parks have upgraded to pull throughs for the larger sized rv's, yet the funky old ones are out there as well.

The issue of weight still has to be considered as well. I don't know the rear axle weights of some of the ginormous diesel pushers however they are heavyyyy, and they can sink up to their axles very quickly. No AAA service will come get you off road either. Maybe Coachnet or GoodSam will, never been a member...

Your schoolie is actually very well balanced, being a nose engined rig. Good for you! (Smart girl smilie that I can't seem to locate goes here)

Regards,

Dusty

 

[compassrose]

Come on people! Do a little hands on research. Get out there and actually SEE what campgrounds look like rather than hiding behind a computer screen asking questions. What's the worst that can happen? A rattlesnake can bite you and you die a horrible death. So you're dead dead. Better than being dead while you are alive.

Dusty98... I learned to drive on NC Hwy 64/28 (don't take a large vehicle up there, semi's & RVs are typically banned, drop off is almost straight down and it's a long drop), NC Hwy 129 ("Tail of the Dragon"... also no large vehicles... banned) and the Wayah Road (no banned... but watch out for that hairpin turn on it as most vehicles drop to the inside of the curves). The view on top of Wayah Bald is beautiful. For some reason the roads I learned to drive on are roads that are popular with motorcycle enthusiasts.

I'm still looking for the "dangerous curves" on US380 between I-25 and Roswell in NM. I haven't found them yet.


Hwy 28 Cullasaja Gorge in Winter

 

[Canine]

Disclaimer - I've never owned anything self-contained that was longer than a 22' class C. I have owned and camped in/driven a long bed crew cab plus a 28' pull behind TT, which was about 54' long total, and didn't have the nice 5th wheel turn radius. I've also never had to deal with much in the way of overhead clearance issues since my 1965 TT was the low slung model and I never had a tall 5er to deal with. So no, I've not had to deal with these 40' large basement class A's.

However, every time I am in a county or state park or the occasional NF campsite, (usually only while on trips, like I am on now), I note the ease of parking the van and sometimes watch/chuckle at others trying to park and maneuver their rigs. Like I said in a post before, I saw how the neighbor campers struggled with their big Monaco's, Dynasty's and Safari's around us just last week in the mountains of Colorado (near Frisco). So my information isn't coming from hunched before a computer screen (actually an old Ipad2 resting on my ample belly).

Maybe most people aren't comfortable operating a 35-50' schoolie, I can see why. I've always been amazed at the grandmothers out driving the 80 passenger school buses and the others who drive for the commercial bus lines. When I was younger I would have been up for the challenge, but with failing eyesight, not now. It is nice to have the availability of backup cameras nowadays... Many things are better now than 20-30 yrs ago.

 

[cyndi]

I've driven all kinds of vehicles, from vans, to full-size school buses to a 2 ton delivery truck. My previous home was a 26 ft. Class C. I loved it and all it's amenities. But the fact of the matter is it was a P.I.T.A. to get around in and I couldn't go all the places I wanted to go.

But then, I don't want to stay in RV resorts and RV parks. And I don't want to drive on the interstate. I want to be further off the beaten path and I want to see the countryside and I want to visit with the locals and meander around North America (and hopefully South America) A smaller rig works much better in meeting those objectives.

 

[Bdog1]

I just booked into a FL state park, they had a flashing red warning on the web page. If you show up with a rig larger than the size restriction of you site, you would be turned away. This is their size rating, not that you can't squeeze in, but the limit they assign.

The campground is very open and accessible. It's nice to have a smaller rig to take advantage of any open sites.