Hi, I'm Bob, owner of cheaprvliving.com.

[dragonflyinthesky]

Welcome Joe and Ellen.

 

[Ballenxj]

Hi Ellen, WELCOME to the forum. <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" class="emoticon bbc_img"> <br>Now, what are headers for? Back in the day the exhaust manifolds were very inefficient. The headers are designed to create a smoother flow as well as a scavenging effect that helped to draw the exhaust out. This in turn helped the engine to run better, make more power, and even get better fuel economy. <br>I've heard of Chrysler 318's getting as high as 18 mpg in a small motorhome with the engine well set up with a set of headers and a good tune. I would think that 8 to 10 would be more believable though. <br>-Bruce

 

[OregonEllen]

Gosh, 18mpg sounds a little out there for any size motorhome, doesn't it? &nbsp;Maybe for one of the cars in the 60's it might be believable but a motorhome is really heavy to pull around. &nbsp;I don't even think the little Class C we had got that kind of mileage.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;

 

[Ballenxj]

Well, You can't believe everything you read, and I read that in an article in RV dot com if I remember right. <br>The guy had a small motorhome with a 318 Dodge engine which are know for getting good economy already. He said he drove it carefully, never hitting the secondary's on the carb, and never hitting passing gear. <br>I've often wondered about that story, but after doing more research I believe it might be possible. <br>Of course, if he had a tailwind, it would have helped a lot too. <br>I do know that the way you drive has a major effect on your fuel economy. If you step on the gas hard even just once, it will take your average economy for that whole tank way down. It's amazing how much fuel one burst of acceleration will use. <br>Oh, and a friend had a 31 foot class C&nbsp; with a ford V10 that claimed he got 15 mpg. <br>Here's an interesting link too. http://www.guaranty.com/blogs/best-rvs-fuel-economy<br>-Bruce

 

[Potatorider35]

Hi all! My name is Josh. I grew up in Idaho and still make my home there about 6-8 months of the year. I'm turning 30 y/o this month and am loving life. I am a professional public servant having been a firefighter/EMT-A for 7 years now. I also work as a high altitude mountain guide for 3-4 months out of the year in WA and AK. While I'm on the road, my home is a 1996 GMC Vandura with some nice modifications. I'm still working out the details of staying warm (catalytic heater/insulating windows...), but my bed platform, storage (rack and inside), electronics (w/ house battery), have performed perfectly so far. I'm excited about perusing these threads, getting new ideas and sharing my projects with you as the come.

Cheers,
Potatorider35

 

[dragonflyinthesky]

Welcome Tater. My 21 yo daughter is in the last few months of her paramedic training. Glad you found us.<BR>Dragonfly

 

[Wayne Bus]

.Hi youall (y'all...properly spelled ) I've owned a full sized schoolbus of some-sorts for the last 18 years. I have been living in my latest home since august, 2011. I'm 51 yrs. Old, Happily single I live in an expensive suburb of Richmond, Virginia, posing as a church bus / storage bus.I eat healthy fast food, (salads, fresh fruit nuts, & vegies plus I live 1mile from a 24 hr. Gym/Fitness center and 500 yards from a Walmart,with a grocery store built into the department store, ...so there's no need for an onboard ketchen. My eating habits have three simple rules, I add a can opener...or I add water...or I place an order.The inside of my bus has 420 mega-chest of drawer-system that accommodates all of my possesions such that each item in my life has its own separate drawer. I try to never own anything that will not fit into these drawers, fortunately, 90% of most things I desire, fit. Those items that don't comply, I store outside underneath the buses floor. Bye for now...

 

[opalla]

Hi everyone! I would like to introduce myself. My name is Opalla ( I didn't know my name would be my handle.lol) I don't mind I like the lifestyle of the free spirit. ( OMG is my inner hippy showing!) &nbsp;Looking forward to meeting the forum

 

[Ballenxj]

Hi Wayne and Opalla. I guess I can say WELCOME to the forum too. <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" class="emoticon bbc_img"> <br>-Bruce

 

[PhotoGypsy]

Hello all,<br>My name is Diane. &nbsp;I am glad to know I am not the only one who questions our societal constraints. &nbsp;I often question why we so willing follow the rest of the sheep. &nbsp;For me hitting my mid 40's seem to kick off this urge to question why I continue to do what I do. &nbsp;I was browsing around the internet looking up camping ideas and locations for my 2 months off for summer and stumbled on Bob's site and have enjoyed reading the posts and comments. &nbsp;I have 3 dogs and a cat and love having a garden...so I have not been able to wrap my head around full time in a van just yet. &nbsp;I love the idea of having a home base. &nbsp;Have a great night all&nbsp;<img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" class="emoticon bbc_img">

 

[Ballenxj]

Hi Diane, I take it you like photography? Anyway, WELCOME! <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" class="emoticon bbc_img"> <br>-Bruce

 

[joyleen]

Hi everyone !<br><br>I'm not yet a vandweller... BUT this is MY DEEPEST DREAM since a long time and I intend to make this dream come true !<br>I'm from Switzerland and I'm coming to the San Francisco on the 4th of July 2013 !!!<br><br>First mission : <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>find a van</strong></span> so I'll have my home on wheels ! <br><br>In my dreams I'd like to convert it myself but I never did something like that ever and will probably need some help. It's my first time in the U.S and I have no godamn idea if this is going to be possible in a such short amount of time because I need to be ready for the 19th July as I'm heading to Garberville to take part of a beautiful itinerant festival called kaypachahealingfest.com. <br><br>If you have any tips for me on how to find a camper van, one that wont let me down, easy to find pieces - or if anyone is around and would like to help me converting a van WAW that would be just the most beautiful situation ever dreamt !<br><br>Looking forward to hearing from you !<br><br>LOVE<br><br>Joyleen

 

[MOTOWN]

<P>Hi every one, I call my self Motown it was my C.B. handle when I was a cross country truck driver and</P><P>owner operator , I have traveled to nearly every point in this country that’s on a compass rose. I hauled steel in Michigan pulling trailers with as much as 32 wheels, not including the truck having 10 of its own loads weighing as much as 162,000,00 pounds, I went across the country pulling super loads as long as 130 feet long and as wide as 20 feet wide, and 18 feet high then I hauled produce, coast to coast to and did relief work for 3 hurricanes, and then a year ago I had open heart surgery (8 by pass surgery) and had to give up my trade.</P><P>Since I was a young boy I hitched hiked, and hopped trains around the country before</P><P>I was 13 years old , I even hung under a rail road barge deck support struts to get from Detroit, Michigan to Windsor, Ontario, via the Detroit River, after attempting going across the bridge by foot and the tunnel, the cops chased me back, finally I was snagged by the The Royal Mounted Police in Canada, the cop was on horse back it started to snow got very cold so I asked him for help, and my Aunt and Uncle came and took me back because the cops wanted to throw my parents in the Bastille (jail) needless to say I got a lot of whippings for my miss adventures , I read Huckle Barry Fin books and saw a great deal of adventure movies that skewed and shaped my thinking , but I was never relived of my drive to hit the road</P><P>I always had and always will have a burning need to explore and meet new people and see this great land if you want to hear a great tribute about America, “you tube” John Wayne‘s America, how I love her (bring a tissue box) that’s the driving spirit to find the holy grail called, The United States. As a trucker I met and been with the best people to help you when your down in the middle of no where, in desperate cold and snow drifts as high as your truck and seeing -60 F and almost dying in a horrendous ice storm and gale force winds while watching and hearing batteries breaking and losing power 5 miles from safety, calling out desperately for help on the C.B. before the last juice in my truck had, failed, its funny like the friggen, Titanic kind of ironic huh.</P><P>But help came by a hippy dude listening to his C.B. base station miles away came and saved me while. I tried to walk back wards against the wind and blowing snow, covered by my k mart sleeping bag, to the truck stop in blowing snow and 80 mph winds, in the Upper Peninsula, of Michigan, about 5 miles away from the Mackinaw Bridge 76 truck stop. I was in the late stages of hypothermic shock. He took me to the truck stop. On the road you can find great people and also absolute dirt bags , those who know and traveled across this country and we know how great and also how dangerous the road can be.</P><P>I’ am in the process of restoring my “1979” 28’ Airstream Motor home, I did a stupid thing by not researching what was doing and I paid for it (I was suffering from R.V. ignorance) and now I have been working on it for 4 years trying to get it right. And I’ am almost there. I lived in my Airstream for 4 years and it has saved me thousands in rent, I coined a saying that they (land lord, banker, sheriff,) can’t throw you to the curb , if you live at the curb, so my friends tell me to park it here or there. Every place I go people check it out. 2 bars in Florida paid me to hang banners on it for party’s, hanging them on the awnings , free beer and eats to, I stayed in Miami 2 years ago for two months at on my friends front lawn for two months, I also parked it on the causeways and pulled out the awnings and fished and b.b.q-ed , made Margarita’s my Airstream, has a built in ice maker and has a built in blender on the counter top. All was good until the generator set sneezed, its still to this day not working, another project, I have replaced the suspension its spring / air ride and it cost mucho money in parts, labor, pain, and I did a lot of it myself, sweat equity, my silver bullet will soon be back cruising,</P><P>I had polished aluminum diamond plate, storage boxes made. I have some more work before I put them In, expanding my battery capacity, sucks to be with out juice the light’s won’t work without it, the generator sucks way to much fuel to be practical, solar panels are butt ugly and they don’t fit well on a curved roof. I; am looking into flexible solar panels. For there size they don’t produce much power. I think a 400 watt wind mill generator can be mounted of f the trailer hitch by making a box tube section you could plug it into the hitch receptacle use a couple guy wires, and that should do it. They have awesome l.e.d. lights and also to fire up those lights they take very little power to operate 12 volt is the only way to go, look on line or go to Iowa 80 truck stop on line store they have the best selection, r.v. stores will rape you money wise, best to shop around. incandescent light bulbs are un reliable, dull and waste precious power, I know all about lights I had over 150 lights on my truck and trailer combined, truckers call them “chicken lights“, and by law you have to have them all working, I spent a grip of money keeping them lit, I’ am sure people seen trucks lit up like Christmas trees, truckers call our trucks “large cars” that’s if you got a long hood, lots of lights and chrome.</P><P>　</P><P>In closing in all my years of being on the road its very important to look sharp as far as your self and your ride, inside and out, if your paint is not right, touch it up, cans of paint are cheap, don’t by a heap to save money you will pay the penalty if you look like Joe sh-t the rag man you will be treated, as such., especially the cops will be eye balling you. Cops and court systems are especially horny for seizing your stuff, your car, you, etc, etc. they are to be avoided like the plague, keep your car papers in order and not in your glove box put them where you can access them fast, cops get really nervous when they see you reaching for things,</P><P>Truck stops are home to a lot of strange things and people, hustlers, pimps and hookers a.k.a lot lizards, drug dealers, perverts and other miscreants, there is also some real fine folks as well there and some heinous folks as well a few years ago a truck driver had a kidnapped girl tied up naked in his sleeper for a year, he was a company driver for some big out fit, nobody could figure out how he got away with it for so long, she escaped and ran into the truck stop, cops came and gaff led him up, now he’s Ba Ba’s play thing. There is also a lot of woman besides men driving trucks, now, you might want to get in a training program and van dwell while you drive truck see America and get paid for it. Never let any stranger now your personal business and this advice will save you a lot of grief.</P><P>Truck stops are good places to make some honest cash, (Keep your options open)</P><P>Detailing trucks, (woman fare pretty well cleaning the trucks interior) both inside and out, polishing their wheels and tanks, again be wise so you don’t get ripped off by a truck driver who will complain you didn’t do it to his satisfaction, this is how they get you to come down in price. Buy a walkie talkie C.B. or a dash unit, to hustle some work, it can also save your butt if your out of range of a cell tower if you break down.</P><P>men can help tarp a load make a quick $20 or $40 also moving companies often hire casual labor, to fold moving pads “blankets” etc. casual labor pools pay about $7-10-15 hour depending on what they have you do. Don’t sell yourself cheap, never appear desperate, any sign of desperation will diminish your chances to get paid what your worth. Another caveat , never ride with casual labor vehicles those deals can get you stranded some long way away from your mobile house, always drive your vehicle to the jobs, there’s an old trick they give you a few bucks send you in for a soda or coffee, or they say I have to go cash a com-check or other cash advance check, and they skip off, make sure they have the cash at hand before they start the deal, if you don’t they may drive off. <SPAN style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline">“So get paid right when you finish ” get a hand writen promass to pay before you go do the work.</SPAN></P><P>Truck stops have showers and they cost about $10 bucks ask a driver if he or she have an extra shower on their card or coupon, drivers are some times generous and have a lot of shower points because they buy fuel there. they are private and clean, and a hot shower is good for your morale, the truck stops also supply the soap and towels, always ware some shower shoes, its very important to keep clean both your cloths and yourself. They have laundry facilities it cost more money then private Laundromats. If you don’t have a shower get a black solar shower water bag, they work very well and a hot shower, you can find it in any store that has a sporting goods department it will keep your self respect hi and also there are water collapsible rubber and these sinks you can wash your body and your underwear and socks clean, if you have a camp site you can heat up a base ball size rock, place it in the portable sink, it will boil the water quickly, also good quality dish soap its concentrated and cheaper then laundry detergent and you can wash your self squeaky clean, I keep mine in a stainless steel water bottle, the plastic bottles leak and it wastes precious re$ource$. Also you can buy a portable shower/ potty shelter that you can do you business in for about $60+ bucks, it takes only a few minutes.</P><P>Water is a precious commodity, always have at least 10 gallons of it, and always rotate your water supply, to always keep it fresh a back up food supply is important you don’t touch unless you really hard up, I used to truck out west and I was stuck at an old abandoned truck stop in the middle of a blizzard in the middle of Wyoming for three days, If I didn’t have a back up food and water supply, that kept me alive and mentally secure, if I didn’t it would have been very un pleasant. Morale is crucial and not being hungry or thirsty is crucial, I had my truck with 300 gallons of fuel a full size bed , police scanner, satellite radio also I had heat and lights, microwave, refrigerator and a coffee pot and DVD player, 24” flat screen, and a lot or movies on hand, a comfortable environment , I keep a -40 f, sleeping bag and a -0 full size sleeping bag on my bunk. So if things went awry mechanically I could survive fairly comfortable. The second day into the storm another trucker who was staying there as the road was closed was stuck like me, that driver came over to my truck to mooch some food, water and cigarettes , I gave him food and water. He was “not” in the least prepared, and if I was an jerk I would have made him go with out, I live by what goes around comes around , that guy was like me in the 1980’s when I was totally unprepared and almost froze to death on the road. I kept a Bible and other reading materials in my truck, boredom is not contusive to having good morale, I have a pet wolf he is a morale booster , we been together through thick and thin, he was laying in the snow outside my truck then, he loves the blizzards but hates the rain. I hope what I wrote here has helped others with my prospective on things. Especially being prepared for the worst of times, Americans have to be tough and at the same time keeping our minds right be diligent and non-complacent, always know your environment. And by loving our fellow human beings, like we love our selves...</P><P>　</P><P>　</P><P>　</P><P>　</P>

 

[Ziggy Moon]

Hello, Motown! Welcome!<br><br>Thanks for sharing your life's experiences and the good advice - I hope you're now doing well, health wise!

 

[MOTOWN]

<STRONG>Thanks Ziggy Moon,<BR>I'am alive and working on getting in shape I'am 54 years,&nbsp; on planet earth planing on living to be over a hundred, I learned to take baby steps now in life, before I ram rodded, nearly worked my self to death. I' am hoping to get my motorome back on the road soon, hard to do with little capital, disability is barely substainable, I have good freinds and family who helped me through hard times, it gave me a new outlook on life some times you have to be near death and broke before you wake up and smell the coffee. I also have a b250 conversion van I bought it used its in cherry shape both inside and out, I love it has a v6 gets great milage. I used to live in florida I lived on Watson Island between Miami and Miami Beach,in the 1970's I lived on the Disco Volanti a hydrofoil that was in the James Bond movie Thunder&nbsp;Ball, &nbsp;during wich time I was Anita Briants (Florida Orange Queen)body guard. I loved living in southern Florida now its for the very rich or the very poor.&nbsp;&nbsp;Ziggy Moon you must be sweating your ass off there now, you must be&nbsp;camping out neer the beach, huh. take care &nbsp;also shhhh you mite wake the sheep.<BR></STRONG>

 

[Ballenxj]

Howdy Motown, WELCOME. Sounds like you have seen a few things in your time. <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" class="emoticon bbc_img"> <br>-Bruce

 

[AnAtlantaBlogger]

Bob, I bought your book the other day and thoroughly enjoyed it. From a link there, I ended up here. Just wanted to say thanks for a great read.

 

[AnAtlantaBlogger]

Motown,

That was a lot of helpful info above. Thanks!!

 

[djdaisy33]

Hello to everyone:<br><br>My name is Dominique and&nbsp;I am very happy to have found this community.&nbsp; I actually just bought an RV (because I have a husband and three small dogs) but my goal is to get into a van one day.&nbsp; Right now my goal is to park my RV at my house (which I don't have a mortgage on) and live out of the RV.&nbsp; The upkeep on my house is hell.&nbsp; Since I live in the desert, it is not uncommon for me to have electric bills that average $500.&nbsp; Did I also mention I hate my neighbors on both sides of me and across the street?&nbsp; Actually the one on the right side is tolerable but I am tired of tolerable! So I had to convince my husband to try this lifestyle and he would only agree to it, if it was in an RV and we had Directv.&nbsp; I look forward to getting to know everyone. <br><br>Dominique

 

[dragonflyinthesky]

Welcome&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 20px;">Dominique, sounds like you are taking the right steps to freedom. I can't imagine electric bills that much in addition to nasty neighbors.<br>Dragonfly</span>