Mother/daughter team new to van dwelling

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Whatever rig you settle on, if possible try to get a 96 or newer so you will get something called OBD II. The vehicle will be better of you buy a good one to begin with.

With a Class C, that might well put it out of your price range, then just get the newest you can afford. It's really hard to go wrong with a Class C! Consider towing an economy car behind you. I know it sounds scary but honestly, it's something you can do. It's easy to hook and unhook them and they can't be backed up. So you just try to never have to back it up, and if you do you just unhook it and drive it away.

I'd recommend getting the shortest Class C you can find. Be easier to drive, get better MPG and can better handle the wieght of a towed car.Even a short one will have all the comfort you need.

being able to set up camp and still have an economy car to drive as a daily driver will make your trip much better!! And in the long run may make it one of your cheapest overall options. If you put 10,000 miles on the Class C at 8 mpg, and 10,000 miles on the econmy car at 30 MPG, that's a pretty good average to have a comfortable home on wheels!
Bob
 
No Bookmonk, I was explaining why I sold my class C. I'm a workamper so I spend the entire summer at one location. A travel trailer made more sense for me as I had my tow vehicle to use for shopping etc. An older class C would be perfect for your lifestyle. Just be sure to get it checked out by a good mechanic. Many of them have low miles but need tires, hoses, etc. replaced because they spent so much time unused. I have an 87 hightop van that I'm going to be traveling in through winter, it needed brakes, tires, and U-joints but for $1500 plus a little work, I've got a comfortable home for one. I couldn't imagine a second person living in my van, it's tight for me and my dogs.


I second Bobs remark to get a shorter Class C if possible. Mine was 24 foot and easy to park and drive. My Mother came along on a one week trip and we had plenty of room. I see the large ones come into the campground and they have a heck of a time with the tight corners and don't fit in the prettier sites.
 
sephson said:
Since you're in Southern California, I'd recommend starting with Craigslist under the RV's+Camp tab in the For Sale section. Then narrow your search parameters. Since you're looking for a Class C, enter Class C in the search box.

I disagree that "Class C" is a useful search parameter--a huge percentage of Class Cs do not have that entered into their description.
 
just go to the RV section of craigslist and go thru it.....you'll find one fast........I just looked and in less than 5 min. spotted better than 10
 
PastTense said:
I disagree that "Class C" is a useful search parameter--a huge percentage of Class Cs do not have that entered into their description.

You bring up a good point. It seems that a lot of RV owners don't actually know what class of RV they own. Also, a significant portion of what comes up on the list has nothing to do with the search parameters I've entered. It can be quite frustrating having to sift through all the drek in order to find what I'm looking for. What narrowing the search mainly does for me is to shorten the list so I don't have quite as much to sift through. That said, I'm not actually shopping for an RV at the moment, so I don't need to worry about missing a good potential vehicle. Just browsing the full list may well be a better option for Bookmonk.
 
I want to know how many miles there are on the vehicle--and a significant number don't even mention that.
 
sephson said:
Just browsing the full list may well be a better option for Bookmonk.

I've noticed the same thing. I've found vehicles in categories where I didn't expect them (vans under RVs, RVs under car+trucks). It's better to broaden the search as much as possible and make use of other filters such as year and price.
 
PastTense said:
I want to know how many miles there are on the vehicle--and a significant number don't even mention that.
Have you given thought to calling them or replying to the ad?......most RV's have well under 100k on them ...most under 50k....if your interested and the price is close or a good deal , I guess go look at it in person and save your questions as a bargaining point
 
akrvbob said:
Consider towing an economy car behind you. I know it sounds scary but honestly, it's something you can do. It's easy to hook and unhook them and they can't be backed up. So you just try to never have to back it up, and if you do you just unhook it and drive it away.

. . . being able to set up camp and still have an economy car to drive as a daily driver will make your trip much better!! And in the long run may make it one of your cheapest overall options. If you put 10,000 miles on the Class C at 8 mpg, and 10,000 miles on the economy car at 30 MPG, that's a pretty good average to have a comfortable home on wheels!
Bob

Bob is absolutely right, as far as he goes. But there's a couple more things to keep in mind.

Not all cars can be flat towed. (ie: towed with all four wheels on the ground).

Some automatic transmissions are fine with it, some are not. With some designs, if the engine isn't running, the pump in the transmission isn't pumping the fluid around to keep things lubed. Try flat towing one of these more than a few miles and you'll ruin the transmission. $$$!

Cars with manual transmissions are almost always ok. Just put the tranny in neutral, and away you go.

Can you and your daughter drive a car that has a clutch? I fear it is becoming a lost art.

And then there are the modifications the car needs for towing. A special bracket needs to be solidly bolted to the car's frame. The tow bar will hook to this.

When you are flat towing a car, it in effect becomes a trailer. It's lights need to be modified to behave like trailer. When you put on a turn signal in your motorhome, the turn signal on the car needs to come on too. When you step on the brakes, the brake lights on the car need to come on too.

More importantly, the brake system on the car needs to be modified so that when you step on the brakes in your motorhome, the brakes in the car come on, too.

Bottom line, it's probably gonna cost you a couple of grand to have a car modified to pull behind a motorhome. Which you may, or may not, recoup when you sell the car.

Depending on how many miles you think you are going to travel while working on this project, it MIGHT make more sense to simply have your daughter DRIVE a small economy car and convoy with you in the motorhome.

Regards
John
 
Thank you all so much! This has been incredibly helpful. You have given me a lot to think about.
 
Optimistic Paranoid said:
Not all cars can be flat towed. (ie: towed with all four wheels on the ground).

Depending on how many miles you think you are going to travel while working on this project, it MIGHT make more sense to simply have your daughter DRIVE a small economy car and convoy with you in the motorhome.

John

John's right ^^^

but a great alternative is to put whatever car you want on a trailer behind your M/H.

the great things about this are

a.) you can take any kind of car you want, big or small, automatic or manual trans
b.) no modifications need to be made to the car...at all
c.) there's absolutely no wear & tear on the car, and you won't be burning any extra gas to drive it
d.) you can back this rig up, no problemo!

I've always thought that trailering a car would be the hot ticket. I'd bring a smaller Jeep or Tracker. This way it's small and cheap to drive, it's a convertable which is a ball to ride in, (especially on those warm summer evenings), and you've got the 4 wheel drive, so you can take it darn near anywhere...even off-road!
 
Pat, I can absolutely see why this appeals to you. With the right size trailer, you can not only bring a jeep, you can also throw a couple of motorcycles on it!

But the original poster mentioned stealth parking in cities, as well as boondocking in the sticks. On a scale of 0 to 10, I'm guessing a motorhome pulling a trailer with a car on it is going to rate somewhere in the negative numbers.

Also, she wants to be able to dump this stuff in a hurry, to finance phase two overseas. The trailer would be one more item to have to get rid of.

But I agree, what you describe would be a lovely set up for most of us.

Regards
John
 
Optimistic Paranoid said:
Also, she wants to be able to dump this stuff in a hurry, to finance phase two overseas. The trailer would be one more item to have to get rid of.

Well...it doesn't matter what you're trying to sell. Big or small.

if you ask the right price, then you can sell damn near anything...

...but ask the wrong price, and you get to keep it forever!


Wouldn't this make a killer package deal?? A complete Motorhome/Car/& Trailer package deal?? I'd think so. Turn-key set-up right there!
 
Thanks for the reality check Optimistic Paranoid, we've drifted away from the original question. It's easy to do! After awhile we don't remember the original post so we fall into generally good advice, but not the best for that person.

I still think a Class C might be best. If you shop wisely you can easily sell it for what you pay for it and it will be so much more "normal" than a van. But towing a car is probably a bad idea for you. If you were to keep living in it but for just a year with you on the move so much, no, it's not a good idea. If they were a part of your life before now, then a scooter or a bicycle would be a very good thing but otherwise no.

The documentary needs to be your focus and not a new lifestyle. Two people and a lot of camera gear in a van is going to be very crowded plus if you are going to be editing as you go you may need more work space than most of us. A Class C would give you all that and comfort.

I assume you will be power-hungry and a Class C with a generator will solve that problem as well. However, most RV generators are nothing but problems, I would think about fidning one without a generator and getting a Honda 2000 instead. Unless you will want to run the AC (another reason to choose a Class C!). Then you'll need a bigger generator.

Feel free to remind us of your specific needs, it's easy for us to fall into generalities.
Bob
 
Akrvbob, thank you for your response. Here are my needs again:

We will be traveling all over the country so gas milage is a major consideration.

We will be spending time in major cities conducting interviews so being able to drive around a city and park are also major considerations.

We do not need a lot of space for gear because it is all pretty small now. A class C would enable us to comfortably edit in the RV instead of always needing to find a place to hang out during the day.

Being able to park for free a majority of our nights would help us stretch our budget.

Also, we will be selling it after driving for a year so that we can travel overseas for the second part of our filming.

I hope that helps to clarify things. Thank you all so much for being so helpful! I am learning so much.
 
How tolerant are you and your daughter to heat?

Personally, I can't sleep when it's hot and humid, so for me, an air conditioner (and the generator needed to run it if not staying at a campground with shorepower) are non-negotiable.

Many van dwellers avoid this by shifting with the seasons to where it is cooler, but it sounds to me like your project will require you to be where you need to be, regardless of temps and weather.

Were you planning on LIVING in the van, or just sleeping in it? Were you hoping to cook simple meals, edit footage on your laptop in it? Or were you planning on buying simple meals at deli's and supermarkets? Finding public libraries and similar spaces to work in?

You did say that you needed two separate beds, right?

Frankly, I can't see this working out in a van. IMNPHO, you should be looking at the Class 3 rv's and just accepting the fact that the mpg's aren't going to be as good as you'd get in a van.

Regards
John
 
I think you're decision will come down to this:

1) The better gas mileage and drive-ability of a Class B
2) Or the comfort and room of a small Class C

Really that's something you have to decide for yourself. A Class C will be cheaper to buy leaving you more cash for gas and be much more comfortable. But even a short one is harder to drive and park in big towns and you could lose 5 MPG or more.

I'd start by going to a used RV lot and tour the interiors of the different Class Bs and Cs and see which one will best serve your needs.
Bob
 
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