Thinking about a Bus/RV

Ted DuPuis said:
When I did the research Kansas is pretty much average. We’d be not legal with the 45 and the Ram, and then less legal in some places. I’m assuming the 40’ limit at national parks is enforced and hard to get around too?
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vehicles in combination have different rules.
IOWs a truck and trailer can't be over a set length ? some of these truck and trailers are way over that.
National parks have a limit simply because of the limited space. remember when they were made(30s) they are most are old CCC camps.
I've been Yellowstone several times and we never had a problems traveling the highways, it is always crowded. but outside the park. ? not so much
always gain reservation and plan ahead.
do your home work, and go with what your comfortable with.
 
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I’m perfectly comfortable with a 45+ trailer. But getting in trouble for over length seems like that might not be so good and I imagine crossing borders and entering parks that would be pretty obvious, no?
 
I think you’re looking at the wrong section, Tom. That looks to apply to a semi tractor towing a trailer house. :)


(b) No motor vehicle including the load thereon shall exceed a length of 45 feet extreme overall dimension, excluding the front and rear bumpers, except as provided in subsection (d).

(c) Except as otherwise provided in K.S.A. 8-1914 and 8-1915, and amendments thereto, and subsections (d), (e), (f), (g) and (h), no combination of vehicles coupled together shall exceed a total length of 65 feet.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I think you’re looking at the wrong section, Tom. That looks to apply to a semi tractor towing a trailer house. :)


(b) No motor vehicle including the load thereon shall exceed a length of 45 feet extreme overall dimension, excluding the front and rear bumpers, except as provided in subsection (d).

to me that is single vehicle, now add the towed

(c) Except as otherwise provided in K.S.A. 8-1914 and 8-1915, and amendments thereto, and subsections (d), (e), (f), (g) and (h), no combination of vehicles coupled together shall exceed a total length of 65 feet.
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Aren't you towing? that is coupling "Combination" means it is "combined" (f)
If your are not sure, ask, it is cheaper than a ticket.


(f) The limitations of this section governing the maximum length of combinations of vehicles shall not apply to a combination of vehicles consisting of a truck tractor towing a house trailer, if such combination of vehicles does not exceed an overall length of 97 feet.

to me that says,
shall not apply to a combination of vehicles consisting of a truck tractor towing a house trailer,
 
So I did a bit more research into the 40 vs. 45 debate and we're back on looking at 45s.

First one, 45s are legal in Canada (at least virtually all of it) the catch being that they need to have 3 axles. No problem - the only 45 we were looking at with 2 axles was the Peterbilt-based one above and we had already decided not to buy it for other reasons. We figure we'll be able to make the length aspects work sufficiently.

We are going to have to get a "special license" here in Kansas for anything over 26,000 GVWR. No problem, we like getting extra ratings.

National parks look like they may be an issue in some cases for staying in the parks, but I've seen good points on multiple places from folks pointing out that staying outside the park means you'll be at a better campground typically in a small neighboring town with more going on. And on the other side of it, finding places (not national parks per se, but in general) to boondock is up our alley. So I think we've convinced ourselves we're fine with a 45 if we find one that we like better than the 40s we're seeing.

Here's a question for the pro-slides people: when you stop at a rest area or truck stop en route (rather than a campground), aren't you in spots where you have to keep the slides in? The part I'm wondering about there is that anything we look at with slides needs the slides to accommodate sleeping arrangements for the kids, so if the slides can't go out then that restricts us on some places we can stop. To me that's a big deal as I suspect we'll have times when we want to stop en-route and a rest area or truck stop is the best option, and we won't want to necessarily go to a KOA and get the slides out, etc., we'll just want to park and go to sleep.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Tom, that link appears to just be to the Facebook page for an RV dealer. Is there a particular one for sale they have that you were pointing out? The first one is over $200k and slightly above budget. ;)
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It was a bunkhouse Newmar..the example was to show that that do make them.

114152137_3431596690208643_2257531423621776055_o.jpg

110210784_3431596890208623_6653071170762311050_o.jpg
 
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Now that is a very interesting design. I do like it. Although it affords the parents no privacy. :)
 
Ted DuPuis said:
So I did a bit more research into the 40 vs. 45 debate and we're back on looking at 45s.

First one, 45s are legal in Canada (at least virtually all of it) the catch being that they need to have 3 axles. No problem - the only 45 we were looking at with 2 axles was the Peterbilt-based one above and we had already decided not to buy it for other reasons. We figure we'll be able to make the length aspects work sufficiently.

We are going to have to get a "special license" here in Kansas for anything over 26,000 GVWR. No problem, we like getting extra ratings.

National parks look like they may be an issue in some cases for staying in the parks, but I've seen good points on multiple places from folks pointing out that staying outside the park means you'll be at a better campground typically in a small neighboring town with more going on. And on the other side of it, finding places (not national parks per se, but in general) to boondock is up our alley. So I think we've convinced ourselves we're fine with a 45 if we find one that we like better than the 40s we're seeing.

Here's a question for the pro-slides people: when you stop at a rest area or truck stop en route (rather than a campground), aren't you in spots where you have to keep the slides in? The part I'm wondering about there is that anything we look at with slides needs the slides to accommodate sleeping arrangements for the kids, so if the slides can't go out then that restricts us on some places we can stop. To me that's a big deal as I suspect we'll have times when we want to stop en-route and a rest area or truck stop is the best option, and we won't want to necessarily go to a KOA and get the slides out, etc., we'll just want to park and go to sleep.
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Campgrounds vary for space we simple call when we know.
we have never been cramped by space, we even put the slide out when we are in a road side rest.
we can put the folding bed out with the slide in. it is doable.
 
Tom-D said:
you can't have every thing. it is a comprise.
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Yes, agreed. Overall I think it's a good setup, and neat how they make that use of space. But also out of our budget.
 
roof design is a problem, many coaches leak.
 
Canada rules, if you are legal in the US you are legal in Canada. It's a treaty thing. (Mexico too.)
 
Well, you snooze you lose.

We had one RV that was our top pick, a 45'er that wasn't too far away in Oklahoma. It was enough what we wanted that I was thinking of going down this week even though Laurie is at work to look at it and maybe buy it. Of course within that was the learning about whether we wanted a 40 or a 45 (now we know) and that was part of the uncertainty. We were going to go look at it on Wednesday. It sold last night it looks, per the ad anyway.

There were a couple things we didn't like from the pictures but only a couple. So that's frustrating. Oh well, back to the drawing board I guess.
 
Here's another vote for a Spartan Chassis with a Cummins engine. Rock solid.

I've owned Rexhall, Newmar, Tiffin, Airstream, and American. Class A's, gassers, diesel pushers, and trailers.

My current ride is an ancient 2001 American Eagle 40' Diesel Pusher built on a Spartan Chassis with a Cummins ISC350. She's all go, and no show. She's humble - only ONE long slide out, which does NOT obstruct anything when closed. You can literally use it with the slide out closed and never think twice.

I certainly purchased it for less than $50k. Not what it's worth today - I've put a few things into it. It was luck; it was selling for $96k at the time. Whatever. I checked on RV trader for you today and you can find similar coaches today without many of the fixings I added.

Most places refuse 45's, but they'll gladly welcome 40's. RV Parks and campgrounds are funny that way.

The roof in mine is fiberglass, not rubber, and it does NOT leak. Mine currently has 70,000 miles.

I installed an electric motorcycle lift in the back which also allows for a towed vehicle. I just don't tow a vehicle with it; either the Harley or the 500CC moped / Piaggio Scarabeo work plenty well for transportation, as does the repurposed Bird Electric Scooter.

The coach currently has 8 235W panels on top; 1880watts of Solar banging away at the batteries.
Speaking of batteries, there are 12 6v 225 AH Trojan Batteries in the place of the original 2. Just a little bit more storage...the MPPT controller is a midnight solar classic 150. It's there to help power the fridge, the biggest power hog. The fridge was replaced by a Samsung electric RF197 - 20 cubic feet of fresh food. The Cummins / ONAN 7500 only needs about an hour or so a day to keep up when dry camping if the fridge is constantly left on. I'm still tweaking with the power settings on the fridge.

The two furnaces are propane, which keep things toasty in the snow, and I've lived in it in the snow plenty. There is also an on-demand hot water heater. 2 AC's on the top.

DirecTV on top from a Roadtrip t4 in motion, with a 32' flatscreen in the front, a 28" in the bedroom, and another on top of the wine fridge. Internet is provided by a Winegard antenna which creates a private Wifi Network, which will happily vampire off of your local starbucks or any other free public wifi, lest I want to use 4g/LTE on it. 2 LED's Roku TV's inside.

No bunkhouse. But...I have a dual shower / bath tub instead.

The washer / dryer works like a champ. There is also more than one safe in there for short and long guns.

Underneath, there's a 32 Gallon propane tank mounted, with another 25G long tank as well.

It's not a million dollar Prevost, but it works well for me....






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Llk said:
Here's another vote for a Spartan Chassis with a Cummins engine. Rock solid.

I've owned Rexhall, Newmar, Tiffin, Airstream, and American. Class A's, gassers, diesel pushers, and trailers.

My current ride is an ancient 2001 American Eagle 40' Diesel Pusher built on a Spartan Chassis with a Cummins ISC350. She's all go, and no show. She's humble - only ONE long slide out, which does NOT obstruct anything when closed. You can literally use it with the slide out closed and never think twice.

I certainly purchased it for less than $50k. Not what it's worth today - I've put a few things into it. It was luck; it was selling for $96k at the time. Whatever. I checked on RV trader for you today and you can find similar coaches today without many of the fixings I added.

Most places refuse 45's, but they'll gladly welcome 40's. RV Parks and campgrounds are funny that way.

The roof in mine is fiberglass, not rubber, and it does NOT leak. Mine currently has 70,000 miles.

I installed an electric motorcycle lift in the back which also allows for a towed vehicle. I just don't tow a vehicle with it; either the Harley or the 500CC moped / Piaggio Scarabeo work plenty well for transportation, as does the repurposed Bird Electric Scooter.

The coach currently has 8 235W panels on top; 1880watts of Solar banging away at the batteries.
Speaking of batteries, there are 12 6v 225 AH Trojan Batteries in the place of the original 2. Just a little bit more storage...the MPPT controller is a midnight solar classic 150. It's there to help power the fridge, the biggest power hog. The fridge was replaced by a Samsung electric RF197 - 20 cubic feet of fresh food. The Cummins / ONAN 7500 only needs about an hour or so a day to keep up when dry camping if the fridge is constantly left on. I'm still tweaking with the power settings on the fridge.

The two furnaces are propane, which keep things toasty in the snow, and I've lived in it in the snow plenty. There is also an on-demand hot water heater. 2 AC's on the top.

DirecTV on top from a Roadtrip t4 in motion, with a 32' flatscreen in the front, a 28" in the bedroom, and another on top of the wine fridge. Internet is provided by a Winegard antenna which creates a private Wifi Network, which will happily vampire off of your local starbucks or any other free public wifi, lest I want to use 4g/LTE on it. 2 LED's Roku TV's inside.

No bunkhouse. But...I have a dual shower / bath tub instead.

The washer / dryer works like a champ. There is also more than one safe in there for short and long guns.

Underneath, there's a 32 Gallon propane tank mounted, with another 25G long tank as well.

It's not a million dollar Prevost, but it works well for me....






[/url
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Sweet,, :) we just installed 380 watt of solar, seem enough for what we do.
Keeping a older coach that is well maintained and up graded is money well spent.
 
@Llk thanks for the info and pictures. Yours looks like it has a very nice interior. What kind of motorcycle trailer hitch rack do you have? I think that might be a good thing for us - be useful to throw the Guzzi on as I doubt any of them would support the weight of the full dresser Harleys. :)

We've ended up making a tentative deal on a 40' RV with two slides, planning to pick it up on Wednesday. Some good friends of ours who are RVers and knew we were RV shopping had friends who were selling theirs which happened to fit our needs well. The price and specs were right. I'll provide more details on it post-pickup, but I'll say that @NealRomeoGolf will be happy to know that it's got a Cat 3126 in it for power, so now I need to figure out what I should be doing to that engine. Probably nothing, other than maybe an exhaust cutout so I can hear the engine (but not annoy people at the campground).

The plan first is to get it home and then make a list of things to do to it. Figure I'll start off with standard engine oil/filter and fuel filter changes, check the air filter as well. I have a feeling I'll want to replace the headlights as they look like they may need it.

So now with the RV figured out (assuming everything goes well) now comes the list of things we need for it, feel free to make suggestions. I'll be getting an RV GPS, and will likely add some USB chargers in various spots.

One basic thing I was wondering about. Back in my days hauling cars around the country I had my CB radio, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Of course that was 15+ years ago. I know they still sell CBs but is there any benefit to them anymore or has everyone more or less gone away from using them? I do have an old Uniden BearTracker that can scan the weather bands, CB bands, and most importantly aviation frequencies. I enjoyed having that in the truck when I used to drive a lot more so I figure I'll buy an antenna and throw it in, fun to listen to driving down the road for all of us.
 
Ted: Get your ham ticket....2m, 440, 6m and hf and tons of modes over the different bands. Lots of fun and possibilities. A bit of heavy studying and you should pass the Tech exam easy. General and Extra are a little more work.
 
Craig said:
Ted: Get your ham ticket....2m, 440, 6m and hf and tons of modes over the different bands. Lots of fun and possibilities. A bit of heavy studying and you should pass the Tech exam easy. General and Extra are a little more work.
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That might be a new thread. I have been thinking about getting my ham license, and this might be a good reason to do so, especially if that's a reasonable replacement for the CB these days.
 
The ham ticket is fine for killing time and entertainment while parked. Unfortunately, for road worthy updates and police locations the CB is better suited, albeit hard to listen to for any length of time. Congrats on the RV, I wish we still had ours. It was a great way to do the beach for many seasons and I got to use the plane to travel back and forth every weekend. We sure wouldn't mind one now, parked in Ft Myers for the winter months. Instead we may be the typical snowbird and rent for a few months IF we find a place that is dog friendly.

N3DLM
 
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I doubt CB offers better updates about upcoming traffic and the location of radar traps than google maps.
 
GMascelli said:
I haven't tried that, not that I spend much time on the road these days.
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I have my work location open in google maps or waze not because I am afraid that I wont find the place, but because it gives me traffic alerts and most cop locations. Its not like I am driving fast or anything, just to avoid any misunderstandings.
 
weilke said:
I doubt CB offers better updates about upcoming traffic and the location of radar traps than google maps.
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I found the CB mostly interesting for entertainment value, and sometimes it's useful to be able to talk to the truckers. But I'm basing all of this on 15ish years ago hence the question of what's current today.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I found the CB mostly interesting for entertainment value, and sometimes it's useful to be able to talk to the truckers. But I'm basing all of this on 15ish years ago hence the question of what's current today.
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I liked listening to the CB radio on long night trips, the conversations kept me awake. Haven't listened in a long time and don't even know if I still have the radio or where it would be.
 
GMascelli said:
The ham ticket is fine for killing time and entertainment while parked. Unfortunately, for road worthy updates and police locations the CB is better suited, albeit hard to listen to for any length of time. Congrats on the RV, I wish we still had ours. It was a great way to do the beach for many seasons and I got to use the plane to travel back and forth every weekend. We sure wouldn't mind one now, parked in Ft Myers for the winter months. Instead we may be the typical snowbird and rent for a few months IF we find a place that is dog friendly.

N3DLM
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We'll see how we like it. Neither of us have actually ever done the RVing thing before and so, like everything else we do, we jump in with the biggest (almost) thing we can find. Since Laurie gets a lot of hotel points, the reality is an RV as a place to stay has less benefits because we can stay basically anywhere for free. We're more looking at it for the "house on wheels" aspect to allow us to do things while driving. We'll, of course, see how that works out.
 
Bill Jennings said:
I liked listening to the CB radio on long night trips, the conversations kept me awake. Haven't listened in a long time and don't even know if I still have the radio or where it would be.
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Same here... found a CB at a garage sale years ago. Helps pass the time on long road trips.
 
Bill Jennings said:
I liked listening to the CB radio on long night trips, the conversations kept me awake. Haven't listened in a long time and don't even know if I still have the radio or where it would be.
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Ryanb said:
Same here... found a CB at a garage sale years ago. Helps pass the time on long road trips.
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I had a very nice Uniden model that I'd bought when I got my first truck in... 2003 I think. Sold it probably 5-6 ago figuring I wasn't going to use it again, should've kept it. The same Uniden is available new today for about $75 and there are others available for significantly less, so easy enough to experiment if I want to.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I had a very nice Uniden model that I'd bought when I got my first truck in... 2003 I think. Sold it probably 5-6 ago figuring I wasn't going to use it again, should've kept it. The same Uniden is available new today for about $75 and there are others available for significantly less, so easy enough to experiment if I want to.
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This is what I had.

F0FA7347-E9D2-4B11-8AFE-170F6F64F413.jpeg
 
Wow, that's a relic. :)
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Since Laurie gets a lot of hotel points, the reality is an RV as a place to stay has less benefits because we can stay basically anywhere for free. We're more looking at it for the "house on wheels" aspect to allow us to do things while driving. We'll, of course, see how that works out.
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You can have the best of both worlds. Drive it where you want to go, then park it out back of the Hilton when you check in.

As for the HAM question, I've no direct experience, but I do hear a lot of complaints from the HAMs on another unrelated board that it's nearly dead in NJ. Hardly anyone listening, hardly anyone one transmitting. I've no idea if it is better in other parts of the country.
 
GaryM said:
You can have the best of both worlds. Drive it where you want to go, then park it out back of the Hilton when you check in.

As for the HAM question, I've no direct experience, but I do hear a lot of complaints from the HAMs on another unrelated board that it's nearly dead in NJ. Hardly anyone listening, hardly anyone one transmitting. I've no idea if it is better in other parts of the country.
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We could get PoAers on ham too. ;)
 
We do a laptop and use the google maps. the big camper books, and the cellphone. I haven't use the CB for years. and we use the iPad and the internet, (off the cell)

and that is too much.. Look out the window and drive.
all the campgrounds have internet service
 
Ted, the RV also allows your family to stay pretty quarantined while traveling. Not having to go into a hotel, touch everything, breath the shared air/etc I think is a benefit. Using a private pottie on the road is as well and can greatly reduce infection vectors.
 
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