N/A Fleetwood RV's

GMascelli

GMascelli

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Mary and I are looking at a Fleetwood Storm 30' RV. We are thinking about a seasonal set up in Ocean City MD.

Any thoughts on the Fleetwood Storm models?
 
Gary,

I full timed for three years and did so in a 38.5, triple slide, Jayco fifth wheel. A good friend has been full timing for about 7 years in a Fleetwood diesel pusher and raves about it. Every fleetwood I have been in at the rv parks has been appreciated by the owner.

If you are only using it as a "base" on a seasonal basis, spend less and go with an upgraded fifth wheel. If you are planning on traveling with a small tow vehicle, class A is a great way to go.

Best of luck! RVers are every bit as pleasant and hospitable as aviation folks and always willing to jump in and help when needed.
 
Thumper said:
Gary,

I full timed for three years and did so in a 38.5, triple slide, Jayco fifth wheel. A good friend has been full timing for about 7 years in a Fleetwood diesel pusher and raves about it. Every fleetwood I have been in at the rv parks has been appreciated by the owner.

If you are only using it as a "base" on a seasonal basis, spend less and go with an upgraded fifth wheel. If you are planning on traveling with a small tow vehicle, class A is a great way to go.

Best of luck! RVers are every bit as pleasant and hospitable as aviation folks and always willing to jump in and help when needed.
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Doug,

Thanks! We wanted a mobile "home away from home" base. I do not have a fifth wheel set up or anything available to me. My ML320 Benz SUV doesn't even have a class three hitch on it. Since we can fly into OXB I may look for an "airport beater" type of car to get us to/from the RV (13 miles) and then the beach (4 miles). Hard to spend less, asking 14K for a 1995 unit with 30K miles and we havent even started to horsetrade yet.
 
There's some screaming deals out there on RV gear just like airplanes right now if you have the cash.

I ran across an early 90s Class-A that the older couple selling it said they'd take $6000 for or they'd consider "a nice pickup truck" in trade.

That old, it'd need some work and it had the 454 in it so gas mileage would be god-awful, but everything worked in it, genset had low time, and even though the decor was a bit dated, you could use it a while and probably sell it for what you had in it if you didn't bump into any major maintenance items.

Like older airplanes, there's the MX risk, but dang.
 
GMascelli said:
Mary and I are looking at a Fleetwood Storm 30' RV. We are thinking about a seasonal set up in Ocean City MD.

Any thoughts on the Fleetwood Storm models?
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They're fine. I used to haul new trailers and drive the RVs to the dealers from the manufacturers and have seen all the plants and how they are built. They are most all built within 20 miles of Shipshewana Indiana and the predominant labor force building them is Amish. The same supplier trucks make the rounds to all the factories bringing them all the same parts and supplies.

They're all built on a major manufacturer chassis, (IIRC that one will be a GM?).

With Class A the big choice is Gas or Diesel and the answer to that comes with how many miles you run. If you drive it to a campsite to set up for the season and then drive it home to park, gasoline is the obvious choice. I haven't done the math in a few years but somewhere around 6,000 miles a year and a 10 year life span was where paying the premium for a Diesel engine rig became economically worth while.

For me, I'd just buy what was cheapest with a slideout that I liked. If you like the Fleetwood Storm (and more importantly Mama likes it), it will serve you as well as any other unit.
 
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Look for some thing with a Spartan Chassis and a Cummins 8.3 /and a allison 6 speed.

the Fleet wood is an entry level RV, you can get a nice 2000 + Newmar or Monaco for the same money.

buy from an individual, not a dealer, E-bay and Craig's list is full of them.
 
Tom-D said:
Look for some thing with a Spartan Chassis and a Cummins 8.3 /and a allison 6 speed.

the Fleet wood is an entry level RV, you can get a nice 2000 + Newmar or Monaco for the same money.

buy from an individual, not a dealer, E-bay and Craig's list is full of them.
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I can't see him getting in anything with a diesel for less than 3 times what he'll pay for the mid 90s Fleetwood he's looking at.
 
denverpilot said:
There's some screaming deals out there on RV gear just like airplanes right now if you have the cash.
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That's exactly what I did. $5K for an 85 Fleetwood Southwind from some guy that didn't need it anymore. I moved into it that afternoon a over 5 years ago and have been fulltiming ever since. Mileage sux however people with newer rv's the same size aren't doing much better. Diesel would be nice for the mountain passes however gas is way less expensive to repair..and the last I looked, gas is about 80 cents/gallon cheaper right now.

If you're going to be traveling much, a motorhome is far less of a hassle than a camper. Pull a small car or scooter behind you (I have my motorcycle on a flatbed trailer), no big gas guzzling truck to deal with all the time, no time consuming hitching up hassles to run over to the dump that's 500 feet away and you can often get into smaller/tighter areas than campers can. (Note that there are a lot of camp areas that are limited to 30 feet. I can split my trailer off and fit easily while 60 feet of camper/truck can't) It's way easier to back it up too. I see a lot of campers park and not move for the duration while the motorhomes come and go. There is a lot of "we don't go anywhere much because it's too much hassle to move it" from the non hard core crowd. And if some thug messes with you in the middle of the night, you just dive into the driver seat and you're gone without getting your brains beat out - seriously though no one will mess with you however the escape option is nice.

Like older airplanes, there's the MX risk, but dang.
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Do you have any clue how many new RV's are back in the shop for repairs after the first outing?
If you can do any wrenching at all, fix things yourself. Think home depot and ace hardware and the local autoparts store, not the dealer that sells the same part for 10 times the price plus 3 times the going rate for labor.
 
Henning said:
I can't see him getting in anything with a diesel for less than 3 times what he'll pay for the mid 90s Fleetwood he's looking at.
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There are only 3 words in RVs that count, Quality, Quality, Quality.

would you rather work on it or live in it?


this is ours, a 2000 Newmar Mountain Aire 40' we tow the jeep 4 down, on our trip to the east coast and back 11,200 miles it averaged 10.2 on economy cruise, running at 60 mph. not towing. it grosses at 43k# but we are seldom over 30K# full tanks, day 1. with the 350 cummins running a chip at 425 horses at 32 pounds boost it will run with traffic on the north cascade highway.

we love it, because there isn't any maintenance to do on the diesel. strong and dependable always.
 

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fgcason said:
Do you have any clue how many new RV's are back in the shop for repairs after the first outing?
We suffered thru getting the coach out of storage after a 9 year lay up. all rubber had to be replaced, and the water filter system has froze and broke, the tires were the only thing I did not try to fix my self
If you can do any wrenching at all, fix things yourself. Think home depot and ace hardware and the local autoparts store, not the dealer that sells the same part for 10 times the price plus 3 times the going rate for labor.
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got that right, RV shop labor will make your FBO look like a great deal. Our first trip to FreightLinner service dept, taught us that lesson, LOF (air, fuel, oil, and gen set) was $1150
 
Tom-D said:
There are only 3 words in RVs that count, Quality, Quality, Quality.

would you rather work on it or live in it?


this is ours, a 2000 Newmar Mountain Aire 40' we tow the jeep 4 down, on our trip to the east coast and back 11,200 miles it averaged 10.2 on economy cruise, running at 60 mph. not towing. it grosses at 43k# but we are seldom over 30K# full tanks, day 1. with the 350 cummins running a chip at 425 horses at 32 pounds boost it will run with traffic on the north cascade highway.

we love it, because there isn't any maintenance to do on the diesel. strong and dependable always.
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True, but how much quality do you need to drive 500-1500 miles a year to go set up your RV/Cabin for the season and drive it home at the end?

As I said in my original post, if you're gonna be doing miles, go diesel. However it sounds like he's using as his 'camp ground cabin' leaving it there for seasons at a time. It's hard to justify spending the extra money on your cabin when you could spend it on your airplane you use to get to the cabin. Now if you're traveling folk and tow your Avid Flyer all over the country doing 10,000 miles a year, or something where you are going 100,000 miles a year with a schedule to keep, then hell yeah, Diesel pusher all the way.

The difference in price between a Diesel and gas class A buys an airplane....
 
Boats are the same way, you don't need a fully all oceans seaworthy vessel to keep down at the marina for use as your 'waterfront condo' to go have drinks on and take out on the 4th of July to go see the fireworks. If you go to SoCal and look around the marinas and you will see over a million boats, and > than 90% of them serve exactly that mission/purpose. Those people will get the exact same use value from Catalina as they will from a Hinckley.
 
Henning said:
True, but how much quality do you need to drive 500-1500 miles a year to go set up your RV/Cabin for the season and drive it home at the end?.
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The cabin is where you find the quality you need, the refer, stove, aircon, carpet, all the stuff that gets used every day.

older M/Hs will have problems with the cheap plastic stuff that the cheaper M/Hs use, plus the chip board cabinets fall apart, our Newmar has solid hard maple cabinets, not a laminate over chip board.
 
Tom-D said:
The cabin is where you find the quality you need, the refer, stove, aircon, carpet, all the stuff that gets used every day.

older M/Hs will have problems with the cheap plastic stuff that the cheaper M/Hs use, plus the chip board cabinets fall apart, our Newmar has solid hard maple cabinets, not a laminate over chip board.
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Exactly, and you can retrofit in a high quality interior and appliances for 25% of the cost to upgrade to a unit with a Diesel chassis. Spend the money on the cabin rather than the chassis.
 
Henning said:
Boats are the same way, you don't need a fully all oceans seaworthy vessel to keep down at the marina for use as your 'waterfront condo' to go have drinks on and take out on the 4th of July to go see the fireworks. If you go to SoCal and look around the marinas and you will see over a million boats, and > than 90% of them serve exactly that mission/purpose. Those people will get the exact same use value from Catalina as they will from a Hinckley.
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Ha you nailed that one. One of my friends families bought a 30' Rampage with twin gasoline engines new a few years back and they use it for about that purpose. Any big sport fisher with gasoline engines is nothing more than a cocktail boat. They're afraid to even take it out of beaufort inlet... I spend 10+ hour days out there on a 24' with a single 200 outboard.

I'd go with gas for the RV as well. If your plan is to park it and fly to it you'll never in a million years recoup what you spent on the diesel (awesome though they are)

Have you considered where you are going to keep it when you're not using it? You might want to find a storage place a few miles inland and put it there when you won't be using it for a little while. Keep the salt at bay.
 
I'll throw in another option.

How about a nice 5th wheel and just pay a trailer hauler to move it twice a year. Those guys don't charge that much, especially compared to the cost of trying to keep a motorhome in driving condition that is only used twice a year. Lots of things will break just from sitting. Insurance, registration, it's all a giant PITA IMO.

I tried a cheap truck chassis built motorhome once on a short trip. Hell No. It was like someone installed a living area in a U-Haul. Just wait till you get that thing in a gusty cross wind at 60 MPH. If I ever buy another motor home it will be a bus chassis, diesel pusher, slide out, etc. Like the Newmar mentioned above.

Otherwise, I just wouldn't bother.

One other thing, with the fifth wheel and trailer mover you can follow in your car and have a normal vehicle up there as well.
 
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My thoughts as well. Many of the 5th-wheels at the RV park in Gunnison only move 2X/yr, some less. Off-season storage is peanuts, they just drain the tanks and throw a cover over them until next year.




Alexb2000 said:
I'll throw in another option.

How about a nice 5th wheel and just pay a trailer hauler to move it twice a year. Those guys don't charge that much, especially compared to the cost of trying to keep a motorhome in driving condition that is only used twice a year. Lots of things will break just from sitting. Insurance, registration, it's all a giant PITA IMO.

.
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wabower said:
My thoughts as well. Many of the 5th-wheels at the RV park in Gunnison only move 2X/yr, some less. Off-season storage is peanuts, they just drain the tanks and throw a cover over them until next year.
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Any particular reason y'all like 5th wheel trailers for a cabin? They make pretty much the same things in a flat chassis travel trailer that costs less and stores more. The only advantage to a 5th wheel really is in the forward towing on the highway. I can maneuver a travel trailer into a tighter spot than I can a 5th wheel as well since the pivot is 3 foot behind the axle instead of a couple inches in front. Any of the trailer hauler guys is set up for either.
 
Dunno. Just an observation on my part based on the units that stay in the park. Mine is a bumper-pull, but I bring it home.

Henning said:
Any particular reason y'all like 5th wheel trailers for a cabin? They make pretty much the same things in a flat chassis travel trailer that costs less and stores more. The only advantage to a 5th wheel really is in the forward towing on the highway. I can maneuver a travel trailer into a tighter spot than I can a 5th wheel as well since the pivot is 3 foot behind the axle instead of a couple inches in front. Any of the trailer hauler guys is set up for either.
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Any particular reason y'all like 5th wheel trailers for a cabin?
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A lot of the first time rv owners i've talked to bought into the sales hype. Easy to pull. Spacious. More spacious. Three slides. Bigger is better. As big as an apartment. Did we mention it's spacious. Looks are glitzy high class ohh ahh stuff. Separate main bedroom. Acres of space in the living area and kitchen. Blah blah blah blah.
THEN they have to get the huge spendy truck to pull it which almost doubles the total startup price. At that point they realize how big a pain it is to haul around a semi-trailer which means they turn into permanent fixtures at rv parks that can handle the bigger campers/bus conversions.

Not me, no way no how.
 
Not in the plan for driving many miles so gas works for us and I can still turn wrenches if I had to. Not into the fifth wheel at all, I dont have a vehicle to haul it and with both vehicles paid for we dont want a truck payment. Gave some thought to a beater car but I think a rental for the weekends will work out just fine. The rates at OXB are really good.

Storage shoudnt be a problem at one of the airports I work at or I have access to plenty of out buildings to keep under cover for winter. The owner just called and we are scheduled for Sunday around noon for a inspection and drive. We hope this is the one, but like airplanes, you can't fall in love on day one.

Geezzzz.....I cross posted on AOPA but they locked the thread for non-aviation. I havent paid dues there since I bought my plane, good thing BOA pays dues if you have a loan, at least for a few more years.
 
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All of these arguments are (at least) two-sided, sometimes more. I pull a fold-down (Trailmanor.com) with a full king-size bed that is very comfortable for us. With cable TV, high-speed internet and other camp-ground amenities, it's very comfortable for two, although lacking a 44" flatscreen (ours is 22") and surround-sound that others seem to find essential. It lives under the carport, has no systems other than modular water pump, furnace, A/C and water heater that are easily accessible.

At the campgrounds, I typically admire the sumptiousness of the big rigs and their owners admire my functionality, highway speed and mileage, typically ~16 mpg behind my Suburban 1500.

Last summer a guy from Weatherford, TX pulled in with the biggest MH I have ever seen. He later said he was going to get a smaller trailer when the dog died, so I expected to see Brutus the pit-bull emerge at any time, only to find that it was a Yorkie named Dumplin'.

fgcason said:
A lot of the first time rv owners i've talked to bought into the sales hype. Easy to pull. Spacious. More spacious. Three slides. Bigger is better. As big as an apartment. Did we mention it's spacious. Looks are glitzy high class ohh ahh stuff. Separate main bedroom. Acres of space in the living area and kitchen. Blah blah blah blah.
THEN they have to get the huge spendy truck to pull it which almost doubles the total startup price. At that point they realize how big a pain it is to haul around a semi-trailer which means they turn into permanent fixtures at rv parks that can handle the bigger campers/bus conversions.

Not me, no way no how.
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UPDATE...

We loooked at two other units and decided on a Fleetwood Storm 35'. It will serve us well as a beach get-away. Locked in for a season in Ocean City MD this afternoon so we are almost good to go.

Waiting on the shop to take care of a few items I questioned then back for a final test drive and full systems check. If everything is as advertized and the few items I wanted taken care of are fixed, then we'll hand over the check and drive her home.
 

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Make sure you know how to get the slide in without power. As in actually do it.
 
Nothing special. 2002 3/4 ton Chevy crew cab/ 6.0 liter gas. A diesel would be a lot better. We don't go far and we don't go fast but we try to go to a new spot each time.

My grandpa didn't have a camper but he took us fishing all the time. Great memories!
 
Was just curious because I see the "can you pull this [insert huge trailer here] with a 1/2 ton" debates online all the time.

I want to get a large trailer but I don't feel like upgrading vehicles right now. The wheelbase on a Yukon is too short to tow a 30' comfortably even with anti-sway gadgetry.

Probably just wait a while. Or deal with the headache of having the locomotion integrated with the human-storage-box. (motorhome)
 
I agree people will say anything to make a sale.

I'm not sure how much our camper weighs. If there is little to no wind I can pull it at highway speeds but if there is a headwind my pickup struggles. I've been in 30 mph head winds where 35-40mph is all I could get out of my pickup.
 
There is nothing like pulling into a campground, pushing a few buttons, and be kicked back with a cool one and watch the trailer towers getting out in the rain and wind to set the jacks and level the trailer. BTDT, no more.

There is nothing like having 150 gallons of diesel on board and having the fuel stops 1500 miles apart, or having 150 gallons of your own water on board and forgetting about montezuma's revenge. and the biggy being able to shower with out running all the way to the camp ground shower house, if you can find it.

It takes Barb and me about a week cooking, preserving, packing, rearranging to getting the coach ready to do 3-6 months on the road, and we usually live in the coach the last couple days before we leave. I can't say we regret the move up to the coach.
 
denverpilot said:
Was just curious because I see the "can you pull this [insert huge trailer here] with a 1/2 ton" debates online all the time.

I want to get a large trailer but I don't feel like upgrading vehicles right now. The wheelbase on a Yukon is too short to tow a 30' comfortably even with anti-sway gadgetry.

Probably just wait a while. Or deal with the headache of having the locomotion integrated with the human-storage-box. (motorhome)
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For what you will pay for a nice 30' trailer you can find a nice used M/H and tow the Yukon.
 
Tom-D said:
For what you will pay for a nice 30' trailer you can find a nice used M/H and tow the Yukon.
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Yeah. Already been coming to that conclusion here too... would tow the VW though, not the Yukon.
 
A half ton P/U with 3:73 gears or steeper is good to pull a 24'-26' trailer, either a lowboy 5th wheel or a bumper pull if you use an equalizing type hitch. If you have 3.90 or 4.11 gears you can take whatever up to your GCVWR. Even with those gears, no more than half throttle in overdrive, the transmissions can't handle it. As long as you locate the axles of the trailer carefully, use good hitches, and have good electric brakes, the most likely limiting factor on a 1/2 ton truck towing will be the transmission. If you need something like overload springs, you need a 3/4 ton truck because you need floating hubs as well.
 
GMascelli said:
UPDATE...

We loooked at two other units and decided on a Fleetwood Storm 35'. It will serve us well as a beach get-away. Locked in for a season in Ocean City MD this afternoon so we are almost good to go.

Waiting on the shop to take care of a few items I questioned then back for a final test drive and full systems check. If everything is as advertized and the few items I wanted taken care of are fixed, then we'll hand over the check and drive her home.
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Here I thought you were talking about Van's RV's! :rofl:

Looks like a great get away machine. What is the take off speed? And VNE? :confused:
 
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