The newest V-10 is 7qts, but, the older ones are 6qts to 6-1/2qts. I’m not sure what changed. There some motorhomes with remote filters, so obviously those are more. Is your V-10 in a Class A? In a Superduty, that’s about what our two shop trucks and Excursion were getting, at a previous employer. I’ve never heard of any Class A V-10 getting more than 9mpg. For gasser folks pulling trailers or in 30’+ range, gas pump access is a major complaint. The convenience store layout of modern gas stations doesn’t lend itself to easy ingress/egress for motorhomes. Even in my 25’ I had to be extremely careful of posts, curbs, and DB’s whose time was worth more than mine.
Even the older Outlaw on the Workhorse (GM) chassis has a following. Winnebago buying Newmar can’t be a good thing. Now, if it were the other direction, I could see Newmar bringing up Winnebago. Tough business, for either side, though.
@ducnut Thanks for all your info and advice. Im not going to say a diesel is a deff no. But if a turbo or injection pump take a shit thats big money. We chase broke down shit everyday. I just feel like for what we are wanting and what it will be used for a gasser is the smarter choice for us. Maybe Im wrong. If the right pusher with the right price came along I wouldnt turn it away.
I pretty much ignored this thread until the last couple weeks because I never considered the possibility that the blonde woman would be remotely interested in compact living. However the eye injury and me getting within roughly 3 years of retirement have changed her mindset. You guys are, naturally, focused on pretty much single destination trips with the RV as a place to stay, instead of motels or tents. Does anyone have any input for those considering longer duration trips, say 2 - 3 weeks, multiple destinations, see the USA before we croak kind of travel? I like the "A" idea, but staying in a single location and then exploring surrounding areas would require either towing a car or a truck pulling a trailer. I don't think I would be all that interested in driving my living space to dinner. Would like to take a bike, but that isn't really an all weather/all season option. Maybe an extended cab, bike in the bed, and a pull behind or a toy hauler. Thoughts or input would be appreciated. I used to sleep in the mini-van. Somehow I don't think that would be a plus for the blonde woman.
For living space you probably can't beat a 5th wheel. May need to upgrade to a large truck depending what you have and what you want to pull. Otherwise I think one of these would be awesome https://www.renegaderv.com/
For doing that get a Diesel A and a small car. A tow dolly is awesome. Very easy to maneuver , except backing up...., and you arent wearing the drive train out on a FWD car if you use a dolly. If you buy one a few years old you wont take the huge couple year depreciation hit. Maybe rent one and go for a long weekend/week a couple times to confirm you/she can do it...drive it, live in it, etc. Join the RV forums and start researching units, costs, issues, etc. Enjoy.
you can try it out with RV share. The nice thing about an A or C is basically you can park at a rest stop or your friends driveway. Driving an A gives you a better view of the road ahead and 65mph is the sweet spot for most campers to cruise at. Also if you blow a tire or have a repairable mechanical... no better place to wait on roadside. If you just want to get out to BLM type accomodations there are lots of near free places to camp ala boondock. A small commuter behind your rig will really extend the range of travel for sightseeing.
For the TL;DR-ers, scroll to the last paragraph... A week and a half ago, Yzass and I went to the Hershey RV show - largest in North America. Having concluded that 5th wheels have grown to make use of the ever popular sales metric of the tow capacity in today's pickups, very few 5-ers met our wants. We looked at cheap shit ~$40K, expensive shit ~$90K+ and intermediate shit $50K-$80K. The intermediates were where it was at for us because the top shelf was either too heavy or not a toy hauler. The bottom shelf offerings would be more accurately described as basement level...complete shit. For perspective, we wanted as large of a separate garage as possible, accommodations for entertaining in and out, sleeping that didn't interfere with living spaces - no kids, quality of life fixtures/features/options like ramp door patio decks, residential fridge, big TV, double pane frameless windows, large holding tanks, leveling system, 50 amp dual AC, fuel station...you get the idea. We found that in a Jayco Talon ~$55K, but it wasn't quite right. A better fit was just too heavy, necessitating a new truck. So now that our search for a decent combo rig jumped into the $120K+ range, the door was open for motorized toy haulers. I already knew I was gonna look at Thor's Outlaw anyway. I can flat tow a car or put one on an open trailer...you can never have too many trailers. We looked at Class C stuff - didn't like 'em when compared to a 5-er. We looked at Newmar to get a feel for the upper shelve's “appointments” - not impressed. For the money, Thor's Class A toy hauler was as nice as anything we saw. It's a gas motor, V10/6spd auto. Research indicates it's a highly complex engine for the task, fuel mileage sucks, but another $70K doesn't make a Newmar diesel more appealing. (Not getting sidetracked with the gas/diesel conversation). Ford's new 7.3 gasser is being installed in motorhome chassis, we won't see 'em in that capacity for another year. Simple pushrod engine, vs the current overhead cam monstrosity, with overbuilt components...ripe for supercharging to increase efficiency. Problem is, as we all know, it'll be a first year production of a “from the ground up” design. Too bad Thor discontinued the model I was interested in with no indications of offering a similar floorplan in the future. This all brings us to a deduction of reasoning on my part...for right or wrong, I don't care. The whole industry is geared towards the family unit. No matter how much utilitarian sense a good design makes for “our” purposes, the MFGs are okay with coming out with the most senseless plans, as long as they can sell them to the family-oriented buyers by using slick brochures and vids of actors “enjoying life” in an artificial paradise. The alternative to spending ~$130K+ on any of the previous mentions is an ATC, et al. I'll get exactly what I want...and no need for a new truck. What's the point of this post? If you're okay with compromising on a major, MAJOR purchase, go for it. If you're not okay with compromise, go for a custom build. ‹sigh›
Yes their target market is definitely not cranky, bare bones, why does this need a decent shower types.
Look at west coast RVs, I think the best quality is in the Outdoors Mfg. Designed for the four season and have most of the upgrades that trailers require such as: suspension, heavy axles, 15” wheels, lots of fresh water tank, etc. They just entered into the toy hauler market.
Totally not the case with me. I'm all about luxury, in and out of the garage. But if I have to waltz through my bedroom to get from the garage to any other part of the floor, well, that's just a lack if vision on the MFG's part...it's why none of Thor's other toy haulers have any appeal. The 5-ers are all about floorplan. One miscue in the living area and it's off the list. For example, show me a floorplan that has all the right stuff, including not having the TV in an unviewable location for all but one or two people in a space that can easily accommodate 6-8 and I'll buy that SOB, provided I don't also have to buy a new truck.
Outdoorsrvmfg.com? Garage in living room. Not open to the idea even if I were a cranky-pants, who needs a shower, get off my lawn type.
You guys need to sit down and make out a priority list for each of you, so you’ll have a checklist to consider, during shopping. Towables are going to be for destination peeps. Most don’t pull them all over the country, sightseeing. And, you don’t have a suitable tow vehicle, anyway. In motorized stuff, you need to go through the different classes of units (A, B, B+, C, C+, Super C, and Motorcoach/Diesel Pusher) to get an idea of their pluses/minuses. Units I thought I’d be interested in suddenly weren’t so appealing, once I stood inside. If you see a dirt road going off somewhere and you’re the type to explore it, you’ll want to stay small. If you’re the social type (RV parks, casino parks, etc) and have no desire to go off the beaten path, a larger unit might be more appealing. Think about fueling/parking scenarios. The larger the unit, the more difficult it’s going to be. Class B/B+/C are going to be able to hit most any gas station, restaurant, Walmart, sleep anywhere, etc. Class A are going to restrict you to larger gas stations, pull-thru restaurants, rest areas, truck stops, etc. Super C/Coaches are going to mean truck stop fueling lines, eating in truckstops, restaurants adjacent to Walmarts, and so forth. How much inconvenience are you willing to accept for the square footage? Class B/B+/C aren’t bad to drive around to dinner, grocery stores, etc. With mirror-mounted and backup cameras, one can see all around the unit. I used to pull into any outer pump at gas stations, go around back of restaurants and back into a parking space with my overhang over the curb, parallel park, and generally anything an extended van or long pickup would do. It was my intent to use a hitch hauler for a <500lb motorcycle or pull my 12’ trailer with bikes and bicycles, once I got free of working FT. I felt like I’d have enough mobility and efficiency to do about anything. If you were to move up to a larger unit, obviously, you’d need a towed vehicle, which costs mobility. At that point, an enclosed trailer, compact car, and all your toys would make sense, along with a diesel pusher to pull it all around. The only correct answer is the unit that fits YOUR checklist.
Have you seen their new 5th-wheel toy hauler? While I don't ever foresee myself getting something that big (love my ATC 20 footer), they are just now starting to get into customers hands over the last few months or so. This is the 40-footer, but they also make a 32' and 36' version......
I have found there is always something missing from being the perfect RV or toyhauler. What do you guys think about having a solar system to charge the batteries?
I’m going to go out on a limb here, since I’m not in with their engineering staff. But, when you put a gaping hole in the side of a trailer for a slide and that trailer gets pulled down the road, all sorts of nasty things start happening to it. For sure, there won’t be much longevity, with all the flex and torsional issues. This ATC unit will probably be just as sound at 100K miles as it was at 1 mile. Cheap, bumper-pull trailers are good for disintegration in their front, top-left corner. It’s because the walk-in door opening on the right side introduces torsion into the structure (same as a slide opening). The left wall doesn’t have a door in it and doesn’t flex as much, so it’s more rigid and is stressed more when going over bridges, bumps, etc. That constant twisting literally tears the walls apart of a cheap, enclosed trailer.
