I'm a little tardy with this post, my only excuse is "family visit = chaos". I'm sure there are more than a few of you who can understand that comment We combined a family visit, Christmas and New Year's with the purchase of our new 5v'er just to add a little more chaos to the mix, knowing we will have a 2K mile drive to get the new rig home after we buy the right truck. Phew, and in the midst of all that chaos, Terry and Jo were so gracious to allow us to fit into their schedule.
We were recently in the OKC area for a family visit and had the wonderful opportunity to meet Terry and Jo who were wonderfully patient in meeting us while we were "grandtwin sitting". They even brought their Ford F450 out to meet us and let us have a chance to see what it was like to drive a truck with duallys, I wanted to pass on my opportunity, but they were kindly insistent that I try driving this truck, Yikes!! Anyways, it was great to meet them in person, chat about the truck, 5'ver and life of full time RV'ers. Always fun to connect a "name" with a "face" and to meet Jo who Terry writes about in many of his posts.
Thanks Terry for moderating this forum!!
Terry and Jo said
07:16 AM Jan 6, 2013
You are more than welcome, Ruth. It was a pleasure and honor to meet both of you and the grandtwins. While we've had the good fortune to meet some of the folks we "meet" online, there are many more that we hope to someday see in person.
Now, I have a question, and if it embarrasses you to answer here, please answer in the form of a private message. Was driving the F450 all that intimidating? You certainly didn't seem to be bothered with it. You both did quite well, considering that neither of you had ever driven a dually.
Congratulations on your new Suites and good luck on the search for your tow vehicle. Oh, and congratulations on having two well-behaved grandchildren.
Terry
Jack Mayer said
07:47 PM Jan 6, 2013
Just an unsolicited comment....hope you don't mind.
Please don't be tempted to buy just the "minimum" truck you need to get by. Once you drive the dually for a bit you will not find it daunting at all....you just have to get used to it.
Personally, I would buy no less than an F450 for any Suite. Plus you have to consider a heavier future rig.....That is just my unsolicited opinion. I say that knowing that the new 350's have a pretty high rating.
Racerguy said
10:35 PM Jan 6, 2013
I agree..pulled a 14,000lb 5th wheel with my 08 Dodge dually and although it was very comfortable I would not have wanted to pull any more weight with that truck.
JayKim-no regrets said
11:45 PM Jan 6, 2013
I think it is wonderful that people on this forum get to meet each other occasionally, I can't wait till we are on the road and have the chance to meet some of you great people!!!
If any of you guys are ever in the Charleston area of South Carolina, we would love to hear from you. I am pretty sure we will be here for most of this year.
Huggs Kim x
cherylbrv said
01:52 AM Jan 7, 2013
Do you recommend a long or short bed on the F450?
Racerguy said
02:00 AM Jan 7, 2013
I would never recommend a short bed for any truck.
NWescapee said
03:28 AM Jan 7, 2013
Terry - the F450 wasn't too intimidating on the back highway outside of Norman OK. I'm more concerned about driving it around the bigger cities and having to park it anywhere with tight parking. Luckily, I think I can leave most of that driving to Dale. Really do appreciate the chance to meet you and Jo, thanks for putting up with us!
Thanks everyone for all the advice on the F450, that's really the only option we're considering at this time due to needing to carry an extra 1K of weight in the truck for all the art show stuff. Can't really imagine a bigger truck than that for the art shows we do, we already have some shows where bringing our current Tundra into the show is a really tight fit so anything much bigger than an F 450 would require us to dolly into shows which really adds to the time and effort, not to mention wear and tear on our bodies.
Terry and Jo said
04:03 AM Jan 7, 2013
First for Cheryl.......the F450 only has a long bed. When considering light duty trucks, medium duty trucks (MDT's), and heavy duty trucks (HDT's), the Ford F450 is right at the bottom of that category of medium duty truck. Larger in that category would be the equivalents of F550, F650, mini-freightliner, and other small versions of the brands that would be in the heavy duty class. So, as big as they are, F350's and the Dodge/GM 3500 series trucks would be considered light duty trucks.
Now for Ruth.......when towing, one would try to avoid being within the larger towns and cities with the RV. In our case, I would elect to park the RV in areas out at the edges and then drive to any shows that you have to do. Again, there I would recommend a second vehicle if you are concerned with getting into show areas with an F450. As good as its turning radius is, even I would want to avoid that.
At any rate, regardless of what size one gets for a tow vehicle, time and experience will give you a lot of confidence as to where you can take the truck, either with or without a trailer behind it.
Terry
NWescapee said
04:13 AM Jan 7, 2013
Terry - thanks again, BTW, you made my husband chuckle when you mentioned our "well behaved grandtwins!" They certainly have their moments, as all kids do.
We certainly want to avoid large city driving as much as possible, but 2 of our best shows in 2012 were in the Bay area, one in Silicon Valley, one just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. In fact, the shows were good enough that if we could find 8-10 more that were that good, we would reduce the number of shows we do per year, so, as much as we'd like to avoid the traffic, we can't always do that and make a living. We do try to plan that part of the driving for times when traffic is lighter, this past year we managed to drive in between rush hours or on a Sunday and will continue to take that into account as we plan our art shows and associated travel.
We're still debating the second vehicle, right now, with my regular job, as long as we're somewhere with data / cell signals, I can sometimes work in the cab of the truck while Dale does the driving. Saves my vacation days for the fun times as well as the art shows and enables us to change locations between art shows without my losing time at work. Driving a second vehicle would definitely change that part of our work schedule.
I'm sure we'll find the right balance for us and our lifestyle, it may look a bit different or appear to be crazy to others, but I think that's why Howard & Linda have one of their RV Rally Seminars entitled "There's no right way to full time" or something along those lines!!
Lucky Mike said
04:23 AM Jan 7, 2013
Its so nice to hear how close your getting!!!!!!! It all finds its way into place Ruth..............
I'm a little tardy with this post, my only excuse is "family visit = chaos". I'm sure there are more than a few of you who can understand that comment
We combined a family visit, Christmas and New Year's with the purchase of our new 5v'er just to add a little more chaos to the mix, knowing we will have a 2K mile drive to get the new rig home after we buy the right truck. Phew, and in the midst of all that chaos, Terry and Jo were so gracious to allow us to fit into their schedule.
We were recently in the OKC area for a family visit and had the wonderful opportunity to meet Terry and Jo who were wonderfully patient in meeting us while we were "grandtwin sitting". They even brought their Ford F450 out to meet us and let us have a chance to see what it was like to drive a truck with duallys, I wanted to pass on my opportunity, but they were kindly insistent that I try driving this truck, Yikes!! Anyways, it was great to meet them in person, chat about the truck, 5'ver and life of full time RV'ers. Always fun to connect a "name" with a "face" and to meet Jo who Terry writes about in many of his posts.
Thanks Terry for moderating this forum!!
You are more than welcome, Ruth. It was a pleasure and honor to meet both of you and the grandtwins. While we've had the good fortune to meet some of the folks we "meet" online, there are many more that we hope to someday see in person.
Now, I have a question, and if it embarrasses you to answer here, please answer in the form of a private message. Was driving the F450 all that intimidating? You certainly didn't seem to be bothered with it. You both did quite well, considering that neither of you had ever driven a dually.
Congratulations on your new Suites and good luck on the search for your tow vehicle. Oh, and congratulations on having two well-behaved grandchildren.
Terry
Please don't be tempted to buy just the "minimum" truck you need to get by. Once you drive the dually for a bit you will not find it daunting at all....you just have to get used to it.
Personally, I would buy no less than an F450 for any Suite. Plus you have to consider a heavier future rig.....That is just my unsolicited opinion. I say that knowing that the new 350's have a pretty high rating.
If any of you guys are ever in the Charleston area of South Carolina, we would love to hear from you. I am pretty sure we will be here for most of this year.
Huggs Kim x
Thanks everyone for all the advice on the F450, that's really the only option we're considering at this time due to needing to carry an extra 1K of weight in the truck for all the art show stuff. Can't really imagine a bigger truck than that for the art shows we do, we already have some shows where bringing our current Tundra into the show is a really tight fit so anything much bigger than an F 450 would require us to dolly into shows which really adds to the time and effort, not to mention wear and tear on our bodies.
First for Cheryl.......the F450 only has a long bed. When considering light duty trucks, medium duty trucks (MDT's), and heavy duty trucks (HDT's), the Ford F450 is right at the bottom of that category of medium duty truck. Larger in that category would be the equivalents of F550, F650, mini-freightliner, and other small versions of the brands that would be in the heavy duty class. So, as big as they are, F350's and the Dodge/GM 3500 series trucks would be considered light duty trucks.
Now for Ruth.......when towing, one would try to avoid being within the larger towns and cities with the RV. In our case, I would elect to park the RV in areas out at the edges and then drive to any shows that you have to do. Again, there I would recommend a second vehicle if you are concerned with getting into show areas with an F450. As good as its turning radius is, even I would want to avoid that.
At any rate, regardless of what size one gets for a tow vehicle, time and experience will give you a lot of confidence as to where you can take the truck, either with or without a trailer behind it.
Terry
We certainly want to avoid large city driving as much as possible, but 2 of our best shows in 2012 were in the Bay area, one in Silicon Valley, one just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. In fact, the shows were good enough that if we could find 8-10 more that were that good, we would reduce the number of shows we do per year, so, as much as we'd like to avoid the traffic, we can't always do that and make a living. We do try to plan that part of the driving for times when traffic is lighter, this past year we managed to drive in between rush hours or on a Sunday and will continue to take that into account as we plan our art shows and associated travel.
We're still debating the second vehicle, right now, with my regular job, as long as we're somewhere with data / cell signals, I can sometimes work in the cab of the truck while Dale does the driving. Saves my vacation days for the fun times as well as the art shows and enables us to change locations between art shows without my losing time at work. Driving a second vehicle would definitely change that part of our work schedule.
I'm sure we'll find the right balance for us and our lifestyle, it may look a bit different or appear to be crazy to others, but I think that's why Howard & Linda have one of their RV Rally Seminars entitled "There's no right way to full time" or something along those lines!!