It has been a crazy couple weeks. My head is spinning and everything is kind of unexpectedly happening a lot faster than we anticipated. My wife and I started researching Full Time RVing in June (2016) last year and would like to be on the road April 2018. We signed up to attend the Education Rally in TN in May 2017. We have so much to learn and thought that would be a great place to start along with the internet. We have learned so much already just reading everything written and posted on this site. We thought we would place our condo up for sale in January this year since we live in FL, and if it didn't sell we would have another season when all the snowbirds are down. We have never owned an RV and it has been a long time since I owned a truck. We have done extensive research on RV's and have heard over and over again to purchase the RV first. We have been to RV shows in Tampa. We were just there last weekend, and walked through many coaches. My wife and I kept coming back to DRV Mobile Suites, but wanted to find a gently used one with some upgrades someone had purchased.
Interesting enough and to our surprise our condo has sold in 6 days after placing a photo up on the clubhouse bulletin board. We make settlement Feb. 24th hopefully, and we worked a month to month rental agreement with them since they do not need to be in it till next year. I also placed my HD UltraClassic on Craigslist and it sold in 3 days. This past weekend at the Tampa RV Supershow we were looking at the new DRV's, Heartland Landmarks, New Horizon, Spacecraft, Montana, Redwoods etc etc. and we told the sales guy we were really interested in a used DRV 2010 - 2014 38TKSB3. He said they had one just brought in a week ago because his wife was ill and they can no longer use it. It is a 2014 DRV Mobile Suites 38TKSB3 with a lot of the options we wanted and the floorplan. Great price and we bought it. My wife and I love it. You have heard the saying, when you are in it, and you can see yourself living in it, it just clicks. You just know this is the one. Exactly how we felt. I called for an independent inspection of the coach for a little piece of mind. We will also have a dealer inspection and check out of every system before final signing. Now we will need a tow vehicle. This was not really supposed to happen for another year. We will not live in it for a couple months since I still work in Ft Myers, FL and you just don't move into a RV park down here in February. We will need to wait till April or May. So many things to think about. My retirement date is not until March 2018. It seems the learning curve just got very steep in a short amount of time. Very exciting but also nerve racking trying to work out all the logistics.
I need some suggestions and experiences with insurance companies and extended warranties. I have already asked for quotes with the companies on this web page referred to by Howard. Does any of you have any experience using any of these companies? How about other companies you might recommend that you like? How about RV Warranty Connection Blue Shield ? I think they are associated NRVIA. Any and all input is greatly appreciated.
Thank you all for your time.
Bruce & Robin
-- Edited by Bruce and Robin on Monday 23rd of January 2017 02:57:19 PM
Rob_Fla said
06:50 PM Jan 23, 2017
Congratulation's on your lifestyle change.
Wow, what a whirlwind of events, you have moved quickly.
Hope everything keeps going your way and working out for the best.
I know what you mean about finding a campground in South Florida during snowbird season.
I have to come down to Southwest Florida and work for a week, the closest location I could find was a spot in Bradenton FL so I will have a commute for a few days as I can do some of the work closer to where I am staying in the Central Florida area for a few days of that week.
Then I have to move to the Ft Lauderdale area, after many calls I found a site that is available due to someone having to change plans and leave early.
Neil and Connie said
09:31 AM Jan 24, 2017
Hi Bruce and Robin…welcome to the full time life. Connie and I have been on the road since summer of 12 and are loving it…we spend the winters here in North Fort Myers at Seminole Campground…give us a shout if you're up this way.
For tow vehicle…you'll get to the rear axle weight limit first so that's the driver (usually) on what you need to buy. I would definitely buy a dualley truck, preferably get a hauler bed rather than a pickup bed, and add an aux fuel tank in either the bed or as part of the hauler bed.
You'll have to run the numbers to make sure…I've got a spreadsheet (well, it's actually Bill Napier's originally) to do all the calculations…but the biggest thing you'll need to figure out is the pin weight with the trailer loaded. You can't believe what the dealer tells you because their numbers are dry, no cargo, and without anything that the dealer installed instead of the builder. Maybe the previous owner has the real number loaded…and maybe the seller will give you their contact info to ask them. In any event…that's the hardest number to find for running the numbers.
My guess would be that an F450 might be enough truck…but as I said run the numbers to make sure. If you get used…get at least a 2012 as the engine/transmission were significantly improved in 2011.
We started with a 450 pulling our 40 foot New Horizons with a pin weight of 5820 loaded for travel…we were overweight on the rear axle but pulled and stopped just fine as our NH has the upgraded brakes installed. However, we banged the bed rails into the bottom of the bedroom more than once…that was what drove us to our new RAM 5500HD. Much nicer truck to drive both towing and solo…plenty of excess weight capacity, and actually I think it maneuvers better than the 450 did even though the turning radius isn't quite as small as it had.
We skipped the extended warranty on both our rig and truck…there are so many horror stories about what is and what is not covered that we decided it wasn't worth it and just keep some funds set aside for repairs…fortunately no major ones necessary so far.
We actually considered that same model DRV back when we were buying…but the engineering on the NH was better and DRV would do very little custom stuff that we wanted…and price wise it wasn't much more expensive after we loaded it up with all of the stuff that NH includes as standard.
Drop me a PM if you want to get together and talk RVs or the lifestyle…we'll be here until Easter.
NWescapee said
09:58 AM Jan 24, 2017
Welcome to the forum!
We have the 2010 model of the DRV mobile suites you've just bought, we bought ours 4 years ago, gently used and have lived in it FT for over 3.5 years now. Still love the floor plan although we removed the couch and recliners, put in a recliner love seat and a workbench for my hubby's work space. We're not retired, but working on the road and loving it.
I can certainly say I'm thankful for the extended warranty. We had good luck working with WholeSale Warranties with several choices and at this point in time, with year left on our extended warranty it's paid for itself twice. DRV makes a good product, however, the items that have failed for us are items they don't manufacture, the fridge (first the circuit board, then the cooling unit), the water heater, the Concerto toleit, the never lube bearing on the Lippert Axle, the hydraulic pump, etc. etc. We also have an extended warranty on our 2012 F450, however, we haven't had to use that yet. We did have an engine failure but it was covered under the original manufacture's warranty.
Love this life, but have just learned to expect that every few months we're going to have a repair or need to replace something and as our rig gets a little older, it's just part of our ongoing budget. The biggest hassle is usually trying to figure out how to get the repair done while living and working in the rig.
Good luck with the whirlwind of choices.
Bruce and Robin said
10:33 AM Jan 24, 2017
Neil, Connie, Dale, Ruth,
Thank you very much for the feedback! I am trying to see if I can contact the previous owner to get the weights from him and a whole lot of other info. Again thank you all, and any additional info is always welcome....
Team Murc said
05:04 PM Jan 24, 2017
Bruce + Robin,
There is some great advice here. The saying goes you can never have too much truck.
We also have a 2012 lightly used New Horizon. We are towing with a 2014 F450 with a hauler bed and love it! We are located in Naples till the end of March and would be more than happy to show you the truck and share our experiences with you if you would find that helpful.
Mike
Gpndavid said
07:33 PM Jan 24, 2017
We have been using Miller Insurance (office in Oregon I think) for two years. They seem to shop and get us a good rate.
NWescapee said
07:37 PM Jan 24, 2017
We also use Miller Insurance, just know that sometimes we've had to push them on renewal rates to find a better rate when it seemed our annual increase was out of line.
Diana and Jim said
11:31 PM Jan 24, 2017
We met with Brown and Brown / Reed Brothers at last year's show in Tampa. We ended up going with them and are very happy with our choice. Our agent, Chris Conner, is based in Tampa and was extremely helpful when we experienced hail damage to our truck, fifth wheel and our Ford Escape in Michigan last summer. She can be reached at: cconner@reedbrothersinsurance.com.
Have you considered a mail service yet? We have been extremely happy with St. Brendan's Isle in Green Cove Springs, Florida. The people of GCS and Clay County are extremely helpful with establishing residency there, and SBI's mail service is first rate. Chris and Cherie at Technomadia wrote a great post about it on their blog.
Great suggestions on the trucks listed above. I'm partial to Ford, but I've heard really good things about the Ram also. We are lightweight enough with our rig that we don't need a duelly, and our 2008 F-350 does a great job for us...knock on wood. With what you are hauling, definitely get a duelly.
Have fun at the rally! That was money well spent!
Terry and Jo said
02:37 PM Jan 28, 2017
Bruce and Robin,
This will be like an echo chamber. We also have a Mobile Suites 38TKSB3, and like Ruth and Dale's, our is also a 2010 model. We purchased ours by ordering it as we wanted it, and have been extremely pleased with both the floor plan and the RV's service to us. Our truck is older, it being a 2008 model, but it is also an F450. We have been living in our Mobile Suites since the Spring of 2011, first for 3 years in Oklahoma City, then 20 months in the Colorado Springs area, and now (since April of last year) in SW Oregon.
We have experienced temperatures between 115 degrees and -6 degrees and have been comfortable inside. I think you will really like yours. Oh, and we are also using Miller Insurance out of Oregon on both of our vehicles and the Mobile Suites.
Terry
kb0zke said
06:35 PM Jan 29, 2017
Easy, but rough, way to figure is 25% of the GVWR is what goes on the pin. If you are under gross weight and are loaded more to the rear, you may be closer to 20% of your weight on the pin, but if your truck can handle 25% of the trailer's gross (maximum) weight, it can handle less.
DRV, New Horizons, and their competitors are heavy coaches, as they are specifically designed for full-time use. The Ford F350 comes in either single or dual rear wheels. F450 and up are all dual rear wheels. Hauler bodies are heavier than the standard pickup box, so that will affect how much you can put on the rear axle. I suspect that there might be situations where a standard bed F450 could handle more than a hauler bed F550.
It has been a crazy couple weeks. My head is spinning and everything is kind of unexpectedly happening a lot faster than we anticipated. My wife and I started researching Full Time RVing in June (2016) last year and would like to be on the road April 2018. We signed up to attend the Education Rally in TN in May 2017. We have so much to learn and thought that would be a great place to start along with the internet. We have learned so much already just reading everything written and posted on this site. We thought we would place our condo up for sale in January this year since we live in FL, and if it didn't sell we would have another season when all the snowbirds are down. We have never owned an RV and it has been a long time since I owned a truck. We have done extensive research on RV's and have heard over and over again to purchase the RV first. We have been to RV shows in Tampa. We were just there last weekend, and walked through many coaches. My wife and I kept coming back to DRV Mobile Suites, but wanted to find a gently used one with some upgrades someone had purchased.
Interesting enough and to our surprise our condo has sold in 6 days after placing a photo up on the clubhouse bulletin board. We make settlement Feb. 24th hopefully, and we worked a month to month rental agreement with them since they do not need to be in it till next year. I also placed my HD UltraClassic on Craigslist and it sold in 3 days. This past weekend at the Tampa RV Supershow we were looking at the new DRV's, Heartland Landmarks, New Horizon, Spacecraft, Montana, Redwoods etc etc. and we told the sales guy we were really interested in a used DRV 2010 - 2014 38TKSB3. He said they had one just brought in a week ago because his wife was ill and they can no longer use it. It is a 2014 DRV Mobile Suites 38TKSB3 with a lot of the options we wanted and the floorplan. Great price and we bought it. My wife and I love it. You have heard the saying, when you are in it, and you can see yourself living in it, it just clicks. You just know this is the one. Exactly how we felt. I called for an independent inspection of the coach for a little piece of mind. We will also have a dealer inspection and check out of every system before final signing. Now we will need a tow vehicle. This was not really supposed to happen for another year. We will not live in it for a couple months since I still work in Ft Myers, FL and you just don't move into a RV park down here in February. We will need to wait till April or May. So many things to think about. My retirement date is not until March 2018. It seems the learning curve just got very steep in a short amount of time. Very exciting but also nerve racking trying to work out all the logistics.
I need some suggestions and experiences with insurance companies and extended warranties. I have already asked for quotes with the companies on this web page referred to by Howard. Does any of you have any experience using any of these companies? How about other companies you might recommend that you like? How about RV Warranty Connection Blue Shield ? I think they are associated NRVIA. Any and all input is greatly appreciated.
Thank you all for your time.
Bruce & Robin
-- Edited by Bruce and Robin on Monday 23rd of January 2017 02:57:19 PM
Wow, what a whirlwind of events, you have moved quickly.
Hope everything keeps going your way and working out for the best.
I know what you mean about finding a campground in South Florida during snowbird season.
I have to come down to Southwest Florida and work for a week, the closest location I could find was a spot in Bradenton FL so I will have a commute for a few days as I can do some of the work closer to where I am staying in the Central Florida area for a few days of that week.
Then I have to move to the Ft Lauderdale area, after many calls I found a site that is available due to someone having to change plans and leave early.
Hi Bruce and Robin…welcome to the full time life. Connie and I have been on the road since summer of 12 and are loving it…we spend the winters here in North Fort Myers at Seminole Campground…give us a shout if you're up this way.
For tow vehicle…you'll get to the rear axle weight limit first so that's the driver (usually) on what you need to buy. I would definitely buy a dualley truck, preferably get a hauler bed rather than a pickup bed, and add an aux fuel tank in either the bed or as part of the hauler bed.
You'll have to run the numbers to make sure…I've got a spreadsheet (well, it's actually Bill Napier's originally) to do all the calculations…but the biggest thing you'll need to figure out is the pin weight with the trailer loaded. You can't believe what the dealer tells you because their numbers are dry, no cargo, and without anything that the dealer installed instead of the builder. Maybe the previous owner has the real number loaded…and maybe the seller will give you their contact info to ask them. In any event…that's the hardest number to find for running the numbers.
My guess would be that an F450 might be enough truck…but as I said run the numbers to make sure. If you get used…get at least a 2012 as the engine/transmission were significantly improved in 2011.
We started with a 450 pulling our 40 foot New Horizons with a pin weight of 5820 loaded for travel…we were overweight on the rear axle but pulled and stopped just fine as our NH has the upgraded brakes installed. However, we banged the bed rails into the bottom of the bedroom more than once…that was what drove us to our new RAM 5500HD. Much nicer truck to drive both towing and solo…plenty of excess weight capacity, and actually I think it maneuvers better than the 450 did even though the turning radius isn't quite as small as it had.
We skipped the extended warranty on both our rig and truck…there are so many horror stories about what is and what is not covered that we decided it wasn't worth it and just keep some funds set aside for repairs…fortunately no major ones necessary so far.
We actually considered that same model DRV back when we were buying…but the engineering on the NH was better and DRV would do very little custom stuff that we wanted…and price wise it wasn't much more expensive after we loaded it up with all of the stuff that NH includes as standard.
Drop me a PM if you want to get together and talk RVs or the lifestyle…we'll be here until Easter.
We have the 2010 model of the DRV mobile suites you've just bought, we bought ours 4 years ago, gently used and have lived in it FT for over 3.5 years now. Still love the floor plan although we removed the couch and recliners, put in a recliner love seat and a workbench for my hubby's work space. We're not retired, but working on the road and loving it.
I can certainly say I'm thankful for the extended warranty. We had good luck working with WholeSale Warranties with several choices and at this point in time, with year left on our extended warranty it's paid for itself twice. DRV makes a good product, however, the items that have failed for us are items they don't manufacture, the fridge (first the circuit board, then the cooling unit), the water heater, the Concerto toleit, the never lube bearing on the Lippert Axle, the hydraulic pump, etc. etc. We also have an extended warranty on our 2012 F450, however, we haven't had to use that yet. We did have an engine failure but it was covered under the original manufacture's warranty.
Love this life, but have just learned to expect that every few months we're going to have a repair or need to replace something and as our rig gets a little older, it's just part of our ongoing budget. The biggest hassle is usually trying to figure out how to get the repair done while living and working in the rig.
Good luck with the whirlwind of choices.
Thank you very much for the feedback! I am trying to see if I can contact the previous owner to get the weights from him and a whole lot of other info. Again thank you all, and any additional info is always welcome....
Have you considered a mail service yet? We have been extremely happy with St. Brendan's Isle in Green Cove Springs, Florida. The people of GCS and Clay County are extremely helpful with establishing residency there, and SBI's mail service is first rate. Chris and Cherie at Technomadia wrote a great post about it on their blog.
Great suggestions on the trucks listed above. I'm partial to Ford, but I've heard really good things about the Ram also. We are lightweight enough with our rig that we don't need a duelly, and our 2008 F-350 does a great job for us...knock on wood. With what you are hauling, definitely get a duelly.
Have fun at the rally! That was money well spent!
Bruce and Robin,
This will be like an echo chamber. We also have a Mobile Suites 38TKSB3, and like Ruth and Dale's, our is also a 2010 model. We purchased ours by ordering it as we wanted it, and have been extremely pleased with both the floor plan and the RV's service to us. Our truck is older, it being a 2008 model, but it is also an F450. We have been living in our Mobile Suites since the Spring of 2011, first for 3 years in Oklahoma City, then 20 months in the Colorado Springs area, and now (since April of last year) in SW Oregon.
We have experienced temperatures between 115 degrees and -6 degrees and have been comfortable inside. I think you will really like yours. Oh, and we are also using Miller Insurance out of Oregon on both of our vehicles and the Mobile Suites.
Terry
DRV, New Horizons, and their competitors are heavy coaches, as they are specifically designed for full-time use. The Ford F350 comes in either single or dual rear wheels. F450 and up are all dual rear wheels. Hauler bodies are heavier than the standard pickup box, so that will affect how much you can put on the rear axle. I suspect that there might be situations where a standard bed F450 could handle more than a hauler bed F550.