by Kirk (02/06)
My wife Teri and I have decided to buy an RV. We participate in many driving events either instructing or racing. At a great many racetracks, the local hotels are either expensive or, how shall I say this, not up to our standards for cleanliness. We even bring our own towels to some of them! Another factor is that we have a dog that we like to take on our travels. Not every hotel takes pets which makes it less enjoyable for us.
We have been towing our race car trailer with a 1996 Ford F350 crew cab dually diesel. Fuel mileage is between 8 - 10 mpg, depending on how far down I press my right foot. Since we live in Las Vegas and race a lot in California, we have multiple mountain passes to cross each trip. Power is a big consideration so we can get over the passes at a reasonable pace. Our trailer is a 26 foot enclosed trailer that with car and gear weighs in at about 10,000 pounds.
I started the search by searching the internet and talking to people at the racetrack that were in RVs. We looked at both toy haulers and Class A diesels. The toy haulers were ruled out as our truck is not all that comfortable and is a bit noisy up front. In addition, the toy haulers didn't really have the capacity or creature comforts that we were looking for in our RV.
When I first started looking, I was overwhelmed by the number of choices in the market. Our budget was to stay below $100,000. This took all the newer diesel pushers out of the market. We decided to make a list of the features that we wanted in our coach. Here it is:
1. big block turbo diesel motor (no 5.9 liter Cummins)
2. 10,000 pound towing capacity
3. at least one slide out
4. toilet in separate room
5. dual pane windows
6. diesel generator (in front part of coach)
Then I started looking (mostly internet sites) and the number of coaches came down, but it was still a huge number to sort through. I checked manufacturer web sites for specifications. Ensuring that the coach could tow 10,000 pounds was more difficult than I thought it would be. We also wanted a coach shorter than 40 feet if possible so we would be under the 65 foot length limit in California.
Finding information on manufacturer websites was somewhat helpful. Most showcase their new models of course, but some had archives. Country Coach, Monaco, and Holiday Rambler all have product archives on their websites, with Country Coach’s being the most comprehensive.
Our next step involved a test drive of a coach to ensure that Teri and I would be comfortable driving one. We were comfortable driving one, but we did feel that the coach (a new model truck based chassis) was a bit nervous to drive.
About this time I found RVers Online and asked Bob Gummersall for some help. Bob gave me a lot to think about including the merits of the monocoque chassis over a truck chassis, especially in an older coach.
Almost a year into the search, we are still trying to find the right coach at the right price. The models that meet our criteria are usually priced just above our limit. However, prices are dropping fast on older single slide coaches, so we are hopeful that we will find the right one soon. We have been focusing our search on Monaco Signature and Executive models with the Cummins M11 engine, but are still considering the 8.3 liter Cummins models too (and then adding a Banks kit).
More to follow.