Custom RV's for full-timing (conversion, motorhome, fulltime, bed)
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I was on a email list for awhile and a woman was selling an RV that had been customized for the one person full-time lifestyle.
I think if I'm going to give full-time RVing a shot that would be very nice. I look at all the RV ads and its always 'sleeps 6, sleeps 8". Don't need it don't want it. I would rather have more storage, a larger bathroom, a larger kitchen, more of a 'living room'.
I have been trying to search for these to check out prices, availability but search worders like custom, single etc. bring up to much other stuff. Too many regular RV deals use the word 'custom' in their name.
For you who have been on the road for awhile, have you seen many? Seen any while shopping?
And no I'm not talking about some of those custom "yacht" like buses that I've seen ads for. Just a normal RV, but laid out for 1 or 2 people only who are full timing.
I would rather have more storage, a larger bathroom, a larger kitchen, more of a 'living room'. Just a normal RV, but laid out for 1 or 2 people only who are full timing.
Buy an older (low priced) RV and remodel it.
When I did mine I made the entire bathroom floor into a shower pan.
I am thinking down the road that full time RVing will be the way to go. If I was to do that, I would do it as a project, find a shell and frame I like then set it up the way I like it.
I like building things and would do something to my liking.
One of my handful of retirement options I continue to research is full-time, or mostly full-time RVing for probably 10 years following my retirement at 66, which will be in about 3 years. I went to the annual RV show in Chicago in February and saw a couple of options which would work for me ... a single person. I'm not a handyman-type of person and it would likely cost me more to have someone customize something for me than if I purchased it new or almost new.
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You will need to find something close and modify it.
My RV has some modular items that make it really EZ to swap seating in and out and replace with a 'sewing room' or LARGE kennel, couch, dining set, storage pods, or computer / communication / entertainment set-up.
My tastes change with the season (and destination), as does my RV configuration.
there are some really neat RV customizations you find on the road. Unfortunately, RV's are expendable and not usually build for the 'long-haul' (excluding Commercial Bus Conversions like Silver Eagles). You will be needing a major update / remodel / replacement within a few yrs of fulltiming. LOW mileage trips will help, but an RV gets LOTS of wear and tear, and not often built for daily use.
Start simple and keep a list of upgrades. You will better know what you want, after living without it for a few yrs.
I was on a email list for awhile and a woman was selling an RV that had been customized for the one person full-time lifestyle.
I think if I'm going to give full-time RVing a shot that would be very nice. I look at all the RV ads and its always 'sleeps 6, sleeps 8". Don't need it don't want it. I would rather have more storage, a larger bathroom, a larger kitchen, more of a 'living room'.
I have been trying to search for these to check out prices, availability but search worders like custom, single etc. bring up to much other stuff. Too many regular RV deals use the word 'custom' in their name.
For you who have been on the road for awhile, have you seen many? Seen any while shopping?
And no I'm not talking about some of those custom "yacht" like buses that I've seen ads for. Just a normal RV, but laid out for 1 or 2 people only who are full timing.
Giesela, finding an RV that is designed for full timing really has nothing to do with what type of layout or floor plan it might have. That is one of the worse answer many people give today in the RV world. Many people will tell you to just go out and find the floor plan you like and buy that model....That is terrible advice. When looking at an RV your build/check list may have about 50 items or 500 items on the list to check, depending on how educated you are in the RV field, but either way the floor plan should be well down on your list.
When looking at RV’s it should be all about the quality of the construction. This construction process can and is greatly different between manufactures. Just like when looking at a stick and brick home you start at the bottom (foundation) and work your way to the top (roof). You will soon find there are huge differences in the industry and these differences can make a huge difference in the full time livability of that RV. Pretty cabinets, nice fabrics on the furniture, shiny tile on the floor etc often times have little to do with how well the RV is built… all that is, is eye candy to entice an uneducated RV person to spend his or her money. Sure we all want the eye candy but the trick is to make sure that eye candy is placed inside the best constructed RV you can find.
Since you didn’t say what class of RV you wanted to buy I cannot go into much detail on everything to look for but will add just a few thinks into this post you at least get you on the right track.
The frame the RV sits on, very important but will leave that alone for now since I don’t know if we are talking about a TT, 5th wheel, or class A, B or C motor coach, but just keep that in mind.
The actual shell of the RV, is it aluminum or fiberglass? If Lauan, how thick is it and the gel coating….You can have almost twice the thickness difference between manufactures. What type and how much of (R value) insulation is used and where. You have high dollar manufactures that do not even insulate in places like the front and rear caps. How is the floor, sides and roof constructed? Is the floor constructed with press wood or plywood and what is the thickness? Are the walls and ceiling constructed with aluminum tresses 16” on center and are they spot welded or welded 360 degrees. Then we can get into things like are the thickness of the sidewalls (again can be a big difference) and are they bolted or screwed into place etc….Things like windows are they single or double pane, are they framed or frameless….
Those are just a few of many construction features you have to think about….Then we can get into the heat, power and water equipment with such things as types of inverters and batteries, thickness of wiring, what type of harnesses, size of holding tanks etc….All of these things and hundreds more should be explored between manufactures to decide who has the best unit that suits your needs before something like floor plans and how many an RV can or cannot sleep…
I can promise you I can roll out two RV’s that from the visual eye look pretty much the same both in price and eye candy and stick them side by side in a campground on a hot 100 degree day and one RV will struggle to maintain an inside temp of 80-85 degrees while the other will maintain a cool 68 degrees all day…. So again the point I am trying to make is it’s the difference in the quality of construction often times you cannot see that makes all the difference in the world.
So if you plan to full time in a RV, which is totally different, then camping in one a few weekends a year, first educated yourself on the construction process of the type of RV you are looking at, contact a number of manufactures, ask them allot of questions and do your homework very carefully…..If you do all of these things you will find the perfect RV that suits your needs……There is a saying that a full timer will buy 3-4 RV’s within the first few years of full timing before that person finds the one suits him/her best, I say bull…Do a little research and find your last one first and save yourself allot of money in the long run….
So if you plan to full time in a RV, which is totally different then camping in one a few weekends a year, first educate yourself on the construction process of the type of RV you are looking at, contact a number of manufactures, ask them allot of questions and do your homework very carefully…
Good advice. Understand why a Peterbilt Tractor costs more than an F150.
But you still don't need to spend the $150,000+ that doing it right will cost.
At least not from the get go. More to the point: you shouldn't.
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There is a saying that a full timer will buy 3-4 RV’s within the first few years of full timing before that person finds the one suits him/her best, I say bull...
Do a little research and find your last one first and save yourself allot of money in the long run.
I take a different view on this point of what makes for a successful fulltimer experience.
Far more important than the quality of the equipment is the attitude toward the lifestyle,
the personal relationship between the people and their physical capacity to do what's needed as you go along.
If you're 150% sure you have all these at the outset...
(and if you say you do without extensive prior RV'ing time then it's my turn to call BS)
then by all means go lay down a BIG pile of cash and buy the best equipment you can.
But NO ONE will or can know these answers until after they've been out there for a while.
I'd say at least a full year. No less... and by the end of the second year...
a high portion of those with top of the line equipment are still trying to sell out.
---
Buy a decent condition used seasonal use class RV, 30-35 feet is good (no bigger),
with at least one slide and live with it the way it is. PLAN to sell it a year later.
THEN based on your own experience and observations and tastes...
you can pursue the time and expense of gearing up for that.
hth
Last edited by MrRational; 06-11-2012 at 09:48 AM..
Keep in mind that when they talk about how many it sleeps, they are talking about the bed, the dinette which converts to a bed and the sofa which usually converts to a bed. They tend to overestimate the amount that an RV sleeps unless the people are extremely fond of one another. Also, in a Class C motorhome (looks like van conversion with big back end), many have sleeping over the driver's seat area.
Weight is a big issue when you full-time so you need to make sure you have a unit that can carry all that stuff you need so you need to watch your conversions because weight adds up. Full-timing can be expensive so you must come up with a budget that is realistic. Nothing is more liberating then being on the road with everything you own right their with you.
MrRational, you seem to be missing a very important tip from my posting, IMO you seem to think big money gives you a better RV. That is not totally true. Sure the more bells and whistles added will increase the price as it does for anything but all those "eye candy" items I speak of does not always make it better just more costly.
The final price point and someone wants to spend is a personal decision. I have friends that full time in a 15 year old motor coach that would not sell for 25K and I also have friends that full time in a brand new coach that was listed at almost 2 million.
The point I am trying to make is there are tons of RV's listed for 25k and a number of ones you can have built for 2 million...... Like any consumer you want to find the best product listed within a certain price point, whatever that price point may be..... So if your price point is say 50k you should research every manufacture that builds within that price point and see who builds the best unit based on what you are looking for....If your price point is 500K you should be doing the same thing within that price point.....There is a huge difference between manufactures within the same price point no matter what that price point may be when you actually start doing the proper research.
But to tell someone to just go out and find any old used seasonal RV and live in it a year and then try and sell it and take a big hit sounds like a very poor plan and a costly "test drive " to me
But to tell someone to just go out and find any old used seasonal RV and live in it a year and then try and sell it and take a big hit sounds like a very poor plan and a costly "test drive " to me
The "hit" depends on how much they spend up front, then how well they care for it and when they try to sell it. But yeah, I advocate going into the deal expecting to take a hit... I really don't see how anyone can do otherwise.
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...you seem to be missing a very important tip from my posting, IMO you seem to think big money gives you a better RV. That is not totally true.
I get that it's not totally true. But it is nearly, almost... universally true. Or more to the point:
there is an absolute and rather high price threshold that has to be crossed to get those full time grade features.
You seem to have missed my very important tip: That until a newbie is absolutely and unquestionably sure
that they want to be and are able to be a full timer they simply shouldn't spend big dollar money.
The basic advice applies to a newbie in anything. RV's, motorcycles, whatever.
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I have friends that full time in a 15 year old motor coach that would not sell for 25K...
Curious: How many RV's did these friends of yours own before they settled into this rig?
How much money do they have sunk into what they now can't get $25,000 out of?
So yeah, I'll stick with the suggestion to buy an older seasonal vacation grade decent condition RV.
For an RV'ing newbie it's the safe bet.
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