John, thank you as well for the input. As I mentioned earlier (or in a previous post), I kept my CDL & Physicals current, even though I haven't driven "professionally" for about 5 years. I was a company driver then, and only had to be concerned about the stuff that kept me legal as a driver. All the things pertaining to the actual equipment was handled by the company and beyond my control, therefore I had only a passing knowledge of the many other aspects that I now must educate myself about. Having decided that we want to spend some of our retirement in warmer climates, the 5'er seemed the best answer. A good deal came along, so I now have the toy-hauler, but still have a few years before "real" retirement can begin. Reality dictates that I re-join the workforce in the mean time to be able to accomplish said goals. One idea that came up was to buy a newer HDT, and operate as an owner-operator until I am ready to do the RV conversion. That has many arguments both pro and con; I'm not sure it would be worth all the hassels that I would encounter, nor the miles that I would have to run to make it profitable for the anticipated 5 years or so that I would be doing it. That also presents the specter of ending up with a tractor that has many more miles on it than I would prefer before I make the conversion. As it appears at this point, the best solution seems to be to take my time deciding on the truck that I want, and drive for someone else for a while to supplement the income. I've seen some pretty decent prices on '98 & '99 Volvos with 600K miles on them; should have plenty of life left for my uses, but beyond my current budget. Even if I could rush out today and buy a conversion, it would get very little use for the next five years. I just want to better understand the many things involved before I commit to a level of conversion that I would later regret. That's not to say that it won't all occur earlier than anticipated, as I didn't figure on having the camper for a couple years yet, either. A forum such as this is a great way to help sort these things out, and advice from the experienced can help prevent me from repeating someone else's mistakes..
Jess