Wow this is such a long story. I first started thinking about going into full time RV'ing a few months ago. I'm done working for a living and since I'd done nothing but work like a dog for 30 years 2&3 jobs at a times and usually with some sort of gig on the side like buying, fixing and renting fleabag houses, I ws good to go for a really nice RV and I started looking. Well the problem is I didn't like what I found in "off the shelf" models. The 500k diesel pushers are I think for people who are too easily parted with their money. To shorten this I eventually came to the conclusion that something like a Class 8 based motorhome or a Class 8 hauler pulling a 5th wheel of my dreams was the way to go. In answer to your question, I drove bottom dumps about a million [30] years ago, does that count as experience driving large truck? I live in California for now. I have about 6 more months of business to clear up and bring to a close. I figure to buy an RV probably a BlueBird Wanderlodge maybe 10-15 years old and take off and tour around the country visiting manufactirers like United and Renegade and as many others as possible. I'm a great believer in first impressions and those can only be gained in person. Hopefully this will lead me to a builder who I get a good vibe for and who I can find a lot of praise for from previous customers on forums like this. And in the meantime, I'm lurking around, picking peoples brains and readin until I am blurry eyed. As to specifics in powertain etc. I don't have enough experience to make a decision; what I read leads me to believe I could do worse then a good sized cat engine with an automatically shifted manual transmission. As for a chassis, the Argosy looks good but once again, I'm basing that on no practical experience, just reading and listening. I took your advice on European sites and you were right I did find some nice looking [to me] examples of COE coaches.
http://www.actionmobil.com/