I'm in the market for a used truck conversion but need advice

[Matt Merrill]

I need a little help selecting a suitable used motorhome. I do not have easy access to the internet or telephone since I'm deployed to Iraq so I'm looking for a comprehensive guide or resource that compares all of the manufacturers.

I originally started out thinking about Diesel Class A's but was told that they weren't quite up to the task. Thats when I stumbled on truck conversions and so far I like what I see in regards to towing / handling / braking abilities and overall sturdiness.

My primary need is to be able to reliably tow up to a 35-foot 20,000 lb (total) tag trailer for long distances and up and down some pretty steep grades in and around California / Arizona / Nevada. At this time I am interested in staying with a tag trailer and not going to a fifth wheel.

The motorhome would need to have the room and amenities (full size bed, generator, heat/ac, kitchen, full shower, etc) to live aboard for a week or two at a time. This does not mean that I need granite counter tops, high quality wood floors, etc. I would actually like to avoid this to keep the cost down.

So what I'm looking for is some sort of guide or reference manual that lists all of the motorhome manufacturers and their chassis along with things like:

Tow ratings
Hitch ratings
Max combined payload
Engines / transmissions / axles offered on their different models

Thanks in advance

Matt

[madbrit]

Matt,

From what you have stated, you will be legally limited to a 30ft motorhome as most States have a max overall length of combined vehicle and tag trailer of 65ft. By stating 35ft as the trailer length was this including the hitch or just the body? If you have to add the hitch of 4 to 5 ft, then you will be another 4 or 5ft shorter on the motorhome.

With a 35ft trailer you may be better with a Totter-home with a 5th wheel capability. I am not sure on the max length for a non-commercial 5th wheel combo, you will have to check on that and the 65ft I mentioned above in your home State as I said, they all vary a little.

You can find your States' Statutes online and delve into them for hours.......... Good luck.

Peter.

[madbrit]

Matt,

I forgot to mention that there is an overall length exemption for motorsports usage, but as far as I know, this is only for 5th wheel trailers, as I have not found any reference for tags.

Peter.

[Matt Merrill]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by madbrit:
Matt,

From what you have stated, you will be legally limited to a 30ft motorhome as most States have a max overall length of combined vehicle and tag trailer of 65ft. By stating 35ft as the trailer length was this including the hitch or just the body? If you have to add the hitch of 4 to 5 ft, then you will be another 4 or 5ft shorter on the motorhome.

With a 35ft trailer you may be better with a Totter-home with a 5th wheel capability. I am not sure on the max length for a non-commercial 5th wheel combo, you will have to check on that and the 65ft I mentioned above in your home State as I said, they all vary a little.

You can find your States' Statutes online and delve into them for hours.......... Good luck.

Peter. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks for the advice and info. I have not selected the trailer yet so I am a little flexible with the length.

I want to avoid a fifth wheel if possible since there are more tag trailers available in the size, weight, and cost range I am looking for.

Matt

[mxracin]

Hi Matt,
Hope you make it home safe and sound. My brother has been over there for some time now, I hear it's not a lot of fun .

There are a lot of different opinions on the length issue. I'm 72' (42' coach and 30' trailer) and have traveled through about half of the states without problem. Several guys I race with are even longer (one is 84'), and I don't know of anyone else that has had a problem. I do know of a factory support team that had their rig impounded, but they had it painted it up with sponsors and such, and the statie's didn't buy the "private coach" angle.

What I was told was that interstate commerce and DOT laws don't always apply; in the case of RV's your home state laws govern, and other states should have reciprocity statutes. I'm legal in my home state of NH, and I carry a copy of NH MV laws with me just in case.

I don't know of any comprehensive comparison source, but your options are kind of limited by your requirements and the size of the market. For the most part everyone builds on a Freightliner chassis. The Columbia is the most popular in the +28' catagory. Get it with the Meritor Freedom transmission, you won't be sorry. The Freightliner M2 is another popular chassis, but your towing requirements eliminate that as a possibility IMO.

Most conversion companies will build on the chassis of your choice, and I am seeing more and more Volvo's lately. I stuck with Freightliner because they have service depots everywhere (although a friend that is a Volvo tech was curious why Freightliner needs so many service depot's ) The builders just have more experience with Freightliner.

Once you select a chassis, the decision becomes more subjective. If you look at the floorplans of the top 5 or 6 builders you will find they are all quite similar. Everyone uses the same components, more or less, so the manufacturers flexibility and quality are the variables. You want more, you pay more. If you think you are buying your last conversion, one you will keep for several years, then spend a bit more and go for the quality and flexibility. Showhauler and Kingsley are two companies I consider in this catagory. If you are looking at a 2-3 year window, go for one of the more mainstream builders like Renegade, United Specialties NRC or Haulmark.

Don't expect the higher end converions to fare better in the resale department, though. The resale market is pretty much blind to quality; features and capability add more to the bottom line. For best resale, and to reach the widest market, go for the largest genset you can justify, the best towing and the auto trans. From my search of the used market, fully loaded middle-of-the-road coaches fare better than stripped down coaches from high end builders.

Good luck with you purchase!

[KAYE RIVERCITY]

.....right now unless one has a pizz pot full of throway money- I'd suggest you check the racers market places for used vehicles...a gouge of about 30-40% when you drive over the curb with a new unite is not uncommon now....and racers get a big discount right up front and will deal on their old equipment if you have the time to dicker a little-'specially if they can smell cash anywhere close.....geof kaye

[KAYE RIVERCITY]

.....also there is a guy in Indiana named Mike Bechelli that has 2-3 rigs very reasonably priced he advertises on "AutoTrader" or one of those racing trader sites....geof kaye

[John (C-IL)]

Check out http://www.racingjunk.com. There are a lot of units there and a very active classified section. I found my unit at http://www.truckpaper.com it is almost entirely commercial trucks, so my find was an anomally.

As far as I can tell there aren't any comprehensive reviews of the units available. My advice is to read everything that you can get your hands on. This site and the escapees site has a lot of good information. http://www.escapees.com

[WERA]

Shamelss plug time - I've got a 29' Showhauler for sale. Nice but not pimped out, pulls a 24' Renegade tag all day long with no complaints, pulls hill great, never been slower than 55mph - even did that up the hill coming out of LA towards Vegas twice last year.

Mines got everyhting listed here - http://forums.13x.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=37985

It's got more miles (62k I think) and the price has dropped since I posted that on my bbs. I've also added a self aiming sattelite dish and upgraded the backup camera screen - new one has a second video input for a trailer mounted camera and a vga input so I can run my GPS stuff to it form my laptop, it's also a touch screen to control the computer. Anyway - if you're interested give me a yell at wera@wera.com.

[WERA]

Now that that's over I'll try to answer your question - I don't think there is a single website that will compare the manufacturers any better than this one will. Just read this board, look through all of the older posts and you'll get a feel for the experiences of the people who have gotten the factory tours and how each rig is built.

I like the escapees site for overall RV information as well. Used them a lot when I first got into this with a gooseneck race trailer that had living quarters in it.

Good luck over there come home safe and once you do get a rig you'll absolutely love it. Just driving one compared to the marshmallow feel of a regular Class A or C is amazing, the towing ability is unreal, and the style points - well those are a given

[Matt Merrill]

Sean,

thanks for the reply and I'll send you an email regarding your truck.

Matt

[rjdhomes]

Matt, I agree with everything that MxRacin said. I somewhat disagree with Geof though - ...a gouge of about 30-40% when you drive over the curb with a new unite is not uncommon now.... I have seen plenty of used units and they generally only loose 12% to 16% after 1 year and 20,000 miles. If someone were to pay retail then that is another story. We have seen steel surcharges and chassis price increases in the last couple years that make it look worse when comparing new to used though. JMHO

Bob

[KAYE RIVERCITY]

....Bob:you got to start somewhere either MSRP or true dealer cost....with MSRP you are going to get a 30+% bite in the butt....a dealer would never give more than he could get a new unite for-what would be the advantage?.....If you are starting at cost plus than you could loose 12-15% I could see that....In reality a dealer is going to get every dime he can..after all he is in business and that is the way the game is played......geof kaye

[KAYE RIVERCITY]

.....WERA still has the best deal around -right now-....In my opinion.....geof kaye

[rjdhomes]

Geof, WERA's coach is a good example of pricing for a used coach and how much you would expect to pay. If he were to tell us how much he paid and how much he is selling for- those are the numbers that would help Matt. I just delivered a 2005 30' coach on a tandem axle Columbia this morning. This person paid $167,000, if he were to drive 15,000 miles in one year and sold it for $150,000- whoever bought it would get a steal in my opinion. The problem people have is that they have heard, or know, how much markup is on the typical class A, it is not the same with truck conversions. The other problem is that some dealers need to retire off each coach they sell- gives everyone a bad name and hurts resale on those coaches purchased at retail or very close. I still think that RacingJunk.com is the best place to look for a used coach, surpassing National Dragster classifieds, which used to be the best place- but still very good.

Matt, good luck, I hope your military service turns out to be a good experience for you. I spent Desert Storm in Yuma training reservists, you'll probably think I'm nuts- I was wishing I was with the guys in my squadron that made it to Kuwait-

Bob

[Matt Merrill]

Bob,

Thanks for the tips.

Originally posted by rjdhomes:


Matt, good luck, I hope your military service turns out to be a good experience for you. I spent Desert Storm in Yuma training reservists, you'll probably think I'm nuts- I was wishing I was with the guys in my squadron that made it to Kuwait-

Bob

It has been great! To be here during the whole transformation from large scale operations like Fallujah to the elections has been a unique experience.

I don't think you're nuts. I spent 13 months bouncing around southeast asia while almost everyone else in the Marine Corps got to go to Iraq to topple Saddam, so I know what it feels like to be on the sidelines.

Although Westpac was probably a little more enjoyable than sunny old Yuma. What did you do there?

Matt

[rjdhomes]

Matt, I was a KC-130 flight mechanic (VMGR-234), we were training reserve pilots on unimproved runway operations and JATO lanches. We were sleeping in tents while our air crews in SWA were staying in a hotel in Bahrain next door to Gulf Air flight attendants- go figure. I also flew quite a few drug missions in the Caribbean , Central & South America.

Years ago I was with 2nd Division at LeJeune, 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion. In addition to time at GITMO.

SEMPER FI

Bob

[KAYE RIVERCITY]

Matt ....I just got back from a day at Ft. Knox and surrounds and the RV lots are full to the brim....In another month these guys will be killing and eating their first born....any unite that has sat for more than 90 days you should be able to buy at cost unless the dealer has a serious drug problem and can't think at all.....I saw a line up of almost 40 new pushers on 31 on the way to Knox...unite after unite.....the opportunity is now. Interest is still reasonable unless your a credit criminal......Custom builders are usually busy till July and then they start vacation planning......pound on the used market unites and don't part with any money till you get to the bottom line-time is on the buyers side right now.....play hard ball now.....geof kaye

[Gary Atsma]

Uh, Geof?
Just so you know, the word "unit" has no "e". The word "unite" helps bring it all together, though.(hee hee hee!)
Gary

[vapoppa]

geof-- dylexa or whatever it that makes us the way we are is OK ---- mase