Dragracer Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 My wife & I are planning on going full time when we retire in a couple years. We have spent a few years as over the road as owner operator truckers. We kept our house but would stay gone for up to 2 months sometimes. Back then we used a PO box at the post office & would pay our bills online. We are planning on selling our house & staying in RV parks all over the USA. First question is how do you get your mail? We have been all over the USA when we were trucking. We never stayed in a motel, took showers at truck stops & slept in our truck every night. We had a power inverter in our truck & had a refrigerator & a electric burner we got from Walmart to cook on. If we hauled a load to somewhere that we wanted to stay & check out for a few days, we had a commercial rental car account with Hertz. We would park the truck at a truck stop & run around in the rental car. We have already bought & currently use a tow dolly when we go camping to take a car for transportation. Second question, We want to purchase a new car when the time comes & what kind of vehicle is recommended for towing behind a RV full time? We have a 2001 Monaco Diplomat with 57k. By the time we go full timing it will have a few more miles. I've been a mechanic all my life. I rebuilt the Detroit 12.7 in one of our semi's myself at my shop. I have done all the maintenance & repaired a few things wrong with the Diplomat. With that being said I can do any repairs on the Diplomat while I still have my shop but once my shop is gone, I will be limited on what I can repair on it. My biggest concern is the radiator. It still has the original radiator in it. It's in fairly good shape but does have some rust around the petcock. Apparently, it has metal (not brass, copper or aluminum) tanks. Before we go I would get a new radiator & while it's out replace the water pump, belt & all the hoses. The charge air cooler looks ok but may need replacing too. By this time, I will need new tires. I estimate by buying tires, radiator, water pump, thermostat, coolant, belts & hoses I'm going to have to spend 10k or more depending on what I find when I tear into it. Third & last question, should we look into buying a new or newer RV or keep what we got. Anyone know how good the new ones hold up compared to the older ones? When it comes to semis the new ones are junk compared to the old ones, especially compared to the ones made before 2003 that don't have a EGR or any emission controls like our Diplomat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacwjames Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 Consider a tranny oil/filter change. How old are your house and chassis batteries, but these can be changed on the road pretty easy. Give you chassis air system a good once over. Prior to a trip in 2021 I inspected mine, all was good and it would hold air for a week. Then on a trip out west it started to loose air pretty quick while parked, ultimately dropping ~50psi in 30 minutes. Stopped the trip and took it home, turns out all 4 of my PPV's were leaking. Not much $$$ to fix but took a little time. Check your roof, look at the lap seal on the openings. ~3 years ago I pressure washed mine and painted with Topside paint, it has held up well. Unfortunately the age of our rigs anything can happen but sounds like you can take care of problems, good luck. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96 EVO Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 37 minutes ago, Dragracer said: Second question, We want to purchase a new car when the time comes & what kind of vehicle is recommended for towing behind a RV full time? Jeep's are popular toads, and I 'think', any year 4WD are flat towable. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheena154 Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 My husband and I have been full-timing since we retired over 9 years ago and still love it. Since we also sold our house we had to pick a state to declare as our domicile. You can stick with the state you're currently in or the big three are South Dakota, Florida and Texas and we chose South Dakota since there is no state income tax and we pass through occasionally. We use a mail forwarding service and they helped us register our motorhome and car and fill out paperwork for SD driver's licenses. We know someone who uses a relative's address for their mail and another who uses a UPS store. Since we pay our bills online I only get mail about once a month when I request it and we pay extra to have our mail scanned and I get an email with a picture. I think all mail forwarders work about the same way. Good luck! Tricia Neuzil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocketman3 Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 I just had my whole cool-pac replaced (radiator,CAC, & Hydraulic radiator). Source Engineering ordered it in & also I had them do it in Oregon. It runs a LOT cooler now! Mail. Escapees has a full - time mail service. You send your mail there (Fl or Tx), when they get a piece of mail for you they scan the envelope and email you - you then tell them to open &scan it. Then you tell them to discard or save it. Occasionally you give them an address and they mail all your saved mail to you. That’s my understanding- we currently “moved back in with my parents”. Lol. So we are in the mail by relatives. But several of our Full-time friends use mail forwarding service. Only you can answer the - keep what you have or get a new one. My opinion is every time we have been in a newer one, I like my setup and quality better. Since you are going full-time: consider adding a bunch of solar - especially if you plan on boondocking a bunch. (We have gone from 800w to 1200 to 1400 to 1500w of solar). Also consider putting in a Residential fridge. Lithium batteries have been very nice for us too. Good Luck - I hope you enjoy it - we do. Full-time for 2-1/2 years. For the vehicle- we got a Jeep JK Wrangler- then have done a bunch of stuff to it to make it better for us. Lifted- bigger tires- Roof Rack, Replaced front bumper (for towing brackets). Outfitted for camping in it. We keep our bicycles inside the Jeep (keeps them nice and out of the weather). BBQ & stepladder ride on the roof rack. The Jeep is easy to attach to flat tow. Hook up tow bar, attach safety cables, attach breakaway cable, attach light electrical cable, attach air cable (AirForce1 brake system). And put the jeeps transfer case in neutral. Verify all steps and done. About 5 min total. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willbo777 Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 We have been full timing for 19 years. We have always used Florida for our residency. We use St Brendan's Isle as our mail forwarder and physical address for voting. They have the ability to send whatever little mail we get to wherever we want or to scan it and then we can download it, whichever we want. We have towed a Ram pickup for the last 8 years and Grand Cherokees before that. We like having a full size vehicle that can carry stuff, go most anywhere, and comfortably seat 4 people if necessary. Our present coach is also our last coach, we are very familiar with it, do 99% of the repairs and maintenance ourselves, and we stay on top of it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ray Davis Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 2 hours ago, willbo777 said: do 99% of the repairs and maintenance ourselves, and we stay on top of it. Good morning Bill, this is something I've wondered about. As full timers and doing your own maintaince, how do you go about finding a place to do things? I have done a few things in the campsite without asking for permission, things like fuel filters, belts, and so on. I'm careful to be clean and quite to hopefully not draw attention. I imagine most parks would say no if asked and I wouldn't blame them, things could quickly get out of hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Roberts Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 My wife and I are newbies to the full time RV life. We knew almost nothing about RV's in general. When we decided to sell our FL property we had no intention of becoming RV'ers. While looking for a new place to live, she came across an ad for an old RV. She suggested we buy it and travel the country to visit our kids and old friends. I thought she was crazy but I had picked our current home on 30 acres of woods on the river and it was her turn to decide our next adventure. Though I'm new to RV living, I'm an old timer when it comes to life. I know that 50's, 60's and 70's model cars and 60's and 70's motorcycles are much better than new versions. I know that older diesels were touted as being able to run over a million miles. So when she asked me to check out this 1999 Diplomat with a Cummins ISB with only 113K miles, I didn't object. Turned out to be one of my better decisions. Fairly low mileage, fairly low price, fairly good overall condition. I've replaced both AC's, Awning Springs, Microwave, Inverter/House Batteries, Roof Vent Fans, 8 Airbags, and installed a Tankless WH. Tires were the first thing replaced. I had the MH inspected by CW (never use them again), I had the engine serviced by Cummins, and the Tranny by Allison. Not sure what any of them did as they wouldn't let me watch. We're nine months into our first year of this adventure, and will end up back in Bell in Feb. Between now and the beginning of our second year, I plan on replacing shocks, radiator, hoses, belts, etc. Getting the fridge and the LP furnace replaced is also on the menu. That just leaves a brake check, with possible replacement, and resealing all the seams and window gaskets. Then, I'll have a basically new, 1999 luxury coach. Better than a lot of the "newer" MH's out there for sale. Knowing what I know now, I guess what I'm trying to say is I wouldn't hesitate to buy a 2001 Diplomat with that low mileage if the price was right. We don't tow so I can't help with that question. I wanted to get a Harley on a trailer, But wife squashed that idea right away. I'm stuck on an e-bike. 😞 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis H Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 Since we have been full timing for 16 years now with about 110,000 miles on our coach, mostly back roads of the USA, I'll give you my perceptions for what they're worth. First, decide where you'll call your domicile State. It can be any of the 51 States. We chose SD for no income tax and now 4.2% sales tax. Should you decide to buy a new(er) coach that could save you a bunch of money on sales tax vs say California. There are several mail forwarding places in SD. We chose Americas Mailbox for several reasons. They have an actual commercial building with a campground attached. As opposed to someone's home that they operate out of. When you want your mail, we pay all our bills the first of every month, paperless of course, simply determine where you'll be and have the mail sent via General Delivery to that city's post office. Once you choose your State the next thing is to transfer everything to that State, bank accounts, driver's licenses, voter registration etc. Keeps your current State's tax collector from following you. SD requires you to spend ONE night in their State to obtain a driver's license. (They'll ask for a campground receipt) You'll then have to stop by every 5 years to renew. Next thing will be insurance. There used to be many companies that offered fulltimer insurance. Now there are only a few. Geico, Progressive and Nationwide are three. We chose Nationwide because they were the least expensive for our needs. We used FMCA for their discount. Same with towed vehicles. Used to be many, now few. We tow a Chevy Equinox. Good Sam publishes a yearly magazine to assist you with which vehicles are towable four down as well as weight etc. Choose your own poison. Next consider discounts. TSD for fuel, camping, Passport America, Resort Parks International (RPI) Thousand Trails, Coast to Coast, Hosts, there are many others too. This will save you $$$ every year. Join FMCA for discounts on tires and stuff. Finally, we spent our first year going from point A to point B to point C etc. to see the things we "always wanted to see". We missed everything in between. After that we simply traveled, spending six weeks in every State. Two in the northern part, two in the middle and two in the southern. We travel 3 but no more that 4 hours to get to our next destination. This allows you to relax and have coffee/breakfast in the morning before breaking camp, and gets you to the next destination for easy set up and relax before dinner time. Remember you don't really HAVE to be somewhere, you're already there. 3 hours also allows you to take the toad and visit somewhere you noticed while you were traveling. Backroads are much more relaxing, interesting and informative than any of the interstates. Of that previously mentioned 110,000 miles less than 15,000 are freeway miles.....Dennis 5 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96 EVO Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 56 minutes ago, Dennis H said: Of that previously mentioned 110,000 miles less than 15,000 are freeway miles.....Dennis Wow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdinsmore Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 Robbie, Your question on getting mail: We get mail every three or four weeks, paying bills online. About five days before we want mail, I call our regular post-lady giving her the address where we'll be for a few days, at either a friend or a campground. We call them in advance asking if we may use their address. She puts all first-class mail in an envelope which is forwarded at no charge. If there are other items such as magazines she asks if we want these and puts them in a flat-rate mailer which I pay for with a credit card while we're talking. I tell her to dump all the ads and the stuff I don't want. Have been doing this for years without a hiccup. And we take good care of her when we return home. On your question about an older MH: You could not find a better website for getting answers to your motor-homing questions, as you already know. Our 2000 Diplomat is starting to getting to be bothersome with many niggling problems just because of age and sitting idle. But this view is a bit skewed because it sat mostly idle during Covid. Before Covid we had little or no significant problems in spite of 150K miles. Experience has shown me the worst thing that can happen to a MH is sitting idle and lax maintenance. MH's need to be used on the road! I'm finally getting down to the last few problems to hit the road again in the Spring for several months. The last several weeks getting everything back in order has been a pain, plus getting physically older has not helped at all. My message to you: Get on the road and stay there!!!!!! 🙂 Traveling is a great lifestyle. I've been doing it for more than 84 years, ever since first tenting at six weeks of age. My wife and I have been super lucky. We have been using the RV for three to five months most years since 2020. Bob 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragracer Posted November 1, 2023 Author Share Posted November 1, 2023 Many thanks to everyone for all the good replies. Lots of useful information in all of yalls posts. Looks like keeping our Diplomat will be a good decision. We really like it! I have upgraded the refrigerator to a Frigidaire residential unit. Also installed new Bilstein shocks. I performed a full service on the coach when we got it, generator new Onan filters, transmission new Allison filters & Transend oil, greased every fitting on the chassis including the driveshaft & checked the differential fluid. We are planning on camping at a local lake this weekend. Next weekend it will pull our enclosed trailer with the drag car so I can race some of the street outlaws. After 43 years of drag racing I'm retiring. Looking forward to going full time RV'ing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willbo777 Posted November 1, 2023 Share Posted November 1, 2023 20 hours ago, Ray Davis said: Good morning Bill, this is something I've wondered about. As full timers and doing your own maintaince, how do you go about finding a place to do things? I have done a few things in the campsite without asking for permission, things like fuel filters, belts, and so on. I'm careful to be clean and quite to hopefully not draw attention. I imagine most parks would say no if asked and I wouldn't blame them, things could quickly get out of hand. We have only had a few instances where a campground won't let you do some repair or project. In fact we cleaned and painted our roof this summer in Montana, replaced a blown out hydraulic cooler in Maine. We find it harder to find a campground that allows you to wash than do a repair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ray Davis Posted November 1, 2023 Share Posted November 1, 2023 2 hours ago, willbo777 said: We find it harder to find a campground that allows you to wash than do a repair. That is interesting, I'm still trying to sort it out. Maybe it's because people are not apt to do much in the way of engine etc repairs but if allowed everyone would start washing their coach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimc99999 Posted November 1, 2023 Share Posted November 1, 2023 (edited) On 10/31/2023 at 10:26 AM, Ray Davis said: Good morning Bill, this is something I've wondered about. As full timers and doing your own maintaince, how do you go about finding a place to do things? I have done a few things in the campsite without asking for permission, things like fuel filters, belts, and so on. I'm careful to be clean and quite to hopefully not draw attention. I imagine most parks would say no if asked and I wouldn't blame them, things could quickly get out of hand. I also did maintenance/repairs in RV parks, generally without asking. What's the difference if I'm up on the roof looking at the AC units or a mobile RV repair guy? I've done fuel filters and oil in RV parks too but I try to be pretty discreet about that. But I recently discovered a much better option for fuel filters and oil changes. For the last couple years we've been off the road, but made a month or longer trip in May/June. So as a "shake off the cobwebs" trip I've headed to Maryland International Raceway in April to see my client do his top fuel drag bike shakedown passes. It's a normal club race weekend, but like most drag strips they have a large paddock. There is usually several dozen people working on their drag bikes between passes, rebuilding motors, clutches, cooling systems, etc. Several large used oil vats so you don't even have to go back to the auto parts store. If you spill a little, well, plenty has been spilled before. Since I'm not racing I park down at the end where there aren't many people, boondock for the weekend and listen to drag bikes go down the track all day. The entry fee is usually less than $100, or if you know someone who will be racing you might be able to get on their crew list for free entry. Edited November 1, 2023 by jimc99999 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis H Posted November 1, 2023 Share Posted November 1, 2023 The reason most campgrounds allow the mobile guys in and frown on us doing our own repairs is because there are a few, an y'all know who you are, are slobs when it comes to cleaning up and not leaving behind a mess. Same with washing your coach. I use a bucket and rags and never leave the hose running in the street. Never had a problem working on the coach or washing it in a campground. I ask first and assure them they won't have a mess when I'm done. Just my observations and experience......Dennis 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willbo777 Posted November 2, 2023 Share Posted November 2, 2023 17 hours ago, Dennis H said: The reason most campgrounds allow the mobile guys in and frown on us doing our own repairs is because there are a few, an y'all know who you are, are slobs when it comes to cleaning up and not leaving behind a mess. Same with washing your coach. I use a bucket and rags and never leave the hose running in the street. Never had a problem working on the coach or washing it in a campground. I ask first and assure them they won't have a mess when I'm done. Just my observations and experience......Dennis I agree with your premise, but on average I would say that 90% of the parks we stay in prohibit washing. It is almost with glee when we find one that will allow it, in fact we are so dirty right now it is embarrassing, but hope to rectify that 2 campgrounds down the road. And really how many people leave a hose running, without a sprayer installed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ray Davis Posted November 2, 2023 Share Posted November 2, 2023 On 10/31/2023 at 7:23 PM, Dragracer said: Next weekend it will pull our enclosed trailer with the drag car so I can race some of the street outlaws. After 43 years of drag racing I'm retiring. Just wonder about street outlaws, is that a reference to the TV show? Do you mean it literally or tongue-in-cheek? In other words, are you going to be on TV? Congratulations, 43 yrs is a long time to do anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragracer Posted November 2, 2023 Author Share Posted November 2, 2023 Ray Davis. Yes I will be racing against some of the Street Outlaws that are on TV. I entered in the unlimited big tire class. The street outlaws that are TV run it a race that is a invitational meaning you have to be invited to run in it. There will be some of the street outlaws that didn't make the invitational running in the class that I entered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Al redcay Posted November 2, 2023 Share Posted November 2, 2023 I have a 2005 Monaco cheetah 53,000 miles we have been full time for 10 yrs towing a 2024 Buick encore with Air Force One braking system & we love it , but it’s time to sell & settle down here in Texas. So everything up for sale . They’re a lot of older motorhomes out here. We have a membership with Thousand trails that gives us 88 campgrounds to stay for free . Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ray Davis Posted November 2, 2023 Share Posted November 2, 2023 1 hour ago, Dragracer said: Ray Davis. Yes I will be racing against some of the Street Outlaws that are on TV. I entered in the unlimited big tire class. The street outlaws that are TV run it a race that is a invitational meaning you have to be invited to run in it. There will be some of the street outlaws that didn't make the invitational running in the class that I entered. Sweet, no telling when or if it'll make it on TV but it would sure be nice to know so I could watch. Good luck!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis N - 2005 Windsor Posted November 3, 2023 Share Posted November 3, 2023 So Dragracer, what time does a 2001 diplomat do in a quarter mile? I know you just had to try it! 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis H Posted November 23, 2023 Share Posted November 23, 2023 On 11/3/2023 at 10:34 AM, Dennis N - 2005 Windsor said: So Dragracer, what time does a 2001 diplomat do in a quarter mile? I know you just had to try it! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96 EVO Posted November 23, 2023 Share Posted November 23, 2023 Odd.... I never seen the rear tires get narrower and taller off the line 😁! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimc99999 Posted November 23, 2023 Share Posted November 23, 2023 2 hours ago, 96 EVO said: Odd.... I never seen the rear tires get narrower and taller off the line 😁! Off the line the tires get short, fat and wrinkled. Tall and thin is for the other end. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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