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Old 03-20-2013, 08:39 AM   #8 (permalink)
slowmover
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Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
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2004 CTD - '04 DODGE RAM 2500 SLT
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The below is my opinion. I'm also a third generation owner of aluminum travel trailers and of other types (in our family it was also boats & airplanes, not just motorhomes, etc) over more than forty years.

One needs to define what is meant, personally, by a "recreational vehicle". For some it is some form of "camper" they take out a few weekends and week or two each year accummulating around 5k miles. But they really love it as college alum for tailgating at football games.

A motorhome, of whatever type, falls down pretty fast when it comes to space efficiency due to drivetrain constraints. Most of all, in capacities.

The functions of an RV (a camper) are:

1] All weather shelter

2] Potable water use (storage and interior/exterior distribution whether mechanically or electrically). Then, storage of contaminated water.

3] Propane. Really, a very close second to water. Heat for shelter, water & cooking plus refrigeration. If it weren't for the virtues of propane RV's wouldn't exist.

4] Electrical. What the uninitiated think of as almost primary is in fact optional. Not necessary outside of furnace blower and refrigeration temp regulation. As Americans seem unable to live without their Jesusphones and TV, this means extensive (heavy) solar and a fossil-fuel generator. Not one or the other.

Water capacity is the limiting factor for extended stays outside of the infrastructure grid.

Trailers nearly always have the edge when it comes to efficiency. One can always change the tow vehicle given emphasis on trailer aero exterior shape, low ground clearance, independent suspension, low center-of-gravity. Shape, not weight, is key.

So, when making comparisons of types (and further refinement in choices inside those types) be sure that capacities somehow match up with expected use.

I can find ways to do the same recreational traveling with an 11-mpg motorhome and use less engine fuel than with a 30-mpg VIXEN update. When water is the limiting factor, this is an easy case to make.

Engine fuel seems to be the limiting factor in travel. It isn't . . as it cannot be separated from other energy inputs required. These aren't cars. Moving one around is secondary to it's purpose, ironically.

"Travel" is defined as nights aboard on an annual basis over miles travelled. And around here one can find ways to minimize fuel burn for a given vehicle (trip plan).

Then, "Type" of travel is the place to start, IMO, before becoming enamored of a particular vehicle.

Most RV travel is of the shirt sleeve variety. Chasing nice temps in nice climates. No Minnesota winter or Arizona summer. Basically, above 50F and below 80F. At all times. And neither too dry nor too wet . . they also constitute significant challenges to the question of capacities. Pushing this envelope outwards is where the difficulties arise . . otherwise, tent camping would be on the menu.

So, refine what one feels is the travel goal with sensible parameters. Tackle the question of capacities inherent to a vehicle type or combination as corollary in thinking.

If one wishes to start from a general reference, I'd use one to three weeks at a given location and then moving 300-miles to the next. Graph it out this way as a default for looking at things like engine fuel burn.

The aesthetics of a vehicle[s] is the fun at this stage, granted.


Finally, make provision in feeling/thinking for illness & injury. If one is incapacitated for two weeks, how well will the thing work? As well, in fitting this purchase and ongoing expense into lifelong financial planning, how well will it substitute for what the RV'ers call the S&B (the sticks & bricks house) for when climate & weather or man-made problems make that uninhabitable, or it ceases to exist? After all, a well-chosen (well-designed & constructed) RV can be a life-long asset, not simply a luxury cost.

.

Last edited by slowmover; 03-20-2013 at 08:48 AM..
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