We are transitioning from a 19' Roadtrek that I've driven 50,000 miles in the last five years on numerous adventures. Our big plan is to go full time in a few years. We've been obsessing on what to buy for three years, cruising forums, attending RV shows and after looking at a couple hundred RVs at PPL in Houston and elsewhere through Texas and Oklahoma we landed on the non-slide 36' Foretravel. We've loved the build quality of our Canadian crafted Roadtrek and the excellent use of space. I was really nervous about the complexity of a diesel pusher and figured it would take a couple of years to sort out an older unit.
I've logged 3,000 miles in my bus and have made a lot of rookie mistakes. We like to camp in National Forests, State Parks and National Parks so that's the plan. First trip was to Canejos Mountains in Colorado with an 18 mile trip on washboard dirt road to meet my son for trout fishing. This meant some long ups and downs over a couple passes and then arriving in the dark to traverse 16 miles of washboard, narrow, dirt road. After inching along for an hour, couldn't find the campsite in the dark so just parked on a level spot in the road! Since I hadn't shown up my son went looking for me and found me literally in the road. Led me to the campsite and I didn't quite make it into the campsite before rubbing up to a post. Dang this thing is long and I'm not used to the swing or the turning radius.
Two days later we went to Navajo Lake State Park, misunderstood his instruction and wound up on the upper loop, in a campground area where I don't fit. Frantic cell phone calls, son says I can drive on through but I can't. Ditch the 5x8 trailer in a campsite (loaded with kayaks and scooter), guy has to move his pickup to give me turning room and three campers are inching me around a corner with a little jockeying back and forth. I'm thinking cutting torch, chain saw or Chinook helicopter from the National Guard Air Unit. They are all shaking their heads as I slowly wind my way out of the loop from h##l. My son hooked up the trailer and followed me to the site I had reserved. Two beers before dinner, nerves shot.
Next week head to Albuquerque where we pull into an RV park (once more in the dark) to attend a play, pick up wife at airport and then off to a favorite campsite north of Pagosa Springs. Another long drive on dirt road, campsites all full and it's going dark as we go into an unknown National Forest campground two miles down the road. No damage, lovely site and we decide to stay put for five days. Learn to use ZipDee shades on the windows but leave big awning for another day.
Notes to self: Learning curve is steep, some things are fun in the dark but not driving a bus into a remote campground. It's a lot more complex than Roadtrek, drives like a dream, lots of storage, a challenge to navigate in the campground. I really covet solar and this will be my first upgrade.
Funny note. After arriving home I'm going over the manual and checking specs. Decide to read the weight rating on my new GoodYear G670s that came with the coach. They appear to be way undersized! I spend hours pouring over the specs, searching for data sheets on the tires and go to bed sick to my stomach. Next morning wake up, hit the computer again and then after reading specs for a fourth time notice that they are given in both kilograms and pounds on the data sheet. Turns out the tires are well within specs once you convert the kilograms stamped into the sides of the tires into pounds.
Still wet behind the ears even though I've been RVing since I was eight years old.
If it is a load range h it has a 6940lb a tire capacity at max inflation. That is plenty for even my coach which us heavier then yours. Put the whole tire info up and get your coach weighed.
By no means am I being condescending, only reaffirming what you have already learned.
NEVER do anything in a hurry where our coaches are involved. Plan two and three moves ahead when manuvering into and out of anywhere. Also much like tent camping I always try to plan for being set up by dark.
It's going to get so much better for you and your Coach!
Pulling into any strange RV park or campground at night is just asking for problems. Like Tom says, we always plan to get there before dark. I have also found it helpful to scope out my planned route on Google Earth satellite view. If I can get a picture in my head of where the road leads, it really helps me navigate. However, if the roads are all hidden (on the satellite view) under trees and foliage, doesn't do much good. I have kept myself out of some obviously "too-tight" situations this way.
If you plan to spend much time "off-roading" in primitive camping areas, you might also consider upgrading your lighting. A few high-power LED flood lights can really help light up dark unfamiliar roads. I have mounted LEDs in the stock fog light position on our GV - you could do the same on your bus. The low mounting position is not ideal, but it still adds much useful illumination. If I was going the kind of places where you go, I would also have another set on the roof, both front and rear. Backing up "blindly" in the dark is even more likely to result in body damage.
Good luck with your adventures!
We us Google earth also , it's a great tool
Ah McCoy...LOVE it....the Conjeos is great, good fishing areas. I think of it more toad than RV travel, but heck you made it. Never thought about camping in the midfle of the road....beats looking for friendly Walmarts. Lol
Now one idea besides only day travel into small camps....you need a 34 ft FT, not a big ole 36 and if you could find one that is articulated in the middle, and narrow body, that would work better!
I do recall an option, this German fellow over here exploring. He had this RV "looks like huge dump truck" affair, think it was called a geo explorer....have a photo somewhere...and carries his kayak and bike easily, no trailer. Looked like he could just run over things. Maybe that for you!
Loved your story, sense of adventure. Keep us updated.
Welcome to the forum!
I bought my forty footer 25 months ago, and drove it from Ft Meyers, Florida, to Owasso, Oklahoma, about 1500 miles. It was our FIRST RV ever, that trip was a STEEP learning curve!
Some of the things I recall learning from that trip:
Left turns are not too much different than you are used to, but right turns are not. Your turning point is the rear wheel! This means that if you try to turn from the right lane into a two lane street, you are going to have to wait until both lanes are clear to complete that turn in one motion. (Three left turns might be better for newbies.) I went over many curbs on that trip. You can push a light post over without knowing you hit it, but it does do bad things to your fiberglass.
NEVER back up without a spotter, no matter how many times you get out to look. Another light pole moved and destroyed the lower part of my ladder. (Decided I didn't need it anyway.) ;D
The right side of the road IS closer than it looks; just ask my wife.
You do have a large blind spot on the right side of your RV.
Eventually, the sheer terror of driving something that big diminishes; probably longer for your copilot.
Eventually, your copilot will get over the fear that she is going through the windshield every time you have to stop quickly. (This from the one that always complained about the shoulder strap, and now wants one.)
Never ever drive after dark.
Okay, it hurts resurrecting some of those memories, but hope my lessons help you.
It does get better and more enjoyable!
Trent
Lots of hard earned advise here.
I installed a roof spotlight on our coach. Our Coach came with a curb side camera which is normally on while driving.
The "drives like a dream" comment makes the rest worth it
Like you have likely found out going into campsites in the dark make bad things happen. We have had our FT 10 years and I just will not go into campsites in the dark. In the case of remote unpaved camping areas we check them out with the towed or walk them before pulling into them blindly. Good luck it will get better.
Great thread, we've all been there, agree with all of you. Only things I can add, after thirty years of it is, NEVER have "helpers" assist you in landing, I took out my steps paying attention to a well-meaning person. Only the DW helped from then on, that way, if a screw-up occurs, you have a quiet dinner and forget about it in the morning. The other deal, is "oops" happens, the first scratch/dent is the hardest, our last coach had "experience marks" all over her, I could tell you where, when and how I did it!
I wanted to get into a remote campground in the Rockies and stopped by the Ranger Station to check on the road condition, came out and there was a B-Class parked, got to chatting with the guy and told him where the Rangers said I'd have no problem. He looked at the coach and said, "it's easy to get in, but you'll have to back all the way out!". ^.^d
I drive in the dark sometimes but there are three golden rules for parking:
1. Keep spotter in view at all times. If they are behind coach or you lose sight of them don't move.
2. Get out and look at the whole site not forgetting low hanging tree branches. Have spotter shine light on anything bad. Situational awareness anyone?
3. Use these!
RV Headsets the Next Generation (http://www.rvheadsets.com/)
Or cell phone on speaker for the driver.
Can save a relationship.
Keith
PS. Where available, Google Maps street view is also great for seeing just how low underpasses & bridges are.
Good point. We were backing into a site that had one of those concrete barriers, and the DW was kneeling down to see how far I could go in. What was missed, was the "low hanging branch". :-X Another quiet dinner on the road.
One of the things I learned loud and clear "for me" is simply this ---Get off the road by 4 PM ---- and remember , your retired . Do not do dirt roads with my Foretravel , that's why I pull a 4x4 pick up and haul an off road toy with it . Boils down to different strokes kind of thing . I go to great lengths to avoid night time anything except TV and sleeping . Has something to do with getting older --maybe . ;D ;D ;D Brad Metzsger
Same here. I always plan my travels to arrive before dark. In my 17 years of driving 40+ foot RVs, I probably have only driven after dark a dozen times. Even with over 150K miles of driving these machines, it just gets way more difficult at night than it is worth.
My two and a half cents worth of advice.
I use this as my G.O.A.L when backing up. G.O.A.L =Get Out And Look. saved me more than once.
I thought all FT's have landing lights plus the optional roof spot light, we light the whole neighborhood when they are turned on.
I have yet to drive our coach on the road after dark, and don't plan on ever doing so. There had better be a very good reason why we aren't completely settled in by 4:00. I also don't like to leave too early. Those people who need to get to work or home again need the road then, not me.
Thirty years ago we did a lot of night time Rv driving. Enjoyed the area during the day then drove up to midnight at times.
Dry camped. Roof spotlight aimed on the right edge of the road maybe a 100-200 yards in front of us.
Stopped animals from jumping on the road and the inevitable vehicle that just has to pull out in front of you forcing you to turn off your cruise.
Had younger eyes in those days.
Deer whistle is a needed addition for night driving in any deer area at night.
Or daylight also as one jumped up on a road edge across from us and appeared directly in front of a small truck going the other way at highway speed.
Bam. Dust flew. Hood buckled, broad daylight. Steep slope across from us. Deer bounded straight up.
My old Foretravel customers from wooded areas all mounted deer whistles
You probably already noticed this, but driving on dirt roads causes dirt kicked up by your coach's tires to be sucked into the air filter, which is why many of us refuse to drive a diesel pusher on dirt roads unless absolutely necessary.
Sometimes you have no choice but to pull into your campsite at night. It's dangerous but it can be done safely if absolutely necessary. I made some lighting modifications to my coach. I added a "real" backup light by hose clamping one of those black rubber tractor headlights onto the ladder just high enough so the back door can still swing all the way open. I ran a two conductor wire in through the back door and used one of those little Bosch relays to power the light from the circuit formerly powering the useless utility light over the dipstick that I never used and removed a while ago. I tapped into the backup light circuit to turn the relay on with the other backup lights when the transmission is in reverse. I installed the brightest halogen bulb I could find in the rubber tractor light and aimed it directly at where my backup camera is looking. It works well for the camera but I still couldn't see anything through my mirrors, even with the useless "docking lights" turned on. I installed some tiny "Burners" driving lights over the front wheel wells that shine backwards down the sides of the coach so I can see through my mirrors. I hooked them into the docking lights. It seemed to work pretty well although I confess I haven't yet used them to back into a dark campsite, which is why I didn't write about them yet. I then discovered that the docking light circuits could handle one more pair of the little Burners so I put a pair of them on the sides of the back bumper pointing straight back to light up whatever is to either side of the annoying little trailer I've been hauling. I tested it in my campsite here at Grand Canyon national park, where it's very dark at night, but I still haven't used it for real. I'll probably write about it later after I see if it works well. I think it'll make backing into dark campsites a lot safer.
As for the blind spot on your right front, and in the case of the U300 the blind spot across the front bumper directly in front of the driver, I installed a couple of school bus style round convex mirrors to eliminate those. I did not use the much ballyhooed "Tophat" mirrors because they don't have the ability to eliminate the front bumper blind spot. I've had grown adults, supposedly with common sense, walk right across in front of my coach close to the front bumper as I was about to pull out of a parking space. I couldn't see the tops of their heads because the coach sits up so high. Look at the front of a school bus to see how the mirrors are mounted and you'll understand what to do. I mounted the school bus mirrors on the inside edge of the existing Ramco mirrors. The left one is angled so I can see if anyone is walking in front of the bumper and the right one is angled so I can see if anyone is to the right front of the coach. I can see further ahead on the right side than the Tophat mirror can. These school bus style mirrors are available at truck stops and auto parts stores inexpensively. I was gonna write about this a long time ago but I figured I'd get flak from the Tophat mirror crowd and the side camera crowd so I didn't. School bus mirrors are an inexpensive solution to a dangerous problem. I previously tried a fresnel lens on the passenger window and it worked fairly well but didn't address the front bumper area at all. I don't know if the flat nosed coaches have the front bumper blind spot so maybe it's not even needed there.
I suppose its different strokes for different folks, but I prefer driving at night when traveling on interstates and our destination is a rest area, Wally parking lot or truck stop. I think we all agree that getting settled in your campground site before dark is best. When our goal is to get from point "A" to "B" and put some miles behind us, I prefer driving in late afternoon and evening up to around 11pm to midnight with frequent stops during midday.
When you get there late you get what's left that was passed up all day.
Often hard to get in and hard to level on.
...this is true, getting in before dark is good, but also (when traveling alone) I get antsy and get up really early, get on the road before daylight...sometimes hit the road by 4-5am.....til I got the new headlights, it was not a happy deal but now with the new headlights, early get-ups won't be an issue. Have had to come into camp sites in the dark but they were always wide open pull-thrus, thankfully. Trying not to make that a habit.
Driving into the sun in the morning or evening is not on my favorites list of things. Need sufficient visibility/time to stop or react with these multi-ton vehicles.
My question, what's it take to "settle in". You drive up, hit the button, deploy the awnings for morning (if you like) and what I see most people do is yank ALL the curtains closed. I don't get it. If your going to close every blind and curtain in the coach, might as well park in Wally World parking lot as you won't be enjoying any view anyway. We keep ALL of ours open until dark and even then if there's something to enjoy (view with lights) we keep those open much longer.
Yes we travel at nite a little on interstates. Easier on the coach ( cooler temps ) and fewer trucks. Also my DW hates to arrive at 4:00 and park in the lawn chairs for 3 hours. IMHO. end of rant.
We are not "shut-ins" either. My favorite time, is having a view while just getting to bed, no t.v., no internet, and looking out and watching the clouds move. It's a great way to put everything in perspective, and, yes, we all have clipboards, but, "tonight I'll have a dreamless sleep". ^.^d
As a part time RVer, still working, and on limited vacation times, I would drive many hours per day including after dark to get to the destination.
Now retired, no schedule, full time, a 300 mile day is a long day - all in daylight. No city interstates in rush hour anymore either, I time it. Prefer transiting big city areas on a Sunday now (for example from Everett, through greater Seattle area to south of Olympia in WA state).
I will run more miles and hours in non scenic areas of the USA to get through to an area we prefer.
We don't drive at night anymore, the state of some roads are hard on the coach (101 into the bay area) but in daylight I get a chance to avoid the big ones
I hate driving at night. I like to be settled in by 4pm. If we do arrive late we disconnect the car and scout the area and campsite first. Day or night we use walkie talkies to communicate. My biggest reason for night driving at night is that the front of the coach becomes a big bug magnet. The next day it isn't fun cleaning up the mess.
John M
LED lights offer an interesting option for adding additional campsite navigation lights. If I could convert my docking lights to LED that would free up some circuit load for additional lighting. I actually added four lights to a 24' travel trailer that I set up with a switch at the battery on the trailer. Helped me and my spotter.
Are there any identifying numbers on your docking lights?
Should not be too difficult. Beamalarm.com shows coaches with
round docking lights used a 4" PAR36 12V/50W sealed bulb (screw terminals).
Docking Lights (http://beamalarm.com/Documents/docking_lights.html)
Same size/configuration is available in LED - just do a Google search. Here are a couple possibilities:
Pack of ONE (1), LED PAR36 9W (Eq to 50W Halogen) 12V AC/DC Lamp - Led... (http://www.amazon.com/Pack-ONE-PAR36-Halogen-Lamp/dp/B00CBYCZT2/ref=pd_sim_60_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=V123KN1E0EM6NG4EGR27)
PAR36 - LED Light Bulbs - Light Bulbs - The Home Depot (http://www.homedepot.com/b/Electrical-Light-Bulbs-LED-Light-Bulbs/PAR36/N-5yc1vZbm79Z1z0vvpf)
I'll check the lights tonight. Hadn't thought of replacing bulbs instead of entire fixture for exterior lights. New LED options being developed all the time.
The docking lights are much more difficult to remove than you'd think. My coach currently has all four of its original docking lights plus four additional 55 watt halogen lights, and it doesn't pop the breakers. I added a pair of little "Burners" pointed straight back near the front and rear docking lights, so I can see through my mirrors while backing up at night. If the breaker ever pops I'll cut the wires to the useless docking lights and keep my little Burners that are pointed straight back. There would be no point in putting LEDs into the docking lights because they point out sideways and don't illuminate where the mirrors are looking. I think if you attempt to get one of the bulbs out of the docking lights you'll walk away scratching your head wondering what they were thinking when they designed it. It'll be difficult to get the light back together and reinstalled, even if you fail to get the bulb out... just thought I'd warn you.