Looking for a budget/older Foretravel

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Looking for a budget/older Foretravel

July 29, 2012, 03:47:16 am

Does anyone know this coach? 1981 desiel Foretravel 35ft ~reduced price~

I am tired of tents. I'm tent-tense...we go with high school students to Rocky Point, Mexico, to "build students by building for the poor." We leave behind lots of smiles and small house, a bathroom, some donated furniture and a promise to scholarship their kids through high school--education is free through 8th grade, then it costs money in Mexico.

I would love to be out of my tent. Even better, I'd love to be out of my tent and pull our box trailer (8x16 is the one we currently borrow from a kids' grandpa). Currently we pull the trailer behind a 1-ton van with a V10 owned by the church I work at.

Can someone provide insight on ownership costs of an older Foretravel--diesel vs. gas? Can a 1980's gas Foretravel pull an 8x16 box trailer loaded with 6 beds, 4 couches, and random donated furniture items? Do I need a diesel instead?

What am I looking for? What am I looking out for? Are replacement parts hard to come by?

A buddy has a 1970's GMC MH, and the support community there is incredible. He has dared me to find it for vintage Foretravels. Hah! I'm up for the challenge.

Thanks in advance, and send any ideas or leads my way. I'm really enjoying learning about these incredible machines!

Dave

Re: Looking for a budget/older Foretravel

Reply #1 – July 29, 2012, 09:20:58 am

Foretravels are great machines but there are not that many in the early 80s still running around. Depending on budget, I would try to look late 80s or early 90s. I think you could find a great unit and have the ability to plumb this community for support.

Re: Looking for a budget/older Foretravel

Reply #2 – July 29, 2012, 09:28:47 am

Let me add to my previous post. You can look older for budget reasons and there may be a FT out there but there will be more work on that and that is not always cheap. In fact if you can find a nice unit at the right price a bit newer you will have less money required to update and maintain. If the coach has been maintained well then you will have a better experience too. If not then it will be very expensive to get running or keep running.
Sometimes it is not the purchase price but that hidden issue that costs so much.

Re: Looking for a budget/older Foretravel

Reply #3 – July 29, 2012, 09:59:45 am

How handy are you mechanically speaking,how much time do you have to work on one, what is your budget? I'd definitely go diesel and have seen some deals on older ones.

Re: Looking for a budget/older Foretravel

Reply #4 – July 29, 2012, 10:19:57 am

Go Diesel if possible, gasses generally poor mileage and working pretty hard before you add a trailer. If you can build/ renovate a house you can work on 90% of what breaks on any of these units. Be patient, and you will be rewarded. Might even find someone or estate willing to make a donation of an older coach to the church.

Gmc interesting, big following, decent parts availability. Gas hogs, but cut my teeth on a 73 with some island theme.

Re: Looking for a budget/older Foretravel

Reply #5 – July 29, 2012, 10:37:46 am

Echo the above posts. The deals are really out there. The most important items in happy RV ownership are researching the coach(s) you like, finding the best for the price and then being able to do at least some of the work yourself. A couple of days in a shop like CW can end up being half the purchase price.

Diesel pushers are the ticket. Cummins, Cats, DD two cycles are the best choices. If you spend much time in Puerto Penasco, Detroit 2 cycles are everywhere with parts and service easy to find. Also have had a lot of car upholstery as well as home furniture recovered in Mexicali with excellent work done.

We have owned ours for 3 years with only a few expenses, oil, a tire, an airbag, stuff like that. The deals come up on nationwide Craigslist searches all the time. You may have to travel to pick it up so don't expect your dream machine to be close by. You can't read too many forums or ask too many questions.

If you miss one, probably not long before another one comes up so never feel pressured to make the deal.

Good luck,

Pierce

Re: Looking for a budget/older Foretravel

Reply #6 – July 29, 2012, 10:50:58 am

As my wife used to Joke as I was working my way through 27 airplanes and two helicopters (with a tri-pacer in the hanger now, still counting.....)

Yes Tim, you found "this week's deal of a lifetime!"

Older stuff is out there and hard to sell, be discriminating. If your budget allows, just swing a deal for Brett Wolfe's coach.

:-)

Re: Looking for a budget/older Foretravel

Reply #7 – July 29, 2012, 01:38:08 pm

That coach will have hydraulic brakes and only 175 horspwere 3208. I don't believe the 15 mpg, more like 10 or less. You should very carefully inspect the roof for cracks and leaking especially in the shower area.

Re: Looking for a budget/older Foretravel

Reply #8 – July 29, 2012, 01:48:15 pm

Quote from: red tractor – July 29, 2012, 01:38:08 pm

That coach will have hydraulic brakes and only 175 horspwere 3208. I don't believe the 15 mpg, more like 10 or less. You should very carefully inspect the roof for cracks and leaking especially in the shower area.

I always question anything that is being sold so quickly after someone just bought it. I suspect that they discovered a problem that is hidden too deeply to discover easily but is too big to deal with.

And the 15mpg is clearly not true... could be that they just didn't fill the tank up completely after that first trip... or not.

Craig

Re: Looking for a budget/older Foretravel

Reply #9 – July 29, 2012, 05:25:28 pm

There is a coach in Willow Park, Tx that was at the dealer today when I drove by. I don't know if it is the same one that Dave and Glen checked out. I'm in Benton, Ark on my way to Tenn, or else I would stop by on Mon. Ernie

Re: Looking for a budget/older Foretravel

Reply #10 – July 29, 2012, 05:27:30 pm

Quote from: red tractor – July 29, 2012, 01:38:08 pm

That coach will have hydraulic brakes and only 175 horspwere 3208. I don't believe the 15 mpg, more like 10 or less. You should very carefully inspect the roof for cracks and leaking especially in the shower area.

if the 3208 is NA, then it has 225hp
if turbo- 250
I didn't know a 3208 to be at 175hp?

Re: Looking for a budget/older Foretravel

Reply #11 – July 29, 2012, 05:45:01 pm

What's your budget? There is a late 80's (?) ORED for sale in Humansville, which is about an hour's drive from here (there's a lake in the way, or it would be lots shorter). Don't know anything about it, but it is a FSBO and the sign on the windshield says $9000 OBO. It was discussed on this forum about a month ago I believe.

Re: Looking for a budget/older Foretravel

Reply #12 – July 29, 2012, 07:44:36 pm

Thanks for all the replies. As for my budget, I was hoping to purchase a sorted coach for $4000-5000. I know, it sounds like I'm dreaming, but there's so much more "bang for the buck" with a FT vs. anything else.

Someone mentioned a donated coach--that would be incredible. We have a non-church 501(c)3 non-profit, tax-exempt organization (Uthbuild | Building Youth, Dismantling Poverty), so we could offer a tax receipt for a tax deduction if someone was so inclined.

I just learned what ORED means. Oh man, I need to read more! I didn't get back from church until just now, and we're headed back out to my mom's house for birthday dinner, so I will have to come back to the reading. I'm working on "Newbies..." and "50 things to know..." and the discussion of 'solids' in the black tank creating a clog. Lot's of ____ to learn! Sorry, I just couldn't pass it up!

Okay, off to mom's. More later...

Gratefully,
Dave

Re: Looking for a budget/older Foretravel

Reply #13 – July 30, 2012, 03:40:14 am

Quote from: 59ona64 – July 29, 2012, 07:44:36 pm

Thanks for all the replies.

I have gone rving in a similar 1981 coach with the n/a cat. 542 Allison trans. Propane Koehler if I remember correctly.

Not an Oshkosh chassis. Hendrickson? Dodge with the rear motor? Can't remember. But if it drives well and a mechanic checks it out I would not b afraid of it. Subject to what red mentioned about roof cracks as the long chassis can sag. Better than sleeping in a tent.

Re: Looking for a budget/older Foretravel

Reply #14 – July 30, 2012, 04:26:24 am

I am handy, and have a friend who was a GM mechanic (cars, not busses), and I have been told a new person at church is a retired diesel mechanic who is excited to get involved in the church any way he can. Another friend is an electrical engineer. I feel good about the people around me who can help me maintain the coach. I am concerned about parts availability for an older FT.

I would enjoy working on the coach--and I'm putting the feelers out for an upholsterer in Puerto Penasco/Rocky Point. I'm guessing I can get a small network of people together in Mexico, too, who would be grateful for work. One of the guys we built for, and now helps us in our builds, is a cabinet maker. He wants a large planer, so I'm looking for one on Craigslist--shoot, for a few hundred dollars we can buy the tool that would make it possible for him to begin making custom doors, etc. It would be a good boost for his business, and we can make room in one of the trailers to bless him with a planer.

I spoke with the owner of the above coach and was told it needs a power steering hose since there's a pinhole leak. It affects the brakes, so yes, it must have hydraulic brakes. They said it's a $50 hose/fix. I would think they'd fix a $50 problem that affects the steering and brakes, and I would need that before flying cross country to pick it up. They were going to move out west for a job, so they bought the FT. His current employer gave him a promotion so he stayed where he was. They bought it from a guy who traveled to car races pulling a trailer, and he said it's great mechanically. They don't have his contact info any longer--I wanted to speak with him about the work done on the coach.

Thanks everyone. I'm off to search for Brett Wolfe's coach...

Dave

Re: Looking for a budget/older Foretravel

Reply #15 – July 30, 2012, 09:41:58 am

Dave,

I wouldn't write off the possible donor coach. We actually looked at one in Ca., which, the owner stated, he was going to donate if he couldn't get his price. I don't know the final outcome. It might be a pretty attractive proposition for someone who had bought a coach new and held it until it was fully depreciated.

How one looks for this sort of thing is the question.

Re: Looking for a budget/older Foretravel

Reply #16 – July 30, 2012, 10:44:10 am

When buying an older Foretravel you want to make sure to use the checklist on the Beamalarm.com site. I've been running a 1991, U225 for 3 years now. I did not use the checklist. I hope to get it out of the shop Tuesday after having the radiator and dash air repaired. We've been into every system. Even a free diesel rig can cost more than they're worth. We hope to live on the road starting next spring. Good luck in your search.

Re: Looking for a budget/older Foretravel

Reply #17 – July 31, 2012, 05:10:41 am

Chuck--a donated coach would be really great, though I really do hear what you're saying, Will.

I don't seem to be able to find the "Foretravels for Free" forum

, though I would be excited about that. Yes, where to find people happy to get a tax write off instead of cash in hand is the question.

Regardless of all of that, I sure am enjoying learning about Foretravels.

Re: Looking for a budget/older Foretravel

Reply #18 – July 31, 2012, 10:15:40 am

You might try SearchTempest Online Classifieds Search - All the Classifieds. One Search. which is one of the several web sites that will search multiple craigslist pages.

Craigslist hates these, by the way, as their policy is that their pages brings together LOCAL buyers and sellers; and they periodically change things in an attempt to foil search sites. But since there are so few Foretravels for sale at any given point in North America, simply looking in Seattle (for instance) is not likely to bring a lot of results. Extended search sites are invaluable for finding just the right deal.

Craig

Re: Looking for a budget/older Foretravel

Reply #19 – July 31, 2012, 10:38:03 am

Just buy ours, and start enjoying it.

Matt B

Re: Looking for a budget/older Foretravel

Reply #20 – July 31, 2012, 10:46:57 am

Quote from: oldmattb – July 31, 2012, 10:38:03 am

Just buy ours, and start enjoying it.

Matt B

Even getting a free, neglected Foretravel, I don't think you could bring it up to the condition it needs to be in, especially for Mexico forays, for what MattB is asking for his. It's a deal. Probably the only other option in your price range would be to rebuild a body damaged unit, also hard to find cause unless it's really dinged it gets repaired. Starting with one with iffy drivetrain is a recipe for financial disaster/yard ornament.

Re: Looking for a budget/older Foretravel

Reply #21 – July 31, 2012, 03:11:57 pm

FWIW, I realize there are a lot of things that can be easily fixed. Some things are not as easy (means expensive). If I were in the market for a motorhome, I would much rather have one in good condition, perhaps older, and of good quality construction. I guess that is why I have an older (1996 Foretravel). I have had some minor issues (as everyone, including those with much newer motorhomes). The advice to get a good one is sage advice indeed. You will need to check it out and seek some one knowledgeable perhaps to enhance this inspection. If you buy one in good shape and pay a little more then you will most likely be more happy. I am not sure that I would try to rescue a dead one. It gets not easy (expensive) quickly. Good Luck.

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