New Ride..

[Justin 9]

In slight contrast to my 205 I have recently become the owner of this;

 

 

 

 

The Mrs. and I have decided to take a year off work and the drudgery of life and travel the USA in a fifth wheel camper;

 

 

So far we've been here about three months and have travelled the east coast from Maine down to South Carolina, where we are now, and it's pretty cool. The camper is 35ft long and has a couple of slide out sections so it's pretty roomy compared to the caravans I had the (mis)pleasure of going on rainy holidays to Cornwall and Devon in. The truck is a Ford F350 6.7 diesel with 400bhp and 800 ft.lbs of torque, so despite weighing about 10 tonnes all up we can shift along pretty nicely. If anywere is geared up to do this it's the USA, and it's a great way to get a feel of just how big this country is.

 

Have had a couple of awesome drives along the Appalachian Trail and Smoky Mountains - there are some ace roads off the beaten track, even when driving a big old truck. The standard of driving is generally poor, with zero lane discipline and bugger all awareness of other cars or use of indicators etc. etc.

 

The people are all just lovely though, very friendly and happy to help a couple of novice campers and it sure beats working for a living! Next up is Savannah, Georgia en route to Florida..

 

Justin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jackherer 543]

I remember you talking about doing this and you certainly haven't messed about, that's huge!

 

Even if that's 10 US short Tons it is still over 9000KG.

[calvinhorse 870]

That's so frickin cool! Living the dream!

[welshpug 1,657]

how many GPM?

 

V8 diseasel powerstroke engine

[Justin 9]

Am averaging 16 UK mpg towing (generally at 65-70mph) and just under 22 UK mpg solo. Diesel is just under 60 pence a litre though!

 

Worryingly, I have become quite attached to the truck, although I expect that when I come for Christmas in a few weeks and get to drive a Fiat 500 TwinAir I will realize that the truck handling and steering are as vague as a politician. I'm always amazed by how direct and eager even boring European cars feel after driving US stuff.

 

Wet weather oversteer in third gear is kind of fun though!

[rallyeash 155]

awsome! ive just come back from a west coast usa trip. good times...

[Rams_gti6 12 1 Cars]

That is some setup!

[ScoobyJawa 23]

Very jealous - did a road trip back in May. I LOVE the US. Wish I could set up over there. As you say, on the whole everyone is really friendly.

[feb 47]

Wow, that looks ... BIG!

 

Looking forward to seeing pics of your adventure!

Edited November 27, 2013 by feb

[Jolly Green Monster 51 1 Cars]

Thats awesome. I only said to the wife that we should do something like this at the weekend, I got that look that said "on your own lol"

I think I would prefer a campervan with trailer and a little car on the back though.

 

Enjoy!

[PeterGriffin 20 1 Cars]

Lucky man, well done for managing a year off! Nice buggy. By the way, it's not oversteer, it's a caravan...!

 

Enjoy

[mowflow 67]

Christ on a bike that's one big rig.

 

Isn't it funny how Americans tastes are so different from ours?

Edited November 27, 2013 by mowflow

[MikeC 10]

Christ the size of that yoke you'll need a Jake Brake fitted

Edited November 28, 2013 by MikeC

[allye 530 3 Cars]

Christ on a bike that's one big rig.

 

Isn't it funny how Americans have zero taste are so different from ours?

 

EFA

[mowflow 67]

I was being polite.

 

It's totally acceptable to indulge in otherwise unacceptable looking/handling vehicles while in America. It's like the "what happens on the stag stays on the stag" rule.

[Jolly Green Monster 51 1 Cars]

Lol

[mechanicalrepairs 8]

Absolutely brilliant, I want to do this when I get to about 50 with the missus, kids will have grown up and hopefully I will have saved enough money to just forget it and go.

 

Out of interest how much do you think the whole episode will cost you?

 

Carl

[will1991 11 1 Cars]

As above, this is brilliant. I thought my estate made for good nocturnal accommodation!

[Justin 9]

Absolutely brilliant, I want to do this when I get to about 50 with the missus, kids will have grown up and hopefully I will have saved enough money to just forget it and go.

Out of interest how much do you think the whole episode will cost you?

Carl

As we've bought the truck and trailer we hope to minimize the costs by selling it before we come home. I figure we'll lose between £5-£8k in depreciation. Set up and registration fees have been about £1500, insurance is just under £1500. Fuel should be £2800 ish. Almost all living and day to day expenses are covered by rental income from our house in the UK, but we're spending a little more than we earn at the moment. Flights and misc hotels etc should be £5k, so probably about £20k all in.

 

It was the cheapest way we could figure to take a year off and much much cheaper than renting an RV.

 

Justin

Edited December 3, 2013 by Justin

[mechanicalrepairs 8]

Cheers for the reply, still think its great and a year out not caring is great for £20k

 

Carl