Newbie with lots of questions about full-timing!

[SeeMore]

- I have a 2014 F-150 4x2 with 5.0L V8. It has a 7100lb GVWR towing package, but in the owner's manual says the maximum GCWR is 13,500-15,300lbs depending on what my axle ratio is (I bought the truck used and don't know where to look up my axle ratio). I am confused as to the actual towing capacity of my truck and how big an Airstream I can go before stressing my truck out. Please help!

The easy way to get the build sheet on your truck. Use the link below and enter your VIN number:

http://www.etis.ford.com/vehicleRegSelector.do

[charlesk]

Great questions -

We’ve been on the road, full-time, for 27 months now. We’ve been from Washington to Maine from N. Dakota to the tip of Texas.

Social - we find a lot of kindred spirits while traveling. We’ve been invited and accepted dinners, social hours, cards and campfires. Just have to the open to the contestant change. We do keep in touch with those that we meet through social media and other forms of communication.

Composting toilet- we had the Nature’s Head in our 30’ International when we started. It does not smell - as long as you keep it up. Use the correct medium - nothing that promotes growth. The liquid jug can become a bit smelly. I got tired of trying to find a place to empty every other day (family of 2). The solids really was not a big deal. I was shocked the first time that I cleaned it (3 weeks) and there was no smell. The other advantage was that we tied our black and gray and basically doubled the size of the gray tank. If you interested in more, check out the Gone with the Wynns RV videos - pretty much what we found.

Update on the composting toilet - we’ve since moved into a 30’ Classic. Wife wanted to move the composting toilet in. Even with the above benefits, I decided to leave the regular toilet in. There are trade-offs both ways.

Solar - I’d recommend checking the AM Solar website. This site is full of very useful information for Solar on RV. If you decide to have someone install, I’d highly recommend AM. I’d have them do it at their location in Oregon. We had them install 6 solar panels, lithium batteries and the other wiring and control pieces. Not cheap but works GREAT.

Tow vehicle - we started out with a new Silverado 1500 Max tow package for our 30’ International. On paper it looks like no problem. However, bouncing down the highway for three months got really old. Towing was not the issue, tounge weight was! Figure out what everything will weight in the bed of the truck, grear in the truck and the tounge weight of the fully loaded Airstream. I believe the factory specs showed the Airstream tounge weight of around 850. When weighed, we were actually at 1200! This was causing the bounce going down the highway and the weight distribution hitch could not move that much wight forward and backward.

Our solution: 3/4 ton diesel Silverado 2500 with ProPride hitch. Much happier now.

Hope this helps.

Chuck

[WillZoom]

Agreed is checking out long long honeymoon, on youtube. Try The More We Explore, Less Junk More Journey, Drivin & Vibin, Keep Your daydream, Mortons on the Move, Im not lost Im Rving. Just a few suggestions, easy to search and find something to your taste

Some more full time then others, but they are all out there living their lives.

Agreed the Airstream Life books are worth while, too

[Dogdad]

Originally Posted by msbluesky89

Hello and thanks for welcoming me to the group! I have been entertaining the idea of downsizing for awhile and am considering an Airstream. Does anyone live full time in their Airstream and travel around from temporary job to temporary job? I'm a biologist and was thinking of jumping between national/state parks, nature preserves, etc. doing whatever work they need done. I would love to hear some personal experiences!

I'm considering trying a nomadic life, but have some concerns:
- Is it easy to forge relationships with people if you're traveling so much? It's just me and my dog for now!
- How easy is it to find temporary/seasonal jobs like this?
- How do Airstreams handle on winter roads? Should I plan to stay put in one place throughout a winter if I'm somewhere snowy?
- Composting toilets - intriguing, but do they smell?
- I have a 2014 F-150 4x2 with 5.0L V8. It has a 7100lb GVWR towing package, but in the owner's manual says the maximum GCWR is 13,500-15,300lbs depending on what my axle ratio is (I bought the truck used and don't know where to look up my axle ratio). I am confused as to the actual towing capacity of my truck and how big an Airstream I can go before stressing my truck out. Please help!
- Those of you who have gone solar, how big a system do you typically need?


Thank you!

In deference to Uncle Bob, I really enjoy winter travel w my Airstream, but probably not more than a week or two.

If your truck has difficulty w the road conditions your trailer will as well.
Below 20 degrees F it's a bit chilly and additional electric heater(s) are needed.

[NMoureau]

I’ve been full time for more than a year now. I have an Airstream motorhome diesel pusher and LOVE it. I’m solo, female and tow a car. I see many people driving a motorhome and pulling a truck.
I’ve clocked approx 8000 miles in 12 months. Rvreviews is great for planning.
My health insurance is easy, no preexisting issues. I have it thru Liberty Healthshare (medishare is similar). Very reasonable.
I only have trickle solar and would like to add more, but I am also still learning.
Good luck to you, Nancy, GA based

[beetlebob]

We are fulltime Airstream people. We have the factory solar system with a new controller. Solar is a whole story on its own. We are in a 30 foot classic and find we have all the room we need and sometimes to much space. You can 4 season in the Airstream but I don’t recommend it for winter camping myself. There is a woman who loves the cold and does a lot of winter living and she is who can answer those questions. You want to go into this life owing nothing to be able to relax more. We go from job to job and love it. I say more truck is better you will be surprised by how much stuff weighs. Hard to type about this life and there are to many trolls on this site that I don’t want to deal with. If you can pm me and are close we would love to meet you

[pond]

Just saw this thread in the Newsletter which means I'm late, but there's one question left somewhat unanswered.

How easy is it to find temporary/seasonal jobs like this?

The site https://www.usajobs.gov has thousands of government jobs. Set up an account, log in and go to the job search filter page. Type in your desired job title, scientist, bio-tech, whatever. Use keywords like Botany, fish, wildlife, invasive weeds, weeds, hydrology, soil, whatever may pertain to your field. Pick all gov't agencies that apply: DOI,FS(Forest Service),USDA,DEPT.of AG, BLM, BIA, there's more. The gov't is acronym happy, get used to it. The resume, you probably know the rest!

Funding for the National Parks is low and may get worse, I haven't seen anything yet, but as of late there were plenty of jobs in the invasive weed control area. If that could work for a season it's a good way to learn the ropes in the park system. The job description will detail the work.

Next the finances:
Not wanting to sit around and watch tomatoes grow yet, after selling my business of 37 years I took some temp jobs for 3 different seasons over 4 years. Two in National Parks and one in a National Forest as a Botany boi-tech.
Living in a 25', hitch to bumper 1997 dynamite Safari Airstream. The wife was there most of the time. More than enough room, great times.

National Parks offer if available, hook-ups in the park, usually in the VIP section for sometimes very reasonable rates. National Forests may not, don't know about all of them. An alternative to this is both agencies offer housing, bunk house and or apartment style. The quality of housing depends, it ranges from funky to secluded compounds with rivers running through them!

For the dog, being tied up all day outside in a National Park would be like a worm on a hook for the parks wildlife.

The housing alternative would give you a chance to see if working for Uncle Sam is right for you or could s l o w l y build up the bank account. Entry level GS5 or 6 with an education and no previous federal experience is low. But being in the wilderness every day surrounded by what you love, money can't buy.

You may be semi-retired, which a lot of this becomes mute or fresh out of college with tuition bills and then trailer payments. Watch the debt burden!

Mike

Quote: "I am against the man who skins the land" Teddy Roosevelt