Ok, all you motor home freaks, lets get this first topic off to a good start and tell us all about your homes!

Derek and I are in a 2001 Winniebago Ultimate Advantage 40J, 40 foot, single slide.  It sits on a Freightliner chassis with a 330HP Cat and an Allison Trans.    

We have had this unit for about a year and a half, and have been very happy with it, besides the normal RV problems.  This is our 4th camper, and the second one we full-timed in.  

So, Lets hear about your homes, and what you like and dislike about them?  What do you consider absolute must haves, and what can you live without?

 

 John

 

I have two favorite things - talking about myself and talking about The Beast!

We have a 2006 Monaco Knight 40PLQ diesel pusher. It has a 330 Cummins and a MH3000 Allison transmission. The best thing about our home is that it has an office in the rear of the coach that allows me to have all my computer crap permanantly set up - no clearing off the kitchen table for me!

When we decided to go fulltime, the dedicated workspace was extremely important. Unfortunately, I still put a lot of time into working, so being able to have a dedicated space was on top of our list. We looked for 6-8 months, and were at the point of thinking that we were going to have to do some custom remodeling on a new motorhome. Then I found the floorplan of the PLQ. I showed it to Ang and it was love at first sight. I then set out to find one at a dealer so we could look at one. I found a few, and ended up making a great deal on one about 3 hours from our old home.

 

We have walked through a billion coaches since purchasing this one - mainly because it is always fun to shop for new ones  - and have always walked out thinking ours is still the best for us. I have been looking for an '07 Camelot or Scepter 42PLQ for a possible upgrade, but that doesn't look like it will happen anytime real soon.

I think the only thing I wish was different on this one is I would love to have a tag axle and some more horsies under the hood. The Camelot and Scepter would answer that, and I would get two more feet.  Those two coaches have a little nicer interiors and components and such, but we are more than happy with what we have.

Love our Knight!!

 

--kev 

I agree Kevin, your floorplan is a real winner for a full-timer. 

We had a bit of a struggle adating ours to have a permanent workspace.  Derek doesn't work in the camper per say, but we both need someplace to setup out computers, radio gear etc.  Initially we commisioned a desk built to replace our J Lounge on the curb side of the coach...  That didn't go as planed.  In the end we found a full-size office desk that mostly matched our interior.  It works for us.

If Derek worked out of the camper I am not sure it would be a doable situation.  I know we would probally have to make it work, but it would be tough for him to concentrate with me around all day...

I also agree there isn't much out there I would trade my 7 year old coach in on.  We went to the tampa show last year, and saw some OK stuff, but when I look at the numbers I just can't justify it.  I woud like full-body paint, and yes a tag would be nice for the extra weight capacity.  I have mixed feelings about more HP, yes, I would love the power, but I also know with a bigger engine, my foot gets heavier, and my 8 1/2 MPG is bad enough.

Derek wants more slides, but with all the problems we have with this slide and leaks, If I could get NO slides, I would be happy.  :)

I do want to add Solar, and possible upgrade to a Prosine Inverter from our mod-sine.  Shortly we will be putting on new rubber, which is unbeliveable how much that is going to cost, but it is a lot cheaper than buying a new coach.  I can't say enough about how much easier it is to live/travel in this one than our trailer. was.

Our ultimate goal is to purchace an RV park somewhere, so I am not sure we will upgrade before that.  If we do it will have to be the right deal, at the right time. 

 

John 

 

Am I to believe we are the only two members that have motorized coaches? Or, are we the only two geeks that like to talk about them

 

kev

Only because I know we aren't the only two motorhome owners in this world, we must be the only two geeks.  :)

 

John 

Confirmed - we ARE the geeks :) I know this because I just found that Wayne is rockin the Kountry Star -

 

 

 

Nice rig. Love the Newmars.

 

kev 

Hi guys!  We do not have a MH but that is where we are headed in a couple years. We have narrowed it down to (probably) a Roadmaster chassis so that means possibly a Knight like Derek and John or maybe another Monaco, Beaver, Holiday Rambler or Safari.  Some of the floorplans are very similar. We seem to like the PDQ floorplans. LOVE the kitchen counter space with the pullouts there. I like the mid-coach TV when it doesn't get blocked by the slide but those are rare. I am so jealous of you guys already fulltiming as we want to do but soon.....soon! For now we have to live with the TT.

Welcome to the site! You are looking at some nice motorhomes with the Monaco brand. We have been extremely happy with ours - '06 Knight PLQ. As mentioned, this floorplan has the rear office, that allows me to compute in normal space. Love it.

Monaco service and warranty has been awesome. We just had our fuel tank repaired and they took good care of us. Means a  lot when your house is broken.

Glad you joined us. Hope to see you down the road!

--kevin 

Ok...so to jump in so you "geeks" don't feel too lonely here, Liam and I live (with our 2 cats) in a 1974, 21 foot Tioga built on a Dodge Sportsman chassis, no slides, no office, no bedroom even. We sleep over the cab, our "office" is the dinette (which is definitely NOT the most comfortable seating ever designed), and the catbox resides (semi-permanently) in the shower.

What we love about it:

It is completely paid for - we gave $2800 cash for it!  

Almost anything that can go/has gone wrong with it, we can fix ourselves (exceptions: replacing the black water tank, and coming over the mountains in NM & AZ, when we started having engine trouble that we couldn't ID and thought was the fuel pump, we had a shop diagnose...turned out to be clogged mufflers!!! (never heard of a muffler clogging before, only catalytic converters))

 It looks and performs a whole lot better than most rigs we've seen that were 10-15 years newer.

Things we're not too happy with:

We're still (4 years in) working to gradually reclaim it from the Brady Bunch. The dark pseudo-wood paneling got painted before we hit the road, the dark orange carpet was the next to go (replaced with light-colored vinyl tile), then we replaced all the cabinet and closet doors (and the bathroom door) that were kinda ugly and falling apart with new ones we made ourselves. Now we are in the process of getting rid of the orange-plaid curtains. Later, we will replace all of the orange-plaid cushions. (Yes, we are starving artists-can't afford to do everything at once).

The 2 cats take up the entire house! Seriously! We cannot move without sitting or stepping on a cat.

We've had to get very creative with figuring out where/how to store all our stuff in it.

 

We'll probably eventually trade up, but who knows how many years it will be before we do.