Considering buying a Winnebago

I need some advise from the RV owners here.

My wife has informed me that she does not want to tent camp on our weekend trips to the lake next year. I have to agree with her, the tent is a PITA.
On our last trip back in October I ran into a guy while we were camping at Salt Fork Lake and he had just bought a new Fleetwood motor home. While talking to him he mentioned that he was looking to sell his old motor home so I gave him my email and asked him to send me some info. I went out and looked at it a couple weeks ago and was pretty impressed with the shape it was in. It's an 84 Winnebago Elandan 32' here are the details he sent me and some pics. What do you guys think? He's asking 5k for it. He said it should pull my boat just fine, what do you guys think? I'm still considering how I will launch the boat once at the lake... I'm thinking about maybe putting a front hitch on it, or just having my wife follow in the truck...

I know nothing about these things. Is there anywhere I should be looking for trouble? When I went to see it, it started right up and ran great. He offered to let me take it for a drive but since I have never drove one, I declined. I talked to him again last night on the phone for over an hour, he hasn't advertised it anywhere and doesn't intend to until spring comes. He swears that everything works and it drives great. Paula hasn't seen it yet, so we may go look at it together this weekend.

"454 cubic inch Chevy engine; 52,000 miles; 6.5 KV Onan generator (98 hours); Carrier 13,500 BTU roof air 5 years old; upgraded Dometic Americana 2 way refrigerator; microwave; 4 burner stove with oven; separate shower & bathroom; new windshield curtains; new awning 15 ft; bedroom awnings; electric step; 100 gallon freshwater tank; 3 holding tanks with LED level gauges; propane hot water heater with auto ingnition; Reese hitch; new tires and brakes at 48,000 miles; well maintained & very clean."

dang randy! Can I make a reservation?! Thats a big RV.

Alan, I'm glad you replied, you know you were my go to guy on the operation of my camper at GL!

I had thought about storing it near a lake, I think it would work out pretty good, especially since Paula won't drive either this or my truck with the boat or a camper behind it. Funny you mentioned the "romantic" trip to disney, we were just talking about that possibility last night. How about an autumn trip to the "Arrighi Campground"?

We looked at new pull behind trailers, almost pulled the trigger on a new 35' Keystone Sprinter with three slide outs. It was really nice, had a huge room in the back, slept 12 people comfortably... they have great deals on them right now. We even looked around for a campground to keep it at, but the more I thought about it, I think I would rather have the option to move it around easily, be able to take trips to events, and move from lake to lake and campground to campground. If we chose a campground and then didn't like the crowd that was there we would be stuck. And we really like Salt Fork, but there is only one state park campground on the lake and 14 days per month is the maximum you can stay, so we would have to stay off the lake and pull the boat back and forth. I know it's a lot smaller but when we go we spend most of our day on the water and really just need a place to sleep and keep food and beer cold. It will sleep 6, there is a pull down bunk above the front seats. Besides, I like buying vintage stuff and putting a little work into it!

Is there anything I should look at that may be a problem?

Randy take the money your going to spend on it,take the insurance,gas,storage,maintance and license money and stay at a motel- they even cleanup after you.

I think the price is high

http://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/rvs/2724949826.html

Go to NADA and see what it is worth up there.

and how many friends do you have that show up with more than a 6 pack and 10 bucks for gas?

Randy,
Check around all the windows inside and out. The Butyl Tape dries out and cracks and then leaks. It is easy to replace but time comsuming.
Check for soft spots on the roof. If it is a rubber roof, it is recommended to replace every 12 to 14 years. I had to replace my complete roof. Rubber and wood. Check the sides for delamination. You get water between the outside skin and wood inner skin. Cannot be fixed without major costs.
The rest that I can think of others have covered. We have used ours to go to 4-corners out west, GL, FL, lots of camping trips and a 4 month trip to Alaska. Would do it all over again.
Keep it covered when not in use. An ANCO cover is cheap when compared to water intrusion when no ones around to see and stop it.

jbear wrote: BTW..just got my calender..beautiful shot of your Sport.

Thanks John. I took about 800 shots to get a couple good ones I had no idea how to work the camera.

I'm taking the wife to look at it this afternoon. I'm afraid that after looking at the new trailers with all the room they offer she is going to think this is a little small and outdated but I think this is going to be a good way to get our feet wet in the RV world without making a big commitment. I figure if we can use it for a year or two and visit different campgrounds near the lakes we like to go to then maybe we can get one of the bigger trailers and keep it at campground we like.

Gary makes a great point, you probably can stay at a motel for the same cost as moving this thing around, but there are no motels anywhere near the lakes we like to visit, and with 3 kids you almost need two rooms or a suite. and then you can't cook or have a campfire and the kids can't run around...

I checked the roof out when I looked at it before, it's not a rubber over wood roof, it's aluminum and has seems that are sealed up with some type of caulking. The owner said he has replaced this caulking when it gets old and he just did it a year ago. He has used it regularly and has kept it stored indoors during the winter months. I'm going to check around all of the windows when I look at it today.

Really nice looking rig there Seth.   

is this going to be a Robin Williams saga?"
Randy, my comments were not towards not purchasing, i was just posting some of the hidden costs
there is no reason you cant pull your boat with it, I kinda miss the hillbilly Bently, was nice to buzz up there on a Friday night and get away

Randy, if you want give me a call and we can chat about it.           208-72 1-0 635

I cannot say what that motorhome will tow but I can tell you that my
MH is a 28' 93 Coachman C-Class with a 460. It is on an E350 chassis.
I have pulled my 80 SN from NC to Green Lake and to Astor FL and pull my 3800lb 24' SeaRay Laguna with twin 200hp Mercs to and from the Coast of NC every year. When pulling my 80SN over the NC mountians, I do take it out of OD but it pulls the mountians with no problems.   
As Seth mentioned, I never know the 80 SN is back there.
Now I do know that the SeaRay is back there but only because I can see it in the mirrors. Trailer has Electic brakes and I can stop the rig with no problems or effort.
I see no problem with that unit pulling your boat anywhere you want to go.

you could pull your boat with that trans and then hook it to a stump and pull that along with it, very stoudt transmission, some bolt a gear vender on the back of it to get 6 speeds, it splits the shifts because the 400 doesnt have overdrive, its predecessor is the 700r4 and then the 4l60e, which both have OD and then the 4l80e

I know this has an overhead sleeper just try to visual.

Concept art 1

Randy,
While I find it amazing that Alan can back his boat down any ramp with the Bounder, I would think the biggest PITA would be launching and retreiving with that gigantic pig... Then you also don't have another vehicle to get around when needed....

I would approach travel and boating the same way you are if I didn't have a place on a lake. In my opinion, if keeping your family's interest in boating alive and well, means the cost and headache of another motorized vehicle (and you can swing it financially), then you jump on it and never look back...

I agree though, I think this is way to big of a rig to start with. There are some really nice class C machines out there that would be way easier to deal with, park, launch boats etc...

Don't forget to leave out the welcome mat.. Best of Luck Randy..

Moj'