MaryAnne,
There's no good substitute for experience when it comes to driving any large vehicle, whether it's a pick-up with a camper behind, or a class 8 semi. The trick is in gaining that experience without injuring yourself or anyone else. While driving a large vehicle can be intimidating at first, the many advantages soon push aside the initial fears. Being able to see over the traffic directly in front of you helps you take evasive action before it's needed, for example. Doug offers good advice about a driver's training school, where you would learn skills to qualify you to drive virtually any vehicle that you would be considering, and would be a more "qualified" driver than many of those currently driving big RV's. There are many more women driving big rigs these days, and they aren't all auto-shifts, either. Again, practice is required to shift smoothly, but that truck doesn't know or care whether the operator is male or female. Good luck.
Jess

While it is not proven enough for my preferences, and I also would want more gears and a broader range from low to high, Cat also makes an automatic transmission which might be of appeal to some - the only version I would get is the heaviest, as it has 8 gears forward, and I don't think a 6 speed is enough to address the varying operational conditions one might experience. With the additional integral retarder in the transmission, combined with the Jake, one would have a great amount of braking capacity for the downgrades, so the service brakes would not be subjected to real stress and heat unless one were careless.

Hi Toterman!

I would just like to see an upfitter like MountainMaster or 2L do turn-key RV haulers using HDTs. If they could acquire a new Volvo, singled at the factory, and build a bed on it, in about the same price range as their MDTs, that would be perfect. A new Volvo can be had for about 100K. Why couldn't they add a nice bed and charge $120K like they do for the MDTs?

That would be the hot ticket for someone like me who would like a new HDT, but don't look forward to trying to spec/buy/upfit a new one myself!

Thanks Doug, that link is very helpful! You're right about not knowing enough to even be able to ask the right questions! But I know a lot more than I did 3 months ago, so I'm assuming I'll eventually know enough to at least understand the jargon.

That won't help me drive one of these vehicles, though, and I have looked into truck driving schools. I think having a CDL would be useful for anyone planning to drive any large RV. The problem is that I work full time, and I'm not sure how to find time to do that right now since there's no school nearby.

The size of a big truck doesn't intimidate me any more than the size of a big class A motorhome. I think many people have a false sense of security driving a 40 ft class A, just because it seems a little more "user friendly" than a HDT might. I have the same safety concerns with a class A, and even some of the larger class C motorhomes--controlling on the road and stopping. My only experience was with a 28 ft class C, and that thing was definitely too heavy for the brakes it had, even though I never overloaded it.

I'd like to learn more about chassis and brakes for motorhomes, too. What kinds of criteria are used for deciding what brakes go into motorhomes--just the gross weight? and are they actually tested? How do the different chassis affect handling and other kinds of safety parameters, as well as longevity?? I have to start looking into those issues also.

Well, I'm no farther along in deciding what kind of RV to get. The information gathering continues...
and as always, thanks for your help!

Take a look at the old forums at "truckcoversion.net" - there is a lot to read there, and you might as well learn from the experiences and perspectives of others. In addition, in the forum right above this one, there is a string about Warpath (Bill) building their second RV using a class 7 Freightliner. It was from 2004, and there is now a new reply in which he says had he gone with the class 8 they would probably still have that RV. A good lesson.

Research is cheap - errors you could have prevented are expensive. I suspect you will find that many, if not most, class A RVs are built for a market which is not as demanding about hard use capability; which does not travel seriously, etc. Soft suspension, ease of operation, etc, are valued more highly than I would value them, in large part because I have driven OTR and am not intimidated by a Class 8. While bigger RVs designed from scratch as such are far better than typical Class Cs, you might still find them wanting.

I am also dedicated to not having propane; to having an escape pod for social ills and pandemic illness (among my duties in my prior job were legal advisor to the Sheriff and to the Health Department); to having the ability to travel for 3-6 weeks in the summer, in addition to weekend jaunts to Glacier; room for the dogs (current range of 62-108 pounds, with the elders likely to be succeeding by a 130 pound range female of a rare Mastiff breed), and none of this silliness of falling on its face on a 6% 2 mile hill.

I am, however, the product of many years of aggression training by profession, with a foundation of it by nature. I have broken 2 exercycles because they were built for folks who are not serious about training; few are built right for that, even those used in gyms. It's a world view that is not shared by many. I make decisions, not friends.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Doug M.,