I was just kidding, but you have traveled a lot, even if not for leisure. That would be neat to do with the wife. I hope I'm able to do that down the road too. I'm only interested in seeing my own country (and parts of CA). Not really interested in going over seas at all.

 

My wife spent a lot of time with me at the job sites before she took a job 2 yrs ago. She made sure we saw as many of the sights as possible on the weekends during those times. I think there are enough things to see in the US that it will take many years to see all I want. I've seen a little of Mexico. I've been to the UK on vacation to see a friend. I spent a day and night in the city of Tokyo in the military. I spent 16 months in South Korea in the military. I've even been to Russia for a week. I would like to someday see more of Europe but I don't care to go south of our border or to the far east and definitely not to the middle east. I can do without ever seeing the pyramids in person.

 

I'd definitely never go to communist countries or ones that I'd be at substantial risk in. Most of Europe, then Japan, and some others are fine for the most part.

 

My son went to Italy a couple of years ago with his wife and another couple. It was just a weekend trip from London. They saw the leaning tower of Pisa while there. Two gangs of young boys tried to intimidate them for money. The just ignored the first group. A member of the second group came up to my son and put his hand on his chest to stop him. My son just knocked the guys hand away and kept on walking. You would think the Italian police would keep that stuff from happening if they want tourists to keep coming. My son is 6' 3" tall and about 220 lbs.
If you went to Russia by yourself without someone there to take care of you, you may not make it back. If you do, you won't have any money left.

 

That is why I was intrigued by the idea of the diesel and the purpose of the thread. If all the improvement mods were done, it should be reliable shouldn't it? The one on ebay I saw has 38k miles on it and it could be damaged already from overheating I suppose.

 

Oh yeah, Italy is interesting! At least they actually approached your family. I've heard some of their citizens are so good at pick-pocketing that anything in your rear pockets is easy pickens for em and won't last 5 minutes on the street. Good family friends went there a few years ago and came back with all kinds of anti-theft tricks haha.

For something that isn't a daily driver, and, correct me if I'm wrong, won't ever have enough miles put on it to justify the gas savings, I don't think the risks at play are worth it. If anything breaks on that diesel, it's gonna be $$$ to repair it. You can buy a LOT of gas with $4-6k it would take to bulletproof the motor. If I wasn't planning on running it well above 200k miles, I wouldn't bother with those measures.

 

Engines aside, I wouldn't buy a motorhome period. The depreciation on those are horrible and they become a burden to own as they age. Nobody will want it when you are done with it. Do your research and ponder it long and hard before you pull the trigger.

Truck with slide-in bed camper is king. You can go off-road with it to any location and you don't have to license the camper. Both units are not permanently attached and you can replace either the truck or the camper if you need to. If the truck goes down you can slider a different one under the camper.

Next, I would go with an Airstream hooked to an F-150. Airstreams are light and hold their value well, and the F-150 makes a good daily driver when you are not camping. Somebody is always looking for a used Airstream. I almost bought one last week but is was too big for my needs (too long).


But 6.0L Powerstroke > V10 any day.

 

You really hate those 6.0Ls don't you

With the bulletproof they are just as durable as the 7.3L engines and will get the same amount of miles out of them. The only thing the 7.3L has over the 6.0 is 6 bolts per cylinder. Fortunately for the 7.3L, it didn't have to contend with stringent EPA regulations. The 7.3L and 6.0L are both great diesel engines.

 

No, not really. If you read what I've said, you'd see that I think it makes absolutely no sense to spend the $4-6k fully bulletproofing a motor home that will never get 250k miles put on it. For a daily driver, a 6.0 can make sense for a lot of people, but for a motorhome, I think it makes zero sense. For the same reason that you don't like motorhomes for the depreciation suffered, bulletproofing a 6.0 that's stuck in a motorhome is throwing away money.

The 6.0, stock, is the worst diesel engine put in a consumer truck in the last 25 years. You shouldn't need to dump a bunch of cash into one the second you buy it. The only thing that offsets that is that they're cheaper than other diesels, so you can afford to bulletproof them. The 7.3 and 6.0 and completely different designs in nearly every single aspect. They have almost nothing in common. The 6.0 was poorly designed. I'm glad emissions still don't apply to diesels anywhere in TX, because if I bought a 6.7, the DPF, EGR, and DEF would all be removed the first week I had it if I was planning on keeping it for 10 years. Otherwise, I'd leave it alone and milk off the warranty and trade it in before the warranty ran up.

Also, much of the depreciation suffered on the motorhome will have resulted already, cause he's gonna be looking at used. No?

 

Removing emission controls is a federal offense. Granted, you probably won't ever get caught if Texas doesn't have inspections.
Fuel mileage and torque are the exact reasons a diesel makes sense especially in a motorhome.
There are plenty of 2000 to 2004 motorhomes with 30 to 40k miles on them on ebay for $20k and up. If things worked out I was thinking of buying one and using it for a many months trip and selling it to recoup most of my money. Probably won't ever do it but it's a possibility. I owned and towed a 25' TT before and I don't like towing something that big. And an Airstream TT which would be nice would cost as much as a used motorhome. In order to tow a TT safely with my truck, I'd need to spend $4k on larger brakes and the necessary larger wheel upgrades so the larger rotors would fit. I'd also be wishing for a $2k gear change to 4.10s or a new truck. The brakes just plain suck on the older Ford F150s and everything Ford sold I think up until that time. Perhaps the newer vehicles have adequate brakes. I surely hope so.

From a financial standpoint, toys such as motorhomes, tts, motorcycles, and boats are never good investments. But, you need to enjoy yourself as much as you can afford. I have a cheap 1985 Kawasaki ZN700 motorcycle that I bought 4 yrs ago that had only 1k miles on it. It runs great! I also have a 1998 18' Boston Whaler split console boat with a 150hp Yamaha that has served me well so far. And I have a hot rod 2005 Dodge Magnum Hemi. So, what am I missing? A Motorhome!!! Ha! I never knew how to manage my money!

 

Why not look for an older one with a 7.3? The only issue with those is the 4R100 - the 5R110 is a stronger tranny.

 

I've been looking for a class c about 25' long. Diesels are rare in those. A 2005 popped up on ebay and I was thinking, just thinking right now. If I do get a mh, it will probably be a V10 for around $20k. It's a big if! Ha!

Thanks for the input from everybody!

I learned that all of the E series got the 2V V10 and the 3V V10 in other vehicles didn't get VCT.