Chevy 6.0L

[Brute 23]

No doubt. That 8.1L is a beast but you want to talk about burning fuel. Great motor that will last a long time. They were heavy as diesel on the front end too. Not some thing you want to go through the peanut patch in. Good buddy of mine had one and it pulled like a freight train on the road but acted like a lawn dart in the pasture. :D

 

[John SD]

No doubt. That 8.1L is a beast but you want to talk about burning fuel. Great motor that will last a long time. They were heavy as diesel on the front end too. Not some thing you want to go through the peanut patch in. Good buddy of mine had one and it pulled like a freight train on the road but acted like a lawn dart in the pasture. :D

That's the beauty of being what I call "gainfully unemployed". ;-) I don't absolutely have to be anywhere, or get there in mud or snow. I now have the luxury to pick and choose when I want to go, or to stay put. :nod:

The 2wd pickup I have now is strictly a fair weather machine. It has locking rear diff and in the past has got through stuff amazingly well. Used to put chains on and did almost as well as a 4x4. Done my share of it and don't want to mess with any of that now.

A good roadworthy 2wd pickup also gives me another option if I so choose. The adventures of the NAT snowbirds and the pictures they post kinda intrigues me. 8)

I could load up my 4 wheeler, get a little pull type camper, and head down to AZ for a month or so in the middle of the winter. Not saying I'm gonna do it, but I might. ;-)

 

[Brute 23]

:D Got it. I hope to be in your shoes one day.

 

[John SD]

:D Got it. I hope to be in your shoes one day.

Careful what you wish for. I'm not complaining, but if my health allowed me to keep actively ranching that's what I'd still be doing. Cold weather just about kills me nowdays and dragging this oxygen hose everywhere doesn't help.

Travel is a PIA. I wouldn't even be allowed to fly on an airplane with my current O2 setup. I'd have to have a portable concentrator, which opens up a whole 'nuther can of worms because insurance will only pay for one system.

I talked to a guy in a restaurant last year who bought and paid for his own portable concentrator for $5K so he could fly on a plane. The portable would be handy for ground travel too as it can run off 12V, AC, or its own rechargable battery pack.

I figure if I got a camper I'd have my own place to leave all my medical equipment set up in one location with a generator or access to electricity for it. As it is now, when I travel I stay at a motel. Get a handicapped room if available so I can park right outside the door and pack my stuff in.

Motels come in all kinds of variety as far as electrical goes. Some are especially poor IMO as all the lighting in the room is plugged into the few available electrical outlets :devil2:

Whereever I go, I need to be able to plug in my O2 concentrator, bottle filler attachment, and my CPAP machine. I keep all of them running all night so I have charged up bottles in the morning ready to go again. 8 hours is about my limit for travel because it will take close to 16 hours to refill the bottles.

I always carry an outlet strip and 3 prong adapter to make the motel room work best for me. Then in the morning, pack all this stuff back out to the car and take off down the road again.

 

[Brute 23]

Im sorry to hear that.

Some thing to consider about a camper is all the work of rigging up and down. Don't want to be a downer but I had an uncle who spent around $80K for a nice camper and on his 3rd trip in some thin air could barley get it packed up because of health issues. He will still travel with his kids so he knows he has help but it cut back on his travel significantly.

A drivable motor home might be an option? They appear to be a little easier to handle.

Not real sure. Just throwing some ideas out there. :tiphat:

 

[John SD]

Im sorry to hear that.

Some thing to consider about a camper is all the work of rigging up and down. Don't want to be a downer but I had an uncle who spent around $80K for a nice camper and on his 3rd trip in some thin air could barley get it packed up because of health issues. He will still travel with his kids so he knows he has help but it cut back on his travel significantly.

A drivable motor home might be an option? They appear to be a little easier to handle.

Not real sure. Just throwing some ideas out there. :tiphat:

I don't see that a modest size travel trailer would be any more difficult to handle than a bumper pull stock trailer. Especially considering I would then need to tow a runaround vehicle behind the motorhome anyway.

Seems to me a pull type camper would be easier in that regard. Just get where I'm going, unhook the pickup, and park the trailer for the duration.

Plus all other things being equal, a pull type camper would cost much less to purchase than a self propelled motorhome, along with no extra drive train to maintain. Motorhome is pretty much a single use vehicle. A pickup is useful year round.

I'm just thinking out loud here, and I do apoligize to the OP for the thread hijack. :oops: :oops:

 

[Brute 23]

A lot of places rent both. Might try it a couple times before you buy.

 

[hillbilly beef man]

You can make a camper as hard or as easy to set up as you want. It all depends on how much junk you drag out and set up. It takes me and my wife about 20 min to set up or tear down, but we do not set out much junk. Utilities hooked up, rug and awing out, and a couple of chairs and we are good to go. If my inlaws go it is a 4hr ordeal, but his campsite looks like a band of gypsies set up a yard sale with enough lights set out to land a 747.