2008 Ford F550

[Bird]

in the first picture it looks like he's pulling a van

Nope, the van's not attached; that's mine parked behind him. That's at the entrance to a Corps of Engineers campground in Hickory Creek, TX, on Lake Lewisville; about 4 miles south of my house.

 

[jinman]

And he made a picnic table this winter while down south that he's taking north with him.

Gotta love that "observation deck" seating.

 

[Bird]

Jim, a few things are not shown in the picture. That front bumper/grill guard has a hitch receiver in the middle of it. He has an electric Harbor Freight winch that fits right into it, then a piece of angle iron with two pulleys that sit on the front of that top deck and he has some 2 x 12 ramps, and that's how he pulled that picnic table up there by himself.

And here's a picture of the last truck he rigged for pulling his fifth-wheel. It's a 1991 Ford, 460 gas V-8, 5 speed manual, and the picture was taken when we were parked on the beach at Prudhoe Bay, AK. You can see the tool boxes under the bed, and on the other side was a box that contained a generator (his current fifth-wheel has the generator in the trailer). And those are barrels of gasoline we had on the back because we sure didn't want to pay Prudhoe Bay or Cold Foot prices for gasoline on that trip. We just siphoned gas from the barrels down to the truck's fuel tank when needed.

 

[EddieWalker]

Bird,

I think your brother is part gypsy!!! LOL

I love the way he created ways to haul everything around and be able to change locations twice a year. I remember you saying that he works as a mechanic at an RV Park near Waco, does he do the same thing when he goes to Washington?

I'm very dissapointed in his mileage when empty and have now given up any desire to buy a diesel truck. For what you pay at the pump and for the lousy mileage, it's become too expensive without any return in my situation.

Eddie

 

[Bird]

Eddie, the brother who owns this truck and trailer is my youngest brother and he and his wife go to Washington state for the summer. He used to be an RV salesman for a dealer in Oklahoma and later in north Texas, and then he was one of the first RV technicians or mechanics for Camping World when they went from accessory installation only to full service repairs, also.

Of course, they go to Ellensburg, WA, because that's where his son, daughter-in-law, and two grandkids live. And his wife has family there, too, since she was born and raised there.

Our other brother (13 months difference in their ages) is the one who still works as an RV service technician. He lives in a motorhome, has never been married, and never moves his motorhome anymore; just stays in Elm Mott year round. I guess you might say he's semi-retired; still in the RV service business, but I think he spends more time golfing and fishing than working now. And the younger brother helps him with some jobs during the winter when they're living in the same RV park.

And I think you're right about diesel pickups now. They are definitely better for towing heavy loads, but I'm afraid their other advantagesm such as longer life, are pretty well negated by the higher initial cost, higher cost of diesel, and low fuel mileage. But of course, I don't know just what kind of mileage the Ford diesel pickups are getting because my brother's truck is an F550 with 4.88 differential.

 

[JB4310]

And I think you're right about diesel pickups now. They are definitely better for towing heavy loads, but I'm afraid their other advantagesm such as longer life, are pretty well negated by the higher initial cost, higher cost of diesel, and low fuel mileage. But of course, I don't know just what kind of mileage the Ford diesel pickups are getting because my brother's truck is an F550 with 4.88 differential.

There's a gentleman in my town whom I recently met, He was an independent over the road trucker (18 wheelers) all his life, told me he did his own over hauls on his Cummins right in his own shop. Saw he had a fairly large RV so I just assumed it would be diesel, he said "nope, not worth it" he said he would never recoup the extra cost of that diesel engine option package, which I think he said was close to $20,000.
He got his RV about 4 years ago when diesel was only $2.00 a gallon, with $4.50 diesel prices he'd of ran out of that dealer with one hand over his butt.

 

[Bird]

Yep, John, I've driven a diesel pusher motorhome with air brakes and loved the way it drove and handled, but I owned an even bigger (40 foot) gasoline powered motorhome. The difference in the purchase price and the fuel price just is too much.