Is a 40 foot MH too big?

[bord1niowa]

I am a pop up camper and have come across a 1987 40 foot Georgie Boy Motor Home. It is in good condition, low miles and everything works great. The price is only $5,000. Seems reasonable to me but my question is...is that too long for most campgrounds to accommodate it? Are there any other concerns I should have before I take the plunge?

 

[2goofycampers]

I think once you get the hang of it most places will work out fine. Some of the older & Gov't Parks may be a bit tight tho.
Great price.

 

[Shannone1]

I am a pop up camper and have come across a 1987 40 foot Georgie Boy Motor Home. It is in good condition, low miles and everything works great. The price is only $5,000. Seems reasonable to me but my question is...is that too long for most campgrounds to accommodate it? Are there any other concerns I should have before I take the plunge?

If you want to camp in the boondocks or state parks it might be tight. I think '87 was before "slide outs" so you'll be fine width wise. Otherwise most bigger campgrounds have big rig sides now. When you make your reservations they will ask you about your coach and make sure they put you on a site that will accommodate you.

$5000 is a really good price. I don't know much about engines or operating systems so I would probably have someone look it over for me just to make sure everything was in working order.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

Make sure you do some research before buying a unit like this. No matter how few miles it has on it you are still talking about a 22 year old vehicle. There are parts availability issues with a truck that old as well as a whole host of other items that may "look" okay but not be roadworthy. Tires, brakes and all the drivetrain pieces will cost you more than a smaller truck, its not unheard of for a brake job to be well over $2000 for a truck this size. Personally, unless you have the time and money to make sure its roadworthy and keep it that way I would avoid it. There are plenty of people that enjoy older units similar to that but mostly they are familiar with them and know how to repair them. This also leaves out the issue of the RV itself and the other systems such as furnace, fridge etc.

If you get serious about the purchase I would have a mechanic familiar with whatever chassis it has look it over. Take it to a shop that services larger vehicles such as a large GMC truck medium and heavy duty dealer.

IMHO there is a huge potential for this to become a money pit.

 

[John VN]

I just went on NADA and the info does not mention a 40' in 1987. Largest was around 36'. I would be concerned about rear overhang and also being overweight for the chassis. If it is a 40', it should be a diesel but again all that was listed was gas engines. The $5000 price is fair considering all that could be in need of replacement. Have it looked at by a mechanic and take it for a GOOD test drive. Should be around 5mpg. Low mileage is not always a good thing. Problems with cooling system and other mechanicals means you should have a nice $$$$$ safety net for repairs.

 

[des1954]

I agree with Scott. Georgie Boy doesn't have the best reputation, either. If it's not a diesel...back away. 40' gasser's are no good - not enough engine power. Also - a lot of State & Federal parks have a 36' limit.

FWIW - We've had a 45' Travel Supreme bus and a 40' Winnie - and while I loved the extra room, they do not bend in the middle when turning. We now own a 32' Itasca Meridian and simply love it. Easy to handle and size-wise, comfortable enough for our needs.

At the price they are offering it for, I would question how much work needs to be done. Low mileage on a MH means it's been sitting too long & that can create more problems then if someone drove it a lot.

Be wary about this.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

Someone was asking questions a while back about the purchase of an older class "C" motorhome. The issue came up of the tires being 16.5" diameter, the problem now is that 16.5 are rare and have not been used on new trucks for quite a while. Availability was limited and the price reflected that. It was something to think about when on the road, a more common size tire would be much easier to find in an emergency. While most issues are not insurmountable they do add to the overall time it takes to care and maintain the chassis.

 

[Shan-man]

As has been mentioned above, if you buy an older rig go into it with your eyes wide open. We bought a 1984 Fleetwood Southwind in 2003 for $5,400. In the past 5 years we have put another $5-6,000 into it, even though it seemed in good condition when bought. When bought, the tires 'looked' brand new, hardly any tread wear. Within the first 200 miles we had a blowout... dry-rot. Seven new tires @$1500! We have replaced fuel pumps (it has 2), the radiator (custom rebuild $$$), transmission, differential and have lost dash AC (too expensive to replace). So far the coach side of the equation has been less troublesome - we replaced the water heater and have deleted the gas furnace (again, too expensive to replace when portable electric heaters are so cheap). We would have spent much more if I were not the handy type and instead paid for the repairs I did (new roof, plumbing repairs, electrical modifications/repairs, and interior cosmetic upgrades). We love traveling with our motorhome and we cannot afford to drop $30,000 for a more reliable rig right now, so we deal with the issues as they arise. We always plan extra days into our trips in case of breakdowns and breathe a sigh of relief when we arrive at our destinations. If these are conditions you can live with, then a rig like this might be a good segue into the motorhoming lifestyle. It has been for us, despite the stress and cash-letting!

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

As has been mentioned above, if you buy an older rig go into it with your eyes wide open. We bought a 1984 Fleetwood Southwind in 2003 for $5,400. In the past 5 years we have put another $5-6,000 into it, even though it seemed in good condition when bought. When bought, the tires 'looked' brand new, hardly any tread wear. Within the first 200 miles we had a blowout... dry-rot. Seven new tires @$1500! We have replaced fuel pumps (it has 2), the radiator (custom rebuild $$$), transmission, differential and have lost dash AC (too expensive to replace). So far the coach side of the equation has been less troublesome - we replaced the water heater and have deleted the gas furnace (again, too expensive to replace when portable electric heaters are so cheap). We would have spent much more if I were not the handy type and instead paid for the repairs I did (new roof, plumbing repairs, electrical modifications/repairs, and interior cosmetic upgrades). We love traveling with our motorhome and we cannot afford to drop $30,000 for a more reliable rig right now, so we deal with the issues as they arise. We always plan extra days into our trips in case of breakdowns and breathe a sigh of relief when we arrive at our destinations. If these are conditions you can live with, then a rig like this might be a good segue into the motorhoming lifestyle. It has been for us, despite the stress and cash-letting!

I loveit when someone illustrates the point I was trying to make.

 

[John VN]

As has been mentioned above, if you buy an older rig go into it with your eyes wide open. We bought a 1984 Fleetwood Southwind in 2003 for $5,400. In the past 5 years we have put another $5-6,000 into it, even though it seemed in good condition when bought. When bought, the tires 'looked' brand new, hardly any tread wear. Within the first 200 miles we had a blowout... dry-rot. Seven new tires @$1500! We have replaced fuel pumps (it has 2), the radiator (custom rebuild $$$), transmission, differential and have lost dash AC (too expensive to replace). So far the coach side of the equation has been less troublesome - we replaced the water heater and have deleted the gas furnace (again, too expensive to replace when portable electric heaters are so cheap). We would have spent much more if I were not the handy type and instead paid for the repairs I did (new roof, plumbing repairs, electrical modifications/repairs, and interior cosmetic upgrades). We love traveling with our motorhome and we cannot afford to drop $30,000 for a more reliable rig right now, so we deal with the issues as they arise. We always plan extra days into our trips in case of breakdowns and breathe a sigh of relief when we arrive at our destinations. If these are conditions you can live with, then a rig like this might be a good segue into the motorhoming lifestyle. It has been for us, despite the stress and cash-letting!

The paint job sure does make the PA look younger than an '84. BTW, I could be very wrong but it looks as though the awning is not dipped on one end. Level awnings do not hold up to rain too well.

Tires have a date code for manufacturing and the rule of thumb is that a RV tire has a life of 5 to 7 years no matter how much tread is on it. Also, as far as the generator, another rule of thumb is 1 to 2 hours of operation per month on the hour meter to keep the gen. in good shape. Low hours on a hour meter is not a good thing.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

The paint job sure does make the PA look younger than an '84. BTW, I could be very wrong but it looks as though the awning is not dipped on one end. Level awnings do not hold up to rain too well.

Tires have a date code for manufacturing and the rule of thumb is that a RV tire has a life of 5 to 7 years no matter how much tread is on it. Also, as far as the generator, another rule of thumb is 1 to 2 hours of operation per month on the hour meter to keep the gen. in good shape. Low hours on a hour meter is not a good thing.

The tires on the chassis would not be considered "RV" tires even though the rig is considered one. For the purposes of inspection and replacement guidelines, the Michelin website has excellent information, properly maintained, that size truck tire will last well over 5 years.

Scott

 

[Shan-man]

Thanks for the compliments regarding the paint, it is actually about a 10 year old repaint (two owners ago did it). I think it looks pretty nice for its age... DW thinks it looks like a bread truck!!! As far as the tires, I have learned a lot in the last 5 years and one thing I learned is not to buy premium tires. My first set bought after purchase were premium Goodyear RV-specific tires, and of the 7 I think I still have 2! There is no way I'll wear out the tread before the age catches up to them or a hazard ruins them. This rig is small enough to use light truck tires, which are even available at Wal*mart (though I do get a slightly higher quality tire than that). We have had lots of tire troubles, some unavoidable road hazards, and some due to bad service techs failing to reattach the valve extenders to the clips causing the extender to wear out the sidewalls! This has happened twice. I have also had problems when mismatching tires on the duallys: exact same specs, exact same inflation pressures, but one bulges enough to rub against the other under load--again, wearing out the sidewalls. So, my policy is to buy relatively cheap, matched tires and keep them properly inflated and to frequently check the valve extenders--lessons learned the hard way!

 

[Shan-man]

Oh, about the awning. It is not dipped at one end, and though I know it's a crusade of yours John, I don't dip! I prefer to not lock my back awning arm, which allows the back to fold in under a rain load, producing a trough for the rain to flow out. I like the 'level' look, and need the head height (I'm 6' 2") and find it works well. High winds can play havoc with this setup, but it can for any extended awning.

Thanks for the concern

 

[Live4FW]

I don't dip! I prefer to not lock my back awning arm, which allows the back to fold in under a rain load, producing a trough for the rain to flow out.

That is the first time I have heard of that method. I have been a dipper but even so, we had an unexpected fast and heavy rain and now I have a small bend in my awning tube. I also think the fabric may have stretched out so now it easily puddles.

How does work, it seems like it may be a solution for me until and possibly after I get ours fixed (I am in no hurry $$$)

 

[DisneyBishops]

Buying an older MH is no problem, if you are mechanically inclined. Just be prepared to have a few problems. Heck even the new ones have their problems. I have a 94 Bounder that we love. It has been a challenge at times but I love solving a problem so I just keep at it until it is fixed. Again like was said earlier low mileage on an older MH is not good. It means it has been sitting way to much. This is the worst thing that happens to MH's. You have to drive them at least once per month and get the tires hot so they will last longer. But me I will take an older one as I love to work on them and they are alot cheaper than a new one. If you buy, buy with eyes open and expect some problems. They are just like cars, if you don't maintain them then you will have problems. But buy one and enjoy the heck out of it. It is much better camping in a MH than a pop-up.

 

[wrongagain]

It may seem too big, but...
A 40 ft motorhome is not too big.
You will run out of room real quick.

 

[dalepool]

I count Motor home with boats. We have had one since 1988-- 28 foot Pace arrow. We decided to add 5 more feet and went to a 93 Pace arrow---Not gonna say how much we spent on the 5" But it was a lot---. We did buy both new off lot. Traded in the 88 for the 93. We have our RV serviced every 6 months so for last 2 years as I am anable to travel via Motorhome --- I do home dialysis and the supplies would be to heavey and way to many boxes we are selling ---Husband has ALS (Lou Gherigs). We are a pair to draw to to LOL.

Oh where was I going with this this reply --- I guess to say for 5k and maybe 5k more should it happen you can make some of the best memories ever. I would not trade the years we traveled all summer -- near and far trips. I loved staying in the RV at WDW so much I would love to rent one of the See the USA ones and do it again. We also had some of the best trips within 100 miles of home. If 5k will not hurt you to bad -- prices are down with gas the price it is ---but that should lead to some very good MH deals.

Good Luck -- deciding what you want to do -- Best advice I can give you is take to a RV repair shop and have them look it over giving estaimate is anything needs or is going to need repair. Then as the RV repair shops are mainly jsut that next take it to a garage and have a machanic look at the engine.

Patty

 

[FWCamper]

We worked our way up to a 40ft. RV and have never had a problem with campsites. The only problem with the size is that any state park I've looked into it was too big to camp. When making a camping reservation they always ask the size, they may only have a handful of sites for 40ft or larger rigs that might already be booked. But we have no issue with dry docking in an over flow field if the campground doesn't have a space available. If I make my ressie far enough in advance then I am fine.

 

[g8trmom1]

We traded our 2000 35 foot Georgie Boy last year. We had it for a year. Everything was starting to go on it, and it wasn't even that old. It looked to be in great shape when we bought it. It had low miles also. I would caution you to buying this unit. A motorhome with low miles isn't a bargain, cause it was sitting most of the time.

 

[ColleenFL]

40 foot is not to big you will just have to get use to backing it into tight spots. We have a 39 foot DP with 4 slides and an awning we got it down the backing in tight spaces. You won't have to worry about the width since you don't have slides. Last summer we went 6000 miles on a trip out west and we had no problems anywhere.
I would check it out real good according to what everyone is saying about the age of your Georgie Boy that they did not make one that big back then.

Good Luck let us know how you made out.