Badlands vs. Heritage Limited for oversand (ground clearance? water fording?)

[Andi C]

Congrats, was starting to think you weren't going to go through with it, enjoy your Buttercup.

RSH thank you!

Sponsored

 

[CLR]

On the Highway you can also engage the 360+ and it will do most of the steering for you! You still need to keep your hands on the wheel, but only a very light grip is needed to tell the system that you are still paying attention. Combined with the adaptive cruise, it makes highway driving much less stressful.

 

[sajohnson]

On the Highway you can also engage the 360+ and it will do most of the steering for you! You still need to keep your hands on the wheel, but only a very light grip is needed to tell the system that you are still paying attention. Combined with the adaptive cruise, it makes highway driving much less stressful.

Good point!

We don't have any of the optional eee-lectronics on ours, but we definitely would if either of us drove in rush hour.

I like the idea of adaptive cruise in heavy traffic.

 

[sajohnson]

Oh wow, maybe that's what it is! My RAV was a 2007.

But I also recently rented a new RAV for a short trip and it steered pretty easily from what I remember.

I think I just need to get used to the BS steering. I get the sense that once you have turned/adjusted the steering wheel you can kind of relax your hands. That's how I drove the rest of the way on the trip and it ended up being fine.

Strong winds in an RV... sounds like a real white-knuckle experience! I've driven all kinds of weather including black ice, downpours, storm cell... no fun ?

My aunt (also 92, identical twin to mom) was driving in that snow storm in Buffalo last winter -- whiteout conditions. She bashed her brand new Subaru up on the guard rail, but she was okay. A sheriff guided her to a hotel where there was no power and the guests all shivered together in the lobby under blankets. She was lucky though.

I've always dreamed of RV life, go where the wind blows and experience the country at a slow pace. So appealing.

I'm glad to hear your aunt is OK (and cool that she and your mom are twins!). Stories like that do not always end well. There was a snow-related backup on I-95 south of D.C. a couple years ago. Some people were stuck for 24 hours or more! At least one guy figured he'd walk home since it was just a couple miles. He ended up getting lost and froze to death -- and he was young and it was not that cold.

It's hard to say about the steering. In general (from what I've read) the steering on most vehicles requires a bit more effort and gives more feedback than decades ago, but I imagine there are some -- like say the Lincoln Town Car (just guessing) -- that may still have that 1960s power steering feel.

I could write a book about RVing, but since it's off-topic I'll try to keep it relatively short:

It definitely can be lots of fun. Some of the positives are:
* Always having your own bed, bathroom, and kitchen.
* Not having to deal with hotels -- reservations, check-out time, "cleanliness" issues, cost.
* Having several options for where to spend the night (usually).
* "Boondocking" -- staying on BLM and FS land (free, no/few humans).
* Having your own space when visiting family and friends.

Initially, when we bought the View used in 2012, we were taking 2 long trips every year (spring and fall). The "Crown Jewel" national parks were all but deserted. I have photos of our RV in ginormous parking lots at many of the most popular parks and there are few, if any, other vehicles in the lot. We put about 80,000 miles on it by the fall of 2019. Made 3-4 trips to the CA coast to visit a friend. Saw most of the famous parks, many more than once.

Then things changed. Even before COVID the parks started to become really crowded. After COVID -- it was (and is) insane. Non-refundable fees to enter "lotteries" for a chance to get entrance passes that you may not win. If you do manage to get a pass ($30-$35+) you are required to enter on a specific day, during a ONE (1) hour time window! Needless to say, it will be jam-packed with people.

So that's a bummer, but of course there are plenty of other places to go -- lesser known national parks, state parks (some are no problem, others require reservations months in advance), beaches, and just enjoying the scenery on back roads.

There are still some businesses that allow free overnight RV parking, but the number has been decreasing because of a) local RV campgrounds lobbying for regulations against it, b) people abusing the privilege (staying for days on end, littering, etc.), and c) cities and towns cracking down if things get out of hand. I think all Cracker Barrel restaurants still allow overnight parking, but Walmart has cut way back.

Obviously parks are better, but: there is not always a park with an RV campground nearby; they have gotten really expensive (in some states); if you are just going to park for 8-10 hours and move on a park does not make as much sense.

Also, there are groups -- of (say) wineries and private individuals -- that allow RVers to stay overnight. But it can sometimes be difficult to find a decent place to stay -- particularly here in the east. Out west things are more relaxed.

We've done some suspension mods since we almost got blown over onto the passenger side! It's better now, but there is a limit to what you can do with a huge tall box on a narrow Sprinter chassis. The coach isn't that big (as far as RVs go) but it's pushing it for being built on a Sprinter. The Ford chassis are significantly wider. The Sprinter's power is limited too, but it does alright. 6% grades slow it down to about 50+ mph.

I'll cut it off here.

 

[Wolf256]

Interesting! Yeah I can already tell the difference with the tires. They seem awesome, did not know what I was missing.

The car sort of named itself, sometimes it happens like that. Usually my cars have no name. I had a VW Golf in college named "The Blue Pearl," but that was a long time ago.

Anyway, yup, it's Buttercup.

Anyone got a problem with it...

Thought you might name her Willy, but ?‍

 

[Andi C]

On the Highway you can also engage the 360+ and it will do most of the steering for you! You still need to keep your hands on the wheel, but only a very light grip is needed to tell the system that you are still paying attention. Combined with the adaptive cruise, it makes highway driving much less stressful.

Right -- good point, thanks! I hadn't tried that yet, didn't have time to figure out how to engage it. Hadn't gotten that far in the manual, lol. I'll try it next time and report back.

I did figure out the adaptive cruise and loved it -- really intuitive and made driving easy.

 

[Andi C]

Here she is again, in her city home and off-the-grid sand dune home.
Perfectly suited to both. Couldn't be happier. ????

 

[Tigger]

Welcome to the Yellowstone Heritage Limited Edition Club or better known as the CKC (cool kids club)

But seriously, it’s fun to see you so happy with your choice and happy for mum too.

 

[Andi C]

Welcome to the Yellowstone Heritage Limited Edition Club or better known as the CKC (cool kids club)

But seriously, it’s fun to see you so happy with your choice and happy for mum too.

Well.... As Groucho Marx said, I wouldn't want to belong to any club that would have me as a member! ?

Your posts and the pix of your Yellowstone helped seal the deal for sure. Ford really should send you a commission...

Enjoy that sweet ride of yours! ?

 

[Jrl]

Here she is again, in her city home and off-the-grid sand dune home.
Perfectly suited to both. Couldn't be happier. ????

Put some Goodyear workhorse 235/70/17 and increase ground clearance over a 1/14 no lift . I have had on my First Edition for a few months now , super happy and the ride is much better and a lot taller.