I am thinking about buying a light weight trailer camper to house my family of 8 for living in so we can travel around the states, approx 30-35 ft. The ones I have seen range from 8000-10000 lb dry. I am wondering what would be better- a v10 or a powerstroke- probably would be 7.3 L for the model years I could afford. The v10 would be cheaper option, and we would probably drive somewhere then park for at least 2 months, so gas mileage is not as big a deal. Can the v10 handle this load? Or should I definitely go with the diesel?

I am also interested in looking at small buses, probably with 350 or 450 chassis. Anyone have any experience with using a small schoolbus or shuttle bus as a tow vehicle? I figure that the dually rear and heavier duty frame would handle the load better than a typical 15 passenger, be more stable, but possibly be a bit more taxing on the engine.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. <!-- / message --><!-- BEGIN TEMPLATE: ad_showthread_firstpost_sig --><!-- END TEMPLATE: ad_showthread_firstpost_sig -->

 

One big problem with the bus/ mini or van chassis is that you still have to tow a vehicle to drive once you get to where you stay for one-2 weeks at a time. Once you set the trailer/live-in vehicle set up in a campground, it sucks to have to then drive it to a resort or wherever you want to go for a day....or even to get a quart of milk.

The V10 might tow what you are looking for but the diesel will pull it and save $ in fuel. Once you get to 35', you may be looking at a 450...and diesel for sure.