Tag Axle Bunk House / adaptions

[JayRussell]

Good afternoon. I'm a newbie gearing up for that 1st RV purchase. I have been scouring everything I can and have come to the following requirements:

- >40ft
- Tag Axle
- Kitchen behind living room
- Bunk beds or ability to convert in an asthetic way.

In doing this I have come upon the Charleston and Discovery 42a (These manufacturers should be ashamed of themselves for their lack of more family-friendly models). I am also open to the possibility of something like drop-down bunks over the dinette or something similar... Open to any and all suggestions you may have.

If any of you own these rigs, whats been your experience? Can the bunks hold a 6' tall person? Maintenance issues etc?

THANK YOU all and have a great holiday!

JR

[michelb]

I have to agree with you 100% with the lack of good offerings for families. There are so many great family floorplans in trailers (FW and BP) but almost nothing in Class As. I'd really like to see more like the older Newmar 3950 (loft) or something like the Thor Outlaw (i.e. higher roofline in the back).

With the limited space of mhs, you often have to make compromises so you'll have to come up with your own list but for me, one thing that I'd really like is a decidated sleeping area instead of 'bunks in the hallway' so that rules out most mhs with bunkbeds. Also travelling with a family, I think there's a huge benefit of having more than 1 bathroom (not a must but certainly worth a lot). IMO, if you want something straight from the manufacturer, the Discovery 42A is hands down the best choice in what's currently offered (1 1/2 baths, dedicated bunk room, etc).

If you are buying new, some manufacturers are open to customization but you'll probably have to talk to them to see what they are willing to do. I think the following would probably be suitable floorplans for my priorities:
- American Revolution 42T or American Eagle 45T (they have already made a bunk conversion in the rear closet of a Revolution 42T for at least one person (might have been a member of this forum) and IMO it looked great (basically higher end version of Discovery 42A))
- Newmar Ventena 4346, Dutch Star 4347 or Mountain Aire 4347 (I think Newmar might be one of the most flexible manufacturers as far as custom requests)
- Tiffin Allegro Bus 45LP or Tiffin Zephyr 45TZ or 45LZ (take out one sink in rear bath and move laundry there) (I have heard that Tiffin will not make significant changes like this though)
- possibly Charleston 430RB (although it would be a tiny room (just the beds) and you'd have to move the w/d and I don't think it would be worth it)
- possibly Entregra Anthem 42RBQ or Cornerston 45K (same issues as Charleston although I'd either of these)
- possibly Monaco Diplomat / Holiday Rambler Endeavor 43RFT or Monaco Dynasty (same issues as Charleston)

There are probably others but that's all I can think of offhand.

[wnytaxman]

Originally Posted by JayRussell

Good afternoon. I'm a newbie gearing up for that 1st RV purchase. I have been scouring everything I can and have come to the following requirements:

- >40ft
- Tag Axle
- Kitchen behind living room
- Bunk beds or ability to convert in an asthetic way.

In doing this I have come upon the Charleston and Discovery 42a (These manufacturers should be ashamed of themselves for their lack of more family-friendly models). I am also open to the possibility of something like drop-down bunks over the dinette or something similar... Open to any and all suggestions you may have.

If any of you own these rigs, whats been your experience? Can the bunks hold a 6' tall person? Maintenance issues etc?

THANK YOU all and have a great holiday!

JR

We have a Forest River Berkshire which is a 40' bunk model. The bunks, which I believe are the same as those in the Charleston are the largest of any of the A bunk models out there that I know of. We have traveled and comfortably camped with six in the rig with no real issues. I looked at the Charleston and my only real issue with that model is the use of two A/C units instead of three. I think on a coach that size you really need three units.

[Traps90]

I think you'll find the lack of a lot bunk bed Class A has to do with a lack of demand more than anything. The average family has a hard time spending that kind of money on a Class A for limited use in a year.

Which is why you;ll find way more options in the Travel Trailers and lower end 5'ers and Class C's

[michelb]

Originally Posted by Traps90

I think you'll find the lack of a lot bunk bed Class A has to do with a lack of demand more than anything. The average family has a hard time spending that kind of money on a Class A for limited use in a year.

Which is why you;ll find way more options in the Travel Trailers and lower end 5'ers and Class C's

There's certainly a lot less demand for bunkhouses than there are for conventional floorplans but I think there's still a significant market; after all pretty much every manufacturer offers at least one bunkhouse gasser and DP.

It would be interesting to see sales figures from bunkhouses compared to others.

[Trekkers]

I think most manufacturers realize that their high end coaches are OVERWHELMINGLY NOT family coaches. They are purchased by older retirees/executives who have "made it" and can afford the luxury. Bunks don't "fit" in that lifestyle - elegance does - and bunks may be MANY things but "elegant" isn't one of them. Gassers are more generally "family" RVs and more likely to have bunks.

[Nubulin]

An old thread rises from the dead.......

I feel your pain. I spent a ton of time looking. I thought Newmar would be the ticket, but they would do nothing to customize any of their floor plans. Very disappointing.

Michelleb turned me on to the American Revolution 42T with their "bunk special" option. American Coach has been very helpful and I am in the final steps of ordering a 2014 with bunks in the rear walk in closet. They actually have 3 different versions they have built in the past and are very open to doing special interiors.

There is also a Revolution 42K floorplan (that is now discontinued) that can be converted to bunks where the desk is. There is a 2010 for sale on rvt right now setup like this.

[ejm4]

Originally Posted by Trekkers

I think most manufacturers realize that their high end coaches are OVERWHELMINGLY NOT family coaches. They are purchased by older retirees/executives who have "made it" and can afford the luxury. Bunks don't "fit" in that lifestyle - elegance does - and bunks may be MANY things but "elegant" isn't one of them. Gassers are more generally "family" RVs and more likely to have bunks.

I think that is starting to change some, we just spent a couple days in the mountains of NC in a motorcoach only resort and it was refreshing to see two other DP occupied by younger families with kids like us.

[michelb]

I tend to agree that it doesn't appear that manufacturers are too interested in the high end DP bunk market. As mentioned above, American Coach will do custom Revolutions with bunks and I believe Newmar will do the same so you can get high end coaches with bunks but Fleetwood has abandoned the Discovery 42A so now the only 'non-custom' factory tag DP available is the Forest River Charleston 430BH.

Pretty much all manufacturers still make bunk DPs (and there seems to be more options available for short ones (e.g. Palazzo, etc)) but, from the factory, it's pretty much restricted to the lower end DP lines.

[Gary RVRoamer]

RV manufacturers design and build what their dealers are willing to order and sell. They come up with floor plan variations all the time, but they don't go into production or stay in production unless the dealers show enough interest to place orders. You won't find $300k+ bunk models on dealer lots or in the manufacturer brochures until a significant number of people start asking for them.

[Trekkers]

Originally Posted by michelb

I tend to agree that it doesn't appear that manufacturers are too interested in the high end DP bunk market. As mentioned above, American Coach will do custom Revolutions with bunks and I believe Newmar will do the same so you can get high end coaches with bunks but Fleetwood has abandoned the Discovery 42A so now the only 'non-custom' factory tag DP available is the Forest River Charleston 430BH.

Pretty much all manufacturers still make bunk DPs (and there seems to be more options available for short ones (e.g. Palazzo, etc)) but, from the factory, it's pretty much restricted to the lower end DP lines.

Unless they stop in 2014 - the discovery 40G still has a bunk option

[michelb]

Originally Posted by Trekkers

Unless they stop in 2014 - the discovery 40G still has a bunk option

Although it's kind of crazy to think of the Discovery as 'lower end', it's not very high in the pecking order at Fleetwood (below Providence and the whole American Coach line) and I knew they still made the 40G (as well as the Expedition 38B and the Bounder Classic Diesel 34B and they'll do bunks in the Revo 42T) so Fleetwood still offers a lot of bunk options but the 42A was my favorite floorplan so I'm disapointed to see it go.

[michelb]

Originally Posted by Nubulin

An old thread rises from the dead.......

I feel your pain. I spent a ton of time looking. I thought Newmar would be the ticket, but they would do nothing to customize any of their floor plans. Very disappointing.

Michelleb turned me on to the American Revolution 42T with their "bunk special" option. American Coach has been very helpful and I am in the final steps of ordering a 2014 with bunks in the rear walk in closet. They actually have 3 different versions they have built in the past and are very open to doing special interiors.

There is also a Revolution 42K floorplan (that is now discontinued) that can be converted to bunks where the desk is. There is a 2010 for sale on rvt right now setup like this.

I'd be curious to see the different options AC will do if you have pictures of it.

It's a shame Newmar won't do it, I had heard that in the past they were pretty receptive to interior changes like these.