The Class A industry must evolve for the handicapped...

[Bad Bolt]

Originally Posted by OutAround

I know my comments are likely to be viewed negatively but why should an entire industry change for a specialized need?

The auto industry, housing industry ect, doesn't do this for handicapped people. The solution is as the original poster has done and that is to retrofit an existing design to their specifications. Same with autos and vans for handicap transport.

I have no prejudice against handicap persons. However, aside from pubic buildings and institutions which I agree must be assessable, it is not realistic or fair to expect an industry to spend enormous money and resources for the benefit of a small minority of people.

Just my humble opinion.

Never said an entire industry had to change. Only think that they could do a better job and standardizing the entry for the RV. As I said, it's only a matter of inches. Is this really so difficult? Just some thought and time put into the entry space.

It is realistic for an industry to think a little harder about a group of customers they could add to their fold. It's done all the time.

You seem to imply that an industry's time and expense to accomodate comes with no return on the investment, much like government and the requirements of the ADA.

My point is that, this is not a forced mandate that comes with great expense and nothing much in return.

My point is their focused time and investment concerning the entry of a coach would pay off in spades. Especially where multiple slideouts just about eliminate any modification for a lift system. A lift in a slide out does not seem a very practical approach. The enrty way is the key.

[Pirate]

I am on my second lowered floor mini-van, both from Vantage Mobility and not Braun, and on my second Class A with a wheelchair lift. The first RV was off the shelf. I had to rip out the rear bed, have a hole cut in the back bedroom, and have a lift put in. The shower and toilet issues were never ending. The hard part for this was the choke point between the front and back, which was around 26". The wheelchair was 24", which is small for most folks. The other issue was the slide out/aisle. When the slide was in, the wheelchair could not move front to rear/vice versa. To use the toilet, we had to put out the slide at least 4" each time. My second used Class A was a Four Winds Windsport, factory built for handicap access. It has a UVL, wide aisle, and roll-in shower. It is almost identical to the new Canyon Star model except I paid 70K for mine on a 2006 Ford and now Newmar wants almost 200K. Everything is almost identical. I have mixed feelings about the UVL. I like that you don't see it inside. I don't like that I have to be on a almost perfectly level spot. If not, the lift reaches it's lowest point and then there is a drop-off. This has caused me more problems than I can count when camping. After owing both types of platform lifts, I am thinking that maybe the J-lift is the most practical for motorhomes.
This does not solve other issues though. Is the aisle wide enough? Is the slide out level? Is the person mobile at all? Can they get into a small bathroom to use the toilet?
IMO, the Winnebago mods are ok but I do not like how they do bathrooms. They tend to just vinyl the entire area and make it a large shower, over the toilet and everything.
The nicest mod IMO is the Canyon Star. If you can afford it, I say go for it. If you need to mod your existing RV, I say give it a try. Some can make it work and some can't. There is no way at all to make a generic coach as all the handicap issues are different.

[wanderso]

With complete respect to all, I suggest that folks hop a city bus sometime. All I ride are diesel pushers. Seems odd that RV DP manufacturers say they can't do something that EVERY city bus already does. The design is already available for their viewing. I ride one daily and 2-3 times per week folks in chairs need to get on. Some of the busses kneel (air suspension) while some do not. Some deploy ramps (the ramp is actually part of the floor and flops over onto the street to let the passenger board). Some have a lower entry height to start with. Some deploy a lift that is part of the step mechanism I step on every time I ride.

Having the entry be wider where practical makes a lot of sense. When we built a home addition recently, I installed 36 inch doorways rather than 32" in the event that wheelchair access would be necessary at some point in he future on our single level home.

Great discussion!

[Dog Folks]

Originally Posted by OutAround

I know my comments are likely to be viewed negatively but why should an entire industry change for a specialized need?

The auto industry, housing industry ect, doesn't do this for handicapped people. The solution is as the original poster has done and that is to retrofit an existing design to their specifications. Same with autos and vans for handicap transport.

I have no prejudice against handicap persons. However, aside from pubic buildings and institutions which I agree must be assessable, it is not realistic or fair to expect an industry to spend enormous money and resources for the benefit of a small minority of people.

Just my humble opinion.

I agree and I am handicapped. (thankfully I am still semi-mobile for very short distances)

The title of this post was "The Class A industry must evolve..." The industry MUST not do anything.

As a profit making business entity, when there is profit and enough demand, the industry will respond. Right now, the demand is too low to make any large scale changes.

The solutions here are good ones, but any any changes mentioned, although appearing inexpensive, are not inexpensive or easy on a manufacturing level.