I arrived in the RV mecca - Elkhard IN. June 17 My goodness, all the RV makers that you read about in one small area here - WOW.
I went from a Tent, to a Class C, then a Truck camper, another class C, last one was a Class A, and today I'm the proud owner of a Class B...or B+ however you want to classify it.
I flew into Southbend Indiana then picked up a 2014 Phoenix Cruiser. I topped counting the number of so tiler haulers leaving with new trailers from all the various manufactures in the area.
For years here on this site I kept hearing happy owners say - GET A PHOENIX CRUISER. Last month I saw the 2400 model and knew that was it.
After being fed up with Sprinters and their diesel engines and service, I went with the gold standard Ford V10.
The 2400 has a slide and no permanent bed, with rear entry and kitchen and toiled/shower in the back. HUGE bathroom, wood floors. I hate always having to look at a bed or having a bed take up usable floor space. This design works for me 100%. Others hate it and think it's a mistake. I wanted a utilitarian road cruiser that you can also camp in. Not a tradition "camper rv" but a road cruiser with a nice bathroom, huge fridge, lots of room when the slider is out, and I got it in spades with the PC.
Another reason against the Sprinter style for me was the WALL REAL ESTATE the sliding door uses up. With the read entry "camper" style entry I save that real estate.
With the Ford I was able to add levelers and could not according to many Sprnter RV people.
I had PC add another fantastic fan, upgraded the AC to the 15000 watt, added solar.
Here the fun part; I shipped 8 boxes to the hotel in southbend full of my camping gear, pots, pans, tools, lights, two bikes and a bike rack etc. etc. ( I marked the boxes CONVENTION TRADE SHOW equipment...most hotels understand getting big shipments for conventions.
I met with Earl at PC signed my life away, gave proof of insurance, went for a tour of the facility VERY IMPRESSIVE, did the 2 hour walk through, they filled up all my tanks, FUEL, PROPANE, WATER -and off I went.
Went back to the hotel loaded up the PC, attached the bike rack, loaded up the bikes, and now on a trip from Southbend, south to NC, FL. TX, NM, AZ, CO. CA.
The PC rides like a Cadillac, has better maneuverability than most cars. Has more power than I can ever imaging needing, Most of all the aerodynamic that is specific to PC makes the coach silent running down the road at 80mph.
Inside the coach not a creed, no clubs, no noises what so ever, this is a first for me with several RV's.
Side note: all the oak cabinets are manufactured by the Amish who are huge in this area. I will put these oak cabinets from the Amish up against any Canadian firm out there.
5000 miles later visiting the East coast, hitting the Hurricane rains, camping at Disney world, Being the first in at Harry Potter Diagon Alley on the 5th, it opens on the 8th.
I drove home straight through from Ocala Fl. to Baton Rouge, LA 620 Miles
Baton Rouge to Houston, TX 271 miles
Houston Tx, El Paso, TX 745 miles
El Paso Tx , Palm Springs 697 miles.
Driving those miles shows the comfort level of the RV. The circulation gets cut off to my legs in my Sprinter driving it just 120 miles to San Diego from my house. I never did feel exhausted after those long treks. I would stop have dinner, then shower, watch some TV then retire. Wake up have breakfast and do it all over again. Only stops were for fuel no lunch stops.
Where else can you buy a new RV pack only a crescent wrench and screw driver, camp and drive 80 MPH plus for three weeks and never have a problem ?
The RV was flawless. Today it's 114 degrees, and yesterday it was 112 crossing the desert and the dash air was enough to cool the coach. Never needed the roof air.
We did a mix of camp / hotel room and that was what I wanted this RV to be, a cruising vehicle with the option to camp.
Never needed a toad, I was in some tight streets, camp grounds, shopping centers and never felt that BIG RV feel.
I never did check MPG gallons because we all know what a big V-10 will do, but I did pass plenty of Sprinter style RV's that were chugging up some of the mountain roads we were on, and I know the Sprinter has a governor at 80 mph which is what the speed limit was in Texas. With the monsoon winds in TX and Arizona blowing against me the v-10 showed it's true colors and never skipped a beat. I never felt that slow down going up hill against the wind like I feel in my Sprinter, I had plenty of power to spare.
Sure one trades off power for MPG, but I can say this the power was appreciated on this trip as it seems I was ALWAYS climbing hills.
90 degree temps outside with 90 percent humidity the roof AC kept it at 70 inside.
I realized with three people ( one being a 17 yo girl with tons of shoes and clothes) in a RV designed for 2 that we never ever did fill up all the storage space. We stored food, electronics, clothes, shoes, etc. etc, and still had room for more.
One problem - the screw came loose on the fantastic fan knob and fell out after many miles of rough road. Fixed in less than a minute.
So I'm home now, I'll get an oil change and off to the beach this week end, maybe Yosemite if I can get in.
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