Community Forums

Triker56 · 05-14-2011, 05:33 AM

If you get a 40'. It will probably have a Diesel engine.
Very few 40' can be found with a Gas engine.

bjsheldon · 05-14-2011, 06:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Triker56

If you get a 40'. It will probably have a Diesel engine.
Very few 40' can be found with a Gas engine.

39' 6"; 39' 9"; 39' 11"; the last 3 Winnebago gasers I've had. Ther's lots more just like this out there.

Easyrider · 05-14-2011, 08:10 AM

I would say normally bigger is better. But we recently went through a 29' mh that had 3 slides with 2 of them opposing in the living area and 1 in the bedroom, that 29'er seemed much larger than it actually was. Which I suppose gets back the the floor plan being very important. We love our 33'er but don't full time in it.

Melmoses · 05-14-2011, 08:12 AM

Our first Class A was a 32' Allegro gasser with 3 slides (2 in the bedroom and one in the living area. We recently moved to a 40' Phaeton (diesel) with 4 slides. We had great experiences in our 32' because we could get into most anywhere and had no trouble fueling when we needed to. The biggest drawback I found was the kitchen counter was really too small. The Allegro had plenty of inside storage which was great. Other big drawbacks to the smaller coach was the size of the shower, the size of the holding tanks and the basement storage. I also like having the stacked washer/dryer in the new one because I don't like having to find a laundrymat and the dryers there usually are way to hot & ruin my clothes. But, that said, I would start with a used smaller coach and truly find out what matters to me. Living in one will quickly bring to light what you like and don't like, what works and doesn't work for your style of camping. Choose the best compromise for you both and that will start it off. Then after living in it a while you will know what you truly want that is important.

clubmed98 · 05-14-2011, 08:29 AM

I agree that the diesel gives many advantages on NCC and towing...also handling and braking...and all post have given good things to think about...however only one noted that when slides are in it is tight...Having planned ahead when we bought for the chance of spending a night or time in a closed up coach we had our display coaches bring in their slides and then looked at how livable they could be...it really is important...no matter how you use your coach there will be times you will spend in the coach with the slides in..like 2 weeks ago in Wall SD with 60 mph winds..all slides in to protect toppers and increase stability..we were still able to cook and eat and watch TV in reasonable comfort...just something to think about..

Triker56 · 05-14-2011, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bjsheldon

39' 6"; 39' 9"; 39' 11"; the last 3 Winnebago gasers I've had. Ther's lots more just like this out there.

Didn't see the 40' one listed.

Did any of the 39' ones get over 6 MPG?

cliff841 · 05-16-2011, 01:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clubmed98

when slides are in it is tight...Having planned ahead when we bought for the chance of spending a night or time in a closed up coach we had our display coaches bring in their slides and then looked at how livable they could be...it really is important...no matter how you use your coach there will be times you will spend in the coach with the slides in..like 2 weeks ago in Wall SD with 60 mph winds..all slides in to protect toppers and increase stability..we were still able to cook and eat and watch TV in reasonable comfort...just something to think about..

I think clubmed makes an excellent point. We love the slides on our coach but their impact on the interior when they are closed for travel or spending the night on the road when traveling was very important to us. In the type of rigs we were looking at, gas class A in the 32' to 35' range, this didn't seem to be much of a problem but there were still some rigs which were not very useable with the slides in. In our case we sacrifice aisle space, access to a few drawers and DW has to climb over me to use the bathroom if the slides are in. To us this was workable. Obviously, when possible we deploy the slides.

kjburns · 05-16-2011, 01:36 AM

With my wife and I, plus one dog, we like all the room we can get. Our motorhome is a home away from home. We opted for a 40' motorhome to start. We're in the process of upgrading to 43'.

wa8yxm · 05-16-2011, 08:32 AM

My observations on rig length: Motor homes tend to be BIG, in fact there are only 3 classes of vehicle on the road that are allowed to be over 8' wide without permits

1: Flat bed tow trucks
2: Farm equipment
3: Motor homes

1 and 3 are 8 1/2 feet wide.

Construction equipmant may be wider but if it's transported on an OPEN road (A road open for travel by you and I) it needs to be permitted.

Farm equipment can be moved without permit on rual roads. but on freeways needs to be permitted or loaded in such a way it is under 8 feet.

Thus, the RV will take a bit of getting used to driving.

You may notice I failed to mention the length.. This is not the major factor, width is.. My brother drives over the road semi, He's 8' wide and around nearly 60 feet long by the time you add 40 feet of flat bed trailer to his sleeper type tractor. (heck, that tractor is an RV in and of itself) And even he says a Class A is BIG.

Now, 30-35-40-45....

The longer the rig the more room.. You may enjoy the additional room, or not, however this also means it will be heavier... Depending on several things this may be that your cargo carrying capacity is greatly reduced, on my 37' gasser that's less than 1,000 pounds.

The shorter the rig the more campsites you fit in.. That is the one time when length is vital, backing into a site.. There are two, actually 3, issues here.

First: The greater the distance between the front and rear axles, the easier it is to back in one respect as if you make an error you have more time to correct it (usually)

However the other side if that is it is easier to make mistakes like overlooking a post next to your rig and smashing your compartment doors.

If it's a gasser the "Tail swing" can bite you too, has me on a few occasions.

Also you fit in fewer sites.. One campground we visited my wife whined about the site "Ugliest site in the park" (If she does not stop the whine I may well park ther again) the problem is it was one of the few sites I knew would hold a 37 foot rig... Now as it turns out, this being a gasser, there are many 30 foot sites in that park where I can park this 37'7" rig no problem. (I can fit on a 28 foot site but I may need a ladder to hook up my ham antenna or un-mount my bicycle from it's rack) (I have two ladders just for things like that)

goldwingerx2 · 05-16-2011, 04:43 PM

We have had 30' not enough room when company drops in. 37' was harder to maneuver in many tight spaces. 34' still has 3 slides for room and shorter for maneuverability. The most important item to look for is the floorplan. No matter the size if it is not a good floorplan for you it is not the right motorhome for you.

Glenn and Kathy · 05-17-2011, 09:52 AM

[QUOTE=wa8yxm;856000]My observations on rig length: Motor homes tend to be BIG, in fact there are only 3 classes of vehicle on the road that are allowed to be over 8' wide without permits

1: Flat bed tow trucks
2: Farm equipment
3: Motor homes

1 and 3 are 8 1/2 feet wide.

Your list missed travel trailers, 5th wheels, boats, other trailers, 18 wheelers, buses, all of which can be 8 1/2 feet wide.

Glenn

deandec · 05-17-2011, 11:28 AM

When shopping for a boat, I was advised that if I wanted to use the boat frequently I should spec it so my DW would want to use it also.

Same is true for the Motorhome.

Buy what DW wants and learn to like it.

alvinc · 05-17-2011, 01:51 PM

You stated that you wanted to dry camp.

The type and style of RV depends on what you want to do with it. I don't think I have ever seen a Diesel pusher in any "real" dry camping situations. When I am out and about with my Jeep in rustic camping situations, the RV's I see are pickups with inserts, Class C's of all styles, trailers, 5th wheels and gas Class A's. I suspect this is because the Diesel Class A' (30-40 ft) do not have as much ground clearance, and are heavy.

If you want to get off the beaten track you may want to pay attention to ground clearance.

Another factor for dry camping is propane, water, black and grey tank capacity. Longer rigs will sometimes sport larger tanks.

Glenn and Kathy · 05-17-2011, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alvinc

You stated that you wanted to dry camp.

The type and style of RV depends on what you want to do with it. I don't think I have ever seen a Diesel pusher in any "real" dry camping situations. When I am out and about with my Jeep in rustic camping situations, the RV's I see are pickups with inserts, Class C's of all styles, trailers, 5th wheels and gas Class A's. I suspect this is because the Diesel Class A' (30-40 ft) do not have as much ground clearance, and are heavy.

If you want to get off the beaten track you may want to pay attention to ground clearance.

Another factor for dry camping is propane, water, black and grey tank capacity. Longer rigs will sometimes sport larger tanks.

We've seen lots of DP's dry camping along the coast of California over the years. Many stay for extended periods. They do usually have larger tanks
making it easier to stay longer.

Glenn