Fleetwood tioga vs itasca Cambria

[Blackdenali]

My husband & I just sold our Class A DP we first thought we would buy a fifth wheel or TT but after shopping we didn't think either fit us. We started looking at Class C's. We have narrowed it down to two units after looking...

Fleetwood Tioga 31X

Itasca Cambria 30C

We would really like to hear from owners of these models if you are happy with your purchase. Do they cool enough in Hot 90+ weather? We noticed the Itasca/ Winne has heated tank area while the Tioga has 12 volt tank pads...are the pads enough for freeze weather camping?

Also new models only have small LP tanks 14 or 18 ... How is this enough to use furnace in winter? Can you hook to portable 20 lb w/o having to take vehicle to be filled for LP?

Thanks for any help!!!

[Izzyblueye]

For me the main degree of difference would be the construction. See how the two differ in over the cab construction. It's important. Everything else there is a work around.

[The Shadow]

We did a downgrade from a 41 ft DP in two stages. First was to a Kodiak Super C and then to an Itasca. In looking at the two units you noted, they don't seem to me to be the same "type." One has the bunk over the cab and the other does not.

We looked at the Cambria when we bought our Impulse. External storage is very very minimal (18.8 cu ft for the 30C) and that caused us to rule it out almost immediately. Our shorter Impulse has 79 cu ft. Our previous Kodiak had 119 cu ft but it was scattered all over. Our last DP had a huge belly and there was never a need to scientifically pack (150 cu ft +). In the Impulse there are a couple of small cubby holes that are useful and then the major storage area at the back that we found superb for our particular needs.

The Tioga material does not include info on external storage.

Both have reasonable wheelbase to length ratios - .58 for the Itasca and .563 for the Fleetwood.

Frankly, I would suggest you compare the Itasca Impulse 31CP with the Tioga. The 31CP has 95 cu ft of external storage and has the bed up front. Given you had a DP before the Cambria would be a huge reduction in storage space - but then, your planned use may not require a lot of storage.

Some other potential issues to consider - weight. The Cambria has 3 slides so I'd take a VERY close look at the weight sticker to determine how much you will have for passengers and stuff. I've often found a lot of slides with a C can indicate very low capacity left over. The Impulse has only one slide and it should have much better weight numbers. But you might prefer a bedroom slide. We were surprised how much we like the bedroom in our 26QP without the slide and a big window on each side for ventilation.

Another issue is the chassis - 2010 or 2011. The 2011 E450 has a GCWR of 22,000 lbs. I note that Itasca says the Cambria is 20,000 lbs and that to me indicates they are building that line on the older chassis. Same for the Tioga. BUT, it is also possible that the marketing people in both cases simply were unaware of the change made by Ford for 2011. Tioga says its GCWR is 19,500 lbs but that is only because they took the GVWR of 14,500 lbs and added the 5,000 hitch weight. On ours, if we upgraded the receiver, we could tow 7500 lbs (not that I'd consider that - we downgraded our toad as well - Tahoe to Escape).

Of course, on top of this you have to see which floorplan you prefer and inspect both to determine which has the quality you prefer. As I'm sure you know from your DP days - beauty can be skin deep and there can be all kinds of problems underneath. I think Fleetwood has improved its products over the past couple of years with its reorg. On the other had our 2004 Winnie Journey was loaded with problems. But, at this point our Itasca has been trouble free and we might make it through the year with no visits back to the dealer for warranty work (touch wood). We had one problem on delivery - a cap on a water line T with an unused side came off and the dealer identified the leak and fixed it immediately - and nothing else since then.

We have the airbags on the rear suspension and they are something you should consider. They are an option on the Cambria and I think they are a must. I could not determine if they are standard or optional on the Tioga but a point worth investigating.

Don

[Blackdenali]

Don....Thank you for your post!!!!

I don't know why I skipped looking at the Impluse Silver. For weeks I have researched every other Class c/b+ to death.

Fiberglass roof / 41 Black ... Wow this maybe it.


We never had any problems with our Class A Tiffin Allegro Bus so we are spoiled. We Ordered our bus and had it for 5 years but only 7500 miles. We aren't retired yet(in mid 40s) and we just couldn't get away enough to use it...So we decided we would try something cheaper till we can or if we decide FullTime.

Thank you so again for the help. We like the 31CP plan best ...hopefully we can find one to look at before we make the decision to order.

[Campingman]

I love our Fleetwood 31M . The side hall makes it feel like two seperate rooms plus the bathroom is huge.

[cutrell01]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackdenali My husband & I just sold our Class A DP we first thought we would buy a fifth wheel or TT but after shopping we didn't think either fit us. We started looking at Class C's. We have narrowed it down to two units after looking... Fleetwood Tioga 31X Itasca Cambria 30C We would really like to hear from owners of these models if you are happy with your purchase. Do they cool enough in Hot 90+ weather? We noticed the Itasca/ Winne has heated tank area while the Tioga has 12 volt tank pads...are the pads enough for freeze weather camping? Also new models only have small LP tanks 14 or 18 ... How is this enough to use furnace in winter? Can you hook to portable 20 lb w/o having to take vehicle to be filled for LP? Thanks for any help!!!

Did you look at Jayco class c and b+? We have ordered a Jayco Melbourne 29d (3 slides), 32ft, pulls 5,000lbs toad, has 56lb LP, 12 volt tank pads, Ford V-10 engine.

[The Shadow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cutrell01 Did you look at Jayco class c and b+? We have ordered a Jayco Melbourne 29d (3 slides), 32ft, pulls 5,000lbs toad, has 56lb LP, 12 volt tank pads, Ford V-10 engine.

BUT, and for us it was a HUGE BUT, exterior storage is only 26.8 cu ft. I'd also be inclined to take a close look at the weight label as three slides often make CCC tight.

One advantage of a Jayco is a 2 year warranty. With our Greyhawk Kodiak we had the warranty work done at the factory since the Jayco service department is very good - but we also mad four visits there for a variety of issues.

[Blackdenali]

Cutrell01,
Thanks for the Help. We did not like the convection oven being below the cooktop on the Melboure and not crazy about 12 volt pads for our situation but I'm sure you will love your new B+. The Melbourne is very nice!

Don,
We decided to order the 2012 Itasca Cambria 30C. We loved the Impluse but wanted the enclosed heat tanks and valves.

The 2012's have 22,000 GWVR and 38 cubic ft outside storage. We don't FullTime so we can carry very little cargo for a 3 day weekend. So the Cargo being decreased by 3 slides wasn't a big issue for us and we dont pull a toad. For now, the Cambria suits us:-)

Thanks especially to Don and to everyone for all the help!

T

[The Shadow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackdenali Cutrell01, Thanks for the Help. We did not like the convection oven being below the cooktop on the Melboure and not crazy about 12 volt pads for our situation but I'm sure you will love your new B+. The Melbourne is very nice! Don, We decided to order the 2012 Itasca Cambria 30C. We loved the Impluse but wanted the enclosed heat tanks and valves. The 2012's have 22,000 GWVR and 38 cubic ft outside storage. We don't FullTime so we can carry very little cargo for a 3 day weekend. So the Cargo being decreased by 3 slides wasn't a big issue for us and we dont pull a toad. For now, the Cambria suits us:-) Thanks especially to Don and to everyone for all the help! T

When we looked at the Cambria one of the reasons was that it had, we felt, a "classier" interior. I'm sure you will like it. I hope you get the luck we've had with the Impulse so far (no problems) and not what we had with our 2004 Journey (one problem after another - dozens of them). I think you will also have a number of other things that are not included or available on the Impulse as the Cambria is a notch up.

Don

[The Shadow]

BTW, I hope you ordered the optional rear helper springs/airbags???

Also the rear view monitor built in to the radio. I see they are including a 6 month Sirius subscription as well. Ours did not have that feature. We have a Sirius portable (Starmate 5) that we use in the MH and DW"s Escape. The Escape came with the 6 months trial but we decided to get the portable so it reduces the number of subscriptions to 2 (have it in our Flex as well).

Did you order levelling jacks? To our surprise we have not missed them at all to this point - and they no doubt add a lot of weight to the MH.

Don

[rvten]

We have the Aspect version of the Cambria. Have ben very happy with Winebago products.
As a past Fleetwood owner (2 times) I would pass on anything they made.

[Davinger]

I looked up both units and found that the Tioga comes stock with a 15000BTU AC and the Itasca comes with a 13500BTU AC. The salesman will tell you that there isn’t that much difference but there is. I live in Florida and it gets warm here and even with the 15000BTU on mine it can’t compete with the sun. If AC is a primary concern you may want to look for a 50Amp coach which will support 2 AC units.