Tiffin Wayfarer vs Winnebago View Sprinter

[Coffie Drink]

My 15 G View is at Max OCCC , I have a HWH Levelers and a traveler Sat dish. I run with no or very little water. I recommend getting the View or Wayfarer weighed before you buy. I would bet Tiffin does not engineer weight like WGO. After you add stuff you need the weight adds up. Another fix for me is I tow a 17 Ford Fiesta 4 down. I can put stuff in the trunk and still be below the combined weight.
So you bought one, now you need to rebuild it. Alinement, Helwig sway bar, Heavy Sumo front and rear, Fox shocks by Algile Off road, Borg metal Valve for the tires, TPMS. They are very poor stock, the Rock and roll, getting passed by cars and of course truck are an event. I also use my weight to set tire pressure using the Michelin guide. 61 is stock. My heavy runs 50 front and 55 rear. My tires at 22 K look very good.
Do not go beyond 11,030, why spend money to have a unsafe coach.

[luvlabs]

Coffee Drink - I disagree with your "need to rebuild it" statement. My '17 Navion V has not needed any "suspension enhancements" you have mentioned. I would not recommend any modifications until you have 4-500 miles behind the wheel and can identify problem areas. I have added Borg valve stems which I believe are essential.

I also think you are running your tire pressure too low. The 61 psi number is correct for a Sprinter at it's GVWR (verified by weighing my coach). I normally run 66 psi in the rears and 64 psi in the fronts. That's suggested inflation pressure + 5 psi safety margin.

[Coffie Drink]

I have 20 k miles on my G. I did my upgrades over time, Sumo, Alinement, Helwig, Fox. I read many threads on View suspension. I had many high wind miles with side wind, so strong it blew the transition fiberglass piece between the upper cab to the lower section. I had a storage door open when entering a road from a driveway. My View would rock. IMHO the narrow, tall, high CG makes the View, and others difficult to drive. If you go real slow, you can drive it with out rocking when entering a road. My point is the View needs help stock. Tire pressure is IMHO ( and Michelin or Goodyear) too high stock. I run my tires at the weight. On summer days I check the heat. Yes I would like to see The Continental truck tire pressure guide, they don't publish. 50 psi is for 3880 front 55psi for 7446 my weight is 3680 front and 7320 rear. I run dry fill up at the site.

[f14av8r]

Originally Posted by RVThere

I have a 2017 View and my good friends just bought a Tiffin Wayfarer in January. They came to visit us in February for a few weeks so I got to 'learn' all the functions of the Tiffin along with them and compare both units up close.

Tiffin vs View
- Tiffin had great fit and finish. Outside cargo doors are sturdier but that adds to the weight that has been addressed above
- Tiffin had automatic transfer switch. View makes you plug the power cord into a generator outlet
- Tiffin's dash radio (I think a Pioneer) much smaller screen than View's nav screen
- Tiffin has one screen in hall to control EVERYTHING. From tanks to pumps to slide outs, it all gets controlled with one screen that seems pretty fragile. View has separate switches that are in the same general area above the refrig
- Solar - Tiffin did NOT have a panel. View came with 100w panel, controller and plug to add more panels easily
- Satellite ready - Tiffin had coax plug in one of the cubbies but NO factory roof access. My friend bought a sat dish thinking he could just install it easily because salesman said it was 'sat ready'. Only learned later that it was more set up for a ground sat dish.
- Roof access - View has a built in ladder. None on the Tiffin
- Microwave location - View has microwave in horrible upper location where my wife bonks her head and can't see into the oven. Tiffin has microwave in lower cabinet
- Tiffin has a dinette which is much more convenient that Views couch and table that can only be used if slideout is extended
- Round sink in Tiffin not as ergonomic as the double square kitchen sink in View
- Tiffin had exterior TV. None in View. I have an exterior TV in my other RV (Winn Tour) and never use it.
- They had the QW floor plan that requires you slide out the back to use the bed. We have the View V version that has the two bunks in the back that convert to king. I much prefer the View V sleeping situation.

All in all, I like my View except for the lack of dinette and the bad microwave location. But I wouldn't trade it for the Tiffin.

Good luck!

Thanks for the review. Of course, comparing a 2017 View to a 2019 (I assume) Wayfarer isn't really fair to either, but especially the View!

Also, the 2020 Wayfarer has addressed several of the issues you identified.
- The new 2020 Wayfarer (built on what Mercedes calls a 2019 Sprinter chassis) comes with a totally different convenience, safety, and driving assistance package. It's a world of difference from the earlier Sprinters. The new Views and Wayfarer will benefit greatly from this change.
- The 2020 Wayfarer comes with a 100W Solar panel and controller
- The 2020 Wayfarer does have a roof access point for a satellite antenna.

Thanks for the review!

[Coffie Drink]

Please check out the 2020 View on the WGO site. Mercedes is shipping the 20 chassis. Best upgrade is the 7 speed transmissions, yes MB nav and many goodies are included. The View D is quite nice. I watched BT videos of that unit. Not shipping yet.
That said the MB 3500 is still the same. I hoped MB Sprinter 4500 would be used as it adds over a 1000 lbs to the OCCC.
To recap, cost more, handles the same, 7 speed vs 5 speed tranny and some additions to the Nav/ systems. The new View changes included a better door, cleaner look, revised cab with a lower hump for a revised front sleeper. It is supposed to have better insulation. All units come with the overhead. The cooker is gas and induction plate. The 3 way are replaced with compressor frig but this was true on the 17 as well. Batteries can be upgraded to lithium ion or 2 G 31 , 2000 watt pure sine invertor, 2 100 watt solar, auto transfer for 30 amp shore/gen. The list goes on. Go to winnebagoind.com to read the specs.
I you are shopping wait for 2020, I would

[kayak70]

Reading all this thread it really amazed me that only the prior post mentioned the refrigerator. Based on a multitude of issues posted all over the forums and my own personal experience I do not recommend any View from 2018 on unless you camp only in places with power - plug to plug. It is not and never will again be suitable for boondock. I've addressed those issues in the sister forum spin off from this site. The 12vdc compressor fridge is a killer, it is not the refrigerator - it works better than spec - but the electrical system. You will need about 300AH of battery, no flexi panels on the roof but three 170 watt rigid panels, the Zamp controller is fine. I do not trust WGO to come close to providing adequate design, engineering or support for the $$$$$$$$$ lithium pack either in the 2020 model. There are several manufacturers who so far have refused to jump into the 12vdc fridge joke, Tiffin is one and Coach House is the other. The latter has a new B+ on the Ford chassis, Platinum III, I urge you to check out as well. With the LP fridge you can always boondock, no issue. Forget the View unless you like power poles. Looser for boondocking. I run 300AH of Trojans and I can with care make it three nights, running the genny AM & PM a few hours with the OEM panels providing some help. After 3 days you are far behind the power curve. We love the 18V24D floorplan and it works fine if you do not want to boondock. I'm sadly now facing install of three rigid panels and removal of those flexis from the roof - one died early on, installation of lithium drop-ins, a new charger next to the inverter. The factory Zamp PWM controller is fine. The refrigerator is likely the most important item in your rig - you must have food to stay in the woods etc. The upgrade to group 31 option will never be enough battery and it is not a refrigerator problem. The refrigerator has been tested to perform even better than spec., it works just fine. It does need 12vdc to operate. It runs a 70-72% duty cycle drawing 2.5 - 3.2 amps, the high side in hotter ambients. That sounds OK? You must run the water pump, water heater, etc sometime. The issue is the recharge rate for FLA or AGM is too long and you get behind the power curve. Lithium and better solar is the only possible solution for dry camp. If you go this way just ask WGO please NOT to install the flexi panels and do your own solar install and plan a lithium upgrade - immediately.

[JpalmerCass]

Originally Posted by Ed_G

Regarding being overweight....one consideration being ignored is how an insurance company might look at this if the vehicle is in an accident. Being overweight could be an easy reason for them to deny a claim.

Almost every accident happens because of negligence and the insurance companies pay. They are, in effect, insuring you against negligence.

Besides, how's the insurance company to know the weight? Reconstruct all the pieces and cargo bit by bit, like a 747 crash?

[Touchdown2]

So I am ordering a 24D and will need to camp without power for 3-4 days, planning on taking two extra five gallon cans of diesel fuel. How long would I need to run the generator each day to keep up. Would you order to new Lithium battery option how much difference would they make over the series 31s

[luvlabs]

I think you can leave the cans of diesel fuel at home. The usual charging routine is 2 hours or so in the morning and 2-3 hours in the evening. At 0.3-0.5 gallons per hour running the diesel generator, you might use might use 5-6 gallons. If you go in with a full fuel tank, no problems.

If you are going to boondock frequently (like most of the time) by all means spend the $4000 for the lithium setup. However, you can get good performance out of a couple of 220 amp/hr golf cart batteries (wet or AGM) and maybe an extra solar panel. This will cost you much less.

[kayak70]

Originally Posted by Touchdown2

So I am ordering a 24D and will need to camp without power for 3-4 days, planning on taking two extra five gallon cans of diesel fuel. How long would I need to run the generator each day to keep up. Would you order to new Lithium battery option how much difference would they make over the series 31s

You won't need the extra diesel. Lithium weighs far less that FLA or AGM, about half. Lithium allows greater discharge depth if needed. Basically you run into a wall with any combination of AGM or FLA just like I do with the two monster Trojan T-1275s and 300AH around the end of night 3. So if you really only want to do 3 nights no problem. After that you are too far behind the recharge curve to catch up because the fridge runs 24x7 on that duty cycle, never stops. The flexi solar panels are not a long term thing, just put on three rigid panels, they last. Three 100 watt panels will help tremendously in good light days. As far as running the genny a few hours AM and PM - it helps but will never get you out of the bulk charge mode. If your requirement is 3 nights you can make it fine. Now lithium requires a lot of things to be happy. I would put a disconnect on the Trombetta solenoid chassis POS lead to keep my alternator from burning up. Lithium has almost no resistance, like a short it will suck up every amp the alternator can toss at it until the alternator fries. Some use a BIM made to cycle the alternator charge on and off to prevent it from burning up, I would do the cutoff switch. That way you can still turn it on if the chassis battery is dead and use the boost switch to start the engine. Move the Trik-L-Start lead to the chassis POS side of the cutoff switch and it still works. Everything about lithium is new and it depends on what lithium pack WGO installs. Will they do all the work required for that price or just dump in two batteries - I don't know. The OEM solar controller will charge lithium. I know the PD9245 converter will as well until it fries, same thing, not made for lithium it expects to see FLA or AGM with resistance and a lower charge rate, the lithium will suck all it can dump out and fry the thing over time. Bottom line, 3 days and nights you can do it, more than that it doesn't matter if you have FLA, AGM or lithium as long as you have about 300AH to run the stuff. If you have unlimited funds you can dump in even more lithium and a good lithium charger and get three solar panels on the roof but when folks talk about "fast charge" on lithium they mean extremely diminishing the cycle life of some high dollar batteries. You can do it, it will shorten the life of the lithium pack. To reach anything like 3-5000 or more cycles you must run the generator and charge them at a lower rate with a lithium charger. So where's the advantage unless you can afford the extravagance?
BTW, after three days you will need to run the generator all day with the solar turned off anyway because those 3 solar panels are not going to do rip because it will rain, you will get shaded camp site, it will be cloudy and no one will ever get the amps those panels are rated at for more than a short while during the solar day. Solar is good for keeping your batteries charged when the rig is parked and the fridge is off and it will help a bit - not much because our roof space is limited in the View. If we could put up 8 panels like a class A rig, yeah, solar would fly, on the View it drops like a rock.
Now I have boondocked longer but in a place where the generator could run all day and night. You will never find that in a NF or NP camp, your hours will be limited. People will throw stones at your rig etc. just for running the thing during normal hours all day. Like I said, Tiffin and CoachHouse do not install the 12vdc compressor fridge, still 3 way LP. CoachHouse has a beautiful new Platinum III on the Ford chassis, diesel. You can dry camp in either of those as long as you wish, no problem.

[Touchdown2]

So if you went 48 hours on battery how long would the generator need to run to catch up?

[kayak70]

If you mean "end of the boondock" at 48 hours it won't matter. It is just he nature of the charge curve of FLA or AGM. The last 10-20% of charge must go in very slowly at low amps, high volts like 14.7. The stock converter can't really do that so what happens is you never can get out of BULK mode and the fridge is still running. Even with good light on the panels. I recently did 7 nights boondock. I ran the genny every day AM and PM until day 5. That AM the genny started slow, ran it all day long. Day seven I had to use the boost to start the genny. Left the boondock and drove to hookup site about 50 miles away. It took 3 days for the batteries to show "full" with the converter humming. I did not have disconnects installed for the solar to turn them off. Since that trip I bought a new Fluke 375 FC, did a lot of test runs and graphed the results, posted in my gallery on the new spin off winnie forum. If I disconnect the solar they will normally show full a day earlier. It will be helpful to download the spec sheets from Trojan and look at the recharge curve or google it, lots of info out there on recharging. Trojan uses Bulk to mean just that, some other mfgs don't seem to know what charge stages are and use the wrong terminology. AGM has lower internal resistance and will recharge slightly faster. The question is how many AH you took out in those 48 hours and how many do you want to use in the next 24 hours etc. Every day you depreciate the asset unless you plug up to power, run the generator all day or turn off the blooming fridge. You think, OK, I'm charging at a 10amp rate, I used about 100 AH or less, 10 hours, good to go - but NOPE - you are still running the fridge and you ain't getting out of BULK mode and you are not getting 10 amps per hour stashed back in those batteries. Disconnect the solar and take along a great charger and it will help but not solve the issue. All the current flow is through those batteries, in and out. If you are happy getting to an 80% charge then you will dump below 50% SOC the next overnight because there are not enough hours to run the genny to get more than 80% charge. The next night you are further behind the curve which is the amount you used subtracted from 80% say, the third night and you are leaving for a power pole or really slamming batteries. That's not a pretty picture I know which just means the compressor fridge is ridiculous in a small rig like the View with limited roof space for solar. The solar controller will recharge the batteries properly if you have enough panels, far better than the converter but that's not dependable, it could rain those 3 days. The other consideration is even on good sun days in most parts of the country you get far less than 10 hours usable light for power from solar. And..you think, three panels rated at a total of 18amps should work. Well you seldom if ever will see those 18 amps, maybe a small few minutes on a good day but the darned fridge is still running - taking those amps from the solar power.

[kayak70]

The answer to me is the CoachHouse Platinum III new rig, looks really nice. Can't happen right now says DW, big dog won't fit and neither will the check book. YMMV but there's a lot to consider with lithium, it is hopefully a solution that can work but at great cost. Every rig has an "issue" of some sort, just not a perfect one out there but we could dry camp in the old 2006 View and never worried about it, just took the Honda 2000 along and ran it and with GC batteries I could use my CPAP every night and the fridge used LP, run that thing for months on the LP, no problem. I really can't run the CPAP and the fridge in the new rig and the CPAP uses 1/3 the amps the old one did back in '06.

[Touchdown2]

Does the generator not charge the battery when the solar is operational? Why do you disconnect the solar panels? Is there switch or do you have to disconnect type panels.
We are in the southeast and frequently have to run the generator for A/C 24 hrs a day will that keep up the charge.