Selecting Options on 2021 Open Road Allegro

[Shadow5501]

Originally Posted by WhippetTaxi

I ordered the Autumn exterior paint (maybe it was just the time of year we placed the order, but I liked it). Interior wood is the lighter Natural Alder with the darker floor and City Shadow II interior colors. Sounds like the opposite of yours, but I bet both will look nice.

Yeah, that is the complete opposite of mine. Dark floors make the most sense in a motorhome, given the challenges of keeping things clean.

I like the backsplash tiles on the city shadow, but the window fabrics are not my thing. I forget the name of what we went with, but it’s nondescript and inoffensive. We will just make it our own with some knickknacks, art, and a good portion of dog fur.

[Our05Winneba]

We have been fulltiming for years in our 38' Winnebago Class A, and these are my suggestions. Even though we do not have a Tiffin these would apply to any purchase of a Class A-

1> Central Vac - NO. Expensive, and have heard that suction not always strong enough. And you still have to worry about storage of long hoses & fittings. Better to get a good small vac for far less $$. We actually carry around a small Craftsman shop ($75) vac because it doubles as a wet vac, and it has incredible suction. It runs on 120v AC but we have a good inverter when not on shore power.

2> Solar - Get the solar prep at the very least. I have seen that most manufacturers charge A LOT for a full solar system. But if you at least get the solar prep it will make any future solar install much easier. If you boondock much at all you will soon go to solar - trust us.

3> You did not mention this - and I have no idea if Tiffin evens offers this as an option - but you will want to have Lithium (LiFePO4) batteries as your house batteries - without question. Yes - they cost more than lead-acid but they have at least a 10 year life span, and you get 80-90% usable capacity from them (vs. 50% from Lead-Acid or AGM). If you do any amount of boondocking at all you will highly value having these batteries. We had lead-acid for several years, but got sick of their poor performance and declining output. Went with Lithium 1 1/2 years ago and have been amazed at what a difference they make.
Not sure if Tiffin even offers these as an option, or what their price is if they do, but if not they are an easy upgrade later on. You will not regret it.

[LenF]

Originally Posted by WhippetTaxi

We are seriously considering ordering a new Open Road Allegro 32 SA this week and are uncertain about a few of the options. For those of you with a Tiffin, if you have advice on any of the following, I'd appreciate your input:

(1) Booth dinette vs. the optional dinette with computer workstation. I've always liked the booth format, but my wife is intrigued by the workstation and the little storage areas in that setup. I'm also concerned about securing loose chairs while traveling.

(2) Central vacuum. We've never had a coach with this option and I tend to think of it as another appliance that could fail at some time and/or require more maintenance. Any big advantage over just using a shop vac upon the end of your trip?

(3) Solar panel(s) or solar panel prep. Will likely get a solar panel just to increase the ability to boondock in certain situations. How often do you use it, or is always active and available for your needs?

Thanks for any input on these choices.

We have a booth, because my wife likes to work at the table when we are going down the road and is not crazy about sitting in a chair with no seatbelt. Do not have solar panels. Have central vac and can't believe how wonderful it has been, would always have one now.

[retired long]

I would want airconditioners with heat pumps! No propane you still have ability to have heat via generator.

[stinnettdw]

We just purchased a 32SA three months ago so we're new at this. Take that into consideration as you read our response.

(1) We wanted the dinette option as we have a special needs son that travels with us and he likes riding near the front in the dinette so he can see what is going on as we go down the road. Also, we didn't like the idea of storing the chairs.

(2) So far, the central vac has come in very handy. The brand is InterVac and comes with a handy mesh bag for storing the accessories. We just throw it in one of the bays and grab it whenever we want to do a quick vacuum. I guess a hand vac would do the same but we don't have to worry about it being charged and we have numerous accessories for getting in those hard to reach areas that a hand vac wouldn't have available. The unit itself sits down in one of the bays with a plug and easy access to the filter. Doesn't take up much room.

(3) We had 2 190 watt GoPower solar panels installed when we purchased the rig. We already had a 2000 watt Magnum Pure Sine Waver Inverter and a residential fridge before we opted for solar. Now we don't know yet how much we're going to be boon docking but wanted to get set up for solar and find out how much we might use it. It's not cheap but thought it would give us a taste, some flexibility and a little practice. The system is expandable which is good as it's undersized to seriously boon dock with our residential fridge. So more to come on that but I thought it was worth trying!

[puttin]

I'd ask for credit of the other option choices and have them install the Liquidspring upgrade.- That is, if you plan on driving it any distance.

[JCM]

I just downsized to a small B+ coach (was up to a 40 foot -35 foot and 32foot Class A's. I miss the vacuum the most and get a booth with under seat storage compartments. May also convert to an extra bed if necessary.
Almost anywhere you camp there are pine needles, sand, small stones etc. that you track onboard esp. if you have a per or grand children.
Good luck.

[augerdogger]

We bought our unit off the lot and it had the built-in vacuum. This is the 2nd RV with a built-in vacuum and would NOT order. Hose and attachments are cumbersome to manage and we leave them at home. We use a small ShopVac, 2.5 hp, that works gr8, is easy to store and empty. We have carried a small ShopVac for over 10 yrs.


We have the computer work station so we have storage for laptop or tablet and the printer fits below the laptop. We have 2 drawers and a file drawer. We use pool noodles and bungee cords to keep chairs in-place when traveling. ShopVac fits under chair while on the road.


We did get solar pre-wire. Our previous RV had 240W of solar panels which didn't seem to make any difference. We traveled during the day and batteries were charged by engine or generator if we needed AC. At night it was after sundown when we needed them, oh well.

[WhippetTaxi]

This has been a helpful discussion on these option choices. As mentioned earlier, we did decide to skip the vacuum and we ordered the computer desk work station dining area. The one selection that seems most controversial is the solar and whether to do just the solar prep (with plans to go aftermarket later) or get one or two panels from the factory. We’ll likely be doing more boondocking in the future and hope the solar adds some additional sources of power.

[Ellyn54]

I have the dinette which I wanted when I ordered for the extra sleeping area. I now have an appointment in March to remove the dinette and put in the work station. As for the vacuum, I have that too, but find that I prefer my cordless shark vacuum.

[spyderryder]

OK, my 2 cents. We live in a Phaeton (doesn't matter) with the table AND CHAIRS. In the 8 years on the road, I don't think they have gone sailing once.

We have a central vac. Get a Dirt Devil or change it out when you get it. We have an off brand that Tiffin put in in '07 and it is not as powerful and efficient as several of our friends with a Dirt Devil.
Absolutely get a pure sign wave inverter. It is insulting for this industry to still be using partial sign wave inverters. They were considered old tech in industry when I retired on '03. Pure wave is much "kinder" to all you electrical devices.

[Sagertd]

1.We like the table an chairs. I think it gives us a lot more space, but yes chairs r a small issue.

2.Central vac. won’t without one anymore, while on vacation I vacuum the floors an carpet to help keep the slides in an out easier. They r on rollers an I like to the sand an dirt off the floor an Out of the slide storage area, I can also use it to vac tow vehicle as it has an exterior hook up.

3.We have a solar panel on ours an we like it, if u r thinking of it for boondocking make sure u get it large enough to recharge the batteries not just top them off.
GOOD LUCK WITH WHAT EVER U CHOOSE

[Ddjay]

If you turn the back of the chairs against the drawers I don’t see how they would move on you. Two seasons of driving like this and no movement in the chairs in that time. The weight of the back of the chairs would tip them into the drawers.

Of course, the Open Road has carpet to set these on. Perhaps those models with no carpet have more of a challenge.

[soarak]

Originally Posted by R.Wold

Don’t worry about the solar. Even if it’s only a couple hundred watts, and even if it’s only 10ga wire, you are set for a real with presidential panels system when ever you are ready. On my Bay Star I was able to run one AC all day while staying fully charged and with my lithium bank, run it until Midnight. On 16 ga wire from the panels. You probably won’t want to go that route but there is a lot in between what you are getting and what you can do. Lots of options. Have fun with the new rig!

PS mind me asking what the solar option cost? Newmar lists option costs but I couldn’t find Tiffin’s.

And how bout this.

“ Hey there.* Hope that you are well today.* You emailed in on the Open Road, wanting a quote.* I am so very sorry to tell you this but I cannot help you with Open Road.* This dealership was placed on an allotment for the Open Road lineup and we met our mark the first week that they gave us the news. We are out of the ability to order any more 2021 Open Roads from Tiffin Motorhomes for this year model build.* We will be open to take orders again starting in the 2022 year model build.”

Guess business is good!

Please do not take the above post seriously. You can't run multiple panels on a 16ga wire. That is a sure way to start a fire, not to mention the voltage drop that will negatively impact the charge controller. If you burn your coach down to the ground with such installation your insurance company will refuse to pay for the damages.