Community Forums

ehackney · 07-31-2005, 07:12 AM

This discussion will probably never end, but I wanted to bring up a few of other points.

I have seen some people say that the class A is wider than a class C, but the specs I have seen don't bear this out. The class As and larger class Cs look to be ~ 101 inches wide.

Height is another issue. Our road is narrow and tree-lined, and the class As seem to be considerably taller than the class Cs, which might make it more difficult, maybe impossible, to bring it home.

All of the class Cs we have seen with a dinette or sofa on the passenger side have insufficient passenger legroom. My wife and I are both about 5' 8", and found it unacceptably cramped. This doesn't seem to be an issue with class As. If we get a class C, we will limit the floorplans to those with a door or chair behind the passenger seat.

We like to stay at National and State Parks rather than private campgrounds and WalMarts. I am concerned that the extra size of a class A will limit the parks we can stay at. Does anyone have any advice/experience here?

To slide or not to slide? We're still pondering this. RVs are less expensive, simpler and lighter (i.e., larger CCC)without a slide, but, just from walking around in them, a slide in the living-dining area seems to make the difference between sorta' cramped to o.k. When we retire in a year +, we would like to be out a couple of months at a time, so it matters.

Miliage? It's probably silly to discuss gas miliage when considering ANY motorhome, but I'm guessing that the gas miliage is a little better in a C. True? By how much?

Thanks in advance for your patience with my rambling.

ehackney · 07-31-2005, 07:12 AM

This discussion will probably never end, but I wanted to bring up a few of other points.

I have seen some people say that the class A is wider than a class C, but the specs I have seen don't bear this out. The class As and larger class Cs look to be ~ 101 inches wide.

Height is another issue. Our road is narrow and tree-lined, and the class As seem to be considerably taller than the class Cs, which might make it more difficult, maybe impossible, to bring it home.

All of the class Cs we have seen with a dinette or sofa on the passenger side have insufficient passenger legroom. My wife and I are both about 5' 8", and found it unacceptably cramped. This doesn't seem to be an issue with class As. If we get a class C, we will limit the floorplans to those with a door or chair behind the passenger seat.

We like to stay at National and State Parks rather than private campgrounds and WalMarts. I am concerned that the extra size of a class A will limit the parks we can stay at. Does anyone have any advice/experience here?

To slide or not to slide? We're still pondering this. RVs are less expensive, simpler and lighter (i.e., larger CCC)without a slide, but, just from walking around in them, a slide in the living-dining area seems to make the difference between sorta' cramped to o.k. When we retire in a year +, we would like to be out a couple of months at a time, so it matters.

Miliage? It's probably silly to discuss gas miliage when considering ANY motorhome, but I'm guessing that the gas miliage is a little better in a C. True? By how much?

Thanks in advance for your patience with my rambling.

TXiceman · 07-31-2005, 09:05 AM

Having had a 27' class A, a 34' class A and a 31' class C, I would go back to a small Class A over a class C. The driving position in a class A is better in my opinion, tha class A has better CCC. The class A actually has more interior room as the front two chairs can be turned around and used as part of the living area, where a Class C has the two front seats stuck in a hole.

We had a 1999 31' Minnie Winnie (no slide) and had to add Bilstein shock, iPd anti-roll bars and Air bags on all 4 corners to get it where it drove and handles well. The 31' is just too much to hang on the E-450 chassis. Loaded for a 2 week trip, we were setting right at 13,950# on a 14,050# GVWR chassis and this was with 1/4 tank of water and empty waste tanks.

I think the best thing to do is to go drive both for an extended period of time, and on highway as well as city streets before you make up your mind. Also, sit in it fro an hour or two and pretend to live in it, fix a meal, stand in the shower, sit on the toiler to see if you fit. See how everything would be stored in the bath area and the kitchen.

As for gas mileage, the C will do a little better, but whe you figure the incremental difference of 2 MPG over say, 10,000 miles, it is not much money to make the decision solely based on$$$.

Ken

C Driver · 07-31-2005, 11:15 AM

We have gone from a 36' Class A to a 36' fifth wheel to a 31' Class C .... The Class A was a white knuckler to drive, scared the heck out of me on the interstates ... The fiver was great but getting old and just could not take it places we wanted to go .... We looked at a lot of Class C units and bought one 31' with a living room slide .... I am 6'3 and can now enter the bedroom without hitting my head ....
The Class C drives like a dream, handles fairly well (I am installing Monroe HD Gas shocks on it) and turns a lot quicker than the fifth wheel did .... It is also now possible for us to visit a lot of the Florida state parks that could not take our fiver
As for room, we really don't miss the extra room of the fifth wheel as it is just the two of us and we spend most of our time outside anyway ....
As for what to buy, got to be your decision but I would definitely look at both an A and C with an open mind and with your plans for its' use

JudyandJim · 08-08-2005, 09:47 AM

Lots of older private rv parks and most state parks have length limits of 30' or 35'.

And we have found some sites in older parks so narrow that we couldn't put our slides out.

We always specify our length and width when making reservations, but it doesn't guarantee that you will fit the space when you get there. We have particularly found this to be a problem this summer when we were on the southern Oregon coast.