Tiffin Wayfare & MB sprinter chassis.

[dosxx]

Thinking of buying a Tiffin Wayfare and looking for thoughts/opinions/experiences of this rig and chassis even if on another brand. Live in Colorado so comments on power over the mountain passes especially appreciated.

[Winterbagoal]

Originally Posted by dosxx

Thinking of buying a Tiffin Wayfare and looking for thoughts/opinions/experiences of this rig and chassis even if on another brand. Live in Colorado so comments on power over the mountain passes especially appreciated.

OCCC is the Achilles heel of the Sprinter based motorhomes. Check it before you go any further. They handle hills as well as any diesel handles hills. That won't matter much if you're sitting in it by yourself, with no cargo, no water in the tanks, and half a tank of fuel and propane because the manufacturer used up too much of the GVWR with "coach stuff".

[luvlabs]

Tiffin Wayfarers are particularly prone to low OCCC. Tiffin is relatively new building on Sprinter chassis and hasn't figured out how to build light. OCCCs below 1000 lbs leave you with no capability to carry anything other than the driver, a passenger, and very little else.

Winnebago has been building on the Sprinter chassis for almost 15 years now and they know how to build light. Take a look at both and compare. The OCCC sticker is on the driver's door - easy to compare.

[SSTraveler]

Check out Leisure Travel Van Unity's, https://leisurevans.com/unity/?_vsre...UaAqhWEALw_wcB. IMHO, LTV offers the highest quality and really holds it's value. I like the Unity over the Tiffin because there is more outside storage and all the storage compartments and utilities are easily accessible. No stooping under slides or running cords and sewer hoses through bottoms of storage compartments to use. Also when I recently looked at a Wayfarer I was surprised how many electric components and wires were exposed in and around the outside storage compartments. That kind of stuff should be protection covered and buttoned up. You don't see anything like that on a LTV Unity!

[RamblingRV]

Originally Posted by Winterbagoal

OCCC is the Achilles heel of the Sprinter based motorhomes. Check it before you go any further. They handle hills as well as any diesel handles hills. That won't matter much if you're sitting in it by yourself, with no cargo, no water in the tanks, and half a tank of fuel and propane because the manufacturer used up too much of the GVWR with "coach stuff".

With this in mind, we’ve been waiting for the 2020s to come out on the new sprinter chassis. The new chassis is supposed to have about 1000# more GVWR. Now, waiting for that to translate into a real world coach is the real issue. Sometimes manufacturers seem to downgrade things used for motor homes. Case in point: the new super Cs on Ford super duty chassis with 6.7L Power Stroke engines. On the super duty truck, they are rated somewhere around 440hp/925lbft, but for a Motorhome, the same engine is down rated to 330/650 or thereabouts (can’t remember it exactly, but I DO remember being astonished that it was so much lower than my F-350 DRW pickup. We shall see. The specs haven’t shown up yet on any Motorhome manufacturer’s website. We like Tiffin and have a Phaeton. If the Wayfarer GVWR goes up without Tiffin adding more weight to the MH, we may go with the Wayfarer when we downsize. If not, it will most likely be a Winnie View/Navion 24V. Both have their pluses and minuses. Right now, weight is a big minus for the Wayfarer as compared to Winnie.

[Winterbagoal]

Originally Posted by RamblingRV

With this in mind, we’ve been waiting for the 2020s to come out on the new sprinter chassis. The new chassis is supposed to have about 1000# more GVWR. Now, waiting for that to translate into a real world coach is the real issue. Sometimes manufacturers seem to downgrade things used for motor homes. Case in point: the new super Cs on Ford super duty chassis with 6.7L Power Stroke engines. On the super duty truck, they are rated somewhere around 440hp/925lbft, but for a Motorhome, the same engine is down rated to 330/650 or thereabouts (can’t remember it exactly, but I DO remember being astonished that it was so much lower than my F-350 DRW pickup. We shall see. The specs haven’t shown up yet on any Motorhome manufacturer’s website. We like Tiffin and have a Phaeton. If the Wayfarer GVWR goes up without Tiffin adding more weight to the MH, we may go with the Wayfarer when we downsize. If not, it will most likely be a Winnie View/Navion 24V. Both have their pluses and minuses. Right now, weight is a big minus for the Wayfarer as compared to Winnie.

I also expected the newer Sprinter chassis to have a bit more capacity, after reading some of the early announcements about it last year, but there are a couple of threads out there that suggest the newer chassis will be the same capacity as the prior years.

If you look over the chassis specs on the 2020 View from the WGO website, it's the same chassis specs as last year.
https://winnebagoind.com/products/cl...2020/view/view
I think that says it all, that Winnebago has either decided not to use a more robust chassis for the new model year, which wouldn't seem to make sense, or that there wasn't a more robust chassis available in North America, after all.
I'm not holding my breath waiting for the heavier duty Sprinter chassis. I will be looking seriously at the new View/Navion, when the numbers become more finalized.

[CharlesinGA]

12,125 lb GVWR is available as an option on the 2019 cab/chassis Sprinter, so its up to the MH manufacturer what chassis options they order.

Charles

[Loggenrock]

Check out the Coachmen Prism on the MB chassis - they list a CCC of over 1300#

[Winterbagoal]

Originally Posted by CharlesinGA

12,125 lb GVWR is available as an option on the 2019 cab/chassis Sprinter, so its up to the MH manufacturer what chassis options they order.

Charles

There might be a speed limit for safety reasons on the 4500 cab chassis, as mentioned in this discussion on another forum. That could be why WGO chose to stay with the non-limited 3500 cab chassis, which has no top speed limit for safety, except it's historical top end max as determined by engine performance and transmission limitations.
https://sprinter-source.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=67699
Whether this still applies to NA builds, I have no idea.

[RamblingRV]

Originally Posted by Winterbagoal

I also expected the newer Sprinter chassis to have a bit more capacity, after reading some of the early announcements about it last year, but there are a couple of threads out there that suggest the newer chassis will be the same capacity as the prior years.

If you look over the chassis specs on the 2020 View from the WGO website, it's the same chassis specs as last year.
https://winnebagoind.com/products/cl...2020/view/view
I think that says it all, that Winnebago has either decided not to use a more robust chassis for the new model year, which wouldn't seem to make sense, or that there wasn't a more robust chassis available in North America, after all.
I'm not holding my breath waiting for the heavier duty Sprinter chassis. I will be looking seriously at the new View/Navion, when the numbers become more finalized.

I was under the assumption that the specs simply hadn’t been updated yet. We shall see, I suppose. The engine specs for the view haven’t changed either, but they have for the MB cutaway chassis. I’ll just keep an eye on it for now, since we aren’t ready to downsize until after our upcoming trip.

[Winterbagoal]

Originally Posted by RamblingRV

I was under the assumption that the specs simply hadn’t been updated yet. We shall see, I suppose. The engine specs for the view haven’t changed either, but they have for the MB cutaway chassis. I’ll just keep an eye on it for now, since we aren’t ready to downsize until after our upcoming trip.

As you say, we shall see.

It's difficult to make any reasonable judgements or decisions based on the WGO website, as it does appear to be "half-assed" updated.

I remembered the linked discussion about speed limitations on the 4500 chassis for safety reasons, but never saw a definitive answer, yay or nay, on that one. That sort of MB mandated performance restriction, in the North American market, would certainly be a show stopper for the 4500 chassis as an option here, I will assume.


Enjoy your trip, it will all still be here when you get back from wherever you may be heading out to. We've also got a couple of trips planned for the coming year and I do wish Winnebago would get the new stuff sorted and "out there" so we could make any decisions that might affect our plans.

[Hooligan]

A bit of exaggeration on OCCC. It does not include weight of propane. (like fuel, coolant and oil it is considered chassis bodily fluids). Good discussion here.
New RV weight labels - OCCC replaces CCC

My Sprinter based Thor 24ST, fully loaded- food, clothing, tools, the pre-requisite 1/2 tank of water, full tank of fuel and propane, and necessary cargo is still about 300 lbs under GVWR. This includes myself and a 160 lb Newfoundland. (A large family would quickly use up that 300 lbs.)

The Wayfarer is well built, their molded 1 piece slideout is a good idea.

Sprinter based RV's in general have plenty of power, get good mileage and are comfortable to drive. Like any RV I would be more concerned with layout and accommodation. There is a large variation in price between the various manufacturers.

[LarryinID]

Do you plan any dirt road travel? My two friends with Sprinter chasis MHs get churned on any road with a slight degree of washboard. My 450 Ford is happy as a clam.

Then there is the issue of a diesel generator. If you don’t get one you might be unhappy about propane capacity.