Did you ever consider anything other than a Class B??

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Question;

Have you ever considered anything else besides a Class B unit???

On the one hand...the Class B's are pretty much smaller than most other RV'S... the benefit of being mobile, manueveable and getting superior fuel economy.....I'm very glad I purchased a Class B.....

Probably the biggest deficiency is the lack of space and limited water supply.......we just take less stuff.....

It's interesting to note that the limited space is not usually a weight problem....at least for my rig with the dual wheels and Sprinter 3500 chassis.....

A lot of other larger RVs offer lots of space... but more easily get overloaded with stuff.... causing them to handle poorly and get terrible mileage.....

[BillsPaseo]

We considered everything. We went to a couple of RV shows, sat in all kinds of rigs, from Class A's, to C's, B+'s and B's. We had a small toyhauler before the class B, and we were looking to get a smaller footprint that would be better for getting into remote campsites.

So first we looked at the Class A and C toyhaulers, but while we wouldn't need to tow a trailer behind them, they just felt huge and counterproductive to our goal. Then we started looking at smaller C's and B+'s, but most of them were really lacking in cargo capacity, which means lacking in real world towing ability.

So on to B's...

Then we found the Winnebago Paseo, with almost 2K lbs of cargo capacity. No problem pulling a 2000 lb trailer (300 lbs of tongue weight comes out of that 2K cargo capacity). We drove it, loved it, and bought it...

[Phoebe3]

We owned a cabover for several years, followed by a Class C for several years, and we have towed trailers (rented) and slept in tents.

Now that there's just the two of us, we don't need a lot of space and wanted something for travelling, rather than taking the kids someplace and camping for a week. The Class B is just so much easier to deal with.

The 22 ft is a compromise. I think 24 ft is MUCH more livable and the 20 ft is MUCH easier to get around in, but the downside to each of those options was greater than the benefit.

[markopolo]

I haven't had a fifth wheel yet but can see getting one some day. They'd have more storage space than most trailers. The other types of RV's have all served their purpose for us.

You don't have to limit yourself to owning only one type of RV at a time if you enjoy the lifestyle.

How much you spend on fuel is probably conveniently overlooked by some Class B owners when thinking about the poor MPG numbers associated with large motorhomes.

It is all very much dependent on usage of the RV. One way to look at it would be nights away from home.

Think of the couple who gets away for 6 months every winter in their large motorhome. It's likely 3 days to their wintering ground and 3 days to return home. They have a total of 6 days driving at 7 mpg and maybe 80 days car usage at 20 to 30 mpg running errands and sightseeing etc.

180 nights away in a Class B might mean 80 days van usage at 12 to 18 mpg.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if the fuel cost per night of RV enjoyment is similar if spending a significant amount of time each year away from home.

[mlts22]

My first rig was/is a travel trailer. Worked perfectly when I was doing renaissance faire stuff. However, the TT is too big and awkward to take most places, and I live in an urban area, so the TT sits in storage.

I would have definitely gone with a "B" several years ago, if it were not for some job stuff (one company merged, another company imploded.)

I have looked at other things over the years:

Class "C": Nicer inside for space, but wide, and some roads I take are narrow, and are often traveled by semis going around weigh stations. Two wide vehicles on a two lane road with no shoulders and steep embankments either way is just asking for trouble. Class "C"s also seem to be made cheaper with more doodads that break, than meaningful improvements. With the average "C" having a rubber roof, they require constant checking of the caulk, or else you will pretty much are assured of a leak eventually.

Gasser Class "A": Too odd for me, as if it breaks, the auto company will point to the RV maker, and vice versa.

Truck Camper: Only real viable alternative to a "B", but I have not been impressed with the quality of TCs I've seen.

Which pretty much leaves "B"s, because an automotive place designs and builds them, which has far greater economies of scale than a RV maker.

[g1g]

Tried the C for a while but since we're older and only 2 of us plus the dog even if we take a grandchild along we easily fit in a B. With the better MPG and maneuverability a B was the only choice.

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by mlts22

My first rig was/is a travel trailer. Worked perfectly when I was doing renaissance faire stuff. However, the TT is too big and awkward to take most places, and I live in an urban area, so the TT sits in storage.

I would have definitely gone with a "B" several years ago, if it were not for some job stuff (one company merged, another company imploded.)

I have looked at other things over the years:

Class "C": Nicer inside for space, but wide, and some roads I take are narrow, and are often traveled by semis going around weigh stations. Two wide vehicles on a two lane road with no shoulders and steep embankments either way is just asking for trouble. Class "C"s also seem to be made cheaper with more doodads that break, than meaningful improvements. With the average "C" having a rubber roof, they require constant checking of the caulk, or else you will pretty much are assured of a leak eventually.

Gasser Class "A": Too odd for me, as if it breaks, the auto company will point to the RV maker, and vice versa.

Truck Camper: Only real viable alternative to a "B", but I have not been impressed with the quality of TCs I've seen.

Which pretty much leaves "B"s, because an automotive place designs and builds them, which has far greater economies of scale than a RV maker.

Automotive design build was a huge factor for me..... as well....

The "cheaply made" Class C's are everywhere...I'm not saying that you can't find a good one, but, it's harder to do...and the roof on Class C's are definitely more maintenance intense....

When we almost purchased a Winnebago Navion...the sales guy said...the roof is guaranteed against leaking for 10 years... but, not seams..... yikes, the seams are
roof

As far as space, fuel efficiency and drivability... it's pretty hard to beat a Class B....

[Mfturner]

We owned a TT when the kids were growing up, recently bought a B now that the kids are moving out as our life style is more about traveling. I can see getting something else if our life style settles down, but right now there are a lot of places I still haven't been to, and the B works well for traveling.

[rowiebowie]

Our kids are grown, so there was no question, it was always a class B for us.

We take driving vacations, never camping more than one night in the same place. Driving a class B is a non-issue as it is powerful enough, maneuverable, and parks anywhere. Most importantly, it can park in my driveway at home for the 10 months out of the year we're not using it. But at 15 mpg highway/10-11 around town, it does get use as a second car from time to time.

As for those worried about the confined space in a "B", someone smarter than me said "You don't live in a class B, you live out of a class B."

[Leland]

I love class Bs but I've always loved Chinooks!!

[jamescook]

I'm driving Class B since 2001 now, but my next RV will be something different, with the same dimensions though.

A Sprinter chassis with a glass fiber box-style cabin, fully insulated with an AC that runs on Lithium batteries and solar.

Heres is an example photo
https://www.woelcke.de/files/upload/2018.JPG

What category is this in the US?

Length 19.5 feet
Width 6.5 feet (just like the Sprinter)
Height 9.8 feet (4x4 version)

Are vehicles like this sold in the US?

Peter
(Germany)

[rowiebowie]

Originally Posted by jamescook

I'm driving Class B since 2001 now, but my next RV will be something different, with the same dimensions though.

A Sprinter chassis with a glass fiber box-style cabin, fully insulated with an AC that runs on Lithium batteries and solar.

Heres is an example photo
https://www.woelcke.de/files/upload/2018.JPG

What category is this in the US?

Length 19.5 feet
Width 6.5 feet (just like the Sprinter)
Height 9.8 feet (4x4 version)

Are vehicles like this sold in the US?

Peter
(Germany)

Class "B" motorhomes on the shorter Mercedes chassis exist, as well as on the similar length Dodge Promaster (Ducato) chassis. Lithium technology is coming along, but slowly due to the expense and the growing pains of any radically new technology.

Currently, Winnebago makes the Revel, Pleasureway the Ascent, and Roadtrek the Agile on the short Mercedes. Winnebago offers the Travato 58KL & 58GL on the Ducato van. All offer a lithium option, but the Travato is intriguing because it uses 48 volt technology.

A big difference between US and European campers is that a rooftop air conditioner and a generator is almost mandatory here. Plenty of customers want sufficient battery capacity to power the air conditioner without the need for a separate generator. Most lithium-based systems has eliminated the separate generator and will run the air conditioner for several hours, but then have to start the motor home engine to re-charge the batteries.

The ability to run everything on battery for indefinite time is just not affordable at this point. Although lithium batteries are the future once prices come down.

[ponti33602]

Like many we started looking larger. LTV Unity was her favorite. Then fully understanding how we liked and wanted to travel led us down the "B" path. Again, she really liked LTV and thought the Free Spirit was great.....but wait....they were stopping to make them...............Next came all the full-sized B's from many manufactures. At an RV show she went into the 144" Ascent. Got her thinking that I could maneuver just enough to get it fit into our condominium's garage. Measured height in several places, taped off sections, calculated turn radius..........her brainstorm was we could buy a 144", still travel as she wanted and get rid of her BMW X3. We both walked to work most the time anyway.

Well, she was right.

For all the horror stories you read about regarding bad purchases, most must be related to folks not really understanding how they want to travel/where they want to stay.

[<<B-Guy>>]

Apart from a VW Westfalia camper we owned way back in the seventies when our kids were very little, we have had travel trailers up until now, tye last being a 31 ft Airstream Classic.

They worked very well for us especially as our daughters grew up. Once they were of an age that they no longe5r wanted to go with us, we gave up RV'ing for some years.

When I opted for early retirement about 20 years ago, we got back into travel trailers again and have always owned one until a couple of months ago when I decided to trade in on
a B - which we "should" get delivered to us next month.

Main reason for the switch is that as I age, have been finding towing the large trailer with a 3/4 ton diesel truck to be getting more stressful to the point that our trips were becoming less enjoyable. Same reason i recently sold our Goldwing bike!

So it was a decision whether to give up RV'ing now or maybe switch to something more manageable.

My wife was not at all thrilled with losing all the space we enjoyed in our trailer, but understood that from my perspective it was going to be a "B" or nothing.

Although she still has some reservations, when she saw the inside of a PW Plateau FL, her outlook improved quite a bit! So a 2019 is what we have on order for next month!

Apart from being easier to handle in every way and allowing us to get into spots we never could with our larger rig, I can keep the van at home and so look after it better and I am pretty sure, get a lot more use out of it. I would never bring our travel trailer home from storage for less than a 10 day trip as it just wasn't worth the hassle.

I plan to leave the van pretty much packed and ready to roll at any time so in addition to our normal annual "Snowbird trip" We can jump in any time and go someplace for a couple of days - or even just a day trip.

That is the plan anyway - hopefully it goes the way I am hoping! At leas, having had the much smaller Westfalia for a few years with the two of us plus two babies in it we have some idea what we are getting into!

I have been preparing for the PW's arrival by ordering a Wilco Offroad side swing hitch, a
Swagman RV approved bike rack and a light wt aluminum cargo carrier that i plan to combine with the bike rack for a few light wt yet bulky items.

To sweeten the pot a little for DW, I have told her that if we find the van really too confining for the longer winter trips, then we will just use it to drive to the warmth, then rent a condo or park model trailer! (I kind of hope it doesn't come to that myself!)

Brian.

[jamescook]

Originally Posted by rowiebowie

Class "B" motorhomes on the shorter Mercedes chassis exist, as well as on the similar length Dodge Promaster (Ducato) chassis.
...
Currently, Winnebago makes the Revel, Pleasureway the Ascent, and Roadtrek the Agile on the short Mercedes. Winnebago offers the Travato 58KL & 58GL on the Ducato van.

Are any of these built on a cut-away-chassis, like the one in the photo that I linked to?



Are they still called B+ despite the small size?

[ponti33602]

Originally Posted by jamescook

Are any of these built on a cut-away-chassis, like the one in the photo that I linked to?



Are they still called B+ despite the small size?

Cut-away chassis is a "C" or B+ for the modern crowd. A "B" is always within a "van".

[jamescook]

Then my answer is yes, I do consider anything other than a Class B.

My next RV will be a 20' Class C with a width of 6.5'

Peter

[ponti33602]

Originally Posted by jamescook

Then my answer is yes, I do consider anything other than a Class B.

My next RV will be a 20' Class C with a width of 6.5'

Peter

That is a pretty cool looking rig you posted, regardless of the "letter" :>

[rowiebowie]

Originally Posted by jamescook

Then my answer is yes, I do consider anything other than a Class B.

My next RV will be a 20' Class C with a width of 6.5'

Peter

I did not notice that your picture was a cut-away. Over here, you would not find a cut-away that was only only 6.5 feet wide. Manufacturers only use standard vans for that width and use the cut-aways for the much wider class "C" motor homes.

Now, Mercedes did offer a high-top model that would give you 90-95% of the model in your picture. Will they make that model in the future? I don't know.

Originally Posted by ponti33602

That is a pretty cool looking rig you posted, regardless of the "letter" :>

I agree, it is a neat looking model. Glad you found your "perfect for you" 19' Agile. Don't know how you can get it in a garage due to height; since those models are just as tall as the 24' models; but being able to get by as your only vehicle is great. No second payment, insurance, repairs, etc.

[ponti33602]

Originally Posted by rowiebowie

I did not notice that your picture was a cut-away. Over here, you would not find a cut-away that was only only 6.5 feet wide. Manufacturers only use standard vans for that width and use the cut-aways for the much wider class "C" motor homes.

Now, Mercedes did offer a high-top model that would give you 90-95% of the model in your picture. Will they make that model in the future? I don't know.




I agree, it is a neat looking model. Glad you found your "perfect for you" 19' Agile. Don't know how you can get it in a garage due to height; since those models are just as tall as the 24' models; but being able to get by as your only vehicle is great. No second payment, insurance, repairs, etc.

Our condo building "for whatever reason" was built with 10' clearance. Only building like it downtown.