Height of Class Bs

[DeanCHS1980]

Hi All,

My wife and I camp/travel in our 2005 Casita 17’ Freedom Deluxe. In our quest to downsize we have sold our home and moved into a smaller house that we had been using as a rental. We are going to build a metal two bay garage for our Casita and tow vehicle. Even with our axle lift kit, our Casita is well under 9.5’ tall. Due to zoning restrictions and size limits, we would like to limit the height of the two garage doors to 10’. This will accommodate our Casita; however, we are thinking about a small used motorhome in the next year or two to see how we like that style of RVing. We are thinking about a Class B or B+. Generally, speaking I am finding that most traditional Class Bs are under 10’; however, many B+ motorhomes are over 10’ by a few inches. We are trying to avoid 12’ garage doors. Plus, we may be moving at retirement in less than 4 years, so I don’t want to overbuild. We are thinking a traditional used Class B may be the ticket. Is my generalization that most Class Bs will be under 10’, correct?

Thank you,

Dean

[Rockwood27]

Yes, in general, Class B's are under 10 feet. With that said, my Chevy based Roadtrek is 8'-9", a Dodge Promaster based RV will be about 9'-6" tall and a Mercedes Sprinter based Class B is just under 10' tall. I don't think I would want to attempt driving a Sprinter based Class B through a 10' tall door. If you're planning on building from scratch, a 12' tall door should be easy to integrate. I would also specify a door that is 10' wide to clear the mirrors. You need to check the specific RV manufacturer's height specifications in order to be certain of the heights.

[jrobe]

My Sprinter Class B (Sportsmobile) with roof AC is 9' 10". A high roof Sprinter is 9' 0" plus the AC unit is about 10". A high roof Ford Transit is 9' 2" I think.

I keep mine in a rental storage unit with a 10 ft garage door. I have a 5 car garage at my home but with only standard height garage doors and it is cheaper to pay a storage fee than to build or modify my garage. Unfortunately, a "10 ft garage door" doesn't always mean that the finished usable height is 10 ft. My storage unit garage was only 9' 10" but I was able to modify it a little to get an extra 1 1/2" to 2" to make it fit. It is tight though.

If was building a new garage, I would build it with an 11 ft door for a Class B but 10 ft may work if you plan very carefully.

[GeorgeRa]

My high roof Sprinter with MaxxAir opened, no AC fits easily to 10’ high doors.

[Doneworking]

Dean, when we built our present home 21 years ago, we built an attached three car garage with a double garage door for the cars/SUVs, etc. and the third garage was built with a 9x9 door to accommodate our 1996 Roadtrek. Later we got a 2007 Roadtrek 210 and both fit into the third garage.......but pretty tight. The 96 was on a Dodge and the 2007 is on a Chevy chassis. No way I could get any other model in there, with the possible exception of some of the old vintage units made prior to 2000.

As others have stated, you really need to get a twelve foot door. And you need it at least ten feet wide IMO. And that will be tight on a C or B+, probably OK on Bs. If you are going to the trouble of building I would sure recommend 12x12 on the door. Anything else may limit your choices. Also, make it long enough inside so you can work and move all around the vehicle and a toad if you end up towing.

I have wished a million times for a taller door.

[mck150stone]

When I built, the garage door provider said it could be any height in 3 inch increments; with my ceiling height a 10' 9" door was all that I could realistically squeeze in. Just saying don't necessarily think in terms of standard heights being in 12 inch i crements.

Paul J

[michaelingp]

Originally Posted by DeanCHS1980

We are going to build a metal two bay garage for our Casita and tow vehicle.

May I ask where are you getting the garage? I am looking for a manufactured garage myself (not too successfully).

On height I have exactly the same issue. My current B is exactly 9' tall (with AC), but I wanted to make sure future vehicles would fit.

[Knit]

From manufacture specifications online Sprinters with rooftop AC:

Winnebago Era 9’8”
Winnebago Era 4x4 9’10”
Winnebago Boldt 9’9”
Winnebago Boldt 4x4 9’11”
Winnebago Revel 4x4 9’10”
Roadtrek RS 9’9”
Pleasureway Ascent 9’7”
Coachman Galleria 9’9”

[Phoebe3]

Our 2018 Coachmen Crossfit/Beyond was 9' 10" when we bought it, but we added SuperSprings which lifted it by an inch or two. I would guess that it is currently over 10' tall, including the AC unit. At some point we may also get taller tires. I wouldn't attempt a 10' door.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by Knit

From manufacture specifications online Sprinters with rooftop AC:

Winnebago Era 9’8”
Winnebago Era 4x4 9’10”
Winnebago Boldt 9’9”
Winnebago Boldt 4x4 9’11”
Winnebago Revel 4x4 9’10”
Roadtrek RS 9’9”
Pleasureway Ascent 9’7”
Coachman Galleria 9’9”

The 10 ft. overhead door is the finished dimension of the door frame and in the open position the door protrudes in the opening typically about 2-3” because of the spring resistance. It is possible to get most of those RVs in put you would have to have a second person manually shove the door open with a stick to get the last inches open to get in and out.

[avanti]

If you have a good garage door opener, it is possible to adjust the door so as to nearly eliminate the protruding bit. Combination of adjusting the springs and the opener's limit switch setting.

[@Michael]

Originally Posted by Davydd

The 10 ft. overhead door is the finished dimension of the door frame and in the open position the door protrudes in the opening typically about 2-3” because of the spring resistance. It is possible to get most of those RVs in put you would have to have a second person manually shove the door open with a stick to get the last inches open to get in and out.

I'm pretty sure that you can add short extensions to the garage door track, if you have ceiling height. They allow the bottom of the open door to rest above the finished frame.

[mck150stone]

When you get a contractor make it clear what you need in the rough open; my 10' 9" door rough opening was framed at 10' 10 1/4"; 3/4" garage trim and 1/2 trim with the door gave a full 10' 9" opening and the door raises completely out of the opening.

I you don't make it clear what you want you could easily loose 2 to 4 inches because the contractor and door installers are "just doing it their way"

[Davydd]

Standard stock installations will get you with a door leaf protruding down a couple of inches almost always and partly from the track radius. Keep in mind many doors also have weather stripping protruding. Of course you can make adjustments or specifications if you know what you are doing ahead of time but I suspect many don't do that until after the fact or know what to do and are befuddled when it happens. Heck, even stated rough openings are not always built accurately. You know that's a construction term -- "rough" opening is for a reason.

Also, the upfitter manufacturer's heights are not always rock solid accurate. There may a bit of fudge, estimate, inaccurate measurements, just plain rounding off or where the measurement is taken considering a Sprinter roof is not exactly parallel to the ground. If you have a 9'-11" van beware of a 10 foot door. Why the difference between a Winnebago ERA of only 2" between a 2WD and a 4x4 when Mercedes Benz lift is 4"?

[GeorgeRa]

Originally Posted by avanti

If you have a good garage door opener, it is possible to adjust the door so as to nearly eliminate the protruding bit. Combination of adjusting the springs and the opener's limit switch setting.

You are correct, our garage ceiling is 12', garage door frame 10', opened door clearance 10'.

[GeorgeRa]

I found the picture of my door opening. I checked the door frame's 10’ height with Leica D3 after installation. Doors open a little higher as it can be seen on the picture. The builder was aware off my height needs simply by my request of 10' opening, so they gave me 10' opening.

[Davydd]

If you want to be safe, go to a 14 foot high door.

[GeorgeRa]

Originally Posted by Davydd

If you want to be safe, go to a 14 foot high door.

Indeed, good for any ARV Van and for self-esteem. Perhaps a little to tall for an average house.

[Knit]

Originally Posted by Davydd

Also, the upfitter manufacturer's heights are not always rock solid accurate....Why the difference between a Winnebago ERA of only 2" between a 2WD and a 4x4 when Mercedes Benz lift is 4"?

I agree the 4x4 2” difference doesn’t make sense, but this is what was on their specification web page. There must be some marketplace pressure to claim a height less than 10’.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by GeorgeRa

Indeed, good for any ARV Van and for self-esteem. Perhaps a little to tall for an average house.

Did I say anything about Advanced RV? You can't take a joke can you without a personal comment?