Is is possible to combine a Winnebago & Roadtrek?

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by Norcal Mike

Take a look a the Coach House Arriva. It has a twin bed/King layout with a rear bath and a stand alone shower stall.

Coach House deserves plaudits for the Arriva, if for no other reason, because they did some thinking outside the box. AFAIK, it's the only B that has a dry bath that is if anything, incredibly, too spacious! I would have trimmed some of the bath size to permit the beds to be longer than 74 inches which for some guys would be a deal breaker.

Pros:
The whole coach lighting is LED and most important it's dimmer controllable.

The desk behind the driver seat is way cool. It requires no standpipe which for me is a big plus.

Except for the front window, all the blinds are convenient roll downs.

The twin bed arrangement is nice. Rather than hunting and grunting for supporting panels, the beds can be simply rolled to meet at the center.
Even as twins, rather than the typical Sprinter 25" twin dimension, these beds are 28" which has got to provide a more comfortable night's rest.

The dry bath, IMO, is a winner.

Big refrigerator with independent freezer door.

Cons:
The spare is not underneath but held in a Continental swing out. Consequently, the coach LOA is about 25 feet.

There's no underhood generator option. Auxiliary battery capacity is limited and the inverter is only 1 kw.

Because of limited aux battery capacity the refrigerator is a propane/3 way model.

The generator is larger than typically found in a B at 3.6 k. But it's propane fueled and isn't going to run very long before depleting the propane tank.

IMO, if Coach House implemented an underhood generator with 400-600ah of AGMs and a bigger inverter, this could be a strong class B contender.

[SiennaGuy]

Yet another suggestion: Look for a used Leisure Travel Vans Free Spirit SS. Its floorplan is what the floorplans for the Winnebago 70c/70M are based on. You’d get better build quality than the stapled-together Winnebago. You'd also get more of the Mercedes safety options that appear to be missing on Winnebago Sprinters (If I'm wrong, please correct me). You can get information on the Free Spirit SS here:
https://leisurevans.com/free-spirit-ss/

The video, featuring the infamous Dean, is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gy7V0fVKLgc

With the money that you save, go to a place like AM Solar and have them install solar panels, a high capacity inverter, remote auto-start and an underhood generator. I personally like the Victron components, especially it’s optional color graphical centralized control panel. Victron also offers the option of getting info about your RV’s system on your smartphone via Bluetooth.

[Davydd]

My understanding is the two Sprinters with slideouts from Winnebago and Leisure Travel Vans were way overweight or on the verge. They might not stand any upgrades that add weight. Something to think about if you want to modify them.

[BBQ]

Originally Posted by SiennaGuy

...

With the money that you save, go to a place like AM Solar and have them install solar panels, a high capacity inverter, remote auto-start and an underhood generator. ...

+1

You will get a lot of bang for the bucks if you design and install your own solar/battery power system.

[VER_1]

My wife and I looked at Class B Rv's and came to the concusion that for what we wanted was not available on the market for the price we wanted to pay. The ones available in budget were cumbersome, tight and uncomfortable.

The ones we liked had multiple compromises also as that perfect rv just didn't exist. So we compromised with a Class C or as some calll it a B+

Our new RV fits our needs and so far happy with it as it is alittle wider and taller than a class b but we got a good size bathroom, queen bed and booth table and bench seating with a TV in the perfect location. Our CCC Cargo Carrying Capacity is very low but thats ok as it allows us to keep less junk onboard hopefully.

Mileage is good up to 17MPH compared to 8-9 in our class C.

Plus the RV is good looking we believe and offers a killer Truma Combi system that is so quite and effective compared to our old furnace. The fake leather interior is made of a polycarbonate type of breathable material which looks good and I guess is not cheap quality I am told.

We have a three burner stove and a 7 CU FT refrigerator and a onan 2.8 gas generator. Anyways details are too great to list as we paid 1/3 the price of the Class B we were looking at.

Its biggest disadvantage is size to a class B but so far I Love it but time will tell as having a true Class B still has the best advantage of size where it dominates all other Rv's on the road especially the ones less than 9ft tall as they can still get into most drive thru's. Hope this helps and good luck

[sharter]

When I was shopping for an RV my main requirements:
1) Permanent, comfy bed that I don't need to (re)make every day (i.e. no couch)
2) Interior storage for 2 bikes mostly for theft protection.
3) Standard kitchen, fridge, tv, bath (no cassette)
4) Front or all-wheel drive
5) Seating for 3-4
6) Will fit in my garage

Pretty simple list IMHO. But none of the big names had this a year ago. The Hymer came close. I decided on a Safari Condo Flex, and except for #6 (need a new garage\house with 10' door), meets my requirements. I would have considered the Winni Revel if it was available a year ago, but that also comes in at around a $40K premium, so who knows.

I think the RV industry should target the large SUV market, like an $80K Suburban, which means some multi-use space for the occasional soccer mom (e.g. like being able to add a row of seats or two) and a pop-up option to fit in a standard 8' garage.

I sometimes daydream about have a componentized cargo area that I could just back up to and exchange somehow, and available in these modes:
1) Empty - moving furniture, getting some lumber etc for a big project
2) Camping - bath, bed, kitchen, fridge
3) People hauling: 3 rows of seats, tv, fridge
4) Limo: luxury seats, tv, hottub. OK now I'm really dreaming