New 2015 Pleasure-Way Lexor on Ram ProMaster

[gerrym51]

delete

[Davydd]

The generator is a gas generator so the 5.9 gallon net propane will easily get you up to two months on the road even if you ran your refrigerator driving with propane. At least I could. We drove to Alaska and back over a 3 month period on one tank at 8 gallons net. A bigger tank would add considerable weight and what would it really get you? With solar and two house batteries I am kind of surprised they did not consider a compressor refrigerator.

All in all it is a proven design for two people, spacious looking on the interior, nice bath, plenty of accessible storage and quality construction. We know they don't have an above grade hassock blocking water tank and a need to plug into shore power or run a generator for hot water. They have pretty good tank capacities so I would be curious as to how they accomplish it with a gravity black and grey dump that works.

[wincrasher]

The limiting factor on this van, as far as how long you can dry camp, is going to be fresh water. With everything lp or native 12v, those two batteries with the solar should be no problem.

I don't really care for the bathroom - I think trying to protect that wood with a shower curtain is going to make you do a lot of shuffling around and may impact your ability to conserve water. I still think the tank is below that forward locker. The water heater looks to be an on-demand gas type, which seems to be becoming more common for some reason. Does it save space? Supposedly it's 30% more efficient. I'd rather have a traditional gas/110v type. 6 gallons of lp won't go very far if all your hot water must be generated by it.

Interesting that the floor is raised in the back. The stock van is not like that, so I wonder what is going on there/ reason for it.

I'm trying to get to Hershey this week, so maybe I can answer some questions on it Friday.

[stanw909]

I like that rig a lot except the ultra leather. I guess that's the way of the world now. I like cloth upholstery. I and my wife have short stubby legs so when we sit on the couch we slide. Roadtrek had an Ultra Suede a few years back that was good but don't know about Pleasure Way. It looks like they took advantage of the extra width to get a bigger bathroom but I'm with Windchaser on the wood. Complicates the shower. Fancy but impractical. I like a wetbath the just needs a squeegee. Probably would save money also. I do like the kitchen on the drivers side for driving visibility and campsite view. I don't understand any floor plan the has you looking at your neighbors.

[gerrym51]

Originally Posted by wincrasher

The limiting factor on this van, as far as how long you can dry camp, is going to be fresh water. With everything lp or native 12v, those two batteries with the solar should be no problem.

I don't really care for the bathroom - I think trying to protect that wood with a shower curtain is going to make you do a lot of shuffling around and may impact your ability to conserve water. I still think the tank is below that forward locker. The water heater looks to be an on-demand gas type, which seems to be becoming more common for some reason. Does it save space? Supposedly it's 30% more efficient. I'd rather have a traditional gas/110v type. 6 gallons of lp won't go very far if all your hot water must be generated by it.

Interesting that the floor is raised in the back. The stock van is not like that, so I wonder what is going on there/ reason for it.

I'm trying to get to Hershey this week, so maybe I can answer some questions on it Friday.

Wincrasher-i can't be sure but part of the raised floor could be a holding tank. some truck campers have their gray tanks as the floor-just maybe?

[Davydd]

The fresh (29 to 22), grey (22 to 14), black (12 to 11) tanks exceed the Travato by a pretty good amount. So if that is a limiting factor then the Travato is more limited. Actually the tank capacities are pretty much equal to Sprinter T1N models. As for the bathroom, I had that similar bathroom in our 2005 Pleasure-way Plateau. It is not a water waster and easy to shower in with not a lot of wasted room for a B. The curtain is a godsend to my wife because it prevents the need to squeegee the plastic walls which she would insist on doing with no curtain. The bathroom has always been a strong point with Pleasure-way. On demand hot water should save energy and I have enough experience to know that propane will last over a pretty lengthy trip as I stated before. Besides it is a bigger tank (8 to 6) than the Travato isn't it?

I had cloth seats and sofa in my Pleasure-way and Ultra-leather in my GWVan Legend. The Ultra-leather is easier to keep clean and there is not much slippage. I thought it looked a bit better too. My next B will be real leather with accent stitching so will have the experience of all three.

They have improved the under sofa/bed storage over my former Plateau with a lot less support rails and stands in the way. That storage is pretty ample and not in the way or need to be moved around to make up a bed. As I mentioned before, all the cabinetry is conveniently accessible from inside the B.

It is definitely a two person B and no more. But if one does want to entertain guests the sofa has seat belts and sitting around a table is more luxurious and spacious than those squeeze in front arrangements. After a decade we are eliminating that as well in our next B. We never entertained inside so decided no compromise. We will have a well zoned living/sleeping B with no conversion setup steps to make it that way (i.e. turn down a bed). We've made three lengthy thousand plus mile trips with all our grandchildren. That is out of our system and now that they are getting older we don't ever plan that again. I just don't think Bs are big enough for more than 2 people. Yes it can be done in a pinch but it is not a desirable situation compared to other RV choices.

The bed is a full 73 inches wide vs. 46 inches on the Travato. If one doesn't think that significant one ought to go out on an extended trip with a partner first before thinking otherwise. Or if you like to use sleeping bags in cold weather as we do, try squeezing in two 36 inch sleeping bags in a 46 inch space.

Lastly, there is no comparison in quality between this P-W Lexor and the Winnebago Travato from materials, finish to systems, IMO.

[markopolo]

Good eye for detail noticing the raised floor.



It is not raised much. Could be just to keep some plumbing lines and electrical in the coach rather than under the coach. It has a secondary benefit in prevent item in the "trunk" from sliding forward. The pass through is a handy feature.

Hope you get to Hershey Wincrasher - it'll be interesting to read about your observations.

[Davydd]

We had the pass thru feature in both our Bs with electric sofa/beds. It was beneficial for getting at storage under the sofa and hauling 2x4s from Home Depot. Our GWVan Legend has a hung Ultra-leather curtain. It looks tackier than the P-W wood door but makes it more convenient, travels forward with the bed turn down and our cat loves it.

[gerrym51]

Davydd i was intrigued by your comment that your propane tanks was 7 gallon(net5.9)


i looked up the specs of both your old vans. 2005 was 12 gallon-2011 was 9.9(2012 specs i could not find 2011) don't know if 9.9 was a net.sounds like 80 percent of 12 gallon tank.

just wondering. these are a long way from 7 gallon(5.9) net.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by gerrym51

Davydd i was intrigued by your comment that your propane tanks was 7 gallon(net5.9)


i looked up the specs of both your old vans. 2005 was 12 gallon-2011 was 9.9(2012 specs i could not find 2011) don't know if 9.9 was a net.sounds like 80 percent of 12 gallon tank.

just wondering. these are a long way from 7 gallon(5.9) net.

Maybe I got my semantics wrong. I was comparing Lexor to Travato. But in my initial comments about knowing the Lexor could last on trips I said two months when I knew my larger tank could comparatively do 3 months if not running an Onan generator which I never did on our Alaska trip. The thing is Wincrasher made a comment that it was inadequate even though the Lexor tank was bigger than the Travato.

The 9.9 for the GWVan Legend is the tank, not net. I hadn't even seen net capacities listed until this year. It is all kind of confusing because they list tanks by weight and by gallons. Traditionally listing by weight was the norm.

[wincrasher]

I'm just questioning the amount of gas the on-demand heater would use.

I have one at the house. When it's on, it uses ALOT of gas. The key to it's efficiency is that it is off most of the time.

With only 6 gallons of gas on-board, using it for this water heater, plus the fridge, plus the cooktop how long could you go?

With running the heater, I'd say a few days. If not, then these other appliances, particularly the water heater, may still eat gas at a good rate.

[wincrasher]

As far as quality goes, I guess you are using the cabinetry as a measure of quality. Perhaps it is all hardwood, I don't know. I suspect the structure is coated plywood just like everyone else with solid hardwood doors. All the hinges and clasps are the same as everyone else.

I don't know of anyone being left on out of commission due to cabinetry or upholstery. If anyone has, then that would be an interesting story to hear.

Note the cab areas are exactly the same - including the fabric front seats. As others have noted, the RV manufacturers can't touch the cab interior for a variety of reasons - they have to take it as provided by Dodge.

All the hardware bits, though, particularly the appliances, are the same as everyone else. In fact the refrigerator and cooktop are the same as in the Winnebago units. The water heaters are different, but they are either dometic or atwood, same as everyone else. The microwaves are the same. The water pump is likely a shur-flo, just like everyone else. Same with the converter - Progressive Dynamics.
So where is this great leap in quality in the systems?

[archeogal]

Does anyone know if this PW Lexor ProMaster will have an option for a side screen door? I am really dismayed that more of the Class Bs are not putting this on as standard. I think it must mean that their engineers do not really take the time to live in one of these before doing the final design. Great West has been doing this for a while, but few others have picked it up. I know that Advanced RV says that they will install a screen door after-market, but. . . Not sure whether they would really have the time. A dealer told me, in response to questioning adding a screen door to a PW Ascent, that it can be done fairly easily for the back door, but is very difficult, by which he seemed to mean impossible, to add to the side door after market.

[wincrasher]

All of the screen doors I've seen for the Sprinter are rather appalling. The one on the Arriva is not too bad, it's split - one half is fixed, the other is a sliding door.

The Winnebago has the best for the Promaster. It's a collapsing type that spans the whole width of the door. They didn't invent it - it's a part widely used in Europe on the Ducato vans. So if you couldn't get it from Pleasureway, you could always just buy it from Winnebago, or get it from any number of other suppliers.

It was an $168 option on Travato, so I can't imagine it would cost much more from anyone else.

[kmgebhardt]

What about carrying capacity? No information on PWs website.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by kmgebhardt

What about carrying capacity? No information on PWs website.

The GVWR of a Promaster is 9,350 lbs. vs. 10,360 for a Ford Transit and 11.030 lbs for a Sprinter. They are all expected to carry a couple of people, baggage, toys, water, waste, and similar appliances and equipment. You can do the math. The main differences would have to be tank capacities as few other things could be sacrificed.

[gerrym51]

Does anyone know if the pleasure way promaster comes with a spare tire. before you say 'of course it does' please show me where this says in print.

the reason i ask is if the Onan goes where the underfloor spare would.where does the spare go.

The Travato does NOT come with a spare tire-so says wincrasher

[bobojay]

Originally Posted by Davydd

The GVWR of a Promaster is 9,350 lbs. vs. 10,360 for a Ford Transit and 11.030 lbs for a Sprinter. They are all expected to carry a couple of people, baggage, toys, water, waste, and similar appliances and equipment. You can do the math. The main differences would have to be tank capacities as few other things could be sacrificed.

Wasn't the T1N Sprinter like your PW pretty close to the same GVW as the Transit?

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by bobojay

Wasn't the T1N Sprinter like your PW pretty close to the same GVW as the Transit?

Surprisingly not! I have my old original 2005 Pleasure-way catalog and they say the GVWR is 8,550 lbs. The size is most similar to the Ford Transit with a 158" wheelbase and 21'-9" length.

[Davydd]

Here is the Pleasure-way Lexor Promaster video.

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