Steep driveway

[larryousley]

Steep driveway: I would like to buy a class B but my driveway is so steep but I don’t believe it would clear. The angle at the bottom of my driveway is about 30°. I feel extremely blocked by this situation. I hate to have to keep my RV away from my home. Loading it at the street would be difficult again because my driveway is so steep. I love my house except for my driveway. Any suggestions? Thanks ahead of time.

[rowiebowie]

Sounds like your options are very limited. Maybe a short "b" with a lift kit or 4wd? A 19" Promaster Carado or similar? But you have a very big obstacle to overcome.

The 30 degrees is a problem, but also you need to factor your angles (approach, departure, and break-over) for any vehicle you consider.

.

[Alec]

Bought my new 22' Paseo in August, and realized it was low, but I didn't realize how low. It drags on even a slight dip. The first thing was to install drag wheels on the hitch frame, and that helps, but I still have to cross many driveways at an angle. Why Ford put 16' tires on the Transit, who knows. Maybe it was intended as mostly for deliveries around town? So you have to find a short B with reasonable clearance, like Winnebago's new 4-wheel drive Revel, but expect to pay big $.
Alec

[fruch]

The folks at the FitRV made a video that shows how to measure the angle of departure on a vehicle. It shows them measuring their Promaster. :
https://www.thefitrv.com/rv-tips/mea...gle-of-our-rv/

[BillsPaseo]

Originally Posted by Alec

Bought my new 22' Paseo in August, and realized it was low, but I didn't realize how low. It drags on even a slight dip. The first thing was to install drag wheels on the hitch frame, and that helps, but I still have to cross many driveways at an angle. Why Ford put 16' tires on the Transit, who knows. Maybe it was intended as mostly for deliveries around town? So you have to find a short B with reasonable clearance, like Winnebago's new 4-wheel drive Revel, but expect to pay big $.
Alec

Alec, we had the same problem with our Paseo. To fix it, we added SuperSprings helper springs and SumoSprings bumpstop replacements. This combination added almost 2" of clearance at the hitch. I am also planning to install 215/85R16 tires which will add another inch of clearance both front and rear.

The suspension changes do more than just add clearance, they reduce sway, which helps a lot with the transfer of weight from front to rear that happens as you drive through a dip and aggravates that rear overhang.

I did the install myself in the driveway using a 3.5 ton floor jack and 3 3.5 ton jackstands. Took about 3 hours total, including getting out the tools and putting them away afterwards.

[<<B-Guy>>]

Any option to modify your driveway? maybe carve out a level parking spot adjacent to the entry end of the drive and park the van there?

Apart though from the angle of the drive, you may wish to check local bylaws about parking RV's on your property - our city for example permits it in the summer months but not in winter months. Although I was told "off the record" by a bylaw officer that teh bylaw is only enforced if a neighbour complains!

[kite_rider]

Like others have already suggested; check out the Carado Axion. aT 17' 9", it's one of the shortest Class B's you can buy. Like you, I *really* want to have my van in the garage. For me, it's my daily driver that happens to be a camper.

Van life with a steep driveway doesn't come easy! I had to change out my 8' door with a 10' door and I re-located the city water and shore power connections that were mounted below the van (they would scrape if I didn't enter the driveway at an angle).

[Alec]

Bill, will the 215 tires mess up the speedometer?

[BillsPaseo]

Originally Posted by Alec

Bill, will the 215 tires mess up the speedometer?

Yes, the difference in tire size is 6.67% which means at any given speed my speedometer will register low by that percentage. So if my speedometer says I'm going 65 MPH, I'm actually going 69.4 MPH. And if it says 35 MPH, I'm actually going 37.3 MPH. Keeping those two numbers in mind should keep me from getting any speeding tickets.

It also means the gas mileage shown by the computer will be off by that percentage. So if the display reads 12 MPG, I'm actually getting 12.8 MPG.

[booster]

Originally Posted by kite_rider

Like others have already suggested; check out the Carado Axion. aT 17' 9", it's one of the shortest Class B's you can buy. Like you, I *really* want to have my van in the garage. For me, it's my daily driver that happens to be a camper.

Van life with a steep driveway doesn't come easy! I had to change out my 8' door with a 10' door and I re-located the city water and shore power connections that were mounted below the van (they would scrape if I didn't enter the driveway at an angle).

Gotta hate the tough driveways an the downslopers are the worst as they high center you.



With that kind of slope toward the garage, how do you keep the water out? In the south trough drains work well, but I see snow in the pic, and at least here in Minnesota, they freeze up right away in the winter.

[Alec]

Bill, check this out for adjusting the speedometer.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cul...g-speedometer/

[BillsPaseo]

Good idea! I have one of these on my motorcycle, because I changed the gear ratio, but hadn't thought of doing this on the van.

[kite_rider]

Yep, downslopers are 'no bueno' ... It gets real interesting if the driveway gets icy since you are going straight into the house on a slide! This one is heated, but I rarely turn on the heaters since they burn a lot of power.

For drainage, there is a trough drain and though there is frequently snow on the ground the temps tend to stay high enough to keep the drain from freezing. If it gets that cold, there would be no water running around anyway; it's all frozen!


I need to install gutters though, the sunshine melts snow off the roof in the day and occasionally those water drops will freeze on the driveway at night.