We picked up our new B

KcSpikers · 08-01-2019, 09:22 PM

After hundreds of youtube videos. Class B Forum post. Numerous test drives, including Galleria, Era, Travato, Beyond, and Zion.....

We ruled out the diesels.....gas is available everywhere.
We narrowed it down to the Travato and the Beyond.
Ram and Ford can be repaired everywhere.

The Beyond drifted on the highway and I was constantly correcting. The dealer let air out of the tires. Helped a little, but it was just not relaxing to drive.
The seats were not comfortable and had very limited adjustments.
The space between the front seats is very tight when transitioning with size 14 shoes.
The biggest problem however was with my wife’s asthma. We drove it on the highway twice and it was bad for her both times.
We also rented a Coachmen A class and it bothered her.
Must be some material they’re using.
** I'm not saying that all Beyonds drive bad, just the one that I was test driving!

We picked up a 2020 Travato K.
We liked the openness, numerous windows, the front wheel drive of the Travato K, and love the big rear bath! It will fit in a parking space and we can keep it at home.
My Dog, Wife and I are very happy with it.😃

I purchased a Zamp solar portable kit from the dealer also. In addition to the 200w it came with.
It wouldn't work with our controller. After a conversation with Zamp & Winnebago we are exchanging it for a Zamp Solar WINNEBAGO portable kit. My dealer had never been made aware that Winnebago had to have a special kit.
So if any of you Travato owners plans to add a remote solar panel to the side port get the part number USP 1008 140W

rowiebowie · 08-02-2019, 04:31 AM

Congratulations!

You did your homework and it should pay off as you enjoy your new Travato.

mumkin · 08-02-2019, 01:38 PM

Congrats!! Sounds like you make the right choice. Many years ago my father purchased a Datsun 260Z and he had to give it up because he was allergic to it. Good that it set off your wife's asthma before you purchased.

This was my first look at the Beyond. (is it new this year?) It looks very fancy on the website. How much was the price difference between the two rigs?

I'm sure that you will love the Promaster drive once you get used to the steering wheel not tilting, which seems to bother many at first. I recommend that you get Sumos for at least the rear and it will make it even better.

RVNoobie · 08-03-2019, 02:23 PM

"We picked up a 2020 Travato K.
We liked the openness, numerous windows, the front wheel drive of the Travato K, and love the big rear bath! It will fit in a parking space and we can keep it at home.
My Dog, Wife and I are very happy with it.��"

The three of us (boy, girl, dog) have nearly pulled the trigger on a 59K on several occasions over the last couple years for the exact same reasons. Love everything about it, except the driver's seating position and and at least an initial impression of a rough ride. Probably get used to those things though, so one of these may still be in our future. Good luck with your new adventure vehicle.

GBail · 08-08-2019, 05:37 PM

We also considered the Travato and really liked the interior... except for the rear bed.

Even though my spouse and I are thinner than most folks, we found the bed to be too narrow and also too short due to that diagonally cut off end by the bathroom door.

How has your experience been with sleeping on that narrow rear bed?

Royrogers · 08-08-2019, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GBail

We also considered the Travato and really liked the interior... except for the rear bed.

Even though my spouse and I are thinner than most folks, we found the bed to be too narrow and also too short due to that diagonally cut off end by the bathroom door.

How has your experience been with sleeping on that narrow rear bed?

They bought the K model with the twin beds that can convert to a small Queen. Both twin beds are 30" wide.

teck13 · 08-08-2019, 06:36 PM

Strongly recommend rear AND front Sumo’s.

bobcat66 · 08-08-2019, 06:42 PM

You definitely did your homework! Just curious if you considered the Pleasure Way Lexor, also on the Promaster chassis (I don't see it on the list). They have great build quality and a lithium system to run everything but the A/C.

Congratulations on the Travato 59K! They are very nice and extremely popular. We are in our fourth summer with ours and see a lot of them on the road.

KcSpikers · 08-08-2019, 07:03 PM

We bought the model K it has two twin bed that can convert to a queen. You were looking at the G.

KcSpikers · 08-08-2019, 07:29 PM

We did not look at the Lexor. None were available in our area. I do believe they're a very nice unit.
We didn't want the lithium unit. I am not a fan of not having a generator. We had a class C in the past without a lot of fancy gadgets and did just fine. I am happy with using Solar and a generator, or shore power. Just personal preference.

KcSpikers · 08-08-2019, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mumkin

Congrats!! Sounds like you make the right choice. Many years ago my father purchased a Datsun 260Z and he had to give it up because he was allergic to it. Good that it set off your wife's asthma before you purchased.

This was my first look at the Beyond. (is it new this year?) It looks very fancy on the website. How much was the price difference between the two rigs?

I'm sure that you will love the Promaster drive once you get used to the steering wheel not tilting, which seems to bother many at first. I recommend that you get Sumos for at least the rear and it will make it even better.

At my dealer it was about 5k more for Beyond. We had decided on the 59k. Our dealer had ordered some Beyonds, so we waited to for them to arrive. Thought they looked real good on paper. It was not for us.

We are considering the Sumo's and I did play with that steering column a bit.

I have thought about starting a company and using my wife's nose. She can detect hazards in about 30 sec.

KcSpikers · 08-08-2019, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teck13

Strongly recommend rear AND front Sumo’s.

If you ride in the back do the sumos make the ride more bouncy?

Toyman · 08-08-2019, 10:28 PM

One thing you need to be aware or is the Travato can’t (or won’t) be repaired by any/all Ram dealers.

Storysrvwego · 08-08-2019, 11:27 PM

Congratulations KcSpikers on your new 2020 Travato 59K. My wife and spent nearly two years looking over various B's - not becauses we needed 2 years to decide; we purchased when it was right for our budget. Very early on we had determined the 59K met our needs but since we had time, we kept an open mind to others. We stuck with our first pick although there certainly were some other good contenders. No dissapointments! We love ours.

Someone mentioned the non-tilt steering. We to thought that might be a bother since everything else on the planet these days has the tilt. Turns out this was a non-issue. I haven't even thought about it until it came up today in this thread. Oh - I rarely get to drive our Travato. My wife LOVES to drive it anytime, anywhere. I'm ok with that. I play Navigator and sometimes talk across the world on my HF band ham radio while she is driving.

Despite what some may think about a V6 that is used in the JEEP Wrangler, these RAM 3500 EXT's fitted out as a Travato climb hills great and are fairly easy on the fuel. Typical 14.8 - 15.2 measured for us. Can do 18+ but no wind, flat or decline driving and no stop starts in town to get the 8,000 pounds rolling from a lot of stop and goes.

Wind buffeting or push? Sure it's there. But nothing like the MERCEDES, or at least the 2016 I have driven, even with it's dual wheels. Not sure the SUMO shocks are needed but maybe our mostly smooth pavement trips are ok, or maybe if we had the SUMO's, we'd go ah-hah.

Zero issues with the RAM other than the coolant temperature gauge on at least all 2019 and earlier RAM Promasters in the US that I know of, will not read past center of gauge-range. Some of us plug devices such as an UltraGauge (I use the UltraGauge Blue model) to insure we are notified if the coolant temperture is climbing beyond a configurable set point. Its just the dasu gauge that has the problem. The temperature sending unit on the engine works fine, as it reports correct data to the vehicle computer and the same data is presented on the OBDII port under the dash.

Have fun! If you haven't RV'd before, I recommend taking at least one, perhaps two simple overnight trips. That will help you figure out in real use how to run everything. Test everything, even the furnace in Summer just to figure out the controller, propane time to heat up versus electric, etc. Once you get the hang of that control panel and how best to run the furnace and also hot water heat up time on propane versus electric, you will find the TRUMA Combi is outstanding. it just takes a few trys to see how the control panel works. Figure out what you should bring and maybe leave behind on your real trips too. Have fun! It's a great Class B.

KcSpikers · 08-09-2019, 02:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toyman

One thing you need to be aware or is the Travato can’t (or won’t) be repaired by any/all Ram dealers.

According to the business link web site we have 32 dealers nearby currently that can work on it. I looked into that, before purchase.

scooter · 08-09-2019, 12:01 PM

I have a 59K, my Dodge/Ram dealer works on the Promaster part. Winnabago works on the house part. I did read that a T owner couldn't find a dealer to work on his, turns out the dealership in his area didn't have a tall enough building opening or an outdoor lift.

Galavanting Girl · 08-09-2019, 03:09 PM

Hi Everyone, I have been researching the Class B Travato 59K. I really like the layout of it. I'm concerned about the front wheel drive and the size of the motor being able to get up those big mountains out west. I would love to hear from you all about your experience on the power to the motor. Thank you and Happy Travels!

MsNomer · 08-09-2019, 04:35 PM

Why would you be concerned about front wheel drive? This van is a real pleasure to drive. Excellent handling characteristics, tight turning, what's not to love? As for the motor, it handles mountains as well as our Tundra.

Bud · 08-09-2019, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Galavanting Girl

Hi Everyone, I have been researching the Class B Travato 59K. I really like the layout of it. I'm concerned about the front wheel drive and the size of the motor being able to get up those big mountains out west. I would love to hear from you all about your experience on the power to the motor. Thank you and Happy Travels!

Pretty simple, I think.

Each of the 4 vans have plenty of horsepower to go up mountains. Each of the gas rv's have similar hp, noticeably more than any Sprinter. So what's the weak link? The cooling capacity of the radiator system.

For example, my 05/04 Express van will walk off from any Sprinter and zoom up the mountain faster, Fact. But it does not have the cooling capacity to use all that hp 24/7 which depends on how hot the temperature is out, and altitude (less air). If I'm in Dever on the interstate stopped next to a Sprinter and we both go full throttle with temperature 95 degrees F, I'll again walk off and hit 70-75 mph speed limit first. The Spinter will be behind. The Sprinter will eventually pass me before going over the last Mountain pass heading west. Why? I'll slow down some because of the temperature gage on the dash.

I have no idea what that would be like with the Promaster or Transit. I can't imagine that would be a deciding factor when choosing which B.

rowiebowie · 08-09-2019, 10:16 PM

I agree the Chevy Express 6.0L pulls very strong with no want for more power (I really like that).

I have to assume the Transit with the 3.5L Ecoboost would do just as well with the HP/Torque numbers it generates.

I always worried that a gas naturally aspirated V-6 like the Promaster could be a problem in that area. However, I've spoken to several fellow rv'rs with the Promaster and they said power was not a problem. Same for the forums like this I follow where it just doesn't come up as a complaint.

Ps: - Bud, I'll remember to only race Sprinters in cool weather or in short dashes.

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