2000 Minnie Winnie 31C - Newbie

j-d wrote:

Not built for offroading. You don't want to rack the coach with a twisting motion. Probably get stuck in anything soft/sandy/muddy/wet, even deep gravel. There will be well over a ton on each of the front wheels.

Any sort of somewhat serious off-roading is certainly not a good idea for most any class C (if not specifically built for that sort of thing), I entirely agree. However, many dirt roads carefully driven over are not a big problem, particularly if one is cautious about things and goes slowly.

Class C motorhomes actually have better traction than one might expect. I had no troubles with mine (on a '98 E-SuperDuty chassis, before it was renamed to be the E450) on some pretty rough roads in Alaska, including construction areas where they were grading or laying down quite a little bit of gravel. Smallish amounts of racking are easily accommodated by the suspension; roads don't need to be perfectly flat and level. Obviously there are varying degrees of these things, and a Jeep or pickup can accommodate significantly rouger conditions than a motorhome.

I suspect the bigger limitations are more related to height, width, length (and hence turning radius), high center of gravity, and ground clearance/breakaway angles. The width and height are especially constraining in wooded areas with low branches.

Howdy, I have a 2003 Winnebago Mini 24V. Just quick comment/recommendation for the corners where the wall meets the horizontal surface in the over cab. I have removed all the aluminum trim and calulked the joints with Proflex, then covered the corners with Eternabond (cut the long way to appropriate width) then replaced the aluminum trim with stainless steel screws. It has held up well for 3+ years. It was a great deal of work but the dam thing would have rotted out without doing it. I learned everything I know about this vehicle from Clouddriver. (member of this forum) He is extremely knowledgable.

Winne calls it a Year 2000. They can do that even though the chassis might be a 1999 Ford. Very often, the Chassis Year doesn't matter much. But 1999 to 2000 in Ford E-Series was a change to "Performance Improved" cylinder heads that raised HP from 275 to 305 and addressed a spark plug issue.
31C is one of my favorite floor plans. I don't know if all of them have an interior "step up" toward the rear. Wouldn't bother me, DW wouldn't want that. It's become popular, by the way, adopted by Forest River in some of their C's.
It can be Leak Tested with a Seal-Tech or other (even home made) pressure tester. Has essentially a furnace blower to apply pressure inside the coach. Then the tester sprays all exterior joints and seams with a bubble solution.
Not built for offroading. You don't want to rack the coach with a twisting motion. Probably get stuck in anything soft/sandy/muddy/wet, even deep gravel. There will be well over a ton on each of the front wheels.