An older class A for a single traveler
It's me again, the dreamer. But it's all about all you can do though when you're saving up for a motorhome. I know an older class B would be the most practical motorhome for me. Most of the time I ...
Forum Discussion
Gas motorhomes in the 1980s will usually have Ford/John Deere or Chevy (P-30 series) chassis with 460 V8 and C6 automatic on the Ford, 454 V8 and TH475 automatic on the Chevy. These are three-speeds.
In the era before electronic controls, these drivetrains can be matched up with a Gear Vendors over/under drive, for about $3200 - $3600 plus installation. Best use of the combination might involve re-gearing the final drive to optimize 3+overdrive for your load and cruise speed (for some loads, particularly towing, overdrive can be too tall).
For something that cost $7000-8000 to start with, I think the additional cost of the overdrive would best be used to get something new enough to have the more modern fuel injected versions of these big V8s, combined with 4-speed overdrive automatics.
The added cost of the overdrive might even put the budget into the late 90s, early 2000 era, when GM offered the more powerful and economical Vortec engines with electronically controlled automatics, and Ford had made the transition to the Triton V-10.
27 feet usually gets you a bedroom and either dinette or sofa. 30-32 feet gets you a bedroom and dinette and sofa and maybe an easy chair or bigger kitchen or bathroom. You will not find much difference in getting around, finding parking, 27 vs 30 feet.
For concerns about gas mileage, weigh whatever additional cost for overdrive against how far you intend to drive and MPG improvements. I used about $10,000 worth of gas to move my 29-foot motorhome 30,000 miles. That was 8.2 MPG average, most of it in the $3 - $4 per gallon era. A 2 MPG improvement would have saved me about $2000 over that time, not quite halfway to paying for a Gear Vendors installation. Payout would need something like 60,000 to 100,000 miles of driving. I can get the 2 MPG improvement by slowing down 10-15 MPH.
Now that I'm using the motorhome mostly for short trips to the lake, I don't worry about MPG for those trips. I do my travel camping in a full-size van, 15-16 MPG, essentially what you can expect from a 1990s or later B (older ones might be more like 12-13).
In the era before electronic controls, these drivetrains can be matched up with a Gear Vendors over/under drive, for about $3200 - $3600 plus installation. Best use of the combination might involve re-gearing the final drive to optimize 3+overdrive for your load and cruise speed (for some loads, particularly towing, overdrive can be too tall).
For something that cost $7000-8000 to start with, I think the additional cost of the overdrive would best be used to get something new enough to have the more modern fuel injected versions of these big V8s, combined with 4-speed overdrive automatics.
The added cost of the overdrive might even put the budget into the late 90s, early 2000 era, when GM offered the more powerful and economical Vortec engines with electronically controlled automatics, and Ford had made the transition to the Triton V-10.
27 feet usually gets you a bedroom and either dinette or sofa. 30-32 feet gets you a bedroom and dinette and sofa and maybe an easy chair or bigger kitchen or bathroom. You will not find much difference in getting around, finding parking, 27 vs 30 feet.
For concerns about gas mileage, weigh whatever additional cost for overdrive against how far you intend to drive and MPG improvements. I used about $10,000 worth of gas to move my 29-foot motorhome 30,000 miles. That was 8.2 MPG average, most of it in the $3 - $4 per gallon era. A 2 MPG improvement would have saved me about $2000 over that time, not quite halfway to paying for a Gear Vendors installation. Payout would need something like 60,000 to 100,000 miles of driving. I can get the 2 MPG improvement by slowing down 10-15 MPH.
Now that I'm using the motorhome mostly for short trips to the lake, I don't worry about MPG for those trips. I do my travel camping in a full-size van, 15-16 MPG, essentially what you can expect from a 1990s or later B (older ones might be more like 12-13).
