pnichols wrote:
anno3 wrote:
However, he did not sit in the driver's seat of this Minnie Winnie because I assumed since it was a Chevy that it would have the same leg room. But, now I am wondering, after looking at the specifications on gowinnebago.com, if it does have the same leg room as the 4500 Chevys. According to the specifications chart the Chevy is only one inch longer than the Ford E350 model.
Be careful thinking that the Chevy 3500/4500 cutaway van chassis offers more "free" leg room than than the Ford E350/E450 cutaway van chassis .... there is a price to pay. That Chevy extra leg room (because their doghouse is further forward) has to come from somewhere. The "nose" of the Chevy sticks out further than that of the Ford, hence a Class C motorhome of the same coach size built on a Chevy chassis will probably be an overall longer vehicle length than that built on the Ford chassis. If you want the most compact (shortest) Class C possible for a given floor plan (i.e. to fit into garages and/or to fit into the very smallest campsites), you probably better choose the Ford chassis.
Here's a quote from another discussion on this very issue: "... I assume it has to do with the cost of the chassis. The Chevy/GMC offers more interior comfort than the Ford, but not as much as the Sprinter. It's power & weight ratings are a little less than their Ford counter-parts making them a great chassis for all but the heaviest of class Cs. They are also a little better on fuel consumption. One thing to keep in-mind, if you are counting inches to store your rig, the Chevy/GMC adds an additional 9" to the front bumper compared to the Ford. I learned that researching rigs that could fit in my 25'-0" deep garage. By default, the Ford gave me 9 more inches to work with."
Here's a link to the entire discussion thread - the quote above is from comments by ron.dittmer starting about a third of the way down:
http://forums.trailerlife.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/26314101/gotomsg/26314316.cfm#26314316
I confirmed what anno3 stated there is a WHOPPING one inch difference between the Ford and the Chevrolet. As I am five foot and eighteen inches in height the additional leg room is worth the one inch. In other posts on this subject it seems that the passenger in the Chevrolet has less heat issues from the doghouse than on the Ford. I do not know about anyone else but if DW is more comfortable then she is probably be happier and remember Tyrone always got smacked by Gladys's purse when she got mad. Back to seating comfort it is not just leg room but seat height also. I had a fabrication shop fabricate an adapter for the drives seat that raised the seat height by four inches and that makes a world of difference in driving.
You might also want to look at the
2014 Forest River Sunseeker 2450 . It is one foot longer than the Winnebago but it does have a rear window is available with the Chevrolet 4500 chassis has a residential size queen mattress a pantry and like the Winnebago a fiberglass roof. To me it does have one downside and that is it that it has a slide but that is just me.
