B+ motorhomes

Early on, as a newbie, when I got into this thread when it was in the B forum, I was not interested in the truck chassis, but the coach size functionality (toadless, maneuverable, etc.). So to me, B+ simply meant a little bigger than B, and I sensed that there was a lot in common with people who own Bs.

As the B+ started stretching out well beyond 22 ft, it became obvious that the B+ rigs like our TLs, BT Cruisers, Phoenix, Lexington, and the like are only barely different from a C w/o an overcab bed. But it was just these type rigs that were what most RVers understood to be described by the term B+. The B style functionality took on less and less importance.

I never thought the B+ (or Super C) subforum should be created, if they are all Cs - the forums were already too divided-up.

But the subforums WERE created - there is a B+ subforum.

The point I make is that, if the B+ distinction actually has any validity, it is that there are many old, current, and surely soon to exist small, streamlined motorhomes built on chassis-cabs that ACTUALLY DO hold true to the spirit of B-Plus (like the Ford Transit Euro C class in the pics below).

Because these more pure B+ designs (other pics below) are uniquely different from either RV.net B or C class distinction, they tend to go away and form small users groups elsewhere, instead of finding a place to discuss their rigs in the B+ subforum.

burlmart wrote:
All points raised here seem right to me. The classification of MHs certainly has its purpose, but it causes problems as well. I think the RVIA recognized this with their current new classification scheme even if is conveniently ignored by almost everyone; it is quite loose with drawing boundaries, and people like to maintain boundaries.


Around 2001, Trail Lite (TL) creatively used “B-Plus”



as a model name for its new lower-cost line of small, streamlined Cs, that were a bit larger than the popular Cs from Chinook



and Dynamax (Starflyte)



which they emulated. Well-known Born Free



was and still is another long standing builder of this style RV.


I think it has been posted by others that use of the term B+ to designate a category of MHs seems to have arisen amongst mfgrs like Phoenix,



Gulfstream,



etc.





who had similarly popular models like the TL B-Plus.


These smaller rigs, whether they be called B+s or small Cs, all share a common intended functionality with camping van conversions (Class Bs)



but draw upon the major benefit from starting on a bare chassis (Class C) and thus are not subject to the serious constraint on living space that confronts Bs as they attempt to stay within the van box.


With the tenacious adherence to hard-drawn classification boundaries, too much energy is spent on the forums explaining, for instance, that this



is a Class C, and this



is a Class B campervan. As weird as these cases seem - and they are weird - what is gained from such silly discussion?


In hindsight, had the Euro term 'low-profile C Class'



been adopted, there may have developed a more robust version of the B+ subforum that might better serve owners of the many unique rigs


















As things stand now, the more novel styles above find it hard to gain an audience and tend to fall between the classification cracks. The price for being different, I suppose.