Hi, all - Newbie with a bunch of questions
Hi, everybody, I've been lurking for a couple of months and finally decided to register and post. We're tent campers who are toying with the idea of a small MH, so I'd like to tap your collectiv...
Forum Discussion
My 2004 vintage V-10 E-450, double-slideout 30 foot house, has averaged 8.2 MPG over 30,000 miles. An earlier E-350 with 460 V-8 might do a little worse with a house that large, a V-10 with a smaller house, especially lower like LazyDaze or narrower like some of the B+ (but not all are narrow) might do a 2-4 MPG better. Driving 15 MPH slower than I drive might do 2-4 MPG better.
Driving a C is a lot closer to driving a medium-size U-Haul vs driving a van or minivan. But not quite the same, because the U-Haul does not extend much past the end of the chassis, and most C's are extended 8-12 foot; even the short ones are extended overhang on a short wheelbase, this is necessary with a RV box to get enough of the weight on the rear axle. It means watching the outside rear corner on ALL tight turns, else you will join the ranks of us who have tagged something with the rear of our motorhome.
Big and growing teen boy, you want a C with an overhead bed. Think of it as his private space, then work out how much length and floor plan you need to get the space you need for living and sleeping. Don't worry too much about 23 vs 28 vs 30 feet. They don't handle that differently over that size range, length has almost no effect on MPG, and once over 19-20 feet long you are already looking for two parking spaces instead of one. And two spaces is good for up to 32-34 feet, if you are not towing and can parallel park.
Since 2005, I've averaged about $4000 a year in fixed costs (insurance, storage, depreciation, licensing, cost of money) plus $0.40 a mile in operating costs (fuel, oil and transmission fluid changes, tires) but not including food, LPG, camping fees, camping equipment. The fixed costs are going down as depreciation plays out (first year was almost $8000, and I bought used) but operating costs are going up with the price of fuel and tires, almost $0.50 a mile just for gas now.
I would not have any issues with Chevy/GMC G-30 or Express 3500 chassis as alternative to Ford. The drivetrains are just as good, and in smaller RVs of similar vintage, you might even expect slightly better MPG from a GM 350 V-8 or Vortec 5700, Vortec 6000, compared to the larger Ford engines. Depending on age of a C, you may be more likely to find it on a Chevy platform, because they took over the market from Dodge, and were there quite a while before Ford came in with a heavier van chassis that made it easier to build larger RVs.
Vintage and construction. I know LazyDaze builds an aluminum-covered wood-frame house. I don't know what Chinook was doing when. Most of the RV industry started out building wood-frame houses, and over the years worked their way toward single laminated panels for each side of the box, or at least two side walls. What was inside those panels evolved from steel and wood framing to aluminum framing to no framing, just aluminum reinforcement of composites, skin over structural foams or honeycombs. Timing varies quite a bit, Winnebago pioneered laminated walls in the late 60's, some other manufacturers stayed with wood framing well in to the 90's. It mostly depended on production volume, some small volume hand-built RVs are still wood framed. Any construction can be well built or poorly built.
Driving a C is a lot closer to driving a medium-size U-Haul vs driving a van or minivan. But not quite the same, because the U-Haul does not extend much past the end of the chassis, and most C's are extended 8-12 foot; even the short ones are extended overhang on a short wheelbase, this is necessary with a RV box to get enough of the weight on the rear axle. It means watching the outside rear corner on ALL tight turns, else you will join the ranks of us who have tagged something with the rear of our motorhome.
Big and growing teen boy, you want a C with an overhead bed. Think of it as his private space, then work out how much length and floor plan you need to get the space you need for living and sleeping. Don't worry too much about 23 vs 28 vs 30 feet. They don't handle that differently over that size range, length has almost no effect on MPG, and once over 19-20 feet long you are already looking for two parking spaces instead of one. And two spaces is good for up to 32-34 feet, if you are not towing and can parallel park.
Since 2005, I've averaged about $4000 a year in fixed costs (insurance, storage, depreciation, licensing, cost of money) plus $0.40 a mile in operating costs (fuel, oil and transmission fluid changes, tires) but not including food, LPG, camping fees, camping equipment. The fixed costs are going down as depreciation plays out (first year was almost $8000, and I bought used) but operating costs are going up with the price of fuel and tires, almost $0.50 a mile just for gas now.
I would not have any issues with Chevy/GMC G-30 or Express 3500 chassis as alternative to Ford. The drivetrains are just as good, and in smaller RVs of similar vintage, you might even expect slightly better MPG from a GM 350 V-8 or Vortec 5700, Vortec 6000, compared to the larger Ford engines. Depending on age of a C, you may be more likely to find it on a Chevy platform, because they took over the market from Dodge, and were there quite a while before Ford came in with a heavier van chassis that made it easier to build larger RVs.
Vintage and construction. I know LazyDaze builds an aluminum-covered wood-frame house. I don't know what Chinook was doing when. Most of the RV industry started out building wood-frame houses, and over the years worked their way toward single laminated panels for each side of the box, or at least two side walls. What was inside those panels evolved from steel and wood framing to aluminum framing to no framing, just aluminum reinforcement of composites, skin over structural foams or honeycombs. Timing varies quite a bit, Winnebago pioneered laminated walls in the late 60's, some other manufacturers stayed with wood framing well in to the 90's. It mostly depended on production volume, some small volume hand-built RVs are still wood framed. Any construction can be well built or poorly built.
