Forum Discussion

jjson775's avatar
jjson775
Explorer
Feb 14, 2014

Houston RV show

We were very disappointed with the RV show in Houston last weekend. There were no Pleasure Ways or Leisure Travel vans at all and only one Roadtrek, an economy model that is very nice. There were a number of Sprinter conversions from various manufacturers but we want something on a Ford or Chevy chassis.
  • I have to agree with mlts22. We have temperate climate here and seldom experience Texas-like temps. I once ran my generator to run aircon for 2 hrs and it really sucked the propane! I just prefer the driving dynamics of the Sprinter but I am a great fan of V8 gassers. I am not sure how it works with the upper 3/4 of the tank if your gastank is 1/2 full. Could you run out of fuel before you hit the road or is there a reserve cut-off, which I suspect there is. Say it is true?
  • Those reasons are exactly why I like gassers, not to mention the fact that a gas rig, the generator uses the upper 3/4 of the fuel tank, so in the hot Texas summer, running the A/C is less of a bother than trying to run it from a propane generator which is usually the generator that comes with a diesel "B".
  • jjson775 wrote:
    A diesel has no appeal to me. We traveled for 7 years in a Pleasure Way Excel with a 5.4L Ford V-8. Zero maintenance other than oil changes. We consistently got 13 - 15 mpg. Yes, you get better mileage with a diesel but the fuel costs more. I haven't run the numbers but it must really take a lot of miles for the premium you pay for a diesel engine to pay out, at least on a Class B. If you need service, every little town has someplace to get work done on a Ford or Chevrolet engine.


    These reasons also pointed me toward a gasoline powered rig.

    Gerard
  • I've gone to the Houston show before. They have a lot of nice rigs, but, rarely, do I see B's. Pretty sad, because, there are a lot of retirees that would really like the B, but, no one is at the Houston show representing the industry. The only B dealers, in Houston, are Roadtrek and 1 small Pleasureway dealer. So, that's all that sells. I always hope some of the other dealers will show up at the show, but, they never do.
  • A diesel has no appeal to me. We traveled for 7 years in a Pleasure Way Excel with a 5.4L Ford V-8. Zero maintenance other than oil changes. We consistently got 13 - 15 mpg. Yes, you get better mileage with a diesel but the fuel costs more. I haven't run the numbers but it must really take a lot of miles for the premium you pay for a diesel engine to pay out, at least on a Class B. If you need service, every little town has someplace to get work done on a Ford or Chevrolet engine.
  • The Ft. Worth RV show a couple weeks ago had a pretty good showing of all the Class B's. The Dallas RV show is next week and if history is any indicator the same dealers will be there that were at the Ft. Worth show. I've always felt the Dallas RV shows are a bit bigger and better than the ones in Ft. Worth, so there might be even more to see there next week.
  • Since they don't have diesels yet they can't compete with the Benz. Nissan will probably be first to come up with it in there high cube, which will be a world class unit like Benz, used for delivery and RVing.