How many feet is too many?

The 2016 Nexus 27V Viper Class B I just checked out seemed to be base-priced quite fairly for a Class B .... which can sometimes be outlandishly high priced. Of course to really set it up nicely many options from it's extensive list should be chosen .... thus quickly raising it's price into the stratosphere.

The 27V's black tank and propane tank capacities are a bit small. It's furnace capacity is generous. It's air conditioner capacity is a bit small. It's built on the great Ford E450 V10 chassis for overall ruggedness, reliability, ease of getting fuel everywhere (unlike diesel fuel), and ease of getting service everywhere (unlike some of the off-shore chassis making their way into the U.S. market). It appears to come only with slides (which some folks don't care for).

Happy hunting .... and be sure to always look "under the hood" of each motorhome candidate well beyond just floor plans and layout. I always look at specifications FIRST, and then look at the more obvious and visible things. Even crawl under candidates, if you are able, to see how well the coach manufacturer did things where the user can't see it -> for instance you want bundled secured wiring everywhere, high-mounted enclosed plumbing, and a high-mounted built-in generator fueled by the same fuel as the main engine.

Lots of good info here so far! The OCCC is a HUGE consideration that MANY who buy RV's never consider until it is too late. I was one of them. Luckily, it worked out for us given our typical usage.

I thought I would add that as a 24 foot class C owner, when I step into a 30-32 foot RV it feels massive inside! That back queen bed that you can walk around is a game changer. Of course, for our personal purposes, National Parks and State Parks in the West, a larger RV at 30-32 feet as I previously mentioned would not be a good choice for us weekend warrior types as the number of spots available out west are already limited even at 24 feet. But still, after a week long trip in a 24 footer with two adults, two dogs and a kid, I am ready to be home in my California King bed! :)

Just some random thoughts...

pnichols wrote:

littlebee55 wrote:
The one we really, really like is 33 ft from bumper to bumper. A couple things we like to do is stopping at scenic outlooks and stopping at things like "The World's Biggest Ball of String" along the way. Do you think we would be able to do that with a 33 ft? We will also be towing a Corolla.

"Do you think we would be able to do that with a 33 ft? We will also be towing a Corolla." - with all due respect ... no.

Our 24 foot Class C with no towed vehicle and no slides is even too big for us to maneuver and fit at times - especially in the beautiful and often out-of-the-way NF/BLM drycamp sites all over the Western U.S.. One thing that we especially like to do on RV trips is to serendipitously stop at "The World's Biggest Ball of String" type spots along the back roads we like to travel on. Often at these type places we can barely find a spot to park our 24 footer with no toad.

In 24 feet we have such things as:

Two queen beds, one full bed make-up-able from the dinette, one spin/slide lounge chair, seat belt seating for seven when going down the road, a dry bath area with a shower suitable for a 6'3" person, three cooktop burners, one oven, one microwave, one double-door refrigerator, two closets, distributed duct heating, distributed duct air conditioning, five overhead storage cabinets, three under-counter storage cabinets, a bunch of storage drawers, surrond sound throughout the coach, full storage under each dinette seat, and miscellaneous other inside/outside enclosed storage (nothing attached to the outside ladder, the bumper, and no box hanging from the rear trailer hitch) for ...

- indoor window insulation material for extreme cold weather
- portable electric heater
- portable 12 volt fan and it's extension cable
- various spare parts and a bunch of tools
- six outside chairs, with two of them being his & hers full size lounge chairs
- one beach unbrella
- one gas BBQ
- one portable generator to backup the built-in generator
- three chair side-tables
- one large outside serving/eating table
- one inside/outside dog pen
- one outside table top propane cooking burner
- two spare chargers to back up the built-in converter
- tire chains
- vehicle extraction chain
- five full size stair-step leveling blocks plus additional blocks,
- one 12 ton high lift hydraulic jack
- one full power 120V air compressor
- one full size shovel
- a whole array of rockhound tools
- several fishing poles (in a long outside storage cabinet ... NOT in the shower)
- a 15 foot sewer hose plus 5 foot extension
- another 15 foot sewer hose as backup
- 100 total feet of fresh water hose
- full size spare tire
- a 50 foot extension for the 30 foot shore power cable
- two large coach batteries in their own steel lined and ventilated storage area

The smaller the better - but still fully equipped - fits our traveling and camping style.

Thank you for the info. Today I started looking at the Nexus 27V Viper. I like that pretty well, but it's wierd. It is close to or even a little more than the 32P. And you even lose quite a bit of storage.

littlebee55 wrote:
The one we really, really like is 33 ft from bumper to bumper. A couple things we like to do is stopping at scenic outlooks and stopping at things like "The World's Biggest Ball of String" along the way. Do you think we would be able to do that with a 33 ft? We will also be towing a Corolla.

"Do you think we would be able to do that with a 33 ft? We will also be towing a Corolla." - with all due respect ... no.

Our 24 foot Class C with no towed vehicle and no slides is even too big for us to maneuver and fit at times - especially in the beautiful and often out-of-the-way NF/BLM drycamp sites all over the Western U.S.. One thing that we especially like to do on RV trips is to serendipitously stop at "The World's Biggest Ball of String" type spots along the back roads we like to travel on. Often at these type places we can barely find a spot to park our 24 footer with no toad.

In 24 feet we have such things as:

Two queen beds, one full bed make-up-able from the dinette, one spin/slide lounge chair, seat belt seating for seven when going down the road, a dry bath area with a shower suitable for a 6'3" person, three cooktop burners, one oven, one microwave, one double-door refrigerator, two closets, distributed duct heating, distributed duct air conditioning, five overhead storage cabinets, three under-counter storage cabinets, a bunch of storage drawers, surrond sound throughout the coach, full storage under each dinette seat, and miscellaneous other inside/outside enclosed storage (nothing attached to the outside ladder, the bumper, and no box hanging from the rear trailer hitch) for ...

- indoor window insulation material for extreme cold weather
- portable electric heater
- portable 12 volt fan and it's extension cable
- various spare parts and a bunch of tools
- six outside chairs, with two of them being his & hers full size lounge chairs
- one beach unbrella
- one gas BBQ
- one portable generator to backup the built-in generator
- three chair side-tables
- one large outside serving/eating table
- one inside/outside dog pen
- one outside table top propane cooking burner
- two spare chargers to back up the built-in converter
- tire chains
- vehicle extraction chain
- five full size stair-step leveling blocks plus additional blocks,
- one 12 ton high lift hydraulic jack
- one full power 120V air compressor
- one full size shovel
- a whole array of rockhound tools
- several fishing poles (in a long outside storage cabinet ... NOT in the shower)
- a 15 foot sewer hose plus 5 foot extension
- another 15 foot sewer hose as backup
- 100 total feet of fresh water hose
- full size spare tire
- a 50 foot extension for the 30 foot shore power cable
- two large coach batteries in their own steel lined and ventilated storage area

The smaller the better - but still fully equipped - fits our traveling and camping style.

dicknellen wrote:
IMHO if going over 30' you would be happy with a Class A. Dick

Having owned both,I agree.

littlebee55 wrote:

The one we really, really like is 33 ft from bumper to bumper. A couple things we like to do is stopping at scenic outlooks and stopping at things like "The World's Biggest Ball of String" along the way. Do you think we would be able to do that with a 33 ft? We will also be towing a Corolla.

When you aren't towing the Corolla, you'll be able to fit into most anyplace you can find two normal parking spaces end-to-end or a bunch side-by-side. With the Corolla, you need more than two end to end. Scenic overlooks often have lengthwise parking on one side and parallel or diagonal parking on the other, though of course there is a great deal of variability.

Parking in rural areas or suburbia or at strip malls etc. is not, in my somewhat limited experience, a great difficulty with a 32' motorhome. With the towed car, it would be a bit harder, but I don't think a huge difficulty in most cases with a bit of consideration and possibly forethought. Obviously, parking any RV in a city proper can be challenging.

littlebee you asked where to find the OCCC sticker on RVs. I have not looked for this lately as I am not currently in the market. However, 5 years ago, the stickers could be found in drawers, on cupboard doors, and even in closets. It requires some effort at times, since others may be looking inside the RV at the same time. Stick with it though and be suspicious if you can't find one in the rig. Good luck with your search.

mlts22 wrote:
Some Sprinter rigs are riding the razor's edge of being so close to the GVWR that you could pass gas in the rig and be over the OCCC.

Lol! That cracked me up!

Buying an RV is rather daunting. There is so much to learn.

littlebee, we too are currently looking at the Phantom line from Nexus. If I am not mistaken the 32ft doesn't have the bunk/wardrobe option that's on the 36ft. The Phantom line has a 19500 GVWR(or gross vehicle mass (GVM) is the maximum operating weight/mass of a vehicle as specified by the manufacturer including the vehicle's chassis, body, engine, engine fluids, fuel, accessories, driver, passengers and cargo but excluding that of any trailers.) As you probably know the Phantom has a 10,000lb hitch rating.

pnichols wrote:
We just spent around 11 weeks and 10,000+miles in our 24 foot Class C - but there's just two of us and a dog. That's all the length we care to heat, cool, clean, gas up, drive, and park. Sometimes 24 feet is even too long for getting into the real out of the way intimate and scenic little camping spots all over the U.S..

I'd recommend going as short as you can possibly tolerate. As others have said, the layout is more important than the length. Believe it or not, Class C width is also important - for not only getting into many out of the way intimate and scenic little camping spots - but also for crossing the many bridges and traveling the narrow county roads with no shoulders in so much of the Eastern U.S..

The one we really, really like is 33 ft from bumper to bumper. A couple things we like to do is stopping at scenic outlooks and stopping at things like "The World's Biggest Ball of String" along the way. Do you think we would be able to do that with a 33 ft? We will also be towing a Corolla.