Making the jump to class C...any advice?

In Cali. that is a really good price range to buy in.

Jose

eabc,
That is a beautiful coach you have there and I love the A/C blend, maybe someday....

Thank you all for the advice so far!! We definitely have a lot to think about. We are going from a 34' 5er with a garage to the smaller C. We never really filled the garage with too much stuff, but will definitely need the bike carrier. We get excited thinking about taking trips in a C, and less bathroom stops with 2 young kids would be nice. There will be a little learning curve to not having a vehicle once we are there. I like the rental idea for longer trips. We typically don't leave the campground once we are there either. In fact, we try not to spend much time in the rv except at night.
Right now we are torn because our budget is around $22-$24k. At that range we can get a newer rig with many miles, or an older rig with around 20-40k miles. We really like the looks of the newer rigs, but I'm not sure I want to take on one with 90k+ miles.

We went shopping for a C, and got the ACE by Thor. Ours is 30'10", and has an overcab drop down bed. We have had a great experience with ours, and love the options that came with it. ACE stands for A/C Evolution, so it has features from both the Cs and As. They also have a 27' and 29' option, with two floor plans in the 29' model.

Whatever you choose, happy camping!

We went from an 35' A to a 29' C.

We just downsized from our 5th wheel to a small C. My advice:

1. Consider how you use your RV. (Are you weekend warriors or do you go for weeks at a time? Do you camp with full hookups at resorts where you don't need to leave the property or do you use your campsite as a base camp to explore other local destinations? Do you go prefer rugged terrain or full service?)

2. Make a list of the things you love and hate about your RV. (Too big, hard to park, hard to set up; tons of storage and space, comfy beds, big storage tanks, etc.). Then weigh them against each other, and see what you are willing to sacrifice.

Ultimately, we made the change because I was too nervous to drive the 5er, which left my hubby stressed out and never wanting to camp as he always had to do the driving, parking, leveling, etc. Yes, the outside kitchen and all that storage and space was awesome, but when we really considered how we camp, we didn't need any of it.

We only camp with full hook ups. Hubby is not one to "rough it" and he'd rather be at a 4 star hotel any day, so I concede we will never go anywhere without full hookups. But, that is why there are so many camping options...something for everyone.
Our kids are outside 24/7 playing with friends, cousins, etc., and only in the camper to sleep. Or play a game if it's raining. That requies a place to sit and place to lay down. All the extras are nice but truthfully they need a dinette and a bed, that's it.

We liked the idea of being able to unhook and have our tow vehicle to drive around, but we never did. We always camp with friends and never find a need (or time) to leave the campground.

So after weighing everything, a smaller class C that I'm comfortable driving, parking and setting up made a lot more sense. We went with the smallest unit that fit our needs so that we can use it for other things too, like tailgating, as a base-camp for day trips to softball/baseball tournaments, horse shows, beach or amusement park trips, etc.

There are so many options, there really is a great fit out there for you. Unfortunately it took 3 tries to get it right for us, but we were new to camping. It sounds like you've been campers for a while so you should have a much better idea of what you're doing than we did! Good luck!

We have no problem getting out Sunseeker 3010 in almost anywhere. We love the quick setup takedown. I think fiberglass roof, one piece fiberglass cap, no window in front, full body paint for rigs stored outdoors is a must.

I don't have any problem not having the leveling jacks. I carry two bags of blocks, even in the worst circumstance, 5 min I'm leveled.

We love the big kitchen in out 3010. That was my wife's most important feature. The cab over bunk is awesome. We have a extra deep foam cushion for anyone who sleeps up there. We regularly sleep 6 adults though admittedly my boys wife and girfiriend are small. But four adults and several kids in the 3010 is easily doable.

We love it really.

I have it for a year and spent 50 days and 9000 miles in the rig and I still couldn't be more excited about my purchase.

I think this class c size is the perfect size to still get you in all state parks but it looks great and ours drives very good. We did have a front end alignment done at 5000 miles which really helped.

We do have a dolly that we initially towed out pt cruiser on. However, the cruiser was old and eventually bit the dust ans we bought a new grand Cherokee. we have rented cars at our destination but but the end of the year I will be setup to flat tow the Cherokee.

When we were in Colorado recently a family had a Sunseeker 3020 model towing a grand Cherokee. He had almost 20000 miles towing the grand Cherokee all over the United States and a lot out west with no problems. So I was excited to talk with him.

Anyway, there are a lot of Class C's out there. The engine drive train is very reliable
But they certainly are more bumpy on bad roads than having a full air ride suspension of a class a.


Mike

We are a very similar story to Wbwood, except our TT was a 23 footer. The thing about size is that we're actually shorter now with our 31 foot C than we were with the truck and trailer in full travel length. And so far we've found backing into spaces to be a bit easier. And parking for grocery stops, sightseeing etc. hasn't been any more difficult than with the TT, actually since we take up less room now, it is not a big deal at all – we just look for space at the back of the parking lot where we can pull through and take up two spaces.

Wbwood has a good point to think about toad or no toad. We decided to try several trips before making the decision, and we’ve decided that for the time being we’re doing just fine without one. We have our bikes on a hitch mount and can get around on them for stuff nearby and when we do need a car we can call Enterprise. Enterprise worked out great on a recent long trip where we stopped for a few days in one spot to visit family and friends, a little rental to bop around town for the few days we needed it, then hit the road afterwards without messing with hooking up or towing.

With your toyhauler and truck, you’ll want to think through what you carry along in the garage and truck bed that you might need to re-think. One thing we did give up is our hard kayaks. We’re in the process of transitioning to inflatables (a new inflatable SUP arrived last night – can’t wait to try it this weekend!) Since we decided to go no toad and really have no desire to heave them up to the roof, we were really short on options, and the inflatable route seemed like the best fit for us (plus we regained a ton of space in our garage, bonus!) The bikes transitioned nicely from the truck bed to the hitch-mount carrier, and the other things we used to carry in the bed were a generator (no longer necessary - onboard Onan with the flick of the switch is sweet!) and the wheeled blue tote (also no longer necessary as our tanks are bigger now, we went from 29 to 41)

We couldn’t be happier with our move to a C. I figured we would like it, but not as much as we do!

We love our Forest River Sunseeker. Has the seamless endcap over cab so less chance of leaking. Fiberglass roof. Ours is the 2450 and has plenty of sleep space. The U shaped dinette makes a good size long bed. We have the corner bed which works well for us. Love the Serta pillow-top mattress. They have several floor plans.

Forest River Sunseeker

ThePerks....we moved up from a 31' bunkhouse travel trailer to our Class C. We decided it would fit our family and lifestyle better as well. There are only 3 of us and the bunkhouse was an overkill. We were worried about the parking issue as DaHose mentioned. We knew our TT and Supercrew F250, would be too much for some of the areas we wanted to camp and so we made the move.

We started off looking at the 24' models. They would suffice, but we decided we did not like the corner beds surrounded by 3.5 walls. We wouldn't want to be climbing into the bed or over one another. So we moved up to looking at others. There was not a 26' on the lot. Only a 28' and a 31'. We almost went with the 28'. It had a queen bed that you could enter from both sides. It didn't have much of a wardrobe option either. It was also white in color. We then looked at the 31' model. First thing we liked was the full body paint. The bedroom was set up different to where the bedroom had a slide and it has a full wall wardrobe area. Much more than the other class c and more than the TT for sure. The only thing that we liked about the 28' over the 31' was the bathroom. The 28' had antirely seperate bathroom. The 31' had a seperate toilet sink area that closed off with a door, but the shower was across the hall from it. The bathroom door opens up and closes off the rest of the camper from the area nad you can pull the blind door on the bedroom if you need total privacy.

After talking to the Sales Manager, we opted for the 31'. We got it for nearly the same price as the 28' non painted model that was offered. We love our class c. It makes much more sense to us. While the tanks are about half the size of the TT, we have found that we can go an entire weekend without issue. Of course we haven't tried the water tank yet to see how long we can go on that. We will soon though. We will have to add some water at some point I can imagine. We learned how to monitor our water consumption more. I added the oxygenics shower head, which helps a lot. I can actually park this at home as our driveway slopes down towards the house. I set the parking break and have large ruber chocks assisting. When we get ready to go somewhere, I just pull it up to the top of the driveway and plug it in there. I couldn't park the TT like that with no braking on it. I had it in the yard on the side of the house for a while, but it became a pain in the butt to pull in and put away. We always had t owatch the weather and if it was going to rain anytime close to a camping trip, I would need to pull it out onto the top of the driveway.

It's so much easier to go on a trip for us. All we do is load clothes up and any other miscellaneous items and go. I might stop by the grocery store on the way home from work and pick up stuff for the meals the morning we leave. Other than that, we just go park it in the grocery store parking lot on the way camping and load up. Or we wait till we get to our destination and then go out and about and buy groceries. Parking it is a cinch. Much easier on my wife for sure. With the back up camera, I can do it with her in the coach.

We don't have stabilizers or levelers on ours. Don't think we will buy them either. Maybe some stack jacks for some stability, but for the price of them, I don't think it's worth it. If they came on it already, then fine, that would be great. But to be honest, it's just another piece of machinery to break or not work correctly and bad way to start off a trip. We've gotten use to the movement some. We bought ours on June 1st and we have already spent 21 nights in it.

Another thing also is having a toad. We are not set up with one. But to set one up, you are looking at anywhere from about $2000 on up. Unless you buy a used towa dolly, you can spend equally or more as well. For the time being, we 've decided that for short trips, if we want a toad, then my wife will just drive it. If we go on a long trip and depending on where, then we may just rent something when we get to our destination if needed. Or use public transportation if it's available. We do carry our bikes with us, so if it's feasible we can bike some.

Good luck. And feel free to PM me if you have specific questions or comments.