Purchasing a Class C with questions
I will be purchasing an RV hopefully within the next few months. Questions always pop into my head so here goes... 1. Pros and Cons of jack levelers? Is there maintenance with levelers? It seem...
Forum Discussion
Carrying a bicycle, no problem at all.
Carrying a Vespa does add a good bit of weight at the very back of the RV, which will cause some weight shift to the back axle as well as loading the back axle with its own weight. (Another way of putting this is that the RV acts as a lever.) If you are near the weight limit on the rear axle, and that's not entirely uncommon, it could be a bit of a problem. Also often the hitches are somewhat limited in the tongue weight they can support. All that being said, it's certainly possible in many cases to carry a scooter on the back without undue difficulty.
Built-in levelers are handy but a relatively heavy option. I don't know that they are any more maintenance intensive than anything on an RV. I don't have them, and I suspect the majority of class C RVs do not have them either. Generally, operating the slides when you're a bit out of level is not a big concern or problem; indeed, some RV makers say to level after extending the slides.
As kerrioakeRoo mentions, gas is better in most cases because such units actually exist. The Ford V10 (and also the Chevy V8) is a good, reliable powerplant, and entirely capable of getting the motorhome anywhere you'd want to go. The V10 in particular revs high for a truck engine, which some do not care for, but if you let it loose it has decent power and will run at speed all day. No RV is going to get great fuel mileage, though diesels tend to be a bit better in that regard, partly because diesel fuel has more energy per unit volume than gasoline.
It's hard for me to say what the best handling RV is; there are many variables, such as suspension setup and weight and balance, that have a significant impact on handling. Mine does handle decently well; but naturally it's no sports car nor SUV. It's a big, tall, wide vehicle which doesn't turn very tightly, accelerate suddenly, or stop instantaneously. It does cruise at a reasonable speed, go around curves, and will stop reasonably quickly if required in an emergency.
Carrying a Vespa does add a good bit of weight at the very back of the RV, which will cause some weight shift to the back axle as well as loading the back axle with its own weight. (Another way of putting this is that the RV acts as a lever.) If you are near the weight limit on the rear axle, and that's not entirely uncommon, it could be a bit of a problem. Also often the hitches are somewhat limited in the tongue weight they can support. All that being said, it's certainly possible in many cases to carry a scooter on the back without undue difficulty.
Built-in levelers are handy but a relatively heavy option. I don't know that they are any more maintenance intensive than anything on an RV. I don't have them, and I suspect the majority of class C RVs do not have them either. Generally, operating the slides when you're a bit out of level is not a big concern or problem; indeed, some RV makers say to level after extending the slides.
As kerrioakeRoo mentions, gas is better in most cases because such units actually exist. The Ford V10 (and also the Chevy V8) is a good, reliable powerplant, and entirely capable of getting the motorhome anywhere you'd want to go. The V10 in particular revs high for a truck engine, which some do not care for, but if you let it loose it has decent power and will run at speed all day. No RV is going to get great fuel mileage, though diesels tend to be a bit better in that regard, partly because diesel fuel has more energy per unit volume than gasoline.
It's hard for me to say what the best handling RV is; there are many variables, such as suspension setup and weight and balance, that have a significant impact on handling. Mine does handle decently well; but naturally it's no sports car nor SUV. It's a big, tall, wide vehicle which doesn't turn very tightly, accelerate suddenly, or stop instantaneously. It does cruise at a reasonable speed, go around curves, and will stop reasonably quickly if required in an emergency.
