Still looking for a short Class A 30-34 ft

Gjac wrote:
I have been looking for a class A with a couple of pass thrus and at least 70 gals of FW. Looked at two 2009's that looked great in the photos and would have met my needs but were not maintained at all and had structural damaged due to water. Yesterday I came across a 2002 Winabago Journey 32T. It is 32 ft 8 ins long with a WB of 190 ins, 30k miles and a 96 gal FW tank. I don't know anything about DP's was not looking for one but this one looked like it might meet my reqs. Does anyone on here know about this MH? It only has a 275 HP cummins with a 5 speed Ailison transmission so I know it will have less performance than my old gas MH but I am ok with that trade off if it has more or eqivelant storage, better mpgs and a better ride than my current MH.

At 8.5HP per foot, it should be adequate and even though I'd like 10HP per foot a lot better.
Power wise, you'll come to appreciate it's awesome low end torque, silently working in the back and what it's all about in the hills, especially.

DryCreek wrote:
Well, if you've got time - come on down to Texas!
PPL has three locations - and quite a large selection of class A motor homes on their lots.

Here is my favorite so far:

33' Southwind www.pplmotorhomes.com/classa/2005-Southwind-By-Fleetwood-35059.htm


and a very close runner-up!

30' 2007 Damon Daybreakhttp://www.pplmotorhomes.com/classa/2007-Damon-Daybreak-32978.htm

and another one that may be in your size range:

http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/classa/2008-Winnebago-Sightseer-35048.htmhttp://www.pplmotorhomes.com/classa/2008-Winnebago-Sightseer-35048.htm

Starting next weekend we should be hot on the chase for a class A. We sold one of our pickups last week, and tomorrow I hope to see the new owner of our Terry Quantum fifth wheel show up with money in his hands.

I am trying to keep our length in the 30 to 34 foot range for two reasons:
1 - we like to visit the state parks, and those are about the longest rigs that will fit comfortablycomfortably in every park I know of.

2 - our RV carport is only 34'10", with no room to expand.

Thanks for the link I have the same reqs as you for my driveway and the way I camp. I called the sales men and had them look at theses MH's the Sightseer was nice but no pass tru storage. The Daybreak which will usually have a nice big pass tru storage in the rear had non because of the slide in the rear. The other two pass trus were very small. Still looking.

msmith1199 wrote:

SCVJeff wrote:
A friend of ours owns a 32T and loves it. It lives on the West coast with only mild hills (mountains to those east of the Rockies), tows a Jeep and has never complained about lack of power. It has reasonable storage but NO pass thru.. reason is that the driver side bays are in the slide so you don't bust your head trying to get into them with the slide out. That's a popular model and not easy to find. He gets inquires and offers all the time when at the beach.

(Edit iPhone spelling)

Although there are some advantages to having the storage in the slides, I found the disadvantages outweighed the advantages. I have had both. My first motorhome had them in the slide and my second has a large pass through. The main problem with having them in the slide is clearance. If you have a nice wide flat campsite, there's no problem. But most campsites aren't like that and you often have the put the slides out over the top of the other stuff like vegetation, hose bibs, power connections, etc. That's very difficult to do with the storage in the slide. And you also lose storage space that way too. But it sure is nice not to have to climb under the slide to get stuff out of storage. But after having had both, I'd rather have the pass-through compartment and the higher clearance.

No argument on the +&-.. Everythings a tradeoff from the overall height to tank placements and quantities. That frame is going down thon center of the chassis wether between the bay's, above or below them. And everything upstairs needs to adjust

SCVJeff wrote:
A friend of ours owns a 32T and loves it. It lives on the West coast with only mild hills (mountains to those east of the Rockies), tows a Jeep and has never complained about lack of power. It has reasonable storage but NO pass thru.. reason is that the driver side bays are in the slide so you don't bust your head trying to get into them with the slide out. That's a popular model and not easy to find. He gets inquires and offers all the time when at the beach.

(Edit iPhone spelling)

Although there are some advantages to having the storage in the slides, I found the disadvantages outweighed the advantages. I have had both. My first motorhome had them in the slide and my second has a large pass through. The main problem with having them in the slide is clearance. If you have a nice wide flat campsite, there's no problem. But most campsites aren't like that and you often have the put the slides out over the top of the other stuff like vegetation, hose bibs, power connections, etc. That's very difficult to do with the storage in the slide. And you also lose storage space that way too. But it sure is nice not to have to climb under the slide to get stuff out of storage. But after having had both, I'd rather have the pass-through compartment and the higher clearance.

We have a very similar rig to the Journey 32T. I'm surprised though that it has the 275 HP Cummins and 5 speed Allison. Ours is 300 HP and 6 speed Allison. It doesn't shift into 6th until around 58 MPH. I'm pretty sure it is the same engine, the 5.9L ISB with a different chip. If you contact Cummins with the vin number they can tell you exactly what engine is in it

Ours is a 2002 Itasca Horizon 32T. We bought it in 2008 with 25,000 miles on it, it now has just over 100,000. No problems with either engine or trans. We have been hard on it, half the miles we put on it have been in Mexico with Topes (speed bumps on steroids) pot holes and even cobble stone streets. We have twice had fractured injector lines, probably due to the vibration of bad roads. We have also twice had the serpentine break. The second time probably due to an improperly set belt tensioner. At least the second time we had a spare!

crasster wrote:
For gassers I'd go with the Tiffin line. Really just the owners seem really happy and I see a lot of older ones out there. I think they stand the test of time.

I have not seen any Tiffin's in my size that has the storage that I need.

lj2654 wrote:
I dont know if you would travel for the right coach or not. Alliancecoach.com in Wildwood, Fl has a big selection of gas 30-35 ft coaches. They seem to sell a ton of them all year round.

Call this place about a 33ft Itaska but it had no pass thrus. Salesman is checking on a 2008 Damon Daybreak for me. Thanks for the link.

Your right JR45 I boondock 95% of the time and that MH was perfect for me and the price was right, I just don't want to fly out there and find water damage which I suspect from talking to him.

Gjac wrote:

JR45 wrote:
Here is a good deal. 2001 Alpine Coach with 26,000mi. and a Cummins. It is post as a 2011 type-O
http://www.irv2.com/rvclassifieds/showproduct.php?product=10822&title=2011-alpine-coach-34ft-fdds-26000-miles&cat=4
JR

I just talked to the owner of this MH. It is the right size with several pass trus, 350 HP Cummins eng. 33k GVWR (did not know act WT or CCC). The down side is that the owner has not been on the roof for 5 years and he has had past leaks although no delamination. He said clear coat is peeling in two areas on either side or the MH. He was honest and described the condition as only fair. I wish I wasn't 3000 miles away I would look at it. I drove to PA. and MA to look at newer MHs and was very disappointed with water intrusion on 2009 models. The caulking was wide open and badly cracked because the owners never got up on the roof to check it and re caulk.

2 bad, it is a great size for a MH if you do a lot of boon docking and older camp grounds. He was honest about it but it may not be as bad as a person thinks for the money.
JR

JR45 wrote:
Here is a good deal. 2001 Alpine Coach with 26,000mi. and a Cummins. It is post as a 2011 type-O
http://www.irv2.com/rvclassifieds/showproduct.php?product=10822&title=2011-alpine-coach-34ft-fdds-26000-miles&cat=4
JR

I just talked to the owner of this MH. It is the right size with several pass trus, 350 HP Cummins eng. 33k GVWR (did not know act WT or CCC). The down side is that the owner has not been on the roof for 5 years and he has had past leaks although no delamination. He said clear coat is peeling in two areas on either side or the MH. He was honest and described the condition as only fair. I wish I wasn't 3000 miles away I would look at it. I drove to PA. and MA to look at newer MHs and was very disappointed with water intrusion on 2009 models. The caulking was wide open and badly cracked because the owners never got up on the roof to check it and re caulk.