Studying the B+ market

Snowman9000 wrote:
We have done a lot of thinking and research on this subject. We own our first small MH, a Chevy gas 23' B+. The tradeoffs we go back and forth on are:

-cab comfort: As Dazuki said, the Sprinters are much better. The Chevys are better in passenger legroom than the Fords, but that might be the only difference, I'm just not sure.

-MPG: the Sprinters win hands down. Although, gas B+'s often do get double digit MPG because their over-cab bodywork is aerodynamically decent. Our little B+ does 11.x at 65, and it seems I can get 1 more MPG for each 5 MPH reduction below that. So that's not that bad IMO. Fords might get 1 MPG less than ours, from what I read. I'm talking about streamlined B+'s, though. Not regular C's which will probably drop another 1 MPG at least.

Gas vs diesel otherwise: There is something to what Supercharged said. We have towed with a diesel truck. There have been times I tracked spilled fuel (already present) into the truck. I have slipped in the spilled fuel, but fortunately not fallen down. Those diesel lanes at truckstops are flat out a mess. Our cure for that was to just go to roomy regular stations, not truckstops. And with a smaller B+, you can fit almost anywhere.

Diesel is more expensive, wiping out some of the savings. Noise/vibration is not an issue, especially with a Sprinter! Sprinter service is more expensive. Sprinter service is considerably more scarce. Sprinters typically come with an LP generator, which bothers some people because the LP tank is quite small. OTOH LP is very cheap compared to gas or diesel, if you don't mind stopping to fill it up to keep the genset fed.

Construction: hopefully Ron Dittmer will stop by and post his message on that. I personally am not bothered by a rubber roof, but some are. I do want a molded cap over the cab though, for sure.

Costs: Obviously vary according to chassis and construction. Forest River seems to be making real good MHs with the best quality/dollar ratio, strictly IMO of course.

To us, layout or floorplan is the biggest thing by far. Currently we do not have a dedicated bed. We'd love to have one, and that's what a lot of people discover. But we want a small MH, and we also want some elbow room inside. You have to compromise somewhere. Right now we have only one of the three: small. :)