To "B" or not to "B"

Here's my personal definition:

B -- you are counting mostly on the van's manufacturer to make it leak-proof
C -- you are counting on the coach's upfitter to make it leak-proof
B+ -- you don't know who to blame

Riva standards, at least on their website do not recognize a B+

B is a van
C is a cut-away and they do say optionally with a cab-over bed.

http://www.rvia.org/?esid=types

If you remember, B+ came along when PW Excel and RT 210 came out. The + came from the fact that they actually started with a standard van and cut it up. Since then, the term has been perverted by manufacturers marketing depts.

I like the definition that if it was a van, it is a B. If it came as a cutaway, it is a C.

The Excel and the RT 210 Popular came out of the factory as vans. They had the roof extended and a tapered fiberglass body extender placed on, but they never were cutaways. I made that mistake myself.

wincrasher65 wrote:
I don't really know why there is any confusion.

It's a B if it's a van body.
It's a B+ if it's a van body that has been cut up and expanded with fiberglass parts.
It's a C if it's a cut-away chassis.

Simple as that.

I'm not sure how you came up with that. The Pleasure-way Excel is "a van body that has been cut up and expanded with fiberglass parts" and has never been called anything but a B. On the other hand all the labeled B+s like the Pleasure-way Pursuit came from cut-away chassis. The B+ moniker has been pretty consistently cut-away chassis by all the other motorhome companies as well and any original van body has simply been called a B. Technically by RVIA and RV.net definitions a B+ is simply a C.

A B is a van conversion. They tend to have small holding tanks. A C is based on a cutout chassis and has larger holding tanks. The brand of the engine does not determine class.

I don't really know why there is any confusion.

It's a B if it's a van body.
It's a B+ if it's a van body that has been cut up and expanded with fiberglass parts.
It's a C if it's a cut-away chassis.

Simple as that.

I just got home from a trip to morehead NC in our sprinter based LTV ,ours has the 5cyc diesel bought new in 2007 I think the last of the 5cyc engines , from ohio to NC up down the hills it preformed great going 65plus mph and handling the hills great , round trip fuel avg was 19.8 in a 1600mile run . going up down the hills was no problem , I was passing other cars,trucks, ours a 2007 leisure travel van,mod freedom serenity II 25ft long on a sprinter chassis 3500 series. A B or a C who knows, I like the idea big med or small.

Clearly the the B and C classification once held a more clear meaning...Today with Sprinters and the new Dodges the lines have blurred....