undecided before buying

There is a lot to be said about floor plan but having the best build quality is equally, if not more so, important. After owning our motorhome for over two years we have some issues with the comfort of the sofa but that was not a quality issue. We have no issue with the Winnebago quality. Winnebago uses a fiberglass roof where as the Fleetwood uses some type of rubber roof. There are other differences as well between builders.
All of the new gas Class A motorhomes are on the Ford F-53 chassis.

Buy the floor plan you like, smarter move buy the floor plan your wife likes.
They will all get you any where you want to go. Driving a motorhome is not like driving your car. You may have to shift down on steep hills but everyone does.
Bill

FWIW, we've had our Fleetwood 36ft Southwind since 2003. Bought it because of the floorplan, which we still love especially prep room in kitchen, extra closet space in hallway outside of bathroom which is part of the bedroom slide as well. Royal Tuff roof we have never had a problem with any leaks from thus far.

We spend several weeks at a time in ours most years as well as lots of odd weeks and weekends - are we semi-fulltimers (LOL).

Anyways, hubby would love a DP such as the Entegra or Tiffin Allegro Bus for going up around our Rocky mountains but for cost difference for now, I've decided we'll just arrive a few minutes behind the DP's at the top.

Bottom line Alfur, pick the floorpan you like that most importantly fits into YOUR budget. Then enjoy.

mr61impala wrote:

2gypsies wrote:

alfur wrote:
.... we will be semi-full timing

That's a new one. :)

Is that anything like part timing?

Our answer is always summer-timers, when asked if we are full-timers and have been on the road, as much as 3.5 months at a time.

alfur wrote:
We are looking for a 2015 Class A gas. We have narrowed it down to 5 that we are considering. Fleetwood Southwind 36L, Fleetwood Bounder 36E, Forest River Georgetown XL 369DS, Thor Challenger 37KT, and Winnebago Vista 36Y. Our biggest concern is Horsepower. We want to go up hills/mountains at Yellowstone, Utah, West Virginia and such. Not continuously of course but on a trip or two. Can anyone offer advice to which if any would be best in this scenario? Any other opinions would be welcome of these models as well.... thank you, alfur

Since you're pretty much limiting yourself to a gas puller they're going to be pretty much all the same and on a Ford chassis, as it's about all that's available these days. It will do fine in all sorts of terrain, as our old Chevy does. Pulling a toad of reasonable weight won't be a problem either and even over the Rockies and Appalachia. Pretty much means that some put the house on the chassis better than others for air flow around the engine and thru the radiator. Also the bigger and heavier the house, the harder everything has to work on the chassis.

2gypsies wrote:

alfur wrote:
.... we will be semi-full timing

That's a new one. :)

Is that anything like part timing?

alfur wrote:
.... we will be semi-full timing

That's a new one. :)

Pick the one whose layout you AND the wife both like.

Remember if Momma isn't happy, nobody is happy.

That Ford engine will take you over any mountain you encounter.

From that list, I would go with the Winnie

thanks again for all of your time and input.... we will be semi-full timing so it is important we gather all the info we can before we make the choice.... :)