Of all the suggestions posted, the best I see is the probably the biggest Lance model, the 2385. What I see with this model: 1) island queen bed – yes 2) decent drawers in the bedroom for clothes – not quite. It has 3 smallish drawers with a big space underneath. Our current TT has 6 drawers plus a built-in hamper. 3) generous water tanks – fresh tank is a little smaller than current TT but grey tanks are much bigger. 4) I would need to substitute a regular booth dinette in place of the U-shaped dinette. The former has a much bigger table and can seat 4 adults comfortably. The latter has a tiny table and leg room for only 2 adults. A U-shaped dinette is a non-starter for us. 5) dual pane glass available – yes. 6) respectable kitchen counter space – yes. 7) enclosed underbelly – yes. 8) half-ton towable – yes.
Other observations on this one: All of the overheads are very short compared to those in our current TT. Our kitchen has taller overhead cabinets with regular doors and shelves. Also, I don’t understand why they didn’t put more drawers in the bedroom. Add another row or 2 of drawers below the one row that is there and it would be much improved. Propane tanks are only 20# -- our current tanks are 30#. It has a big slide which makes more room in the kitchen and bedroom.
Actual carrying capacity appears to be short. The specs on their web site shows a dry weight of 4290 pounds and a carrying capacity of 1980 pounds, but photos of one for sale on RV Trader include the sticker which shows a dry weight of 5238 pounds as built and a carrying capacity of 1075 pounds, of which the sticker says a full tank of fresh water would amount to 423 pounds. I note that with fresh tank empty, the weight of the waste tanks alone if full would be over 1100 pounds, leaving no capacity for carrying anything else in the TT. To me, this is cutting it too close – they need heavier running gear to carry the weight of fairly full tanks plus a moderate amount of other cargo. It should not be hard to use axles and suspension that would accommodate another 1000 pounds so that there is a better margin for safety.
Wayne
