B+ motorhomes

[Daniel_C_]

I just bought a Trail Lite B+ 211s with 8.1 Chevy
engine. This is my fifth motorhome (others range
from an old 20' Vagabond, and three Winnegagos, from 19 to 32'. This vehicle is fantastic. I am
using it as a mobile office (and sneaking in a fun
journey from time to time). It gets about 9.5mpg
and I believe I could pull a bus behind it if I wanted! I paid low $40's which is about what I had expected to pay for a five or six year old Chinook with a nicer interior, but fewer features
(slide). I am delighted thus far.

[cheeze1]

Yup, that's the rub. I have some self inflicted damage (scratches associated with the demise of tail light #3) and other things I would like to address when the weather allows. In addition, I do like to just 'sit' in it as well.
As for the B+, I sure wish Class C was actually D, so we could be sitting in the "C" seat. If it were numbers, we could have been 2.5's?

[Gene_in_NE]

cheeze1 - I know you are referring to my 11/19/05 posting about the new owners of the Trail-Lite RVision motorhome company. They might do away with the designation of B+ for the unit that is narrower than the C, but without the body of a "B". I will just call myself an owner of a small motorhome. Sometimes I think these forums should be split into small, medium, & large motorhomes. Some class A's are shorter and easier to handle than the overgrown class C's. Just look at the Class C - 37' units on the Kodiak Chevy chassis. I would call them large.

I, too, have my unit parked about 1/2 hour away. Wish it were closer as sometimes I would just like to go over and sit in it or ponder some small change. We might even spend the night on some of those nights when it only gets down to 40 degrees. There is something about the coziness of the unit.

[cheeze1]

Gene,
what will we call ourselves then?
Also, wanted to let you know I followed your original storage advice. I found an rv dealer 1/2 hour away with a storage lot. Cost $90/month + tax, and I got a 10% discount for prepaying for a year. Seems that there was a 'whispering campaign' among the overindulged 30-somethings in my new neighborhood.:M What is funny, is someone just started parking an ancient Cruise Aire class A down the street. :B

[Cowboy_66]

I should have stated that our Motor Home is a Lexington 255DS and the frame may be different. It is on a Ford 450 chassis but is only 25' long.

[biker_1]

It's not just the hitch, look at the frame extension that the hitch is bolted to and you'll see why trail-lite says only tow 3500 lbs.

[Cowboy_66]

As Gene said ours has a 5,000# hitch also. The Ranger is about 3,012# a little more with all the firewood ect. loaded in it and two kayaks on top. Happy Camping.

[Gene_in_NE]

capehank - As Biker1 and Cowboy 66 mention you should not have any problems towing a smaller car. I pull a trailer with a full dress motorcycle almost every trip. Have to keep checking my mirrors to be sure it is still back there. The limit Biker1 refers to on the Trail-Lite is likely the rating of the hitch. The Chevy chassis has a GVWR rating of 12,300 lbs (maximum that the unit should weigh) and a GCWR of 16,000 lbs (maximum that the unit plus the towed should weigh). This leaves you with 3,700 lbs for the towed. However, since my unit weighs in at around 9,000 lbs ready to go I still have a capacity of around 7,000 lbs for the towed. I am, however, limited by my hitch to 5,000 lbs.

I think the year of manufacture and/or model of unit determined whether you have a 3,500 lb or 5,000 lb hitch.

[Cowboy_66]

We have a B+ and tow a Ford Ranger have had no problems. You should be fine, like they said get a good tow bar.

[biker_1]

We have a 213 with the chev.6.ol.Trail-lite says you can tow 3500 lbs.We tow a jeep Wrangler.When we're not towing the jeep we tow a trailer with are H.D.or are Yamaha trial bikes.Make sure you have a good tow bar for the toad.Just got back from Alaska, towed the jeep a little over 10,000 mi.Towed great, if it wasn't for the back-up camera wouldn't know it was back there.

[biker_1]

capehank wrote:
My husband and I are thinking about purchasing a class B MH. The big question for us is, can a class B tow a car safely?

We also are interested in towing our ATVs on a trailer with this size motorhome.

Any advise would be welcome.

Thank you.

[Reno3]

Read that in a RV magnazine a few weeks ago. The big get bigger and as a result customer service gets smaller or at least so it seems

[Gene_in_NE]

I have some news for the majority of the contributors to this thread. You are part of the 55 owners I have identified that own the Trail-Lite brand of the RVision line of motorhomes. (Some call B+, some call C-, most call just Class C). I read on the R-Vision Camping Club (you have to join) website Click Here in the R-Vision General portion of the Discussion Forums that R-Vision has been sold to Monaco Coach Corp. The sale is for $60 Million in cash per the Portland Business Journal portland.bizjournals.com. Monaco Coach is the largest builder of Class A diesel motorhomes and the 5th largest Class A gasoline motorhome manufacturer. Speculation is that the cost of the Trail-Lites will increase dramatically. Monaco is a publicly traded company and the stock market has already gone up. Maybe this acquisition will do away with the B+ nomenclature??? Any Hallelujahs?

[burlmart]

Thank you all for sound advice, indeed!

Reno3, your experience w/ the shell games of the dealer and EW adjusters and being forced to frustratingly try and negotiate an ethical solution says it all. In the end, no one can purchase fairness and no one can force another to act in Quality.

I guess EW contracts appeal to us as there is something in most of us seeking a security shield through life. I am reminded of the Louisiana state flag emblem, where the mother pelican pricks her own chest to bring forth blood to feed her brood. I suspect the folks in the lower 9th ward of N.O. who have placed such faith in the state may have a more informed notion on such thinking.

I will very probably not do the EW.

[Reno3]

I'll go along with that roundsparrow but you have to read the fine print carefully to not get taken. I wrote that with my experience with my B+ this spring. Dealer had installed a new faucet that was leaking. First time out this spring when we were hooked up to city water. We left the MH for about an hour and returned to find it flooded. The water in turn shorted out the inverter. Dealer fixed the faucet but the ext warranty refused to cover the inverter and the dealer wouldn't either. Result I was out $450 for a new inverter. I argued with them that it was their fault that the faucet leaked and therefor they should at least split the cost of the inverter. They offered to take it out if I didn't want to pay for it. Thats my 2nd bad experience with that dealer over the course of 10 yrs. It'll be the last time they see me.

[RoundSparrow]

Reno3 wrote:
Burlmart. In my experience "ext. warranty's" aren't worth the paper they're written on. They have too many loop holes to avoid paying for expensive things.

If your rig gets a lot of use... extended warrenty can be a good deal. Full timing especially.