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.

[Gene_in_NE]

lopakamac - Your choices seem to boil down to personal preference. The exterior length (RoadTrek 210 = 21'-11", B+ 213 = 21'-11", B+ 235S = 22'-7") is only 8" difference, so handling will not be different. The interior space is very noticeable between the B+'s and the RoadTrek. I favor the Chevy chassis for both. Interior headroom was a big factor for us, I am 6'-4". As to the possible leak, it is always possible when you open up an entire sidewall. I park differently when rain is expected. It has not been a problem for us and the extra interior space is really noticed when parked for several days. The only maintenance we have had has been done at places like "House of Muffler" - oil changes, install new shocks, rotate tires. For chassis work, look for the GM medium duty truck sales and service locations.

lenc - Haven't heard from you since you got your new rig. Any comments?

[lopakamac]

I have been lurking in this area for some time. My wife & I still have not made up our minds regarding a 213 or 235S B+ or a 210 Popular Roadtrek. Space in the B+ is currently winning. LOL I have a couple questions, for those of you more knowledgeable about B+. Has anyone experienced leaks in the slide-out on the 235S? The 235S we're looking at is a 2005 model. Second, living in Michigan you would think that most Chevy dealers could perform maintenance on these units. After calling a couple dealers, I'm now concerned where to have vehicle maintenance done, as most say they cannot handle either the height or weight of these vehicles. Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated. If we purchase a B+, I'll look forward to becoming more active in this Forum. THANKS!

[Lenc]

Thanks for the replies. Our Trail-lite is a 2007 model. It has the battery compartment. We spotted that some rubber around the slideout at the bottom of the passenger side was missing. It was pouring rain the day we went to see it. The water showed the leak.

We go on Friday to pick up our unit. It is almost 100 miles from our home to the dealer. Next week the dealer is moving, so if anything goes wrong with the motorhome, then we have to travel an extra 60 miles for repairs. All good back roads to get there.

[Gene_in_NE]

Lenc - Congratulations, I wish you the best of luck with the new unit. We have really enjoyed ours. Try to get the dealer to allow you to spend your first night very very close. That way you can spend a lot of time trying everything yourself before you leave his area. I have added you as number 65 to my list of Trail-Lite owners. One feature that I like on your unit is the sofa sleeper that likely could be "made up" with sheets and blanket all the time.

[CharlesOK]

Lenc. With double slides, the Ford chassis is probably the better chassis on your unit. You will have greater GVW than mine has on the Chevy chassis. I really did have a good experience with the Trail-lite product and can assure you they are built on the same line, by the same Techs, with the same materials as the Holiday Rambler/Trail-lites. Welcome to the Family and hope you enjoy yours as much as we have enjoyed ours. As far as the BAL product goes, make a final inspection with the selling dealer and assure yourself that is what is installed in the one you are buying. They were using the new slides in all units when I was at the Factory in July, but all manufacturers use up existing supplies of what ever they have when they build units. If your new one is a 2006, built earlier in the year it may have been built with slides they were previously using. Not to say that the previous slide product was bad, just not the new BAL units, which IMHO look like a good idea from an engineering standpoint. I sincerely hope your NEW buying experience with yours will be as good as mine has been since last January 16th when we picked ours up. One way to tell if your looking at an early 2006 as opposed to the later product is to look for a Pull-out slide tray for twin batteries behind a flip-up door that includes the bottom trim on the body. Early 2006 production units had a small door and only room for 1 battery. no slide-out tray. Really a nice feature that was a line change item during the production run. Mine has it and I installed a second Allstate battery to match the first. I saw a new 2006 for sale at Emerald Coast RV , Navarre Beach, Florida in February with the older small door, single battery set up. That's the only reason I know that they changed it. Mine was built 12/2005 on special order and I believe they put the slide-out tray in anything built after that time. May not be an issue, but it would be a quick way to tell if yours has the latest specs. Unfortunately they dropped the Mor-ryde rear suspension for the 2007 production run. I ordered mine with this extra and feel it was well worth the extra.

[burlmart]

Great news, Lenc!

I really like how those double slides open up such a big space in what is still a compact RV. With our 4 dogs, that would really be nice for our needs. Paid 9% sales tax in Louisiana.

[Lenc]

Thanks Gene in NE for the response. I posted this topic in the c class motorhomes and received a response from CharlesOK. Turns out these slideouts are made by BAL. I found their web site and downloaded information from them. Decided to purchase the 252DS. We pick it up on Friday. http://www.norcoind.com/bal/products/oem/accuslide/index.htm
There is only one dealer in Ontario for Trail-lite. Only the Ford chassis is available in Canada, now. The Holday Ramblers are not sold in Ontario. Wish we didn't have to pay a 14% sales tax.
I shall keep reading this site to learn more aout the upkeep of this machine.

[burlmart]

Glad to hear from many of you/

Thanks for the responses about my concern about unscrewing the WH drain plug (accessed from a small door on the outside). I will look at it again soon (we hope to take the RV for a short trip to some nearby spot this weekend. I am probably misremembering what I thought was a lot of sensitive electrical stuff directly in the path of the stream of water flow if the plug were removed, but it was over a year ago that I looked at this.

[cheeze1]

Reno, that is true, but this way some of the water in the hot water line exits also. I open all of mine.
Burl, when I do the above, it drains out the plug hole over the side of the coach. No inside worries, mate!

[Reno3]

burlmart. Don't have to open a faucet to drain hot water heater. Just open the pressure relief valve on the heater along with removing the drain plug.

[Gene_in_NE]

burlmart - To answer your question about the water heater drain, mine will drain very nicely outside. I do have to remember to open one of the hot water faucets to release any pressure in the tank.

Lenc - Any further thoughts on the Trail-Lite 252DS? Just a personal thought on slideouts. I don't think very many of them leak. If you park the motorhome at a slight tilt outward, the rain water will not run towards the unit and attempt getting inside. With the 252 double slide, I would want to park perfectly level side to side with a little downhill to the front. Some slide outs can add quite a bit of weight to the total of the unit. A lot depends on the size of the slide. If you study the slide you can see how much of the walls, floor, and roof line are duplicated.

[Lenc]

Looking at purchasing a 252DS trail-lite or a 251 model. Can only get a Ford chassis in Canada. GM will not warranty a chassis that crosses the border. We have read of problems with slideouts. Has anyone experienced this model??

[burlmart]

Sorry CharlesOK, I was misremembering from last year when I first looked into this issue - I saw lots of valves under the tight-space-under-cabinet and was totally confused.

I do remember seeing a pull ring under the cabinet close by the WH (and one under the dinette by the FW) which I think are the water line drains. I guess the pull ring drain near the water heater cannot drain the WH, only local water pipes, right?

As I recall, I was put off of ever unscrewing the WH plug outside the RV because I thought all 6 gallons would end up on the RV floor and hit the electrical stuff nearby. Does the WH drain go out into the air and miss any RV hardware?

[karebear]

It's done, thank goodness.....did it the Gene way, no T-connector, just pried off the hose to water tank and let the pump pump away....1.5 gallons, all the traps too. Did use air compressor from our son (grandpa's gift) at 40 psi first as our 110 compressor hose had a hole!!!! DH said not enough space to work and place the winterizing kit....CharlesOK probably knows as the pump is between the back wall and tank, after having to take linen off bed, mattress (tight fit, nasty words!!) off and then plywood (8 screws). Did find the low drain plugs just where CharlesOK said, so they've been open for the whole ordeal. Gotta go South next year, too much trouble to stay in Washington!!! Again Thank you ALL. 🙂

[CharlesOK]

By the way, Trail-lite recommends running the pump until it is dry. I have run these small SUREFLO pumps dry many times and have never had a problem with any of them ever picking up a prime again. They are all run-dry capable and self-priming.