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]

happyjack2 - You are getting better mileage of 14 with your 6.0 liter engine versus my 12.1 with my 5.7 liter engine. I always caution people on making judgements on mileage comparison's for one or two tankfuls. I have kept track of every gallon of gas ever burned in my unit and can show where mine has varied from a low of 8.77 to a high of 17.78. The low was pulling a trailer going into a strong headwind and the destination being one mile higher in elevation. The high was returning from the same location, with a 35 mile per hour tailwind and ending 5,000 ft lower. Wind seems to make the most difference.

[happyjack2]

I was curious about my gas mileage ( never checked all last year after we bought ) and on this trip from Winchester to Erie we got 14+ on the first leg to Pittsburgh. I had told people that had asked before that I guessed about 12. I've have slowed down to 60 on the interstates but even driving at the speed limit and over last year, I was always passed by everything else on the road.

[happyjack2]

Gene, Good to see you posting. Every time I see some area having a natural disaster ( flooding in the mid-west etc. ), I wonder if my fellow B+ owners still have their little homes on wheels intact.

I reserved a site for this years R-Vision rally but I will cancel it due to the company I work for was bought by a foreign owner and major changes are occurring in July and August. If I had been downsized by now we would go to the rally but since I am still employed and hopefully still needed I'm regretfully missing this one.

[Gene_in_NE]

happyjack2 wrote:
I was under Happyjack2 routing wiring for a new electronic toy and I found three ground wires that were broken free of their grounding point. The self tapping sheet metal screw holding the the lug ends had broken off where it was drilled into the frame. Just aft of the leaf spring mount above the tail pipe. If it was loose last year that may have been causing my intermittent problem with trying to start the generator from inside.

Finally found your posting after I looked at my unit. I have the same type of connections on the frame behind the rear axle on the drivers side...and I would bet the connections are for the converter.

Just a reminder - "Planning for the 2008 RVCC Wisconsin Rally is underway. The rally will be held at Village Inn Suites and Campgrounds in Two Rivers, Wisconsin August 1-5. The campground is located along the Lake Michigan shoreline, midway between Manitowoc and Two Rivers. Come tour the Maritime Museum with its WWII submarine, swim in Lake Michigan and enjoy the lake front bike path. Contact Village Inn to make your reservations today; space is limited.
http://www.villageinnwi.com/
where RVCC = RVision Camping Club.

[Gene_in_NE]

Clickable Trail-Lite 252DS interior

[burlmart]

Good to see some familiar B+ posters are back at it!

A good interior shot of the double slide trail lite is here...

http://www.trail-lite.com/trail-lite-class-b-motor-home.asp

[Gene_in_NE]

cheeze1 wrote:
Gene, thanks for referring that thread to me. Brought back a lot of memories! It also confirms my satisfaction with my 213. The ONLY thing I wish I had now is a slide....Wonder if anyone has tried fabricating a big slide on both sides of a B?

Believe the Trail-Lite Model 252DS is what you would look for. There were three (3) people that have posted who own the Model 252DS. ajej2 and F250GulfportFlorida <-view his profile and lenc who posted in October of 2006, but I have not heard from since.

Reno3 wrote:
Cheese our 211S has one slide on the drivers side. You'd be surprised how much extra room that gives you. The slide is manual you have to crank it out...

Ours is the same. We have never had a problem with the slide going in or going out and it is very easy to crank. We, however, have not used the slide as much as we thought we would. Hopefully, it helps resale value.

Good to hear from both of you.

[Reno3]

Cheese our 211S has one slide on the drivers side. You'd be surprised how much extra room that gives you. The slide is manual you have to crank it out. We still love our Trail Lite. Got rid of the big MH last summer. (note we replaced the big MH with the trailer which we leave in Florida in storage)

[cheeze1]

Gene, thanks for referring that thread to me. Brought back a lot of memories! It also confirms my satisfaction with my 213. The ONLY thing I wish I had now is a slide. In fact a full wall slide on both sides of my 213 would be great!
Wonder if anyone has tried fabricating a big slide on both sides of a B?

[happyjack2]

We just returned from four days at Gettysburg at a RVnet rally. I think we saw maybe three or four B+ of all makes but no Trail-Lites. We are really a minor subset of campers, but except for making up the bed every nite and fighting with that memory foam mattress stored under the sofa, I would not want another size. Up and back plus driving in town to the battlefield on two days took $70 in gas.

[burlmart]

Gene, I remember going through all of those posts when we were looking for an RV. We tried to find a big enough Class B, but just could not see ourselves in anything smaller than the B+

What finally swayed us was a 22 ft BT Cruiser at a local dealer. It seemed to be a small motel room with just enough space, and no more.

I recalled all you Trail Lite folks' comments on the R-Vision rig, and called the dealer to order our 213 sight unseen. It has been all that we expected. It is great for short travels of a month or less, but too small for staying in a c.g. for a long time w/o a toad.

[Gene_in_NE]

cheeze1 - I believe you are correct on the Libero, quite a price difference to our Trail-Lites. Here is a very old topic that I managed to stumble on captnaselli's post on TRAIL-LITE by R Visions B Plus Model 211 . This is actually the posting that got me looking at the Trail-Lite.

[cheeze1]

Hey Gene, that Libero is nice, but I think its in the high 80's-90's range.

[Gene_in_NE]

TonyTiger - One fine looking van. Read elsewhere that Leisure Travel Vans was sold to someone, cannot remember whom. Wonder if this unit is anywhere close to affordable?

Here is a link to their website: www.Leisurevans.com .

* Just found the article, the Leisure Travel Vans are reported to have been purchased by Triple E.

[TonyTiger]

Specs for Libero. 25 foot long, under 10 foot clearance. Very close to some models of the TrailLite. Say the 235? Comes with a Macerator pump, which I would have liked on my Trail Lite. Could dump into a PortaPotty with that!

Freedom II Libero Specs - 177" Wheel Base

Int. Height 75" (6'3") 1.9 m Rear Bed (Matress) 55" x 82"
Int. Width @ floor 89" (7'5") 2.3 m Converted Front Bed 78" x 49"
Ext. Width @ Running Boards 96" (8') 2.4 m Towing Capacity 5,000 lbs
Ext. Height with A/C 117" (9'9") 3.0 m Rear Axle Ratio 4"10
Ext. Length 300" (25') 7.6 m Fuel Tank 33 US Gallons
Dry Weight Approx. 10,000 lbs 4535 kg Brakes 4-wheel disk w/ABS
GVWR 12,300 lbs 5579 kg Air Bags Passanger and Driver
Engine Vortec 6.0 Liter V* Gas Engine
Horse Power 300 @ 4400 rpm
Torque 360 ft lt ft @ 4000 rpm
Transmission Hydra Matic heavy-duty 4 speed overdrive automatic with Tow/Haul mode

LEISURE SPECS
Fresh Water Tank 53 US Gallons 183 Liters
Grey Water Tank 30 US Gallons 113 Liters
Black Water Tank 29 US Gallons 110 Liters
Hot Water Tank (Propane/110v) 6 US Gallons 22.7 Liters
Box Awning 11'6"
Propane Tank w/electric shut off 57 lbs
Generator 4KW Gas Onan
Furnace 16,000 BTU Ducted
Air Conditioner 13,000 BTU Ducted Dometic with Heat Strip

FEATURES
Macerator pump
No isolator automatic solenoid shut off for auxiliary battery
Water Expansion lines w/ low point drain

WARRANTY
LTV 3 years / 36,000 miles or 60,000 kilometers
Chevrolet Base Vehicle 3 years / 36,000 miles or 60,000 kilometers
Appliances Covered by the individual warranties offered by their respecive manufacturers