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.

[birdbybird]

Cheeze Man, Now that you have been out there with your "new" sleeping beds.... Any feed back regarding the width - since you have two different sizes? After seeing your efforts, I am even more determined to take out my couch and replace it with a box and a bed on top. Storage under the bed will be easier to get into and out of and space better utilized. I am struggling with the decision of making the bed 30 inches wide or come out 36 inches (twin mattress size/nothing special has to be made) and it doesn't take up any more room than the edge of the current couch in its upright position. Or is there a magic number in between that I should consider.

Tina and her furry ones that do like to snuggle on the bed when she watches TV.

[burlmart]

You'll find many similar sentiments should you take the hours needed to peruse this thread (perhaps in the deadest of the winter). There are many brands of B+ types, as you probably know, and many are represented in the thread.

[Mainer1]

Mainer

Were there any specific features you required in your B+ style Class C rig?

Yes,

We wanted many things that focused our search after looking at many other brands at RV Shows and Dealers also much research on the internet.

We locked on to two basic floor plans that we found and liked, the
251 and the 24V/26A.
First off we noticed that price isn't always the factor in quality or engineering, not to say there aren't many high end class B and B-plus rigs out there, they just didn't fit our needs.

I'm 6'3" and wanted more head room than most other Class B's offer.
We didn't require or want a overhead cab bunk.(class C)
We didn't require or want a gas oven and wanted an upper microwave oven, again because I'm over 6 foot tall.
We wanted a wet bath that I could actually use and have enough room to egress out of the shower without falling into the toilet!
We wanted a rear bed which is a little smaller than I would like but will work.
The entire package needed to fit in my 24'x28' garage for storage, this is where we were limited to a B and no more than 26' long and 10'8" high.
I know I shouldn't say this but I prefer the Chevrolet Chassis because of the extra passenger foot room (not to say the Mrs. has big feet 😉 and I have mostly always had GM products and do most of my own repair work.
I like too many little things on the Trail-Lite to list but I feel the value is very good after looking at rigs that were twice the money or more.

[burlmart]

Mainer

Were there any specific features you required in your B+ style Class C rig?

[Mainer1]

Well, cheeze1 as you can tell I already enjoy our 'new to us' Trail-Lite 251, my rig only had 1,900 miles on it when I bought it last month!
I too enjoy Carlisle Events and plan to attend at lease one event this year.
I'm lucky that I have my rig stored inside my 24'x28'garage which allows me to work on it all year, although its a tight fit around the front and left side. (2-6 inches)

happyjack2 it's snowing again this morning and by April we will take our first trip South towards PA and VA to warm up a little!
When I retire we hope to move South, but who knows what housing will be like by then?

I got to get that snow blower warmed up again after breakfast so I'll have time to look at something new in the Trail-Lite today.:D

[happyjack2]

Welcome Aboard Mainer. Being able to do upgrades and repairs lends itself nicely to RV ownership and it sounds like you have the ability to do those. We bought our gently used 211 two years ago and love it. Small and easy to park anywhere we sight see but large enough to camp for several days like on our spur of the moment trip to Pensacola FL over the holidays. We have been to almost every state in the eastern U.S. with it in the last two years and hope to add the Northeast and especially Maine soon.

[cheeze1]

Thanks Mainer. One other place, also on the right side is the area of the right 'angle cabinet' where it is 90 deg. to the side of the coach. There is a thin panel that (of course) was stapled in place. I added interior support and glued/screwed the panel back and now no noise there. When I rebuilt the tv cabinet I went crazy with silicone and Great Stuff, using them to hold wires in place, fill potential gaps and 'gasketize' surfaces that rub.
I had thought about staying at High Meadow for the Pa. RV Show, but was too late deciding. One of our fellow members here who know goes by the handle 'Bplus' goes to Carlisle frequently to keep his vintage Corvette up to date. Judging by his pix, it doesn't need much.
We went to Portsmouth, NH with friends a few years ago. It was real nice, we even saw a NH'er yell at a NY'er in a shiny Cadillac to GO HOME!!
We traveled over the bridge and I believe went as far as Ogonquit, and had lunch. Beautiful area. I can see why the Bushes like it. Of course we had some great seafood!!
Come spring and warmer DRY driveway days, you can lay underneath and fix all the factory bloopers. I have a list a mile long.(for the entire coach). But since I'm a tinkerer and like Gene said, we did get good bang for the buck, the time spent was worth it. Once I took care of what I could find when the 213 was new, I spent more time on my back, gleefully spraying rustoleum and undercoat wherever I could...tho' not at the same time. I'm not Bill Hickok.!

[Mainer1]

Thanks for the welcome everyone!

Cheeze1 your wood working is outstanding and I to noticed as many have a rubbing noise overhead on the passengers side of the cab.:h

We have been down to Lancaster County a couple of times and liked it very much, I also enjoy Carlisle, PA and Hershey, PA we stay at Hershey High-Meadow Camp Ground alot and it's open year round too, just stay as far away as you can from the active train tracks we try to get into the "woodlands" area.

I was again out in the heated camper today, inspecting under the bed plywood to locate the water pump. I'm glad I did as I found a broken wooden support rail the the factory didn't repair, they even tied a red ribbon around it to flag it to someone to see before the plywood platform was screwed down!:S
Oh well I'm still happy with our new rig and I enjoy checking everything, which I would do anyways.

[cheeze1]

Thanks for the encouragement Burl.
We stayed at Pinch Pond Campground. I picked up the Pa. Campground Guide at the Atlantic City Show and highlighted all the ones open all year, then looked at the ratings in the Trailer Life Campground Navigator. There were a couple of others in the area, but this one had the best rating and didn't seem out of the ordinary regarding pets. We planned to go on a factory tour of Wilton Armetale, but they were closed for some kind of turnaround. There is enough in the area to find other things. My feedwater hose froze the last 2 nites. I'm thinking of making up a short one, about 10' with some thick foam insulation.

[burlmart]

Sounds real good, Cheeze. We have WAY more storage than we need...Even when we were starting to fulltime, we had some space left (not much then). You traded some outside storage for a little inside storage under the sofa and a lotta floor room.

Where did you stay in Lancaster this time of year?

[cheeze1]

:B
Welcome Mainer, this forum has a long history of friendly warm people, originally united by Daniel C. Gene is the historian and I am one of many "redesigners". :E
We just got back from the 'shakedown cruise' to Lancaster, Pa. for the changes I made in our 213. (pix are a few pages back)
First thing is that the word 'shake' applies much less to the coach now. The only bad noise is a creak which I almost eliminated between the frame of the tv cabinet and the angled cabinet on the right. (I forced the frames apart with a stiff putty knife and injected a line of caulk. ) A better fix is in the planning stage!
As for the shakedown, livability has been greatly enhanced. The big aisle is a pleasure and even when the bed extensions are in place. Getting the coach ready for sleep mode is faster than before and much more comfortable. There are a lot less lumps to negotiate. My DW would like a pad of some kind for her side, but the now lengthwise oriented dinette pads are great. There were no new rattles other than the cover of the pass. side box hopping a bit on washboard roads. That was solved by some of those self stick felt bumpers used for cabinet doors.
The new dining table is fine, rocks a bit, but not enough to bother us. It stored nicely in the rear wardrobe, but I had to add a bungee retainer to keep it from rocking. I will be extending the duct cover on the pass side with some kind of legs to hold the bed extensions flat and level. We didn't miss the slightly less storage, and with those neato hinges, accessing both compartments is a breeze. btw, the other 'neato' hinges on the tv cabinet work great and the entire front has a cleaner look.
The new thick carpet was a pleasure to walk on, and provided additional sound insulation.
Last thing was the pleated shower door. Another great improvement. Ease of use and lack of 'curtain attacks' made it very worthwhile.
Of course the big Chevy performed admirably as always. On one section of I-78 there are some kind of "repairs" going on which caused us to porpoise terribly at speed, so I slowed to 50 to get thru it. Otherwise speed was 60-70 on the highways.
The Lancaster area is a nice place to visit. Lots to explore, especially after seeing the touristy places the one required time. Some of the stores we wanted to re-visit were no longer there, but the villages of Intercourse, Blueball, Bird-in-Hand, Brickerville and Manheim are nice and quiet in the off season.

[Mainer1]

Mainer1 - Congratulations on joining the ranks of owners of a Trail Lite. I still think you get the most value for your money. As "burlmart" mentions CharlesOK did have one. He now owns a Class A and posts there on occasion. I am the unofficial record keeper (for my own use). You are the 11th one that has posted somewhere in these forums who now owns or did own a model 251. By the way your picture in your profile is not showing up for me.

Is this your floorplan?

Wow, I didn't realize I was number 11!
I'll work on that profile picture, I had problems in the past posting pictures, some could see them most couldn't.

Yes, my floor plan is the same.

[Mainer1]

Welcome, Mainer

If you search this very long thread, CharlesOK had the same model and may have reported on things that will serve you.

Thanks, I did contact CharlesOK last week, what a nice guy!
He was a great help to me locating all my water pump and water heater by-pass valves which I questioned him about.
He also give me details of owner repairs that I could do to improve my Trail-Lite.
He has Traded his 251 in for a larger Class A and I can understand that as I just up-graded to the 251 from a small Truck Camper.
Everyone's needs change, but for our money the 251 was a perfect fit for us right now!!
I'm already working of on a long list of things that I find that need replacement or repair.

1. replaced the battery disconnect relay that died on the trip back home.
2. ordered a missing remote control for the DVD player on e-bay.
3. installed 1/4" dia. retaining rods to the medicine cabinet shelf.
4. ordered a spare ACCURIDE steel wheel from e-bay.
5. fabricated a aluminum electrical box cover that replaces a sheet of plastic on the frame mounted battery relay box. (junk)
6. power coat the already rusting slide-out battery tray and install a Gel-type deep cycle battery. (Spring)
7. Since we already own a "TransaK" sleeping bag, I order a custom fit mattress cover from Knox Foam. they look nice and saves us from trying to make up the corner bed!
8. ordered a GM OEM radio antenna and floor mats.
9. install my auto dimming rear view with outside temp. and compass.
10. replaced the broken rear license plate nut-serts. (14-20)
11. replaced the missing wood plugs on the towel bar rack.

That should keep me going this Winter until our first camper trip sometime in the Spring;)

[burlmart]

Gene, that looks like ron.dittner's Phoenix Cruiser floorplan.

[Gene_in_NE]

Mainer1 - Congratulations on joining the ranks of owners of a Trail Lite. I still think you get the most value for your money. As "burlmart" mentions CharlesOK did have one. He now owns a Class A and posts there on occasion. I am the unofficial record keeper (for my own use). You are the 11th one that has posted somewhere in these forums who now owns or did own a model 251. By the way your picture in your profile is not showing up for me.

Is this your floorplan?