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Born Free vs ??? Class C Coaches

whemme
Explorer II
Explorer II
Opinions on when Class C brands are equal to or better in quality to Born Free
2002 Born Free 26' RSB Motorcoach
2005 Chevrolet Malibu LS Toad
17 REPLIES 17

Skid_Row_Joe
Explorer
Explorer
Born Free Motorcoach, located in Humboldt, Iowa, shuttered it's doors and business May 2017.

Jackha1949
Explorer
Explorer
We looked at a lot of class C when we decided to give up full-timing in a 40' class A pusher. We ended up with a Coachmen Leprechaun on the Ford 450 chassis. A couple of things made the difference for me, one, it has self leveling jacks, and two, it has adjustable air shocks in the rear. We also liked the floor plan with the two slide outs with the bedroom have a queen sized bed that you can walk around the sides. Happy Rving All ๐Ÿ™‚
Jack & Peg
USN Ret AGC
K1ZMB
Patrick AFB
2017 Coachmen Leprechaun

Bumpyroad
Explorer
Explorer
PghBob wrote:
Bumpy, regarding the sizes of our LD vs the BF we looked at over 5 years ago. I believe the sizes were similar, but perhaps not the same. Things could have changed since then, and now that BF has new owners, other changes could be in the future.


I asked because adding one or two feet can make a big difference in a corner or walk around bed, size of bath, etc. I know when I bought my TT adding 2 ft would have been a more livable unit but I had weight issues with my TV.
bumpy

PghBob
Explorer
Explorer
Bumpy, regarding the sizes of our LD vs the BF we looked at over 5 years ago. I believe the sizes were similar, but perhaps not the same. Things could have changed since then, and now that BF has new owners, other changes could be in the future.

Bumpyroad
Explorer
Explorer
ron.dittmer wrote:

I feel Phoenix makes well built motor homes, but I have experience with only one other brand motorhome seen HERE. That one we owned for 24 years. We hope to own our Phoenix Cruiser way longer than that. From all the horror stories of poor quality I read on RV forums, the Phoenix is a winner.


that is one "cute" unit.
bumpy

ron_dittmer
Explorer II
Explorer II
Our PHOENIX CRUISER seen HERE is coming up on it's 10th birthday in June. We ordered ours without the optional slide-out. Nearly every model offers slide-outs as options. You can order a NO-slide at a reduced price. They have a nice pricing web-tool HERE which calculates the price based on the options chosen. One thing nice about Phoenix is that they are extremely good with customer special requests. If you look, see, and wonder..."If Only This, or That", ask Earl at Phoenix to see if it can be done. They do lots of special requests for their customers and they don't jack up the price, except to cover residual expenses, if any. Some special requests reduce the price.

I feel Phoenix makes well built motor homes, but I have experience with only one other brand motorhome seen HERE. That one we owned for 24 years. We hope to own our Phoenix Cruiser way longer than that. From all the horror stories of poor quality I read on RV forums, the Phoenix is a winner.

pnichols
Explorer II
Explorer II
Coach House is probably about the top of the heap in ClassB+/C quality in the U.S.. However, there are some U.S.-sourced mid six figure expedition grade chassis-mount motorhomes that leave even Coach House in the dust.

Here's a link to a model that Coach House calls a Class B+, that many of us might consider a Class C. Note that it's built on an over-kill chassis - i.e. built on a Ford E450 chassis, when raw-weight-wise it could be built on a Ford E350 chassis instead:
http://www.coachhouserv.com/line-platinum.php
2005 E450 Itasca 24V Class C

UkePlayer
Explorer
Explorer
The Phoenix Cruiser website has a great build video that was one of the main reasons we bought ours. They also do a side by side comparison with a similar class C highlighting the differences in their coaches. We have a 2011 PC 3100 and love it. One thing I would like to see improvement on is the window sizes. They are a bit small.
Good hunting
Nancy G

DrewE
Explorer II
Explorer II
I've generally heard good things about Phoenix Cruiser. I'm afraid I can't really speak from personal experience or examination, though.

crasster
Explorer II
Explorer II
tarnold wrote:
Chinook. Even though the original company quit in 2006. One solid piece of fiberglass, no seams anywhere.


Very good + important. I really like the Chinook models for this reason. It just leaves a lot of "leaky mysteries" out of the picture. Also it usually makes them a bit more aerodynamic.
4 whopping cylinders on Toyota RV's. Talk about great getting good MPG. Also I have a very light foot on the pedal. I followed some MPG advice on Livingpress.com and I now get 22 MPG! Not bad for a home on wheels.

tarnold
Explorer
Explorer
Chinook. Even though the original company quit in 2006. One solid piece of fiberglass, no seams anywhere.

Bumpyroad
Explorer
Explorer
PghBob wrote:
We looked at BF before buying our Lazy Daze mid-bath. The BF had corner beds which meant when one of us had to get up in the middle of the night, it bothers the other. Secondly, corner beds are harder to "make up" in the morning IMO. Thirdly, I prefer a large window in the rear to view the scenery, not a bath. Lastly, the bed had the corner cut on a diagonal, effectively making that side of the bed shorter. But, consider your wants/needs and not mine. Good luck with your decision.


were these both the same size units?
bumpy

PghBob
Explorer
Explorer
We looked at BF before buying our Lazy Daze mid-bath. The BF had corner beds which meant when one of us had to get up in the middle of the night, it bothers the other. Secondly, corner beds are harder to "make up" in the morning IMO. Thirdly, I prefer a large window in the rear to view the scenery, not a bath. Lastly, the bed had the corner cut on a diagonal, effectively making that side of the bed shorter. But, consider your wants/needs and not mine. Good luck with your decision.

midnightsadie
Explorer II
Explorer II
had a BF 24ft was a very well made rv.