Class A Coach with 4 proper seats w/ seatbelts?

[mkiidaddy]

Hi all,

First post here... thanks in advance for your wisdom & advice.

We are a family of four looking to downsize from 3,000+ sqft house to a smaller house & Class A motor-home combo. Sort of a "Home base + travel home" type arrangement.

Mom/Dad have 8+ years experience living/traveling on sailboats, so limited space living is not a mystery.

We have owned & camped in a popup and really enjoyed it.

Our biggest hangup with the Class A type is the lack of proper safety for our 5 & 9 year old children.

Question is simple. Does any company make a 2+2 type arrangement with 2 front seats + 2 proper forward facing back seats, all with OEM installed seatbelts/anchors?

Ideally, the back 2 seats would swivel freely all the way to face the back of the coach.

I did search the forum before asking, but this is a tough question to nail down with an accurate search.

Thanks, and looking forward to learning & eventually contributing.

Mike

[PastorCharlie]

I once owned a 1997 Coachmen Santara with a front facing couch behind the cockpit and also a swivel seat behind the cockpit. That gave 6 forward facing seats with seatbelts.

My current Newmar has 10 belted seating positions. Three forward facing, one rearward facing and six facing sideway.

[doxiemom11]

Our coach Monaco ( gas ) has seatbelts for the sofa. They are bolted to the frame. There are 3 of them. The seat behind the passenger front seat also has a seatbelt. We don't use those seatbelts so they are tucked behind/below and out of sight. You may not realize they are there if you looked at the coach. As far as 4 seats - no, never saw one when we were looking at coaches.

[MrWizard]

Simba

[coloradotallman]

Here's that same Safari Simba that sold in 04/17 at PPL Motorhomes in Texas.
Asking price was $38,500. far below the one in Colorado.
hereherehttps://www.pplmotorhomes.com/used-rvs-for-sale/diesel-motorhomes/2007-safari-simba_rv-30874

[MrWizard]

Don't have to buy new
Shop for a used model, that meets your needs, or can me adapted

[Blackdiamond]

Dynamax makes a class C (super C) with 4 front facing seats....IMHO you are taking this safety thing WAAAYYY to seriously. We never even had the kids use seatbelts in the RV.

[Mile_High]

Wasn't looking for this, but looky here -

Simba

Maybe they still make them - toyhauler to boot!

[mkiidaddy]

Thanks very much... quite helpful!

bwg wrote:
From 2007 to 2010 or 11 Newmar offered a model much as you're looking for, the Allstar line. Check their brochure archives for those model years and look at the models 4154, 3959 and 3951, both have permenant sleeping arrangements for 4, and offered permenant seating for 4 in captains chairs. Not sure of your budget, but these would probably work for you.
Bruce

[msturtz]

mkiidaddy wrote:
Yes, it may not be realistic as you say.

We feel like we need a Class A because it will be a home away from home for possibly months. So, it's a bit more than just camping.

So, we're starting to consider that maybe we need to have Mommy just drive the Toad separately with kids in tow, and Daddy will drive the coach. We plan on short (less than 8-10 hour) hops between destinations and longer stays (1-2 weeks) at each, so maybe this is not such a big concession... not being together in the Coach when traveling.

The fuel costs will be more, but it would save the Coach from having to tow the Toad... so maybe that cost is mitigated somewhat.

Any other variables in that plan that we're not considering?

The reason we switched from a towable to a motorhome was when our twins were born. Initially it was on the road diaper changes every 1 - 2 hours and or my wife or daughter needing to use the restroom. A towable became untenable. We had several other benefits because our twins were preemies we had a very strict feeding schedule. With the motorhome my wife could feed them while under way. Potty training our twins was a breeze compared to when we had a towable. We also have less "are we there yet" going on because the kids can easily see outside, watch TV, or play with their devices. We basically tour around in the motorhome sometimes even on day trips. It's just too convenient to have a restroom and food onboard rather than being forced to purchase it on the road.

[bwg]

From 2007 to 2010 or 11 Newmar offered a model much as you're looking for, the Allstar line. Check their brochure archives for those model years and look at the models 4154, 3959 and 3951, both have permenant sleeping arrangements for 4, and offered permenant seating for 4 in captains chairs. Not sure of your budget, but these would probably work for you.
Bruce

[mkiidaddy]

Yes, it may not be realistic as you say.

We feel like we need a Class A because it will be a home away from home for possibly months. So, it's a bit more than just camping.

So, we're starting to consider that maybe we need to have Mommy just drive the Toad separately with kids in tow, and Daddy will drive the coach. We plan on short (less than 8-10 hour) hops between destinations and longer stays (1-2 weeks) at each, so maybe this is not such a big concession... not being together in the Coach when traveling.

The fuel costs will be more, but it would save the Coach from having to tow the Toad... so maybe that cost is mitigated somewhat.

Any other variables in that plan that we're not considering?

[D_E_Bishop]

I too feel you are looking at buying and modifying. Our rig has to captains chairs, sofa, swivel rocker recliner and the dinette. In my never to be humble opinion, if you had swivel rocker for the kids, they couldn't see as much as if sitting on the sofa or dinette.

The visibility from the rocker sucks, even if it is considered legal because it has a seatbelt, there are no side airbags. Which is proper safety? Both the sofa and the dinette have better visibility that a proper chair.

Personally I think your chasing after something that not only doesn't exist but will not provide what you are looking for.

[Mile_High]

Seat belts are only part of it, what about air bags?

Our class A has seat belts on the side facing couch, but because of the side force on the passenger in a collision, I think they may even do more harm than good.

We had a 5th wheel and crew cab truck when the kids were small. The cab may have had all the safety equipment, but that 17,000 lb 5er was coming in the cab in a forward collision and no cowboy rack was going to stop it. I really always kind of cringed at the thought of that and never really felt we would have a chance.

I watched on the "Big Time RV" TV show about some folks with the exact same concern you are having. They settled on a large Class B that had 4 forward facing high back automotive seats and the van had airbags in the front if I remember. The back seats turned to face a table when parked.

[FormerBoater]

Our Eagle has seatbelts galore....3 on the couch and 2 on the J-lounger in addition to the front 2 seats.

This is a 20 year old coach, so I would expect that all American Coaches would have these seat belts as standard equipment.