Class C boondocking

If boondocking where you went in your TC is your top issue, evaluate the C by its height and width, the power of its engine, the number of tires on the ground. Will the unit you are considering actually fit into those spots? If you want a long unit, will the rear end drag?

My Tiger is a small C built on a 4x4 Chevy chassis. It goes just about anywhere that my driving skills can take it. It fits into spots where a taller and wider TC cannot go. It is probably smaller than you want, but Tiger does build some slightly larger units.
http://www.tigervehicles.com/

Most of my trips use 2WD and high clearance far more than they use the 4WD features. 4WD is usually for getting OUT of the difficult places, not for getting there in the first place. The truck has a limited-slip differential, which helps when more traction is needed.

If larger living quarters are most important to you, you might get a C which can tow a smaller 4WD vehicle to be used for exploring.

Happy trails!

Non-slip differentials are available for the rear axles used by G3500 Chevy and E-350/E-450 chassis. 4x4 conversions are available for the E-series.

Traction will be less an issue than clearances on steep dirt roads, particularly exit angles and hanging up at center with long wheelbase models. C's typically have very long rear overhangs for load balanced to the axle capacities, and have clearance problems even on pavement. Mine likes to hang up going in and out of slightly sloped commercial driveways. But people do take these on dirt roads, where they know the road, and when they know their limits.

There have been C's specially built for the way you've used your truck and camper. Most are on conventional cab rather than van cutaway chassis, and many were made using 4x4 models and might be amenable to chassis lifts. In current production, look at C's from Tiger Adventure Vehicles. From about 10-15 years ago, there was an Xcursion line from Xplorer, a descendant of Frank Industries, one of the motorized RV pioneering companies. I think someone else has since gone into the business as Xplorer Motorhomes custom building a variety of models that will go where no conventional C motorhome can go.

Be sure to check out the "Phoenix Cruisers" you can get 4X4 for any thing they build!
On their website look at the 4X4 build list.
Good Luck & Drive Safe!

Traction was OK, clearly we're not in a Jeep. But like others have said, it's clearance that's an issue. My black/grey values all hang lower and more exposed than I'm comfortable with/

If you high center your Jeep, you bust out your Hi Lift and get going. I have no idea how'd I'd move a motorhome off.

A few weeks ago we drove up a pretty tame, by 4WD or truck standards, road to a boondocking site. The road was wet and I found myself powering thru sections must faster than I would or should have just because I was scared of getting stuck.

Then there's the whole issue of trying to turn a Class C around on a narrow shelf road.

A class C has a much higher percentage of weight on it's drive axle than most 2 wheel drive vehicles which gives it a lot of traction. I suspect that traction would be the least of your obstacles with a typical 24' or larger class C.

I have owned a number of pickup campers and class c motorhomes and chose a small class c this time. The reason, more room and I still have the ground clearance and ability to get into tight spots. A typical Chevy HD pickup is 19ft long bumper to bumper without overhang from a camper. My C is 21.6 which is like a 9.5+ camper on the back of a pickup but with alot more room in side.

99.9% of my camping is boondocking off road and this little C does great at it. Put on a hitch haul for extras like gen gas and a small quiet Honda, and go or hookup to your atv trailer and load whatever.

My last C was a 24ft Beaver, just a tad long for the hard to get places and did drag bottom once in a while in hard to go get places, the smaller C doesn't do that.



Great for hunting and fishing.

We love dry camping in the mountains. Do it a few times a year. We haven't had any issues. Ours is pretty low but the weight gives it pretty good traction. Nothing crazy but we have a lot of miles of dirt roads on our RV! Washboard sucks...

I'm assuming you are from Washington based on sig. If so you could do a 4wd conversion at Quad van in Portland, Or., if needed. They are awesome! They did nice work on my RV (Upgraded 2wd Front end).

I can offer some insights...and I will! Having had two C's...one with one without, for getting up those nasty loose crudy tracks, a 4x4 does that. With only rear drivers, the rears will spin out and there you are. Even with limited slip differential, once you loose the rears, you are kinda done. The ablility of the 4x4 then to drag your sorry a** up and over, make it.

A person can buy a 4x4 kit from UjointOffroad http://www.ujointoffroad.com/
that can be installed. Know a guy that did that and he is some happy. You can always get it lifted..although you`ll need to find a 4x4 shop to do that. There are no kits for a Ford E 350.

There is a good sounding shop in Utah too..or, because you are Washington, take it up to Kamloops Light truck..they did mine. With the CDN loonie so low, it won`t be such a big bite.

Those that recommend their particular brand of 4x4 RV....all great names as long as you have deep pockets. I always suggest to folks...if you don`t have those particular resources or perhaps want a bit more room...buy the C of your choice and have it converted. The bottom line will be a whole lot less money for a whole lot more truck.

And pick an RV that has the plumbing up inside..not dangling down so you can grind it off on a passing rock. It`s also hard to deal with the angle of departure. Mine is all plated underneath, so I can drag it over crud and scratch the plate, not mess up the tanks and so on.







Gary Haupt

Look at Jayco. They had a factory built 4x4 on the E450

Bob

For a 2WD Class C that you want to take off-pavement, look for/do things like this:

- Get as short a one as you can possible camp with ... 24 feet max.

- Get as short a wheelbase chassis as possible ... 158 inches max between the front and rear axles.

- Whatever you get, put taller size (bigger diameter) tires on it. Every added inch of tire diameter gives you one-half inch more ground clearance at every point on the chassis. This is a better way to get ground clearance than a lift, because the tire diameter method continues to keep the overall center of gravity of the vehicle as low a possible while at the same time providing higher clearance for all chassis components.

- Look for a coach outer wall profile behind each rear wheel dual set that sweeps up straight starting immediately at the wheels. Some coach walls go straight back a little ways behind the rear wheels before they angle up to the back wall of the coach ... this is not the best profile to minimize off-pavement damage to coach walls.

- Look for sewer/tank components that are mounted up high at frame level and, if possible ... enclosed within a metal cabinet structure.

- Look for a built-in generator installation such that the bottom of the generator cannot be seen hanging down below the coach wall. The generator should be mounted right up at frame height ... not hanging lower.

- If possible in a short length, get the Chevy 4500 or Ford E450 chassis under the motorhome so you can crawl along slowly better with more torque on tap and less transmission slippage due to the better pulling rear differential gear ratio used in these two heavier duty chassis.

- Get as narrow a coach body exterior width as possible .... 96 inches max.

- Get as low a roof height as possible .... commensurate with the minimum stand-up height you need inside the the coach.

- Do not get a model with slides. Slides add too much additional weight and weeken the overall coach wall structure for off-pavement use.

- Get a limited slip or posi-traction rear differential if possible.

- Use the angular-traverse method to the maximum extent possible whenever crossing depressions or going over humps when off-pavement.

A short and narrow Class C on a heavy duty chassis with it's heavy items (propane tank, fresh/grey/black water tanks, built-in generator, coach batteries) mounted down low approximately at frame height like they are ... has the potential for better overall rough road stability than slide-in truck campers where all or most of the weight associated with camping is above base frame height.

Keep us posted with what you come with!