How nimble is a 35' Class A motorhome?

[RedJeep]

Hello. This may be my third post seeking advice on my next RV. Different thought/question for today. As previously mentioned we have a 40' fifth wheel toy hauler and a dually crew cab. This setup has proven to be a bit of a challenge in the wooded campgrounds of Oregon. I have been exploring different Class A and C motorhomes. Ideally, I would like to have a motorhome that was "nimble" enough so that I would not need a toad. A 35' motorhome actually "seems" pretty small to me given my current setup.

Our current rig is very long. While driving on a trip we may make some small excursions into towns for shopping, grab groceries or other attractions. I have become "competent" at pulling this behemoth through, for example, crowded Walmart parking lots, downtown Vancouver BC, downtown Portland, etc. It is convenient once we setup camp to have the pickup to run around in.

Previously, I owned a Class C and towed a Jeep. This worked out ok, but here is my thought that I am looking to get feedback on. Is it practical to think that I could have an (approx) 35' motorhome without a toad and:
1) Once setup in a campsite is it practical to think that if I wanted to take the family on a drive (to the beach, store, whatever) to just lift the leveling jacks, fold up the lawn chairs, bring the slides in and drive off on an errand? Or does that become a huge pain?
2) Drive a Class A around the town and tourist attractions? Or does parking become a huge pain?

I know that I can rent a car if parked for long stretched. Anyway, I appreciate any feedback from those that go everywhere with their Class A and no toad.

[Bumpyroad]

bigred1cav wrote:
not intended to start an argument. Some of us are not campers. We are tourists that bring our hotel room and car with us. My wife and I travel to see our country not sit in the woods and smell smoke drink and watch NASCAR. That is just our choice, those that choose to do those things have the right to do so.

It is not a violation of any law to use your motor home as a place to sleep while visiting the marvels of the USA.

well said
bumpy

[bigred1cav]

not intended to start an argument. Some of us are not campers. We are tourists that bring our hotel room and car with us. My wife and I travel to see our country not sit in the woods and smell smoke drink and watch NASCAR. That is just our choice, those that choose to do those things have the right to do so.

It is not a violation of any law to use your motor home as a place to sleep while visiting the marvels of the USA.

rumrunnerxx wrote:
I think MH size is not the biggest factor. IMO it depends on what type of camper you are. We don't have a toad with our 30 ft Class A and for the most part don't miss one. My DW and I can go up to a week before we might need something. Having the bikes along is always good too. Some folks at CGs can't seem to sit for even a couple of hours before they start the car or truck and go off somewhere only to return a short time later. We do our sightseeing on the way so we can just sit when we arrive. Full timing would be a whole different story. We're just not there yet.

[Dog_Trainer]

We towed for years behind our 35' MH I found the 35 to be a good size for the DW and I. A couple of years ago I got rid of the towed and was going to set the new toad up. Then I had the idea of trying our 500 cc Kymco scooter. For the last 2 years we have used the scooter I have a trunk on the back of it which is big enough to go for a quite a few groceries. 2 choices to carry it are on a hitch mounted carrier or like I carry mine a 5X10' trailer. I would not be without some kind of towed. My 35' is a joy to drive and I can get around most anything with it.

[rumrunnerxx]

I think MH size is not the biggest factor. IMO it depends on what type of camper you are. We don't have a toad with our 30 ft Class A and for the most part don't miss one. My DW and I can go up to a week before we might need something. Having the bikes along is always good too. Some folks at CGs can't seem to sit for even a couple of hours before they start the car or truck and go off somewhere only to return a short time later. We do our sightseeing on the way so we can just sit when we arrive. Full timing would be a whole different story. We're just not there yet.

[JimFromJersey]

RedJeep wrote:
I appreciate the feedback but not very encouraging. Is there some commonly recognized length of RV where it becomes small enough that you do not need a toad? Or does it boil down to having to break camp to run around town is just a pain?

It boils down to having to break camp to run around town is just a pain.

Our 34' Bounder is easy enough to navigate around in the CGs to get to our spot, but after that, it's there for the duration. Without a toad, in the past we've had to depend on bicycles or the footsies to get around, which can make it troublesome if you're somewhere for several days in one spot. On a cross country jaunt, it's not so bad because you tend to pull up stakes and move to the next spot in one to three days at most - but we've also been in spots where we've parked for five or six or more days at a time.

This spring, we're looking into two small electric mopeds to hang off the back of the MH to get around in - they're pretty good for everything except interstates, and we can get two for around ~$1000-$1200 total.

[demoon]

We use Enterprise regularly and have never had a single problem. As mentioned above - reservations - probably will get a better rate and they will have a car for you, even if they have to up-grade you several levels.

[RVER]

That is weird!!! We did have good luck with Enterprise but we did make reservations because we knew when and where we were going.

[bsinmich]

We decided to try the Enterprise idea once. I called and they said they couldn't come and pick me up because they were short staffed that day but if I could get a ride there they would set me up. I got a ride there and found they had no car available. It took a $20 cab ride back to the MH. I never tried a second time.

[J-Rooster]

I own a Winnebago 35-U and love it! I tow all four down with it and I have been able to get into spaces designated for 34' coaches!

[AllegroD]

35' nimble? No way. You will have to be nimble, patient and plan much. As others have said, it can be done, with your compromise.

I will take our frog.

[tahiti16]

Our 90 at 30' and no slides we did it, but most of our travels at that time were either traveling vacations, no more than 2 nights in one place or a week in the same spot and don't go anywhere else.

We did it a couple times with this rig with 2 slides and 36' and it just seems to be a lot bigger pain to break camp and set up again. YMMV :B

[RVER]

It would be a HUGE pain in the butt to bring in slides and unhook everytime you want to go somewhere!!! I did it for a couple of years but I did not have slide outs at the time, 1994 rig from 1998-2002 but very quickly it was apparent that we needed a ride to the store or rent a car for store and tourist attractions. Some places have no parking of a 34 ft rig at all. We went from Class A to fifthwheel and are very happy. We are looking at putting the fiver on a seasonal site and getting a Motorhome but it gets expensive to pull a car etc., and insurance and taxes on MH are HUGE compared to fiver. I would not buy a Class A of that size and not plan on towing a vehicle. Just my opinion but it is based on a lot of experience.

[JayGee]

Toad or not going.

[FormerBoater]

RedJeep wrote:

FormerBoater wrote:
5 years, not FT..no toad...Enterprise when a car is needed.

Have not encountered a single grocery store that we could not park and go in and get what we needed.

Move from CG and return? Cable, power, water hose and sewer and off you go..easy peazy IMHO.

My wife and I just drove 14 hours today from NC to Fl and we had a game where we counted towing vs. not....Daytona 500 traffic was heavily northbound aborting the race due to weather and it was about 60% with toads.

Now, I do not know if the race distorted the mix, but that is what we saw so lots of the non-FT crowd do not feel compelled to tow.

FormerBoater (Dave), You have a 40' DP and "Have not encountered a single grocery store that we could not park and go in." This is very encouraging. It sounds like a 40' motorhome is a lot more nimble than a 40' fifth wheel. On Friday I bent my side ladder (hooked a little tree) in a grocery store parking lot. I had to use blocks of wood to make a ramp to run over an aisle curb in the parking lot. I had paid attention to the curb but not the little tree next to us. So, my question is; are you really able to drive a 40' DP through most grocery store parking lots?

Thanks,
---Robert (redjeep)

Robert,

As you can see many will disagree, but all grocery stores have room for the semi's to bring inventory to the loading docks at the rear of the store. Most of the semi's have to enter from public roadways, go into the public lot to get to the loading docks in the rear.

The bottom line is there is plenty of room to enter and exit the public lots.

We always scope out the lot and do a drive-by before entering. We know what section of the lot we are heading to before we enter.

In the spirit of full disclosure, we live and travel mostly in Florida. Most Florida grocery stores are in strip malls with lot's of vacant storefronts, hence the abundance of empty parking spaces. Americans want to park as close to the grocery store as possible, therefore plenty of spaces on the outer portions of the lots.

Here at home, I always drive the coach to the nearest Publix in Deerfield Beach and load the food and beverage after leaving the storage facility.

Local Fire Dept. does the same thing....they drive their much longer truck and get their groceries (and it does not bend in the middle either LOL). There are enough empty places to park that the firemen and I can load up at the same time.

Good luck with your decision.

Dave