cancel
Showing results forย 
Search instead forย 
Did you mean:ย 

How nimble is a 35' Class A motorhome?

RedJeep
Explorer
Explorer
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.
2008 Georgetown DS350 Class A
Wife, kids, dog and cat
51 REPLIES 51

dieharder
Explorer
Explorer
Do you not have a checklist to use when leaving a campground? Would you really want to do all that each and every time you want to go see/do something? Disconnect everything when you leave, reconnect everything when you get back?

If you would like to do that, then give it a shot, by all means.

What are you going to do when you get to an attraction and there isn't enough parking for you? Try to find parking on the street? It would be interesting, first of all, for you to find 3 or 4 empty spots in a row, or to even see if the meter maids will let you get off by paying only 1 of the meters or if you'd have to feed all 3 or 4.

Take a wrong turn in a small town and, oopsie... you're at a dead end. You're going to have a great time backing your MH up the street and back onto the street you came from since there is no room for you to turn that monster around.

A small TOAD will not effect gas mileage much and do you much better in those situations. The gas you'll save by NOT using the MH on errands like this will more than make up for it.

I would be willing to bet that, despite the length of your current setup, the turning radius you have now is smaller than the turning radius of my 35 footer.
1999 Itasca Sunrise

JimM68
Explorer
Explorer
No Robert, you cannot. You go into the wallmart, aim for the back, and (including the toad) take up 2 full rows.

And then you hope like hell some moron doesn't park next to you, cause you're gonna need every inch to get the #$%^& outa there when you're done shopping.

Once we're camped, we're camping, and the rig simply is not going to be moved until time to set out for the next destination.

Enroute, I'll stop just about anywhere to shop or site see, but once I'm camping, I'm camping.

And in a big vehicle, you have to pay very close attention to what you are getting into, and exactly how you are going to get out.

Again tho, why in the world would someone not want to have a smaller vehicle along?
The dollars and sense really do not add up to much.
The hassle to hook and unhook is minimal.
Most of the time we don't even know it is there.

For those who believe they don't need it, great.
But we never leave home without our jeep.
In fact, Since we got another dog this winter, I just put a baseplate on the DW's liberty, my TJ is no longer big enough to handle the whole gang.
Jim M.
2008 Monaco Knight 40skq, moho #2
The "68"
My very own new forumfirstgens.com

My new blog

RedJeep
Explorer
Explorer
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)
2008 Georgetown DS350 Class A
Wife, kids, dog and cat

FormerBoater
Explorer
Explorer
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.
Dave
1998 American Eagle 40EVS

johnhicks
Explorer
Explorer
I'll be contrary...

We're on the fourth month of our trip south for the winter, 36' DP, no toad, and not staying anywhere more than a week. And no toad, no problem.

Before heading south we've been living aboard our current rig and previously a 27' class C since 2010.

Every now and then we'll borrow or rent a car, but nothing's ever predicated on having a car. We go where we want, stop at the stores we want. "Breaking camp" consists of unhooking two hoses and one cable. If I have to stow everything away and take it along so it won't get stolen then I'm camping in the wrong place (hasn't happened yet).

So a toad hasn't justified itself yet.
-jbh-

nomad_289
Explorer
Explorer
RedJeep wrote:
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?


26' works well for me. Able to navigate all city streets and ability to easily back-up/turn around is great. Allows unlimited exploring with no pre-trip route planning. Breaking camp is much faster than dealing with a toad. 10K miles this year all over the PNW.

But, 26' is somewhat confining after awhile. A 35' Class A w/toad is about what I plan if/when I step up in size.

bsinmich
Explorer
Explorer
We have used a dolly for towing until we went 4 down 12 years ago. I don't want to be without a toad anytime. We unhitch the car before trying to put the MH in it's spot. Pull throughs are very rare where we end up. DW & I can get the car free in about 3 minutes and then park the MH. I also use a walker to get around but it only takes a few minutes more that way. (In rain we can unhook a little faster)
1999 Damon Challenger 310 Ford

Executive45
Explorer III
Explorer III
Mr. Jeff wrote:
But for now, traveling without towing sure is easy!


Traveling WITH a toad is hard.???...:h:h.........:B....Dennis
We can do more than we think we can, but most do less than we think we do
Dennis and Debi Fourteen Years Full Timing
Monaco Executive M-45PBQ Quad Slide
525HP Cummins ISM 6 Spd Allison
2014 Chevrolet Equinox LTZ W/ ReadyBrute
CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR TRAVEL BLOG

bigred1cav
Explorer
Explorer
Without a toad you'll need to rent a car local or become very pissed very quickly. I tried it without our toad one time. NEVER AGAIN! As for nimble I'm not certain of your question. We have a 35 ft F 53 chassis and it has power to pull Appalachians. Get about 8 mph overall. Must watch rear swing judiciously and where you park. Must remember any obstructions and best to do a walk around for a looksee before pulling out.

Setup is easy just a couple buttons to push and in the rain wait til next day to do hookups. Sit in your MH and watch poor folks with trailers out in rain and mud getting unhooked.



RedJeep wrote:
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.

Monaco_Montclai
Explorer
Explorer
before I retired moved the 53ft trails around at work, ninble aint in the book for thouse things.but we have a 30ft. works for us -now its all happu-camping

Monaco_Montclai
Explorer
Explorer
WELL my lovely bride had the idea of towing a car. well its a almost a given.u realy need a car behind u. now u can camp at places that hav e a ****tle for site seeing. so many needs for a car or jeep. trips to the er, food store, rv parts. now its all happy-camping

nbargolf
Explorer
Explorer
Wanted to add, if you visit NP like Yellowstone or Glacier there are a lot of areas you can't get to with a rig that size. Another thing our MPG on the MH is about 8 on our Honda about 28. Food for thought.

hotbyte
Explorer
Explorer
We have a class C that is 31-1/2 feet bumper to bumper and have not had a toad for 4 yrs. We tow a boat a majority of the time so a toad isn't an option. We often "break camp" and take MH to store, beach (found public lot with a few large RV spots at our normal destination), out to eat, etc. Also, if gray tank fills at non-FU site, we'll just drive to dump station and back. For city water, I use a quick disconnect at MH connection and leave hose at campsite while gone. We also leave most outside "stuff" at campsite if we go out and not worry about it. So far, none has gone missing. We try to keep inside tidy and ready for travel. Wife put some non-slide feet on baskets that we keep smaller items in so they aren't just laying around. We also don't do any awning lights, etc. Parking can be a bit of a problem in some cases. Generally, if you don't mind walking a little you can find somewhere near by.

All that being said, we are starting to "window shop" shorter rigs since kids are grown to be even a little more nimble as you say. I'm thinking 24' or shorter C/B+ or maybe something like the Via or new Axis. I like that the smaller A's let the cab area better function as part of living area.

Good luck in your search! We previously had a 5'er that we really enjoyed but the MH travel is a step above ๐Ÿ™‚
2018 Minnie Winnie 24M

nbargolf
Explorer
Explorer
We started out with a 24ft Navion and it was that great around town in a crowded area. Went up to a 34ft with a tow much better, now 41 with a tow. For us it's we don't go if we can't tow IUHO.

Bumpyroad
Explorer
Explorer
reminds me of what my BIL said about not having a toad. said that frequently he would park, get all set up, and then the wife saying, "oh we're out of milk/bread/etc."
bumpy