Looking to downsize

[pequeajim]

My DW and I are looking to downsize from our Class A to some kind of smaller Class B. Here are the things that are important.

China Bowl Pot, Sink and Shower.
TV/Entertainment Area
Stove/Sink/Fridge
Basement storage with slam lock doors
Queen sized bed

Thoughts??

Jim

[tatest]

No basement in Class B's or camping vans. Largest vans are 24 feet long, less than 80 inches wide, probably a half foot less interior after insulation and trim. Queen size beds are easy in that space, take up less than 1/3 of the area available. But if you are coming down from 200-400 sq ft of space in a Class A, to 120-140 sq ft inside a 24-foot van, all spaces become dual purpose, convertible, except that doesn't work for cooking and bathroom facilities, which detract from the space.

Look at the living space options in the Winnebago ERA models, and some of the Airstream cruisers, for the best interpretations of using this small space for a variety of different needs (party van to full-time living). Downsizing this much in a RV is about downsizing your lifestyle. A 400 sq ft lifestyle does not usually fit into a 120 sq ft living space.

Rather than a B van conversion, you might find better alternatives in small Class C (or B+) or even smaller A's built on the 24-25 foot Sprinter chassis, with 7 to 8 foot house width. That gets you closer to 200 sq ft living space, rather than the 120-140 inside a van body.

[RckyMtnVia]

pequeajim, Winnebago stopped making the Via after the 2017 model year, but there are a number of used units available. They still make the class C View, which has the same floor plans as the Via, but a different cab area. Both are great rvs, and you can probably compare specs and pictures online at RV Trader or other websites. A good source of information on the Via and View is the Yahoo Users Group for those models. RV dealers that will give you good pricing are Lewis in Ohio and Lichtsinn in Iowa. Lichtsinn has a ton of information and videos on their website, in fact they have a few used Vias and Views available.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

magicbus wrote:
I think one needs to consider why they are downsizing. One of our criteria was to be narrow enough to fit where cars and SUV's can fit so we could do more spur-of-the-moment things and also so we would not be tempted to take a toad.

The true Class B's tend to be on the order of 76" wide, but the B+/(C) units run ~93 inches. Compare that to a Chevy Suburban at 80" that takes up a good bit of a standard parking space. We may be longer, but we can park safely along any curb or double pull-thru slot in a parking lot. That was important to us, but different strokes for different folks. Once we realized we wanted a true class B we went floor-plan shopping.

Dave

I agree - after we bought a snowbird condo in FL, we realized we would be "sightseers" for future trips; so nimbleness and park-ability were foremost in our mind (also length - we drove our Transit over Beartooth Pass and on the Going-To-The-Sun Road in Glacier last week with no problems) Being able to fit in small RV sites is a bonus, too

[pequeajim]

Thanks Steve, I think I'm going to go with the Winnebago Via. They make a 25-foot chassis and it's based on the Sprinter platform. Winnebago has some really innovative creative storage and seating solutions. they call it a mini class A it's really about the same size as a class B+ or like a C or something in that range but it looks very cool being streamlined like a bullet. I'll keep looking and researching it and if I can find one local I'll go see it otherwise I'll wait for the Hershey show and look at them there.

[magicbus]

I think one needs to consider why they are downsizing. One of our criteria was to be narrow enough to fit where cars and SUV's can fit so we could do more spur-of-the-moment things and also so we would not be tempted to take a toad.

The true Class B's tend to be on the order of 76" wide, but the B+/(C) units run ~93 inches. Compare that to a Chevy Suburban at 80" that takes up a good bit of a standard parking space. We may be longer, but we can park safely along any curb or double pull-thru slot in a parking lot. That was important to us, but different strokes for different folks. Once we realized we wanted a true class B we went floor-plan shopping.

Dave

[Tripalot]

Scottiemom wrote:
You might look at the Leisure Travel units.

Dale

X2 we love ours with the full queen Murphy bed and large bathroom with a residential style shower. Lots of inside/outside storage. After 5 years I still have empty cupboards.

[pequeajim]

I checked out the Phoenix cruisers and they aren't less expensive if you consider everything standard with the Winnie.

[magnusfide]

When you buy from the factory Phoenix Cruisers B+ rvs are better built than Winnebagos and cost less (you can also stand upright in them unlike a number of B vans). They have basement storage and there are some great floorplans under 26 feet.

[pequeajim]

Good advice RckyMtnVia. We're going to give the Winnie coaches a good long look.

[RckyMtnVia]

From the list of things that are important to you, it would seem that a class C would better fit your needs. We downsized from a 39' diesel pusher to a 26' Winnebago Via 25T, which is actually class A, but we did a lot of looking and research before the switch. The Via we chose has a lot of outside storage and twin bed on the inside. It also had a nice location for the tv, which is not major, but useful. When we looked at new units my wife and I would stand inside and figure out where we would put all of our "stuff" and what we would have to give up. The advantage of having the smaller rv that goes anywhere certainly outweighed the smaller space inside. My advice would be not to go extremely small, but as said, look at lots of rvs.

[magicbus]

I think you'll be hard pressed to get all of that in one vehicle. We wanted s dry bath and liked the slide of one model of the Winnebago Era line, but decided the slide took up too much space when in. We settled on a wet bath and that allowed us a bigger fridge, a king-sized bed we can leave made up in the rear, and a nice sized storage "basement" area under the bed with a sliding tray. I also had room to mount a tube for the slinky up under one side of the bed.

In general it is all about trade offs because there is only so much space available.

Dave

[Scottiemom]

You might look at the Leisure Travel units.

Dale

[Lwiddis]

Have you looked at any Bs? Your wish list is impossible or nearly so.

[pequeajim]

I'm not really sure what's available so I can't say. Ideally, we would like a separate shower and bath but I suppose that's a lot to hope for with the class B.