Need Help in Choosing MH Length

[We_retheRussos]

First of all since this is my first post, Hello! I've been lurking on here for a while and finally decided that I had enough questions and things to add that I would sign up for an account and make this my first post.

My wife and I are in our 30's and looking to go full time for at least one year. We plan to spend our time traveling across the country spending however long we want at each location (could be a day or a week - maybe longer). We definitely want to go to the National parks and want to be able to take our MH into those parks when possible. So far it seems that 35' might be the limit we can go given this limitation but I wanted to ask those who have been on the road and experienced this first hand. We've decided that a Class A is the way to go and are still undecided between a DP or gasser. Our preference is a used DP as they amenities tend to be much nicer but it seems to be very hard to find a 35' and under DP with the upper end amenities. We're finding the things we like happen to be 36' and up.

So we're in a quandary. Our priority here is to see/camp at the best locations and get into the parks. If we can do this in a bigger rig, awesome - just wondering what all of you have experienced (or can you point me to some nice DP rigs that are '35 and under). I've searched and come up with the info mentioned above.

Thanks and good to "meet" you.

[We_retheRussos]

zman-az wrote:

becker wrote:
We'retheRussos......

I want to comment on two issues..... 1) Your choice of a CRV Honda toad is a good one. We tow two vehicles: an 08 CRV and a 2013 Jeep Wrangler. Both super good "toadables". 2) With a DP (with the engine in the rear)it makes conversations much easier "up front". This is important as you travel down the road at 60mph.

Good luck with what ever you choose. There are really fine suggestions from the other posters.

All good points.

One thing I like about the jeep is the off-road capability. Especially out west there are so many places to explore off-highway. Something to consider. The crv will tow better and more comfortable to drive longer distances but limited in the back country compared to a jeep. Just something to consider as it sounds like you have not made a purchase yet.

As far as length, we are in a 26' gasser and in the middle of purchasing a 35' pusher. Our only reason for not going bigger is the size of my storage building. Being your driving a lot I would go with the dp because of mileage, smoother driving and as mentioned, quiter cab as motor is out back.

Thank you. The problem with the Jeep is that we currently have a '12 Grand Cherokee and a couple months ago it left my wife stranded on the side of the highway (dropped a valve seat in the cylinder). On an engine with less than 18k miles on it our impression of Jeeps has gone down significantly and will not be buying another. I understand this is not the norm but this says a lot about the build quality that a "new" engine can have a catastrophic failure.

We like the honda for reliability (we currently have a civic hybrid) but after taking a drive in the CRV, it was too much like a clone of the civic (it's built on the civic chassis with the same engine). So we are in search of something else. No GM vehicles either.

[zman-az]

becker wrote:
We'retheRussos......

I want to comment on two issues..... 1) Your choice of a CRV Honda toad is a good one. We tow two vehicles: an 08 CRV and a 2013 Jeep Wrangler. Both super good "toadables". 2) With a DP (with the engine in the rear)it makes conversations much easier "up front". This is important as you travel down the road at 60mph.

Good luck with what ever you choose. There are really fine suggestions from the other posters.

All good points.

One thing I like about the jeep is the off-road capability. Especially out west there are so many places to explore off-highway. Something to consider. The crv will tow better and more comfortable to drive longer distances but limited in the back country compared to a jeep. Just something to consider as it sounds like you have not made a purchase yet.

As far as length, we are in a 26' gasser and in the middle of purchasing a 35' pusher. Our only reason for not going bigger is the size of my storage building. Being your driving a lot I would go with the dp because of mileage, smoother driving and as mentioned, quiter cab as motor is out back.

[Goldencrazy]

William, so sorry for your loss. You have the right attitude. Hang in there with your coach and continue to be active. I hope the pain grows less.

[DSDP_Don]

We live in California and had a 2005 36' Monaco Diplomat DP. There wasn't anyplace in California or the western US that we didn't fit in. It had all of the amenities and a LOT of power with a 400 ISL.

[becker]

We'retheRussos......

I want to comment on two issues..... 1) Your choice of a CRV Honda toad is a good one. We tow two vehicles: an 08 CRV and a 2013 Jeep Wrangler. Both super good "toadables". 2) With a DP (with the engine in the rear)it makes conversations much easier "up front". This is important as you travel down the road at 60mph.

Good luck with what ever you choose. There are really fine suggestions from the other posters.

[frankdamp]

We started out with an '85 26' Class C. It was such a turkey, we almost gave up the RV life. After a couple of years, we bought our current MH, a 32' Class A gasser. For two adults and two Labradors, it's just about the right size. Living room and bedroom slides give us enough floorspace for trips of 3 or 4 weeks.

If a local used vehicle dealer had been more willing to climb down from an asking price almost 2.5x KBB, we might have become owners of an older 30' DP. It was a 1990-something Beaver Patriot "Charleston" model, which I believe was only in production for about 18 months. It sat on his lot for the best part of three years before it sold. KBB said $25K and his asking price was $48K - stupid bugger.

We're quite happy with our Georgetown, but the cost of using it is getting to be too much on a retiree Soc-Sec budget. When we had the Class C, gas was less than $2 and State Park fees were $10 a night. Fast forward to today's prices and it quickly sprials into the "unaffordable" range.

It will be wrenching to give it up, but last year we only went out once (18 days on the Oregon Coast). This year we have major family events - sister's 70th birthday mid-August, DW's 70th six days later, coincident with our Golden Wedding Annersary (we got married on her 20th birthday). We've got family coming from the UK and from Japan, and with our three daughters, spouses and grandkids, friends and close neighbors, the party will have about 50 attendees. Just planning and executing a bash of that magnitude means we'll be staying home!

[Effy]

cKarlGo wrote:

racerchaser wrote:
Winnebago has had a 34ft DP model in both Winnebago and Itasca for several years. You might look for those. I do not know what your definition of "high end amenities" is but usually the smaller the coach the lesser the amenities. That being said, you will usually find better quality in most DPs than gas models. Not always true, but a good general rule.

The Winnebago is called the Forza. The Forza has a fantastic galley setup (but limited pantry storage). I ultimately decided on an Itasca Suncruiser, which has the same galley, but also an excellent pantry setup to go with it.

OP's budget is 60k

[We_retheRussos]

Thanks everyone, I think we have our answer and will be going for something larger 🙂

[cKarlGo]

racerchaser wrote:
Winnebago has had a 34ft DP model in both Winnebago and Itasca for several years. You might look for those. I do not know what your definition of "high end amenities" is but usually the smaller the coach the lesser the amenities. That being said, you will usually find better quality in most DPs than gas models. Not always true, but a good general rule.

The Winnebago is called the Forza. The Forza has a fantastic galley setup (but limited pantry storage). I ultimately decided on an Itasca Suncruiser, which has the same galley, but also an excellent pantry setup to go with it.

[2gypsies1]

We have a 40' MH and have full-timed in it for 10 years. Public parks are always our first choice or else boondocking. We have easily found sites in many national such as Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Grand Canyon, Canyonlands, Rocky Mtn. Zion, Bryce to name a few. Plus, we've done all those without reservations. We've spent more time in national forest campgrounds and state parks and even city and county parks. We do our research and if we're not sure when we get there, we'll disconnect the Jeep and check out conditions before driving in. It's no big deal. We got the motorhome in order to tow a Jeep and we've had more fun with it.

We've been to Alaska and again, used public parks throughout Canada, the Yukon and Alaska. We also found some great boondocking spots. We rarely stayed in private parks. We have solar and don't need hookups.

Granted, you will not fit in every place. Naturally, we wouldn't try for California's state parks but we've used national forest campgrounds there. Now we mainly stay west of the Mississippi but have done a lot in the eastern states, too. Corps of Engineers parks and state parks give us no problems there.

I would recommend that you get what you'd be most comfortable with. You'll do just fine.

[Gjac]

Determining size is a function of how you will use the MH. When you first start out I think you want to see as much as possible and move every couple of days to the next spot. When I traveled to Alaska there were times that I wished I had a truck camper rather than a 33 ft Class A when I saw some of the remote sites that people were able to find and camp at. My friend was a full timer in a 38 ft Dutch star DP and we did ok finding sites. I would always go first to check things out or sometimes we would disconnect a tow car to see if we could get in. After 10 years I still want to see things and am more of a traveler than a camper. On the other hand I used to belong to a Good Sam's camping club and 99 % of the folks would not think about camping with out full hook ups and paved roads in the CG. I have other friends that winter in the same CG in Fla every year in a 40 ft DP for 4 mo's at a time and have never traveled to see Everglades NP Big Cypress or any of the Springs in Ocala NP. There is no right or wrong answer only you can determine how you want to camp. Also I notice as folks get older and have seen this great country they tend to stay longer in one spot with friends they have made so there is a transition to larger MH's or 5th wheels. Some people like to ride the Merry go rounds some the roller coaster, everyone is different. Just my perspective.

[rafo]

How important are the parks? If this is a must, then go with 35-36'. If you can stay minutes outside the park and bring you car in and that works then go much larger.

I started with a 34' and regretted it. I enjoyed the experience and happy it got me started but found it very cramped. I then bought a 45. The extra length is everything for living space.
I have never regretted the 45'. I think you will find it rare on here to hear someone say "damn, why did i buy this 40,42,45 i should have bought a 34". lol. nobody says it. But you always hear the opposite.

We are your age, if you can find a 40'+ then do it. A year is a long time full timing.. make it as enjoyable as possible.

but again if you absolutely 100% need to sit in a state or federal park in your rig then you need to be small. but even then 35 is going to be too much.. i personally dont think you will be as happy as you could be

[J-Rooster]

We'retheRussos wrote:

Effy wrote:
What is your budget and what floorplan do you like? Those 2 things are far more critical than length. There are countless places to camp and many here can attest that length is less of an issue than you think it will be. If you want 35 then get 35, but floorplan is the most critical decision. After all you will be living in it. Make sure you like the floorplan while traveling too as that seems to be important from your last post. Many nice floorplans are cumbersome going down the road just to move around (can't open the fridge, bedroom is cut off, cabinets are cut off etc). Find one you like, then shop for pricing and models based on that. And BTW there are PLENTY of DP's everywhere from 32-45'. Many new short DP's by Thor (Steer clear of the Palazzo), FR, FW, Winnie, Newmar etc. As others have said, longer wheelbase is a factor as is weight. I know the Excursion for example has a shorter wheelbase than some of the others. But there are PLENTY of MH's in all lengths.

Thanks Effy and to everyone else with your suggestions. I didn't consider that the floorplan would play such a crucial role but now that I think about it, I have seen some when the slides come in that you can barely walk through to the back.

We are going to get a toad (Honda CRV), which should be light enough to be towed by most Class A's.

We are going to spend a limited amount of time in California because we both grew up here and have spent a lot of time in the State as-is and want to spend the year touring the rest of the country. Hence I think our 35' and under size concern is less of an issue that I originally thought.

With budget, we're still working on that but it seems to be around $60k for a used MH. In our area that seems to be enough for a lightly used 8 yr old 40' and under DP. Of course that could change once we pull back the curtains so-to-speak but I'm confident there's something out there for us!

If you choose to go with a gas model coach, there are some really nice Winnebago Adventurers (Winnebagos top of the line gas model) 2002, 2003 and 2004 in your price range.

[We_retheRussos]

Effy wrote:
What is your budget and what floorplan do you like? Those 2 things are far more critical than length. There are countless places to camp and many here can attest that length is less of an issue than you think it will be. If you want 35 then get 35, but floorplan is the most critical decision. After all you will be living in it. Make sure you like the floorplan while traveling too as that seems to be important from your last post. Many nice floorplans are cumbersome going down the road just to move around (can't open the fridge, bedroom is cut off, cabinets are cut off etc). Find one you like, then shop for pricing and models based on that. And BTW there are PLENTY of DP's everywhere from 32-45'. Many new short DP's by Thor (Steer clear of the Palazzo), FR, FW, Winnie, Newmar etc. As others have said, longer wheelbase is a factor as is weight. I know the Excursion for example has a shorter wheelbase than some of the others. But there are PLENTY of MH's in all lengths.

Thanks Effy and to everyone else with your suggestions. I didn't consider that the floorplan would play such a crucial role but now that I think about it, I have seen some when the slides come in that you can barely walk through to the back.

We are going to get a toad (Honda CRV), which should be light enough to be towed by most Class A's.

We are going to spend a limited amount of time in California because we both grew up here and have spent a lot of time in the State as-is and want to spend the year touring the rest of the country. Hence I think our 35' and under size concern is less of an issue that I originally thought.

With budget, we're still working on that but it seems to be around $60k for a used MH. In our area that seems to be enough for a lightly used 8 yr old 40' and under DP. Of course that could change once we pull back the curtains so-to-speak but I'm confident there's something out there for us!