Let me tell you what I THINK goes on with Wheelbase, Rear Overhang, and Axle Loading...
It's my belief that the Floorplan drives the Wheelbase. To have a Walkaround Queen Bed requires a certain-length bedroom. A little longer if the bed lays Lengthwise to the coach, a little more if it's Full Queen vs Short Queen. A little less if the bed is crosswise, but then it's usually in a slide, and the slide adds weight back in the overhang.
Next, the Bathroom. The Designer (notice I didn't say Engineer) puts the shower pan over the rear fender well on one side. Gives you a skylight dome so you can still stand up! On the opposite side s/he puts something that doesn't require floor to ceiling headroom.
What this design does is require a certain body length from rear axle to rear bumper. If a coach with this bed'n'bath design is otherwise only 26-27-ft long, the wheelbase will end up very short. Coach'll be a tail-wager, and you can recognize this with a side view picture of the coach. The "house" (not counting the Class C cabover) will appear "balanced" over the rear axle. If the coach is 28-29-ft, then the wheelbase gets longer as the rear overhang remains the same. The weight balance shifts forward. By the time you get to the 31-ft length (and I should probably say "models" since most C's are longer than the digits in the model number would indicate), that rear overhang is still the same, but there's a lot of house and corresponding wheelbase in front of the axle.
A wheelbase change from 190 to 214 is 24-inches, Two Feet and that can shift literally a ton of weight from rear axle to front. The 29 you're looking at has a slide forward of the axle. That might be enough weight (they say a slide adds 500-pounds) to get enough weight balanced forward.
All this is why I say you'd better weigh this thing. I've heard of two ways to look at weights.
1. Have at least a Third of Total Scale Weight on the Front Axle
2. Have the Front Axle loaded to at least 3/4 of its Rating.
Weigh it. I'll venture it's heavier than you think. Our 31-ft has no slides, and isn't a full basement unit. Austere, basically. Has 218-inch wheelbase and I found that with the two of us on board and loaded for travel, we had 99% of rating on front axle and 98% on rear.
You're looking at a "2008 model" coach. It could be on a 2007 or a 2008 Ford Chassis. I believe it was in 2008 that Ford upgraded the front axle from 4600-lb capacity to 5000-lb. With that came bigger front brakes and a few other beefier components.
There's a discussion running about "fiberglass roof deal breaker." That's another issue, and Winnebagos have the 'glas roof. But I think "overloaded rear axle" just might be deal breaker for me.
Make sure the tires are correctly inflated. I'm sure you'll need 80 rear (which is max) and you can't go wrong with 65 front (max for 5000-lb axle) but NOT MORE. Excess front tire pressure reduces stability.
Just for me, camping as a couple 95% of the time, our no-slide Jayco 31 is fine, and dinette is opposite the sofa. Well diagonally... On your brochure, we'd like 31C. With a family of five, 31J with the extra bunk area intrigues me. 220" wheelbase on both. I'd weigh those too. Gotta be close to full weight rating.
The Fleetwood C's seem OK, but all else equal I'd choose a Winnie model.
Did I mention Weigh It?
If God's Your Co-Pilot Move Over, jd
2003 Jayco Escapade 31A on 2002 Ford E450 V10 4R100 218" WB
