Phoenix Cruiser , Aspect, Cambria Owners Questions

OFDPOS wrote:
I'm going to go check out a 2006 Itasca Cambria 26A? Wednesday it has 14,500 on the OD I could only get a quick look at it last Sat.

But will be able to crawl over under and around it Wed.
Any special areas I need to be concerned about looking at ?
I know with the reg C to look ,touch and feel in every corner especially the overhead cab area.
Being as these don't have the hugh overhead ,still need to look in that area.
Any other typical or otherwise places I need to look at , any particular appliance's to look for or NOT to look for ??

Thanks for any input.

I had a 2005 Winnebago Aspect 26A for 2 years. Excellent and stable rv. It had good insulation and thermo windows plus Winnebago ducted vents for heat and aircon. I had the CONVERTER fail which became evident when the lights went out one night. I also had the slide-out screw type slide unit break a mount which was welded. Otherwise, I liked it a lot and the V10 was good for 12 or so mpg for us most of the time. I did not like the corner bed and found it awkward to get out of at night without crawling over my wife. And, as noted, it is hard to make up. Otherwise great.

Agree with both Ron & pnichols on the corner bed.
Luckily I have a small DW that if I pull my legs up, she gets out easily.
I got a bad back at times, so a ready place is so convenient.

Ron,

You're right regarding foam mattress toppers.

Foam toppers vary A LOT in not only thickness, but material stiffness/density, and heat dissipation. I think it might be big business out there to manufacture/offer furniture foams with several parameters that are variable. The DW had to find a foam that played just right with the (excellent, BTW) stock under-lying Winnebago mattress. Now she finds - for her back - the Class C corner bed's feel to be superior to that of our $$$$ stick-house MB king size mattress.

But once found - and when combined with a fitted foam topper sheet/cover - our small Class C corner bed is a winner ... especially in comparison to what other (negative) things one has to put up with in a longer Class C.

pnichols wrote:
X100 on what Ron said above re Class C rear corner beds.

I our situation we needed an always-ready bed so the DW could nap or give her bad back a quick rest anytime anywhere on short notice. Our bed had to be "corner" so we could have a short Class C for small campsites anywhere anytime and to also be able to go toadless.

We don't make up the corner bed at all. The mattress has the never-washed, never-removed, vacuumed-only, original Winnebago color matched mattress cover on it. On top of this mattress is a 2 inch foam topper. We use a fitted sheet on only this foam topper and remove/wash/replace the fitted sheet after every trip. We throw a fancy color matched down comforter over the whole thing to help keep it dust-free and "kindof looking organized" between uses. This all works like a champ and helps keep camping life simple.

You make some good points about having the bed available all the time. I did not even consider in my post, slide-out couch convert-a-beds, murphy beds and other push-button beds. They have their own challenges with being made up......they get torn down, not made up. And they are never readily available.

About your memory foam topper, We learned both in the motor home and at home that every kind of topper we've tried, just don't agree with us. They make it more difficult to get in and out of the corner bed by swallowing us up. We also found them being hard on our backs for reasons we can't explain. Maybe it's just us, but mattress toppers are a surprising thumbs-down by us. If your back is sore in the morning, and/or it's hard to get in and out from the rear corner bed, I advise to then remove the topper for one trip and see how it goes for you. Maybe you'll come to the same conclusion as us. But if a nice topper works for you, then surely don't mess with a good thing.

Oh....like you, we have a comforter that is the size of the mattress. It covers the flip-fold stuff in a flash.

X100 on what Ron said above re Class C rear corner beds.

In our situation we needed an always-ready bed so the DW could nap or give her bad back a quick rest anytime anywhere on short notice. Our bed had to be "corner" so we could have a short Class C for small campsites anywhere anytime and to also be able to go toadless.

We don't make up the corner bed at all. The mattress has the never-washed, never-removed, vacuumed-only, original Winnebago color matched mattress cover on it. On top of this mattress is a 2 inch foam topper. We use a fitted sheet on only this foam topper and remove/wash/replace the fitted sheet after every trip. We throw a fancy color matched down comforter over the whole thing to help keep it dust-free and "kindof looking organized" between uses. This all works like a champ and helps keep camping life simple.

As an owner of THIS rear corner bed motor home, I find it entertaining that making up the bed is a serious topic of discussion.

I look at it this way. If I must have the bed all "prettied-up" like my wife likes at home, then I'd want a walk-around bed. But then I will need to rule out a corner bed, twin beds, and cab-over bed, when combined makes up nearly the entire class C/B+ market. What percentage of B+ motor homes with walk-around double/queen beds make up the industry?

Otherwise just flop-fold the extra material against the far wall and be done like I am.

For my wife and I, the real issue with a rear corner double bed is all about access for the person sleeping against the wall. For that person to get out, both should get out, or at least the other person needs to be able to curl up into a tight ball to allow the other to pass.

Admittedly it is not ideal for anyone to have a rear corner double bed. A walk-around would be a lot nicer so each can get in and out of bed independent of each other, and yes you also benefit from a nicely made up bed. But in our case, the rig would get too long to fit inside our garage HERE. So we deal with that inconvenience to make life with a motor home work for us.

leeper wrote:

akrv wrote:
Take some sheets and make up the rear corner bed.

Good one. This guy knows what he is talking about!

LOL for some reason I find that funny !!

Well I thought for sure the lady was going to call back and counter but she didn't.

I found a 2012 Nexus 24P with 3,490 miles on it.
Had the vin # ran on Autocheck and came out clean one owner just like the RV place said "owners traded in on a Class A.
We over the phone made a contingency agreement to purchase it.
Road trip this weekend to see and 99.9% sure we'll buy it !

Thanks for the comments on the Cambria, Aspect, and PC !!
Much appreciated.

akrv wrote:
Take some sheets and make up the rear corner bed.

Good one. This guy knows what he is talking about!

Ok try to keep this a small post.
Got there the outside of the Cambria looked good (needs to be buffed and waxed) Clearcoat over cab area is alot bigger on top (whole front cap would need to be wet-sanded and reshot.)
Every outside compartment was full of the owners stuff , she unloaded the rear comp to get the ladder piece out. I climbed up on the roof, somewhere along the line somebody had scrapped or peeled from side to side on the front cap/roof and in places I easily could slip a penny in the crack"S" all the way across.
The back was sealed up good until you got to the sides once again cracks I could slid a penny in them.
Gen only had 57.3 hrs. Was told they fired it up every couple weeks to run it (with all lights on for load) not enough of a load?.
Everything appeared clean BUT everything had something in it from food in kitchen cabinets to clothes in the others.

The outside panel for the water heater water has leaked down the outer panel and when she opened up the compartment under it the carpet inside had that white chalky calcium from the hard water plus out side on the removable panel for the water heater had the calcium deposit on it as well as the side of the MH.

The eng compartment looked like the hood hadn't been opened in ???? Dirt/Dust covered everything .Oil looked ok not black , the Trans fluid looked ok and didn't smell (burnt).
Looked at the undercarriage no obvious rust , trans , oil pans dry ,no wet spots anywhere.
Once parked on level ground ran the slide out creaked a little but I have never seen/heard a slid open / close before either.

On the test drive at first felt shaking maybe tires? Once a few miles down the road felt better but heard some noise from the slide area. Noise from above cap area.
But heard something from the front end , Not metal on metal clank but something clunking.
The exhaust seemed nosier/louder than the 2 other MH's with the v10 eng I've driven.
Tires are the older Michelin LTX dated 12 with 4K miles (plus the front tires were feathered on the outer tread) and thought maybe they would fall under that recall?

Over all it was a clean rig (of what we saw)

Now the kicker we offered lower than her asking price, they needed more "so they could pay it off"
So now No pink slip in hand.
We went through a similar pay off vehicle when we bought our Mini , wasn't a nice experience !

So at the moment back to the looking mode ...

Bought a 2008 Winnebago Aspect 26A used in 2010 and had only one problem..
the two relay switches which brought the slide in (or out) were corroded and we replaced them. Very easy to drive and handle. Towed a Chev Cobalt then traded and towed a Fiat. Excellent unit. No leaks, no problems.