Plumbing Management

[ElBigDodgeO]

Hi everyone. I'm a long-time forum member with a varied camper history. My husband and I started with a cargo trailer, then moved up to a truck camper, a Class A gasser, 2 Aliners, a Foretravel DP, a Rpod, and finally a Grand Design fifth wheel. He passed away and the GD was a bit much for me so I decided no more towing and got an entry level Class C to see if I'd like it. It's a 2016 Coachmen Freelander 21RS. I really like the lack of drama in finding and getting into a campsite. However, I don't like the rattling and banging going down the road and may look at new shocks and a steering stabilizer. It only has 12,000 miles on it and I've put 2,000 of that on in the past 3 months. My biggest beef, however, is the idiotic way that manufacturers turn us into trained monkeys by designing and building critical systems, specifically plumbing, to be as difficult as possible to access and maintain. My Grand Design had a Nautilus system where one panel in the front storage compartment allowed the user to perform all plumbing functions so easily. Just set the colored levers per the diagram and you can hook up to city water, fill your fresh water, winterize, sanitize, dump the holding tanks, flush the black tank, and maybe do karaoke too LOL. So my question is, do ANY other manufacturers, specifically Class C builders, install anything like this? At this point I'll spend the extra money to avoid the stupidity of taking apart half the rig to winterize. Thanks.

[bobndot]

If you have the truck , going to the truck camper would not be a bad idea for you. I carried the bike on a ladder rack for 40,000 miles leaving easy access to the door.
When i went from my TC’s to my class C , i missed the ground clearance of the TC. The class C rear hitch dragged on my driveway apron.
The TC is quiet driving too. No dishes, pots n pans rattling.

[MDKMDK]

ElBigDodgeO wrote:

MDKMDK wrote:

ElBigDodgeO wrote:

MDKMDK wrote:
Winnebago EKKO if price isn't a problem. They're AWD and 4 season capable, right out of the box. I believe they added the color coded plumbing map to make it easier for anyone to deal with. Lots of other perks, as well.

They are beautiful. But I'm not quite that wealthy, would like to stay under $100K and also I'd rather not mess with a diesel.

They're expensive, yes, but they're on the Ford Transit 350 cab chassis which is AWD and gasoline powered.

Oh, I didn't look that closely after seeing the price. Looks like a diesel front end, lol. Wonder if I could tow a Ford Maverick behind it.

From the 2022 Motorhome Magazine Dinghy Towing Guide...
"Maverick Hybrid curb weight 3,674lbs, no distance/speed limits, can be towed wth Automatic transmission.
Manufacturer’s Instructions: Recreational flat towing is possible with the hybrid model only. Front-wheel-drive EcoBoost models must have
the front wheels on a two-wheel dolly, while all-wheel-drive models must be on a trailer with all four wheels off the ground. Emergency flat towing is possible, but there are special restrictions"

So, you could tow a hybrid Maverick.

[ElBigDodgeO]

bobndot wrote:

OP wrote:
I decided no more towing and got an entry level Class C to see if I'd like it.[/::BBquote]

If you’re asking about towing the Maverick….you’re back to towing, and you would be towing with a noisy tow vehicle. :). You really need to look into bringing a toad with a small class C.
I hardly ever bring my car anymore. Its more difficult hitching up without a spotter . Try it first.

If traveling alone , you would need pull-thru sites to avoid unhitching somewhere near the site in order to back-in the motorhome. Finding available pull-thru sites might be difficult at times.

Bilstein shocks would be an improvement but expensive. I would experiment using different air pressures in ALL the tires first .
A good positive caster alignment would help a lot with crosswind wondering while driving.

These are all good points. We towed a Civic behind the Foretravel with a dolly, and found that unhooking in the parking lot before going to the site with the motor home wasn't that big a deal. The Civic towed the dolly to storage then drove back to the site. And with a Blue Ox or similar I don't have the dolly to consider. My plan is to take my bicycle across country and ride rail-trails, and I won't always be able to camp right next to the trails, therefore need a car to carry the bike to the trails. To me finding pull-through sites is a big issue and one reason I sold the fiver was to avoid that.

The crosswinds from semis don't bother me now that I've got some experience driving the C, but if I went out west actual wind gusts could be a problem.

Another option I'm considering is ditching the C and going back to a truck camper on my beautiful and luxurious Ram 2500, which I couldn't bring myself to sell with the fiver. It sure is a nicer experience than the C. And, I don't have to find a heavy equipment shop to work on it. Or go to Camping World.

[bobndot]

OP wrote:
I decided no more towing and got an entry level Class C to see if I'd like it.[/::BBquote]

If you’re asking about towing the Maverick….you’re back to towing, and you would be towing with a noisy tow vehicle. :). You really need to look into bringing a toad with a small class C.
I hardly ever bring my car anymore. Its more difficult hitching up without a spotter . Try it first.

If traveling alone , you would need pull-thru sites to avoid unhitching somewhere near the site in order to back-in the motorhome. Finding available pull-thru sites might be difficult at times.

Bilstein shocks would be an improvement but expensive. I would experiment using different air pressures in ALL the tires first .
A good positive caster alignment would help a lot with crosswind wondering while driving.

[MDKMDK]

How much does the Maverick weigh? EKKO will pull 5000lbs flat towing.

[ElBigDodgeO]

MDKMDK wrote:

ElBigDodgeO wrote:

MDKMDK wrote:
Winnebago EKKO if price isn't a problem. They're AWD and 4 season capable, right out of the box. I believe they added the color coded plumbing map to make it easier for anyone to deal with. Lots of other perks, as well.

They are beautiful. But I'm not quite that wealthy, would like to stay under $100K and also I'd rather not mess with a diesel.

They're expensive, yes, but they're on the Ford Transit 350 cab chassis which is AWD and gasoline powered.

Oh, I didn't look that closely after seeing the price. Looks like a diesel front end, lol. Wonder if I could tow a Ford Maverick behind it.

[MDKMDK]

ElBigDodgeO wrote:

MDKMDK wrote:
Winnebago EKKO if price isn't a problem. They're AWD and 4 season capable, right out of the box. I believe they added the color coded plumbing map to make it easier for anyone to deal with. Lots of other perks, as well.

They are beautiful. But I'm not quite that wealthy, would like to stay under $100K and also I'd rather not mess with a diesel.

They're expensive, yes, but they're on the Ford Transit 350 cab chassis which is AWD and gasoline powered.

[ElBigDodgeO]

MDKMDK wrote:
Winnebago EKKO if price isn't a problem. They're AWD and 4 season capable, right out of the box. I believe they added the color coded plumbing map to make it easier for anyone to deal with. Lots of other perks, as well.

They are beautiful. But I'm not quite that wealthy, would like to stay under $100K and also I'd rather not mess with a diesel.

[MDKMDK]

Winnebago EKKO if price isn't a problem. They're AWD and 4 season capable, right out of the box. I believe they added the color coded plumbing map to make it easier for anyone to deal with. Lots of other perks, as well.