Question on length

[MontanaCamper]

Hello All

Looking at going to a class A. Selling the rig and trailer below... DW and I are talking about starting at 26-30 foot..not sold on this length, just a place to start. We do know we will be towing a jeep wrangler for trail riding or a RZR on a trailer. Seen where one member said "go with the longer wheel base, you'll thank me later"...at the time I didn't think about it..I was more interested in what members thought of the RV in question...but now I am wondering..WHY?? I can see advantages to both..Longer for traveling down the road..shorter for maneuvering....Thoughts??

[MontanaCamper]

doube post

[MontanaCamper]

anyone hear any of these stories??

[MontanaCamper]

vjstangelo wrote:
Oops, my apologies. Didn't mean to hijack the thread. Thanks for the 35u responses.

No No... I posted about 4 hours before and now its gone..nothing to do with you... That helped me, I was looking as well!!

Horror Stories are, a friend of mine has a 99 V10 and he popped 2 of his spark plugs out, they only have like 1 1/2 threads holding his in... the repair cost around 3-3500. He had to do something with all 10 spark plugs. Some other things I have read were valves being redone and not at very high mileage engines.

Im looking at 07 to 10, and most of them have some where between 22 to 60K on the clock....Seem high?? I know it depends on how much they drive it and all.

thanks for the responses!!

[427435]

Don't worry about the V10--------especially a 362 hp version.

[RayChez]

MontanaCamper wrote:
not sure what happened to my post...so Ill try again...

For our dogs, all four of them weigh about 60 pounds...so they are not the issue, Im the issue...6 6 and 300 pounds...We boondock alot, If you look at our sig, we had 28 camper nights this summer...being in Montana, thats not bad.

One I am looking at has "Fleetwood Flair 33R, 2007 Fleetwood Flair Model 33R Class A has two super size slide outs. One slide out in the living room and one in the bedroom for maximum square footage. Powered by a Ford 362 HP Triton V-10 engine, a 5 speed Torq-Shift transmission and has a Ford F53 chassis. Back up Camera, 5,000# trailer hitch and towing package, auto leveling jacks.."

Says its a F53 frame and 362 HP.... Been a diesel guy for about 15 years.. Heard many horror stories about the V10. Wish I could keep my cummins and do a transplant.....

The Triton V-10 is a very good engine. I used to get around 8-9 mpg. I do not know what kind of horror stories you have heard, but the Ford V-10 engine is a very good engine.

[vjstangelo]

Oops, my apologies. Didn't mean to hijack the thread. Thanks for the 35u responses.

[MontanaCamper]

not sure what happened to my post...so Ill try again...

For our dogs, all four of them weigh about 60 pounds...so they are not the issue, Im the issue...6 6 and 300 pounds...We boondock alot, If you look at our sig, we had 28 camper nights this summer...being in Montana, thats not bad.

One I am looking at has "Fleetwood Flair 33R, 2007 Fleetwood Flair Model 33R Class A has two super size slide outs. One slide out in the living room and one in the bedroom for maximum square footage. Powered by a Ford 362 HP Triton V-10 engine, a 5 speed Torq-Shift transmission and has a Ford F53 chassis. Back up Camera, 5,000# trailer hitch and towing package, auto leveling jacks.."

Says its a F53 frame and 362 HP.... Been a diesel guy for about 15 years.. Heard many horror stories about the V10. Wish I could keep my cummins and do a transplant.....

[J-Rooster]

vjstangelo wrote:
427435:

What are your thoughts on the 35u? I recently looked at a 2004 Winnebago 35u (2003 F53 chassis). I really thought the unit was thoughtfully laid out, and construction solid.

Concerns were: never had a central lower AC unit, the power was only 30A, and wondered about the power train since it had the 4R100 trans.

Would appreciate your thoughts.

I also own a Winnebago 35-U, Workhorse 8.1 with Chevy 496 CI engine with a Allison Transmission. The 35-U was Winnebagos best seller in the 2000 / 2010 era. I've had mine over a decade with very little problems. My coach is 50 A and I love the basement air / heat pump!

[427435]

vjstangelo wrote:
427435:

What are your thoughts on the 35u? I recently looked at a 2004 Winnebago 35u (2003 F53 chassis). I really thought the unit was thoughtfully laid out, and construction solid.

Concerns were: never had a central lower AC unit, the power was only 30A, and wondered about the power train since it had the 4R100 trans.

Would appreciate your thoughts.

We love it. In fact my wife wanted nothing to do with a MH until we looked at this unit. The 2nd slide really opens up things. Plenty of storage and good construction-----------with one exception. Our unit evidently leaked water down the rear, outside corners. I found the construction at the bottom (behind the tail lights) rotten when I went to fix an OPPS. Cut the rotten stuff out and replaced with marine plywood.

The basement air has been great. Cools the MH well (will even work on a 20 amp supply with one compressor running) and the noise is minimal. In fact the noise we hear is the air rushing out of the overhead outlets.

Yes, Winny has been building MH's a long time and we kept finding nice touches for a couple of years after we bought it.

[vjstangelo]

427435:

What are your thoughts on the 35u? I recently looked at a 2004 Winnebago 35u (2003 F53 chassis). I really thought the unit was thoughtfully laid out, and construction solid.

Concerns were: never had a central lower AC unit, the power was only 30A, and wondered about the power train since it had the 4R100 trans.

Would appreciate your thoughts.

[427435]

Maybe we're lucky, but we bought our first rv last. After quite a bit of research and thinking, we bought the rig in the signature below. Big enough for weeks at a time, small enough for getting in and out of places (including city centers), tows a 5000 lb toad, and didn't break the bank either at the time we bought it or while maintaining it.

[RayChez]

It all depends on your age and whether you are going full time or just using it once in a while.

If you are not a full timer and you are retired but wanted for an outing every once in a while I would not go much more then 36-40' diesel pusher. If you are planning on full timing THEN go 45' if you can afford something like that, because you got to realize that if you are selling your stick house and lets say it is around 2K square feet, all of a sudden you are going to drop to 400 sq ft average. It is sometime a shock to both you and your wife.

I myself like plenty of room that is why I keep my stick house to fall back to every once in a while.

[jsmart]

Don't know about others on this post, but beware of "twofootitis". Started with boats then morphed to motorhomes with us. We now have a 32' Class A (after going the tent trailer, then Class C route). Folks who know here say the longer wheel base is more stable to drive, my DW says the floor plan is what sold her. Anyway, good luck and happy camping with whatever you get.

[ferndaleflyer]

Try this on any length. Picture the rear wheels as the pivot point. The closer they are to the rear the better it will ride especially if you are towing a trailer. The down force back past the rear wheels acts as a pivot point and takes weight off the front wheels......move the pivot point(rear wheels) back and it will be affected less and tow better. Hope this makes sense.

[KJINTF]

Had a 24ft Class with three 50lb dogs - a bit crowded but nice
Upgraded to a 27ft Class A and down to only one 100lb dog
Yes wheel base to over all length can cause tail wagging
NOT TO WORRY - The tail wag thing can easily be fixed with a quality rear track bar

Not sure of your camping preferences for us we NEVER go to plug-in equipped camp grounds - Back roads of Montana which are mostly dirt and gravel work great with the shorter rig