Right class c for me?

[Browntrout73]

Hey all,
So we are family of three (me,wife and 2 yr old). We currently have a 26 ft fifth wheel that we are sick of. Tired of towing, hitching etc...We want to make a move into a class c. My background is VW Campers so I am aware of their limitations. We like to boondock and do forest service roads., with occaisional RV park. Overall length maybe 26 max and hopefully good ground clearance. Firstly we were excited about sprinters due to the fuel economy and easy manueverability. But I have been reading scary reviews of their touchy computers and trans failures etc. not to mention how much $$ they are to get into. so now we are looking into good ol american iron. I am mechinally inclined so would like to find something not too computer dependant, like 2007 and earlier. What advice do you all have? Ford, Chevy? How easy are they to drive, manueverabilty? Need for a toad? Big question is are they safe to use a car seat and if so which seat is best for a car seat? Is it possible get into one for $20k or so? Sprinter is not out of the question if we can find one at *cough* a decent price
Any direction would be greatly appreciated

[PghBob]

Jason:

The V10 in our Ford E450 has handled both the East Coast & West Coast mountain ranges without difficulty. I generally drive the speed limit, or in a few cases, just below. Our worse mileage was 7.5 westbound on I80 in southern Wyoming during extreme high winds, our best was 11 with 40 mph driving on the main roads in Yellowstone. Generally, we average about 8.5 to 9 mpg cruising the Interstates.

One tip I might offer about driving/parking in smaller towns and cities. If, for example, you are going to a museum or eating out, call ahead. Tell them you want to visit their establishment, and ask them where is the best place to park your _______ foot RV. This has worked well and has saved us from spending a lot of time and anxiety searching for a legal place to park.

BTW, are there camp sites you would recommend in or near Missoula?

Bob

[OldRadios]

Bordercollie wrote:
I like our 2004 Tioga (or Jamboree) 26Q, Fleetwood stopped making this 27 footer after 2009. It's not too long for parking local parks, theme parks and other events in addtion to touring and camping. It has immense lighted storage area in the rear under the rear bedroom which has an RV Queen size bed (no access on left side)There is the usual dinette that converts into small bed and the large overhead bed. There are no slides, has large awning and rear ladder roof access. A nice basic rig. Look for a 2008 or 2009 with tires less than 2 years old no sidewall cracking and everything working.

+1 on the Tioga 26Q. We just bought a 2006, clean with low miles. Looked for about three months but we found one fairly close. The shorter length, no slides, and lots of storage sold us. A lot of the sites we like to camp at don't allow anything over 27'.

[DaHose]

We bought our rig about two years ago. It's a fair bit older (1983) but our 26' Jamboree has a corner double bed with queen cabover. We don't have a dinette. Ours has a jackknife couch with a removable table and two capatain's chairs across from the couch. That is the PERFECT floor plan for us. The table stands on two posts and comes right out of the floor. Break down the table and the floor is nice and open. The jackknife couch sleeps people over 6' tall. The two captain chairs have a table that pops-up in between. We have had 7 sit down for a meal when there were bee's outside. At 26' long, it can also get to pretty much everywhere and parking isn't a nightmare. It even fits in a driveway without hanging out over the sidewalk.

Good luck finding the right MH for you.

Jose

[ron_dittmer]

Jason,

We bought our first rig when our first child was new born and kept that rig for 24 years. Critical for having a good time was to have the motor home with us all the time. Leaving "The House" back at the campsite does no good with the needs and comforts with young children.

My point here is, get a rig as short as possible that meets your needs with your child, and assuming one day you may have another child or two. I wouldn't consider anything so comfortable & long that you can't get around adequately in national parks. I'd sacrifice some interior comfort for improved mobility.

This coming from a fellow who travelled to national parks often, with wife, two kids, and an occasional guest, in THIS THING for 24 years.

Back at the time, seat belts for motor homes were not yet required. I shamefully confess that as the kids got too old for a car seat, everyone in back just sat on the bed. It was the mentality back then. I would never think of doing that today.

For a child seat today, I would add a "D" ring bolted through the floor to anchor a child seat better into any of the RV seats in back. As with all new cars today, the seats belts are not enough. New cars have that extra critical anchoring point.

Actually the safest place to mount a child seat in a class B+ or C is the front passenger seat. Let Mommy or Daddy sit elsewhere. We did that for a while in our old rig. We tried numerous configurations then, even anchoring the child seat into the floor between bench seats, just behind the cab. But when the second kid came along, our options became very limited with the oldest child already 6 years old. Still we could have done better.

[HelloImDavid]

Best of luck

[Bordercollie]

I like our 2004 Tioga (or Jamboree) 26Q, Fleetwood stopped making this 27 footer after 2009. It's not too long for parking local parks, theme parks and other events in addtion to touring and camping. It has immense lighted storage area in the rear under the rear bedroom which has an RV Queen size bed (no access on left side)There is the usual dinette that converts into small bed and the large overhead bed. There are no slides, has large awning and rear ladder roof access. A nice basic rig. Look for a 2008 or 2009 with tires less than 2 years old no sidewall cracking and everything working.

[OldRadios]

rvhippo wrote:
I'm in a similar situation - dad, mom and a 2 year old daughter. The car seat is do-able. The only manufacturer that has LATCH, the standardized hooks that car seats attach to, is Winnebago. I'm not sure which year they started providing these. They will be in the forward facing dinette bench.

Not just Winnebago. We looked at a couple different new Thor Four Winds Cs this winter and they also had Child Safety Tether Anchors behind the driver for car seats as standard or an option. I suspect it's something you will find on more RVs now as the awareness and laws about the safety and use of car seats have stiffened in many states.

[DaCrema]

Browntrout73 wrote:
... Last question is 10-11 mpg realistic with these gassers or less?
Thanks everyone!

Jason, on very flat roads and when I am going 55 or less I have seen 11 MPG enough times that it is not a fluke. More often though I seen 9.5 as hills and stop lights really the MPGs.
I have a 2007, 26.5 RV on a E450.
John

[rvhippo]

I'm in a similar situation - dad, mom and a 2 year old daughter. The car seat is do-able. The only manufacturer that has LATCH, the standardized hooks that car seats attach to, is Winnebago. I'm not sure which year they started providing these. They will be in the forward facing dinette bench.

Without LATCH, you will have to use a seatbelt. Unfortunately most class-Cs only have shoulder belts in the front two seats. This means that you must have a car seat that works with only a lapbelt. Most new car seats are designed to work with a shoulder belt or LATCH.

Also, car seats are designed to work forward facing or backwards facing (relative to the facing of the vehicle). If you mount the car seat on a sofa, the car seat will be side-ways facing. Most acccidents will be from the front or back, so with a side-ways facing child seat, the child will experience a side impact collision. There are car seats which have extra padding to limit head movement in a side impact collision. A car seat that works with only a lap belt and has extra side impact protection is the European Britax. http://www.britaxusa.com/car-seats/advocate-70-cs

Could I offer another option? I'm looking at towing a small travel trailer with a class-B. I will "base camp" out of the travel trailer and use the class-B to drive to the attractions. A 20.5' class-B will allow me to easily park almost anywhere and the small travel trailer will let me use state parks. During the day, we will have a self-contained class-B where we can prepare our own meals (cheaper and healthier) and our daughter can nap. At night, the class-b will serve as a separate office where mom or dad can get some work done while the other parent sleeps with the toddler in the trailer (maybe a good baby monitor will let us both work in the class-B). We'll move the trailer once a week or so to a new location and explore the new area. This will keep hitching and unhitching down to a minimum, give us lots of living space and maximum flexibility to explore.

The cheapest route for my plan is to buy a 15-person van second-hand. In Orlando, the hotels and tour companies swap out their vans every year or two. You can get a clean, late model (1 or 2 years old) Ford E350 with about 30-40,000 miles for $18,000. The 20,000 milers are about $21,000. Take out the back three rows of seats and you have room for a porta-potti, small electric fridge and airbed and 3000+ lbs CCC. The 2nd row bench will have LATCH and shoulder belts for the car seats because it's a late model passenger van. This kind of van could be used as a daily driver too, saving even more money. http://mullinaxfordfl.com/Orlando/For-Sale/Used/?MakeId=12&ModelId=97&Model=Econoline%20Wagon&Make=Ford

My wife looked at pictures of a porta-potti and said "NO". So now I've got a deposit on a late model Chevy class-B.

If you go the class-B route, check to make sure the aftermarket shoulder belts have locking pretensioners. Roadtrek, for example, does not put locking pretensioners on their 2nd row captains chairs. If the shoulder belt won't lock down, it won't hold the carseat in a fixed position. Some car seats will come with a special clip that will lock the shoulder belt. However, you may have to search for a seat with a compatible locking clip as almost every car in the USA today has locking belts and many safety seat manufacturers have stopped providing the special clips.

Safety-wise, a forwards facing car seat (a two year old will probably be too big for a backwards facing seat) mounted facing towards the front (not sideways) is the safest option. I feel that the metal body of a van is safer than the wood frame of a class C. The vans all have poor rollover ratings, but are vastly safer than a motorhome if they roll. Vans and class Bs have to pass FMVSS specifications for their seats and seatbelts. Vans and class Bs have to pass passenger vehicle safety standards. Motorhomes don't. The late model vans also all have computer sway control (note, class B vans are usually based on the cargo van, not the passenger van, so sway control may be optional on those).

EDIT: I've rented class Cs motorhomes (the larger 30+ ft ones), on my previous trips. The Ford V10 will easily hold 75mph, but the handling is not stable at that speed. I mostly did 60-65 mph (or less). Gas mileage never exceeded single digits. I think I saw 7-9 MPG.

EDIT 2: For maneuverability, look at overall vehicle length (the manufacturers misleadingly use box length in their naming nomenclature, for example, Coachmen had a Freelander 19 model that was 22' long). The average parking spot is about 20' long. Parallel spaces about 24' long. You can get a 22' truck/van into a 20' space if you park the front or rear overhang over the curb (don't block the sidewalk please). At 23' or more, you will be sticking out of a single space even parked over the curb. Nothing will fit in a parking garage because of roof height.

Edit 3: The OP said he liked to do very light off-roading. Quigley makes 4x4 conversions for the American vans. http://www.quigley4x4.com/Home.aspx

Edit 4: I had a 2003 Dodge Ram 2500 with the Cummins. Made yearly trips to Daytona Beach towing 2-4 motorcycles in open and enclosed trailers. Small mountainous terrain over the Appalachians on I-75. Also did the trip with Chevy Express 3500 with 6.0L gas engine and Dodge 350 van with the 5.2L gas engine. Never took any of the Fords. The 5.2L was adequate - you could easily maintain 55mph upgrade, but if you slowed down, it would take a long, long time to get back up to 55mph. The 6.0L gave you passing power upgrade. The Cummins didn't even notice the hills. I guess it's up to you. Any of the gasser V8s will do the job, just depends how much acceleration you want going upgrade (diesel had better compression braking downgrade but the gassers were adequate). Get a V10 Ford if you need more power.

[Browntrout73]

Thank you for all the replies everyone! You have all made great points and have helped me narrow our decision. I believe the class c is the rig for us. A Sprinter is just a dream at this point and I agree that the fuel savings will take a long time to make up the difference in purchase/maintenance fees. So today we looked at coachmans that were previously rentals but with low miles 40k or less. Very clean but still on the spendy side. CCC is important as we carry a ton of stuff, especially when boondocking. I like that fact that pghbob pointed out the getting around town with somewhat ease. When we travel i always have so much stress hauling our 26 ft fifth wheel through any city. It is nice though that we can dump it at a CC and then drive the truck into the town we are visiting. But towing really stresses me out. It would be nice to take the class c into town and be able to park and maneuver with less stress than with a fiver. Any feedback on the coachman freelanders on ford 350 chassis' ? We are looking at 23 footers. Also will I be happy with a gasser as I live in the mountains? My current setup is towing with a dodge cummins diesel and that thing is amazing towing through the mountains. Last question is 10-11 mpg realistic with these gassers or less?
Thanks everyone!
Jason

[PghBob]

Just some info. to help answer your questions. We have a 27 foot Class C that has crossed the country a couple of times. We drove through, had dinner in towns like Ft. Collins, Estes Park, Jackson, Cody, and others, and never felt the need to have a toad. We even parked at the Santa Monica pier parking area without difficulty. So, relatively easy to drive and park for a big vehicle. Others like having a toad, but that's a personal choice.
Many owners of the brand we own boondock and even fulltime in their 27, including forest service roads. But, as noted by other posters, its the OCCC that's important. So, I think a family of three will find a 24-27 footer adequate for most of your needs.
Lastly, when our children were little, we put their car seats on the dinette bench seat and held them in place with the RV seat belts. In that RV, the dinette was immediately behind the front passenger seat.
Hope this helps.

[KristinU]

We, too, are a family of three and just made the move from a TT to a class C last spring. We LOVE it. We also were thinking Sprinter when we started thinking C, but as we shopped and researched we realized that a Ford or Chevy chassis was a better fit for us. Both from an initial purchase price standpoint, but also from a repair standpoint. Since we both work full time and are not fulltime RV-ers, each day on the road is precious to us. So we decided that we'd rather have something that could be most likely fixed in just about any town in the US with parts that are in stock or easy to come by. Sprinters are a little more specialty and we felt that while repairs could be made, it would likely involve a tow to further away and/or a wait for parts. Not a big deal if we were fulltiming, but a big deal when the office is waiting for us.

We bought a previous rental, which allowed us to get into our 2008 Winnebago within our budget, and we've been very happy. Even at 31 feet we have been able to get into state parks without a problem. We do need to be more selective about sites than with our TT and of course with our PUP, but we haven't been completely shut out yet.

And just a future warning...you mentioned not hitting RV parks - just make sure that you never expose your little one to one, otherwise you'll hear the whining for game rooms, pools, wifi etc. when you're at one of your beloved state or federal spots (speaking from experience here!) We balance out our trips to take turns pleasing everyone, but will certainly head back to more natural settings after DS ages out of coming with us.

[Desert_Captain]

Depending on how you plan on using your rig the most, CCC can be a huge consideration. I subscribe to the "more is better" school of thought. Our 24' E-350 comes with 3,368# of CCC and while we will never get close to the max it is nice to know that it is virtually impossible to overload it.

This opens the door to traveling with a full 40 gallon tank of fresh water, 55 gallons of fuel, bringing the spare (Honda), generator, firewood, all of the tools and toys I might ever need or want. Some C's particularly rigs with slide(s) sacrifice CCC for the additional floor space (which gets back to how you use it - which is more important?).

Not every CG has full hook ups and I've seen dump stations out of order or so backed up that waiting wasn't an option. The point being full grey and black tanks add a lot of weight which some C's with limited CCC simply cannot support.

I doubt you will find a Sprinter in your price range and while I am not a fan of buying a retired rental it might be a way for you to get the rig you want and stay within your budget. I would look for a slide less floor plan that you can live with that comes with lots of CCC and outside/bay storage. The Ford and Chevy chassis' are what you will likely end up with and that is not a bad thing. The sprinters are pricey and you will never save enough in fuel economy to pay the premium they come with.

As always.... Opinions and YMMV. Good luck! :C

[DaCrema]

i was looking at the Sprinter based RV when we started looking. The thing that turned me off was the CCC. Many of the places we like to go have either limited or no access to water. I miss the extra room up front but really like the LD's CCC. Neither my wife or I pack light. The CCC also took out some other RVs on E350 and Chevy platforms - mostly those with pop out sides.
Many of those other RVs would have been very nice rigs if we camped differently so please do not take this as a knock on them.