Shopping for Class B Diesel. Advice for newbies please!

[chris_UP]

We have finally decided to take the leap and buy a class B diesel used RV. We chose this size due to ease of driving. we have never had or driven a RV. I have narrowed the search to: Great West Legend, Pleasure Way Plateau and Leisure Travel Free Spirit. Anything anyone can tell me about these vans would be very helpful. Especially things someone new to the RV world would not know. Also, I had read that some RV's are not "four Season" meaning some hoses or lines are exposed on the bottom. I live very far north, IN Michigans upper peninsula. Will that be a problem?
What things can anyone tell me in general about the RV life? We plan to travel with the van, not park anywhere long term. How do you find a place to stay when you are on the road? I know we can search on the internet, but is there a better source/ book?
Any advice and information would be much appreciated.
What can I expect as far as a learning curve with hooking up and using all of the things like gas, generator, water and sewage? We are seriously clueless.

[NCWriter]

One final thought... don't worry about being clueless because just about everybody on this forum started from that point.

I think you really learn by doing. When you buy a used one from a friendly owner or maybe a service-oriented dealer, be sure you get a thorough walk-through where you get hands-on time to turn things on and off. Learn as much as you can about how RV batteries & electrical systems work. Also the fresh water and waste water systems. Read the B manufacturer's manual (you can usually download for your model year from the website).

There will be lots of things you want to know about your model, like:
- how much do my tanks hold and how long can I go without dumping? (The gauges are notoriously unreliable.)
-How do I dump - in other words, how to open and close the holding tank valves for dumping. Does it have a macerator and/or a gravity system?
- what systems are powered by only 120 power or the generator? What runs on propane? What runs on 12-volt from the "house" battery or batteries?
-Where's the propane tank and how do I refill it?
- how tall the RV is (before going under a low bridge - more of a problem for bigger RVs, but remember that you have an air conditioner unit on top).
-What needs servicing and how often? When was it last done?

People here often suggest that before making a trip, try camping in your driveway or a nearby campground to figure out what you know or don't know.

You can also attend owners' rally groups and meet people who will be glad to share their knowledge. And there are online forums where you can ask questions.

[NCWriter]

(Duplicate)

[NCWriter]

I agree about RV Park Reviews, by the way, as a good source of campground info. You can also use the AllStays camping app.

Besides commercial RV parks or national and state park campgrounds, you may want to try camping on public lands - National Forest Service, Army Corps of Engineers, etc have some beautiful places, many with water and electricity. They have a mandate to include recreational facilities for projects like dams, etc. There typically will be a sanitary dump station for emptying your black and gray water holding tanks.

Another good app for RVing is Gas Buddy for finding the lowest price fuel on the road ahead.

[midnightsadie]

if you find a good used one and it has the 5cyc MB diesel grab it, there one great little engine ours in a LTV freedom serenity gets 20mpg and runs perfect. and has plenty of pep.

[NCWriter]

We also owned and loved a 2007 Leisure Free Spirit 210B. (Would still be using it but a large Labrador service dog joined the family, and we needed more room for her to sleep somewhere without worrying about stepping on her in the dark.) We traded it in last year and got a much higher than expected trade-in value for it.

All the brands you mentioned made/make quality products. I don't think you'll go wrong with any of them.

One thing to know, if you don't already, when shopping used diesel models is that a T1N generation Sprinter (up until about the year 2006) on a 2500 chassis can easily get between 18 and 25 mpg. After about 50,000 miles, ours started getting 25 most of the time. We had a Freightliner badge on the grill, others had Dodge, others might have had a Mercedes badge. Regardless, they were all Mercedes products marketed in the US.

We put about 10,000 miles on it every year and really saw a lot of the U.S. And Canada, staying one to five nights in each place. The set-up and departure time was very minimal (usually just plugging in/unplugging the power cord if in a campground with electricity). That made it so easy to run around sightseeing, go somewhere to eat, buy groceries, etc. without the need for a second vehicle. And parking was easy just about anywhere except garages with low ceilings. Very easy to fit into campsites.

Another thing to look for IMHO is a three-way fridge. 120 when you are plugged into a campsite, 12 volt while driving, and gas (propane) when you stop for sightseeing or don't have hookups. Doesn't use much gas. We had a propane generator, too, which was handy.

Layout is a personal choice, but I liked the open feeling of our model, with high cabinets all around so I could be sitting in bed at the back and see straight through the windshield in the front. It had the bathroom behind the drivers' seat, and the galley on the passenger side. I've seen some Bs that had low-hanging cabinets that made me a little claustrophobic.

I'd buy another B in a heartbeat.

[chris_UP]

thanks for your replies and advice. Anyone out there actually have and like a class B Diesel RV, especially Great West, Pleasure Way and Leisure Travel?

[Pawz4me]

Welcome to the forum!

We recently traded in the 35' Class A we'd had for almost ten years on a B. We downsized for the same reasons you're looking at Bs -- easier to drive, we want to see the country more than we want to stay at the same campground for days at a time, etc. We've been in plenty of small Cs and knew they weren't what we were after. The agility of the Bs won us over.

I can't help much with the models you're considering. But for finding campgrounds many of us use RV Park Reviews.

[chris_UP]

Yes, we have been inside these models. For us the ease of driving is a big thing. We are not going full time, or like I said, not staying in a RV park or campground long term.

[midnightsadie]

I agree with the others,thats why we bought a small C ours a 2007 LTV is just right 24ft. full bed and a nice shower .and it still can be driven downtown.

[donn0128]

2112 hit the nail on the head with Bs. Way over priced for their size. Great for people going down the road, parking for one night and moving on. But for serious campers, I think youll find them really cramped. Nothing better than crawling into a comfortable permanent bed after a day in the great outdoors.

[2112]

Have you been inside any of the models you mentioned?
We owned a Leisure Travel Free Spirit 210B. Our experience was:
It drove and rode great. We really enjoyed going down the road in it.

However, we found it too small and tight for the two of us to be practical. Taking a shower, changing clothes, cooking meals and DW doing her makeup was difficult. Minimum storage and cargo capacity.

We used it for about 6 months and sold it to a single retired friend. She loves it. She is currently in Utah working her way up to Alaska. It works for her but didn't work for us.