Some Noob questions

[DazedNConfused]

Good day, all.

DW pretty much shot down the idea of a truck camper so looking at other alternatives to our 40ft 5th wheel. Me, DW, and 10 and 12 year old girls.

Been looking at motorhomes. Got lots of experience with TT, Popups, and on our second season of our bath and a half fifth wheel. A fine unit...just too much trailer for what we need.

Started looking at 35' and under Class Cs. Really like the Winnie Via since it has an outdoor kitchen option which appeals to us. But would require us to tow something -- and we don't own anything that can be flat-towed at the moment. Not as interested in pulling a dolly with us.

Started looking a the Sprinter-based Class C units by various manufacturers and really like them. Can get a kid in the cab-over and one in the dinette and think it will have plenty of space for us as weekend warriors that don't spent much time inside anyway.

A few questions:

1) For those that drive a 25' Class C, is the idea there that it's small enough to run around on day-trips or into town with so you don't need to take a car along as well? Seems like finding parking for a small Class C wouldn't be all that terrible. It's only a few feet longer than my F-250

2) For those that do that, is it a PITA to put necessary things away prior to travel? DW brought this up and it's a good point. We leave out the coffee maker, foam soaps at each sink, any plant we take along, maybe the drying rack has some stuff in it, toiletries on the sink, etc. None of this is difficult to put away, of course, and maybe it means making some changes to facilitate this, but curious what folks do.

3) It isn't often that I come across this, but some cg sites are tilted both front to back AND right to left. I imagine leveling a camper out in two planes could be frustrating since you would potentially have to level 3 tires out at 3 different heights. And if we ran around town and came back, that would mean doing it multiple times. I know HWH makes nice kits for these Sprinter chassis to ease that burden...and maybe that's the way to go, but again, just curious.

4) Generators: I like the idea of dry-camping -- something we can't easily do now with my fiver. I have read that the typical 3,000ish watt Onan generators will consume about 3/10ths of a gallon of diesel per hour at 1/2 load or 6/10ths of a gallon of propane at half load. Has this been your experience? For a small Class C that holds roughly 14 gallons of propane (equivalent to 2 30lb tanks?), that could mean burning through a whole tank of propane in less than 24 hours if you need the A/C and you're pulling some watts. Diesel would seem like the way to go...but I've read that the diesel fumes can get tiresome after a while, but the propane doesn't have the same issue. And speaking of generators, why are some manufacturers installing them on the curb side of the coach...with the exhaust pipe sticking straight at the under awning area where one might have some chairs or a picnic table set up? Seems like you'd naturally want to install it on the street side.

I'm sorry this has gotten long. I have never owned a MH...so I'm doing some research. DW and I plan to attend the Hershey show next month to touch a bunch of stuff that interests us.

Thanks for your time.
DNC

[DaCrema]

DazedNConfused wrote:


Wow...those Lazy Days units are very nice. I like that this company is paying very close attention to the actual camping part -- like ride quality, lots of big windows for looking out, etc. Is the quality and ride as good as they tout on their website?

I think that the ride is good but I have always owned what are considered stiffly sprung cars and trucks. In 2008 Ford stretched the E450 some 6 inches all in the cab. At some point after my 07 Lazy daze or Ford changed the front seat to one that has better support on the sides. But we are still talking about an E450 not a car levels of handling and comfort. Because the center of gravity is lower that some RV the handling may be a little better. But that is a trade for storage space. For our weekend to 14 day trips we can make do with less. Others may not like the more limited storage. The lack of slides increase the OCCC, but there is the interior space thing as a trade.
I love our LD but before buying you need to find one in the wild and take a look at one. The factory does not attend shows outside southern Ca near Pomona.

[DazedNConfused]

DaCrema wrote:

DazedNConfused wrote:
Thank you, everyone. Hearing your experiences has been very helpful. It's nice to know there are so many choices out there.
...
@DaCrema: Which class c do you have? Sounds like an interesting setup.

We got a used Lazy Daze Mid Bath. The floor plan can be seen in the manufactures website (www.lazydaze.com). If u get a RV distributor instead of builder check the spelling. Sorry for no link. I am camping and limited by my lack of ability to command my smart phone.
John

Wow...those Lazy Days units are very nice. I like that this company is paying very close attention to the actual camping part -- like ride quality, lots of big windows for looking out, etc. Is the quality and ride as good as they tout on their website?

[DaCrema]

DazedNConfused wrote:
Thank you, everyone. Hearing your experiences has been very helpful. It's nice to know there are so many choices out there.
...
@DaCrema: Which class c do you have? Sounds like an interesting setup.

We got a used Lazy Daze Mid Bath. The floor plan can be seen in the manufactures website (www.lazydaze.com). If u get a RV distributor instead of builder check the spelling. Sorry for no link. I am camping and limited by my lack of ability to command my smart phone.
John

[DazedNConfused]

Thank you, everyone. Hearing your experiences has been very helpful. It's nice to know there are so many choices out there.

@Wishin': You're totally right about the CCC. I looked at a 2010 Winnie View over the weekend -- Sprinter chassis. It only had like 1,200 lbs of CCC -- and that was before any fluids in the tanks and such -- and that was dry pre options -- so you really don't get much left. But..with less space -- the theory is I'll have less stuff. With THAT said, my family of 4 will add 550 lbs to the right with just us -- so my guess is we would probably have less than 500 lbs remaining of CCC.

@DaCrema: Which class c do you have? Sounds like an interesting setup.

I've taken a strong liking to the Thor Hurricane bunk plan. But it's 35' and I was trying to stay shorter than that. One of the reasons I liked that was because it offers and outdoor kitchen. We cook almost every meal out side as long as it isn't raining -- and we eat at the picnic table under the awning when one is available. In my humble opinion, every single MH, fiver, and TT should have a pull-out/drop-down sink outside. I can always find workspace for cooking, but I wash my hands a lot when cutting meat, setting up and tearing down camp, etc. I use my outdoor sink a lot and would miss that in a coach that didn't have it.

[mlts22]

With four people, I'd go for a rig no smaller than 30 feet, and some cars can be adapted with a lubricant pump for towing on all four wheels.

I have seen some very well laid out "C" floor plans with multiple sleeping surfaces so everyone in a four member family gets a bed if they so chose. One plan even had a seat and a place to play console video games inside, when weather was not friendly to being outside.

I would highly suggest slides. Yes, they have drawbacks, but the space they give can mean a very pleasant trip without the feeling of being cramped.

[DaCrema]

We have a 26.5 ft class c with no slides but big windows. The king bed in back turns into a living room with two couches and a tv on rainy days. Like others I mostly only hook up electricy which makes setup and take down easy. I will need a toad today for the second time. I an visitingy mother in Fl and the place where she lives is not RV friendly. Because of that I am having a difficult time convincing the wife we should spend the cash set up the MINI as a toad.
When picking out the rig I went for simple and easy to setup and drive. My wife said it does not drive that different than her minivan did. On long trips we share the driving (not easy for me as I am a bad passenger).
The down side our rig may be small for you. Before this the wife daughter and friends slept in a couple backpacking tents. For us we have more room than before.
John

[_en_Plain_Air_]

REALLY analyze the weights of your group and gear. We also loved the Sprinter based units, but couldn't abide the very limited CCC capacity. The numbers just didn't work for us and we're only 2 people.

[toedtoes]

It's a matter of adaptation (as you indicated earlier):

Don't bring stuff you don't need. If you haven't used it over the course of one camping year, then get rid of it. Those "what if" items - are they really necessary? Will not having them create an inconvenience or a disaster? If a disaster, then keep it. Being inconvenienced isn't the most terrible thing in the world, no matter what society thinks.

Use the outdoors as extra living space. As others indicate, bring a tent when the girls want their friends to come along. Prepare salads, etc. at the picnic table.

Multi-purpose items as much as possible. Share!!!!

Use the campground facilities when possible. During the day, take a walk to the campground bathroom rather than using the RV bathroom.

Put things away after use. Using double stick tape or museum putty to hold down items that you tend to use often will eliminate the need to put it away every day. Putty down your coffee maker and make a strap to hold the carafe in. Museum putty will hold up in an earthquake, it can handle driving.

I would look at a C with a full cabover bunk. Both girls can sleep up there. Sleeping with their feet towards the cabin will add extra room for a couple friends (we used to have 8 kids laid out like that while on the road). That would allow you to get a 24ft with a dedicated bed down below for you and spouse and not have to use the dinette bed.

As another said, if you are planning on driving out for sightseeing, etc., don't hook everything up. Contrary to common believe, RVs are made to hold it until you can dump the tanks. They don't need to be hooked up to sewer in order to use the restroom or wash dishes. If you're at a full hookup facility, you can hookup the morning you will be leaving and dump - not any more work than being hooked up all the time and allows you to drive off during the stay if you desire.

Determine ahead of time what things are "risk worthy" with your outdoor gear. For me, I don't worry about my outdoor gear that much. I camp at the same places where tents camp. They leave their entire camps set up and drive away for a day, so I figure there is no reason not to leave my chairs, etc.

[wbwood]

Here's my 2 cents....

We had a pop up years ago. Enjoyed every bit of it. At the beginning it was me, wife and son. Then daughter was born. We ended up moving and ended up not using the pop up after a year or two and sold it. About 8 years later we ended up buying a 31' TT with quad bunks. Sone didn't live at home anymore, but we knew daughter would bring friends. After 3 years, no friends went camping. Last year, we decided to take the TT to the beach and store it there at a campground. They pulled it out for us and put it back. Great thing. We were spending a lot of time at the beach there so it made sense. Got rid of the truck and got my wife a new explorer. Bought a used pop up for a couple thousand that we could tow with the explorer and do more rustic mountain camping. We have always had our eyes on Class C's. One day I went to look at one at our local CW (where we bought the TT). It was a 28' model. Solid white and the floorplan was ok, but not all that great. They had ours sitting next to it, 31' model. Prettier color scheme outside and better floor plan. We wanted more of a room for ourselves with a full wardrobe and ours has it. There was a $10,000 MSRP price difference between the two. We were able to get either one for the same price and of course as soon as my wife saw them, she wanted the bigger and prettier one. I will say this....best decision of our life as far as RV's. We liked our TT, but it was not the best option for us. And pulling a 35' long TT down the road with an F250 is not the most comfortable thing. I can honestly say that driving the Class C is much more comfortable and there are many other reasons that it's beneficial.

As far as leveling goes. Unless you get one with leveling jacks, it's really not that bad. Yes, get you some lumber or several sets of blocks (or both!). It won't take much time for you to start figuring out what it will take to level it. We've used 3 sets of leveling blocks just to raise the front end to make level. I'm not going past that. If it won't level in the site no better than that, then i'm not staying in that site.

Don't say no to the tow dolly so fast... While the preferred method by many (especially fulltimers) is to tow 4 flat, for us weekend warriors, at least for us, it was not feasible to spend thousands on a set up of one vehicle to just tow it. My daily driver (07 Toyota Yaris) can be towed either way. But I was going to have to spend several hundred dollars on a base plate, hundreds getting it installed (plus they would have to alter the fascia on mine), then you got the tow bar, braking, lights, etc. A coworker priced it out for a Liberty he had and was quoted over $2500 if not more. Can't remember the exact figure, but it was high. Now if I went through all that on my car and then in a few months I get another car, I have to spend another $700-1000 getting it set up. I started looking at dollys. ACME is only about an hour from me. I started looking more and started sending them emails asking questions. We ended up buying for $1300 brand new with surge brakes. Pulled it over $1200 miles on a trip this spring from our home to Destin Florida and back. I was amazed how easy it really was. Yes there were some learning curves as i've never used a tow dolly before. But after hearing all the talk of how hard and how long it would take, I found out that it's hogwash. My initial set up was even in the rain! We can have it hooked and car on it in 10 minutes or so. And that's taking our time and making sure everything is straight. People talk about what to do with the dolly at the campsite. I pull up just forward of the site. Get out and unhook from the motorhome (car already off). I grab the handle and push it back to the back of the site (or other designated area of the site). I back up the motorhome and it covers about 2/3rds of it. I have my wife spot me of course. She's there to spot me either way. But it literally only adds a 2-3 feet to end of your RV. Get ready to leave...pull forward enough to where you can lift up on the ball hitch. Easy peasy. It's the lightest dolly made. It can be stored in the upright position (on 4x4 blocks). And I don't have to worry about which car. I have more of a selection of cars to tow on the tow dolly than I can 4 wheels down. Plus the dolly can be used for other towing if needed.

As far as the generator, ours is a 4000 I think. Will depend on the unit.

If you are thinking of replacing the 5er, then I would go with a little bigger Class C for the 4 of you. Also depends on your camping. We like to divide it up between resorts and partial/no hook ups. Driving one around without a toad will be more cumbersome and you need to not only thing of length of space, but your heighth.

[PatJ]

I had a truck camper for many years. When I got married, we kept it and went on many fun trips with it. One child, TC got a little tighter but still bearable. Two kids, no chance. Sold it and found a small bunkhouse C. The smaller the C the more leftover capacity for towing is my experience.

Took a few years before the youngest slept in the bottom bunk but now she loves it, and our older girl loves the top. When she was real small we folded down the dinette and set a playpen on it for her to sleep in. Our older girl is teenager now and is to the point when she brings a friend she would prefer to sleep in a tent outside so for us that makes extra room for friends a non-issue.

We have never towed a vehicle, we are almost always pulling either a small horse trailer with horses or a flatbed with quads and the RZR. We have never had any issues parking. We don't leave much out so breaking down to go to town is not an issue for us. But honestly we don't "go to town" much because like you we are just weekender vacationers so when we tear down it is to go home. No real issue leveling I have a few sets of the lego levelers they work great. Towing a few thousand pounds is fine too.

We love our C now for the way we use it, but when we are empty nesters we will probably go back to a TC.

[tatest]

Via is a small Euro-style (but not Euro-small) A on the Sprinter bare chassis. It has about as much usable space as a slightly longer C, because the cab space is better integrated into the living space than the van cab of most Cs, and it is narrower by 6-12 inches than most C motorhomes, and most larger A's. That width is important, because it is the width of a motorhome, not the length, that puts the greater constraint on finding places in town where you can park.

When traveling and road-tripping my wife and I used my 30-foot, full-width C as you propose, doing our sight-seeing enroute, unhooking to go out if based in one place for more than a day. However, we planned our travel days to do this, minimizing the ins and outs, and simplified our hookups (power cord only) when we planned to go out.

Hookups are not the real work involved in going out. The real work is putting away everything inside so that the interior is safe to carry people. Several trips with daughters, sons-in-laws, grand-daughters taught us that this becomes a whole lot more work with more people, because you have to shuffle people around to do the job, when they are still focused on getting ready to go out in public. Often much more work with girls, than with boys.

This hassle of moving people around to get the RV ready to go gets a lot worse if you are converting back and forth between sleeping space and living space. Sometimes with youngsters you can get them dressed quickly and send them out to the playground while you work, but this is not my experience with teen girls.

I've never found leveling a problem, but I tend to choose RV parks and campgrounds with level RV pads. Most of the time I get level enough moving around on the parking space, sometimes need and inch or two of blocks at one wheel, sometimes two wheels at one end, e.g. on a perfectly level pad because my MH rides low in front when I've adjusted weight distribution for handling.

I think a 25-foot motorhome, whether A or C, is going to be interesting with a couple of girls getting into their teens and wanting private space more often (I raised two girls and grew up with four sisters, adolescence gets to be an interesting experience). An actual C, with cab-over sleeping, could give them their own "cave" but with two they must be of a disposition to share that space. In the Via, 25T might work if you let the girls have the twin beds, and you are inclined to use the drop down bunk, which can save some of the trouble involved in converting dinettes and sofas while people think they still need to use the space.

But with patience, most anything can be made to work. I recently finished a week long cruise in a cabin occupied by three adults and two 11-year old girls. It helped that there was a closed off bunkroom for the girls, and there was household staff to convert couches back and forth to beds while we were out of the cabin. In the RV, that's something I have to do myself.

FWIW, I do have a vehicle set up to tow, on the second one now, but when I use it is when I am going out to one place for an extended period. I still don't take it on sightseeing trips, because towing a car so limits where the RV can go that I am forced to go from campground to campground with the RV, and use the towed vehicle for all of the sightseeing, rather than having the conveniences of the RV (kitchen, toilet, place to nap) for the day.

[DiploStrat]

Scholars differ on all of this, which is, of course, what makes it fun.

We come form a 4x4/overlanding background and, with advancing age, reached the point that we wanted heat and indoor plumbing. Ndeke Luka, at about 23 feet, is the truck that we wish we had years ago.

-- 4x4

-- Small enough to park

-- Big enough to be comfortable

-- Heat, water, and air conditioning.

-- No propane.

-- No black tank.

-- No generator.

We just spent 60 days on a trip to Overland EXPO West and the Tiger Rally and can't wait to be off on our next jaunt.

You can read and see more here: Diplostrat.Org

A Tiger might be just what you are looking for.

[tonyandkaren]

We fulltime in a 25' class C without a towed car. We don't keep a lot of stuff out, either scattered around in the RV or outside, so it's easy to pack up and go. We hook up to the electricity but use the water from our tank and only dump when the waste tanks are full so hookup is simple too.

Parking is rarely a problem. Sometimes we have to walk a few blocks but most of the time we fit in parking lots by backing up over the grass or by taking two spaces.

Leveling can be a pain. Once you get it set up though it's just a matter of driving onto the levelers when you return to your site.

The only thing I'd be concerned about is the cargo carrying capacity. Some Sprinter based RVs have hardly any CCC.

[ChuckV1]

DazedNConfused my DW and had a 24ft Class C, we often took one of the Gandkids
with us for weekend trips some lasting three and four days. I'm here to tell
you it was tight even with doing the cooking and eating outside most of the
time and not staying in the coach. Since we did not have a toad I had to pack
up everything every time I wanted to go someplace and it was a real Pain.
As far as the OP saying it was easy to park when going to town I have to
disagree. I have driven semi's with doubles for a number of years before I
retired, finding a place to park in a town or shopping center can be a pain
in the ^%^&^&%. If you think parking your 5th wheel is hard in a parking lot
be set to find out your no better in a class C. You still have to park out in
the north forty and then people will park almost every time next to the side
doors making it almost impossible to get in at times almost the same as with
your 5th wheel. The DW and I traded off a real nice Class C with less than 40k
miles in it to a 33ft 5th wheel and have not looked back. We now have our own
bedroom and do not sleep almost on top of the grandkids, I can get up make
my coffee and do not have to trip over the DW or the Grandkids making it
outside to sit in my chair or at the pinic table. We had no storage in the
Class C and stored BQ in shower along with sweeper, we now have way more
storage than we need and love it. So you may have lots of storage now and feel
good about it, but even if you cut 50 percent of what you use now you will
not have room for what you think you need... I think you should test drive
a Class C for a week or two and see if you can live within it before you jump
to one,I truely believe you will find out it's closer and tighter than you
really think, good luck !