help in deciding A or C motorhome

[southman]

Just retired and plan on getting small motor home. Use will be travel on what we call "back roads". I E route 66 route 30 etc. Do not plan on spending more than a few days at any one location, but want to travel to all 48 lower states and fish along the way. We see advantages to both A and C units. Any help by those who travel as we plan to would be appreciated.

[goducks10]

Class C uses 16" tires. Cheap.
Class A uses 19.5 and up. Expensive.
Class C are generally cheaper to buy and maintain. JMO
For the same price or less you can get a nice truck and TT/5er. Then you have a vehicle to site see with. More room inside a TT/5er than a comparable MH.
With out a toad and if you break down you will need a rental car. Things go wrong with any RV and not just the running gear.

[2gypsies1]

wintersun wrote:
The overall length of the Class A MH and the towed vehicle is going to limit you to private RV parks for the most part. Even if there are sites large enough you will still need to find ones that are a pull through to accommodate the Class A MH with its car in tow and that may eliminate most of the campsites.

I'd highly disagree with this statement. A Class A doesn't restrict you to private parks and you definitely don't need a pull-through site.

We use public parks 90% of the time as full-timers (national, state, national forest, COE, county and city parks). Ours is a 40' towing a Jeep, and yes, we fit just fine.

We definitely don't need a pull-through and actually prefer backin sites because there's usually more room between neighbors. All you do is unhook the towed vehicle before getting to the site and back the motorhome in. We'd unhook if using a pull-through, too. We sitesee using our Jeep which is much easier to do than driving a Class C around. We're able to use any secondary road and even the gravel backroads. We both drive the motorhome and love being in the mountains. We rarely do interstates.

[TomB_]

toedtoes wrote:
How small do you want to go? Under 25 ft? Or more like 28-34 ft?

You don't necessarily need a toad if under 25 ft.

I suggest you go look at floorplans for both As and Cs. Find your favorite floorplan for each type, then test drive them. That will give you a place to start a comparison.

I agree, start looking at floor plans. Take your time with this. Find one you can live with. That's how we chose our coach.

[wintersun]

With a Class C you can get around without needing to tow another vehicle and parking is not going to restrictive and you can fit in most campsites. With a Class A MH you will be towing a car so you can leave the MH at the campsite. The overall length of the Class A MH and the towed vehicle is going to limit you to private RV parks for the most part. Even if there are sites large enough you will still need to find ones that are a pull through to accommodate the Class A MH with its car in tow and that may eliminate most of the campsites.

The Class A with its towed vehicle is more of an alternative to having a tow vehicle with a trailer. The Class C is more comparable to a truck and slide-in camper.

Class C interior space has changed over the years with single and sometimes double slide-outs for more room while at a campsite. With a Class C MH you also retain the option of towing a trailer for a boat, ATV, motorcycles, etc.

[frankdamp]

My main reason for switching from "C" to "A" was that i got fed up of bumping my head every time I went from the "house" to the cab. Another reason? both of us too claustrophobic to use the overhead bed - just wasted space and extra weight. Third reason was the added spaciousness and the ability for the cab to become part of the house.

A reason for going up in size (25' C to 32' A) was to get a full-time bedroom. I hated having to dismantle the bed every morning before we could sit down to breakfast then having to reassemble it all at bedtime. In this part of the world it's not all that frequent that you can eat at the site picnic table.

I also agree with Suzzee's points. Unfortunately my wife can't drive the "A" because there's not enough adjustment in the seat and steering column. Even if there were, she'd probably decline!

[SuzzeeeQ2012]

I like the large picture window in front on my A 🙂

it's huge compared to our Tioga class C. I could have driven that quite comfortably, the A would take courage for me, but I could probably do it.

MUCH more room. Not as easy to park, but we don't care. The space is worth it 🙂

[bsinmich]

DougE wrote:
All things considered, a C is a better vehicle than an A and an A is a better camper than a C. As they age an A is generally more trouble to maintain than a C. After 50 years of touring and camping I would say a C with one slide-out would be a great rig for you.

I only have 45 years and would not recommend a C unless you get one with a one piece roof. Most Cs will leak sooner or later in the cabover section. We did the trip from Edmonton, AB to Detroit area with no freeways until we had to cross the Big Mac bridge in MI. The MH didn't float. We knew we had to go a long way East and South a little bit. The compass was our guide. We had a great trip. My experience is with TTs, popups, 2 As, 2 Cs and now also a B Roadtrek. since I am now alone.

[greenskeeper]

We have a super C, that being a 32 ft, Jayco Greyhawk, with 2 slides on a 5000 Kodiak chassis. We did not want an upper bunk as its just the 3 of us, one being a cat, so we have an large entertainment center in place instead. we have put on 50,000 miles in the last 4 years, Alaska to Az, we are in AZ for the winter at this time, usually we are dry camping but this year we are in a park for the first time. and have been very happy with the C. The only draw back is when we have company over , all of our seating is on one side of the unit and the drivers seats do not swivel, so its hard to carry on a conversation. The class A s will give a little more room in the front for entertainment. We had 2 older A s in the past but the wife wanted a Super C this time as she feels more comfortable driving it. That being said I am 78 and the wife is 72,, we do not full time and still work in the summer, so far we are still going strong and look forward to many more years...............

[ol_Bombero-JC]

There is no "right" answer for someone else!

Get out and visit shows & dealers.

Collect the brochures, make notes of what you like and don't like.

After LOTS of that - *YOU* may have a better idea of what will work best for you!

~

[DougE]

All things considered, a C is a better vehicle than an A and an A is a better camper than a C. As they age an A is generally more trouble to maintain than a C. After 50 years of touring and camping I would say a C with one slide-out would be a great rig for you.

[2chiefsRus]

One thing to consider is how you plan to camp - i.e. full-hook-ups all the time vs boondock all the time. Where you fall on that issue will determine the tank sizes you will want to have on fresh water, grey water and black water. Knowing your tank size preferences may make the decision between B, A or C easier. Also consider the cargo carrying capacity (weight and volume) and compare that to what you want to bring with you. An RV is not priority mail - just because it fits doesn't necessarily mean it should be shipped with you.

[Matt_Colie]

It is my experience that the difference between A & C in the 20~25' class is mostly in your own interpretation of what you need/want. Find one that works for you.

Matt

[tatest]

When using our 30 foot C that way, my late wife and I did not have a need for a towed vehicle. We put in 30,000 miles of one to three week road trips in the three years between buying the motorhome and my wife getting sick. We also used it for 6-10 three to four day club campouts, and continued those between surgeries and her bucket list international trips.

30 foot was small enough for getting around, big enough to take along daughter and a couple of grandchildren for the shorter trips. One or two people not needing a lot of private space can probably do well enough with 22-25 foot C floorplans.

A type C has a space/length advantage if you will use the overhead bed. An A has a living space advantage if driving compartment can serve as seating for the living area. Smaller A motorhomes have been hard to find for a while, but manufacturers are starting to bring back short As with "new" uses of space, like bringing back drop-down bunks in the cab, which were common in the early 70s when the most popular motorhomes had to accommodate families in 22-28 feet of length at 12,000 pounds or less. Look at Winnebago's retro Brave for bringing back compact design features with modern equipment and fittings.

[wildtoad]

Pulling a small car is easy enough to do with either an A, C, B+, etc. If you're going to be traveling the back roads the A will provide better visibility through that great big windshield. The thing for me is space and I think an A makes better use of the space, typically has more storage in and out, have larger holding tanks. There are exceptions so look closely.