Actually is was about more than size. There was some things that bugged me about the Phaeton. First was the Queen size bed. I didn't think it was going to be a big deal, but we are really used to the King bed, and we both "bumped into" each other all night.
Second was the exhaust brake. The rig weighed 33,000# and the Jeep was another 5,000#. So going down the road we were at a little over 38,000#. On the flats we didn't have a problem, but in the west where we have lots of mountain grades, the exhaust brake just couldn't generate enough back pressure to slow us down. Even in second gear at 25 mph I would have to apply the brakes often to keep our speed down.
Neither was a deal breaker, but when we made the decision to sell the stick house and go back full time, I wanted to hit the road with a new rig with all the stuff we wanted. And by getting a Bus, we got some of the nice extras like remote locking bay doors, Smart Wheel, and heated floors for those cool winter nights. And as a bonus the new rig has a 450 Cummins with 1250 ft lbs of torque, and IFS in front.
The big surprise was that because we ordered from a dealer instead of buying off of a lot, we will pay less for the new rig than we paid for the Phaeton 4 years ago!
