Downsizing

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steve407

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 18, 2015
Posts
131
Location
Kissimmee, FL
Thinking of downsizing from Class A to a C for a bunch of reasons. Went to a dealer to look at a Jayco Greyhawk but it was missing some stuff I wanted. I'm drawn toward a Jayco Greyhawk because of the "J-Ride +" that adds Bilstein shocks, sway bars front and rear, isolation mounts, and helwig helper springs all factory installed. To make a long story short, the sales person took me to see a Thor Quantum W31. I admit it had a nice floor plan but when I asked about a comparison to the Greyhawk things got ... um ... fuzzy.  He talked a lot about how the Thor is built on a customized frame and had things "like" the jayco, but I can't find anything on their marketing brochures or web site. I would think if they did such treatment in building it it would be plasterd all over the place like Jayco's.  So I come to the forum with 2 questions:

1) Is the Jayco J-Ride as good as it sounds on paper or is it pure marketing hype?
2) Does anyone know anything about the Thor suspension (most importantly wandering on the highway and around trucks?) and if it has similar treatment to Jayco?

Thanks in Advance
 
I dont have direct knowledge about the Jayco vs. Thor suspensions, but something of greater importance is the overall length to wheelbase ratio.  Some class C's have short wheelbases and very long rear overhangs.  If a side view looks like the house is basically balancing on the rear wheels it will tend to be a handful no matter what you do to the suspension.

50-60% or longer wheelbase to overall length will give good handling, when you start getting below 50% that long tail will be wagging the dog.
 
Why would all that extra gear addition be needed for a properly engineered coach?? Most of that apparatus is sold for serious handling problems.>>>Dan
 
Lou Schneider said:
I dont have direct knowledge about the Jayco vs. Thor suspensions, but something of greater importance is the overall length to wheelbase ratio.  Some class C's have short wheelbases and very long rear overhangs.  If a side view looks like the house is basically balancing on the rear wheels it will tend to be a handful no matter what you do to the suspension.

50-60% or longer wheelbase to overall length will give good handling, when you start getting below 50% that long tail will be wagging the dog.

Well that's a good point. Each model is different so I'll have to do some checking on that. Thanks for the tip.
 
Utclmjmpr said:
Why would all that extra gear addition be needed for a properly engineered coach?? Most of that apparatus is sold for serious handling problems.>>>Dan

I don't know but they put pretty good suspension on race cars, off road vehicles and luxury cars.  I wouldn't assume they screwed up the engineering and now are trying to cover it up.  That is an expensive way to do it.
 
One thing to keep in mind is that most class C's in that size range have far less cargo carrying capacity than many of the small class A's that are about the same length.  As the class C's tend to be built on a 14,500 GVWR chassis and the small class A's tend to be on a 18,000 -20,000 pound range chassis.  Even my 16 year old 28 ft class A Safari Trek is on a 17,000 pound GVWR chassis.
 
Please explain why you want to downsize.

I think this is one of the first times I have heard of someone wanting to downsize - usually people want to upgrade.

I'm curious of the reasons why.

You have a 39' DP and want to go to a Class C that might not even be able to tow your toad?
Your willing to give up storage space, smaller tank sizes, smaller sink and fridge to name a few things?

I'm sure you have your reasons - help me understand......
 
RedandSilver said:
Please explain why you want to downsize.

I think this is one of the first times I have heard of someone wanting to downsize - usually people want to upgrade.

I'm curious of the reasons why.

You have a 39' DP and want to go to a Class C that might not even be able to tow your toad?
Your willing to give up storage space, smaller tank sizes, smaller sink and fridge to name a few things?

I'm sure you have your reasons - help me understand......

The reasons were mostly simple: DW won't drive the Class A (she's scared to death of trying) but thinks a short test drive in a C she'd be OK with it. I would like something easier to maintain than the DP with all the air brakes, suspension, filters, and expensive everything on a diesel.  Most of the class C's are on the Ford E-450 and you can take to any Ford dealer for service.  That Cummins and Allison running gear isn't for just any grease monkey to work on. Getting it into an Oasis service center can take a fairly long time to schedule and the expense is pretty high. As I'm not a "do it yourselfer" I need to rely on the shop and pay the high price.

Now - having said all that, we were very disappointed to discover just how much our 2012 has depreciated when trying to trade it. So much so we decided to keep the DP. It's in for some repairs now and will go to the Oasis center for a PM as soon as I can get it scheduled. I guess my idea of downsizing wasn't such a good one!
 
Steve, I can fully understand how you feel. All of the really expensive maintenance and repairs left me feeling it was just too much. We sold our very nice 2005 Holiday Rambler and do not miss it that much. I am sure many others now a days will feel the same way. Nice to drool over the Diesel pushers but reality will set in eventually.
 
Please explain why you want to downsize.

I'm certainly not the OP, but we downsized somewhat almost two years ago. Our 45 foot 2007 Beaver was a heavy beast (max weight 50,000 lbs) and was awkward to park in some places, plus we didn't need all the room in there, though it was nice to have. Just as important was that we only got about 5-6 mpg, and we're not full-timing. Plus (most important) DW was less than fond of it.

So we started looking at smaller rigs, initially at the Sprinter-based units, and found some pretty nice rigs but eventually determined that they were TOO small for the way we operate. We knew we didn't want a gasser class A, nor a class C of the more normal style, so we started looking at shorter DPs, and found a 38' Newmar Ventana that seemed to suit us perfectly.

Although we miss a few amenities that the Beaver had (air leveling, for example), we're overall very happy with the Ventana, and other than the generator dying (under warranty) after about 6 months, we've had almost no trouble with it, we travel comfortably, and our mileage is mostly running 8-9 mpg, so our 100 gallon fuel tank gets us as far as (sometimes farther than) the 150 gallon tank did on the Beaver. Plus it's noticeably easier to maneuver in some tight places (on the road doesn't much matter). It turns out that we have just about as much basement storage as the Beaver had, too, though not as much cabin storage.
 
Plus (most important) DW was less than fond of it.

Since I'm single I didn't think of that too much.
But if I ever became not single then I could see possible downsizing or changing units
if she didn't like it.  It would (IMO) also be nice if she would drive it sometimes - but I know there
are women (and some men) that are afraid to drive a big unit, so that could play a part in downsizing.

Thanks for explaining.
 
We just up-sized our motorhome, went from 32'4" and 11'9" tall to 39'2" and 12'9" tall. Went from a 305 hp, 450 ft lbs of torque to 350 HP and 1,000 ft lbs of torque. We haven't been able to get out and enjoy the coach yet, our maiden run is coming next week. I shouldn't have any issues towing my Jeep Wrangler Unlimited with this coach, 20,000# tow rating with a 3,000# hitch weight.
 

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