dave61
Well-known member
I purchased our RV back in the fall of 2011. This was the first motorized RV I have owned so there was a lot I didn't know. Before making the purchase I spent hours reading this forum and a couple of others to become a little more educated so that I could make a reasonably good purchase.
Since then I have taken quite a few trips, traveled a little over 4000 miles and learned a few things that I thought I might share with the others. Hopefully someone looking to buy an RV will find something useful here.
I think a good place to start is what my intended use was, I believe this makes a big difference in selecting which type of RV is best to own. The majority of our use will be for several long weekends, and one or two trips per year for a week or so and always with our boat in tow. The fact that we always tend to travel with the boat eliminated the option of a travel trailer or fifth wheel. That left us to consider class A, B or C motorhomes. Our intended use was for short duration trips and there's only two of us, so we did not need a rig larger than 24 or 25 feet. One other consideration was that we would park it in our backyard and we had some height issues with some overhanging tree branches. Once we discovered the 12 foot plus clearance needed for most class A's and the fact that there weren't very many available in the 25 foot range we decided to eliminate class A's from consideration. Thinking that a class B might be a good option however, after looking at a few and seeing how expensive, cramped and uncomfortable the interiors were (I'm tall) we decided to go with a class C. When I say class C, what I actually mean is the commonly referred to class B+, rigs like; Winnebago access, BT cruiser, Forest River, Coachman Concorde, among others. We have no kids and did not want the cabover bunk, assuming it would have to hurt gas mileage at leats compared to the B+ types. The fact that we were paying cash and our budget was $25k dictated the years that would work.
Ultimately, we found a 2004 BT Cruiser 27 on an E450 chassis that was nice and fit our criteria. The length was larger than we had hoped for but in the end this turned out to be a feature we have come to appreciate, ie, a rear bed. All things considered I would say we are 95% satisfied with our choice, my only real complaint is I would've preferred a sofa rather than a dinette, on the slide out but I can live with it, or convert it. For now it stays.
I have never been a big Ford guy but the fact that Ford dominates the class C market doesn't leave a lot of other choices. I have been pleasantly surprised with the way it drives, the power of the V10 engine, transmission, etc. I think a big part of that is a function of the size and weight along with wheelbase. The length is 28', WB is 196" which is about 57% and above the ballpark of 55%. The turning radius is not great but i think this makes highway driving a lot more relaxed. The chassis is rated at 14,050 lbs. supposedly the empty weight is 10,900 so I may typically approach 12,000 when traveling for 10 days, less if just a weekend trip. This is well under the max so the ride is still firm especially the rear Axel. Some RVers complain of body lean with trucks passing or when cornering but I have very little, which I am thankful for. Also, my exterior height is only 10' 4" so the center of gravity is also lower. No doubt my chassis impressions would be quite different if the rig was 32' , taller and maxed out on weight.
I was hoping to get 10 mpg and most of the time we have. My worst tank was 9.0 and the best 10.6 mpg. Like everyone says this is a function of speed and or wind. Traveling in the low 70's gets about 9 mpg while low 60's gets 10 mpg, always with the boat. Dash A/C on almost all the time, speaking of that, it is cold, I love it!
We traveled I-24 north of Chattanooga a few weeks ago. Those were the steepest grades we have tried aside from the Sunshine Skyway in Tampa Bay. I think that one big one northwest of Chattanooga has a grade of 6% for 5 miles. For the climb we took it out of overdrive and did about 55 mph, with no strain. Started the descent at about 50 mph, OD still off and coasted down only tapping the brakes for slower truck traffic. No drama. Returning home to Florida was in the heat wave, Chattanooga was 107 degrees so I turned off the dash A/C for the climb. I was a bit worried about overheating but the highest coolant temperature I saw was 208 degrees on the Scan gauge.
We have done 500 + miles per day twice and it was no problem but there was not much wind either. I have only had one occasion when the wind was 25 - 30 mph and it was a two hands on the wheel kind of day. No fun, and glad that was only a two hour drive.
For an entry level unit it is pretty good, a look inside the cabinetry shows some cheesy materials and workmanship but so does my buddies Minnie Winnie. The roof A/C is 15,000BTU, ducted, they could have skimped there but didn't. It has a fiberglass roof, which many don't. Outside storage is a weakness, there is room for more. All three tanks are 38 gallon which is plenty for us. The owners manual is nearly useless, it does not even seem to be model specific, which seems incredible to me.
I like the V-10 a lot, transmission shifts smooth, big transmission cooler, engine oil cooler and power steering coolers are a plus. Best of all the dash air is cold. Cruise control buttons are annoying. The gas tank is 55 gallons, I'd prefer another 10 or 20 gallons but you can't have everything.
As much as anything this post is a review of the Ford E450 with a medium load and more aerodynamic coach body. Lots of people ask about gas mileage, my figures should be reasonable for other coach brands of similar size and weight.
There are a lot of class A owners here and if I was a snowbird or full timer, I would go that way too. How big and how expensive would be the questions.
Hope this helps some folks who are in the market for an RV, and thanks to all who post good info here. It helped me a ton.
Since then I have taken quite a few trips, traveled a little over 4000 miles and learned a few things that I thought I might share with the others. Hopefully someone looking to buy an RV will find something useful here.
I think a good place to start is what my intended use was, I believe this makes a big difference in selecting which type of RV is best to own. The majority of our use will be for several long weekends, and one or two trips per year for a week or so and always with our boat in tow. The fact that we always tend to travel with the boat eliminated the option of a travel trailer or fifth wheel. That left us to consider class A, B or C motorhomes. Our intended use was for short duration trips and there's only two of us, so we did not need a rig larger than 24 or 25 feet. One other consideration was that we would park it in our backyard and we had some height issues with some overhanging tree branches. Once we discovered the 12 foot plus clearance needed for most class A's and the fact that there weren't very many available in the 25 foot range we decided to eliminate class A's from consideration. Thinking that a class B might be a good option however, after looking at a few and seeing how expensive, cramped and uncomfortable the interiors were (I'm tall) we decided to go with a class C. When I say class C, what I actually mean is the commonly referred to class B+, rigs like; Winnebago access, BT cruiser, Forest River, Coachman Concorde, among others. We have no kids and did not want the cabover bunk, assuming it would have to hurt gas mileage at leats compared to the B+ types. The fact that we were paying cash and our budget was $25k dictated the years that would work.
Ultimately, we found a 2004 BT Cruiser 27 on an E450 chassis that was nice and fit our criteria. The length was larger than we had hoped for but in the end this turned out to be a feature we have come to appreciate, ie, a rear bed. All things considered I would say we are 95% satisfied with our choice, my only real complaint is I would've preferred a sofa rather than a dinette, on the slide out but I can live with it, or convert it. For now it stays.
I have never been a big Ford guy but the fact that Ford dominates the class C market doesn't leave a lot of other choices. I have been pleasantly surprised with the way it drives, the power of the V10 engine, transmission, etc. I think a big part of that is a function of the size and weight along with wheelbase. The length is 28', WB is 196" which is about 57% and above the ballpark of 55%. The turning radius is not great but i think this makes highway driving a lot more relaxed. The chassis is rated at 14,050 lbs. supposedly the empty weight is 10,900 so I may typically approach 12,000 when traveling for 10 days, less if just a weekend trip. This is well under the max so the ride is still firm especially the rear Axel. Some RVers complain of body lean with trucks passing or when cornering but I have very little, which I am thankful for. Also, my exterior height is only 10' 4" so the center of gravity is also lower. No doubt my chassis impressions would be quite different if the rig was 32' , taller and maxed out on weight.
I was hoping to get 10 mpg and most of the time we have. My worst tank was 9.0 and the best 10.6 mpg. Like everyone says this is a function of speed and or wind. Traveling in the low 70's gets about 9 mpg while low 60's gets 10 mpg, always with the boat. Dash A/C on almost all the time, speaking of that, it is cold, I love it!
We traveled I-24 north of Chattanooga a few weeks ago. Those were the steepest grades we have tried aside from the Sunshine Skyway in Tampa Bay. I think that one big one northwest of Chattanooga has a grade of 6% for 5 miles. For the climb we took it out of overdrive and did about 55 mph, with no strain. Started the descent at about 50 mph, OD still off and coasted down only tapping the brakes for slower truck traffic. No drama. Returning home to Florida was in the heat wave, Chattanooga was 107 degrees so I turned off the dash A/C for the climb. I was a bit worried about overheating but the highest coolant temperature I saw was 208 degrees on the Scan gauge.
We have done 500 + miles per day twice and it was no problem but there was not much wind either. I have only had one occasion when the wind was 25 - 30 mph and it was a two hands on the wheel kind of day. No fun, and glad that was only a two hour drive.
For an entry level unit it is pretty good, a look inside the cabinetry shows some cheesy materials and workmanship but so does my buddies Minnie Winnie. The roof A/C is 15,000BTU, ducted, they could have skimped there but didn't. It has a fiberglass roof, which many don't. Outside storage is a weakness, there is room for more. All three tanks are 38 gallon which is plenty for us. The owners manual is nearly useless, it does not even seem to be model specific, which seems incredible to me.
I like the V-10 a lot, transmission shifts smooth, big transmission cooler, engine oil cooler and power steering coolers are a plus. Best of all the dash air is cold. Cruise control buttons are annoying. The gas tank is 55 gallons, I'd prefer another 10 or 20 gallons but you can't have everything.
As much as anything this post is a review of the Ford E450 with a medium load and more aerodynamic coach body. Lots of people ask about gas mileage, my figures should be reasonable for other coach brands of similar size and weight.
There are a lot of class A owners here and if I was a snowbird or full timer, I would go that way too. How big and how expensive would be the questions.
Hope this helps some folks who are in the market for an RV, and thanks to all who post good info here. It helped me a ton.
