25 vs 30 foot Class C

[OnSabbatical]

Hi All,

I'm debating between getting a 25 or 30 foot Class C. There's a difference of about 2.5k in the models I'm considering. Neither has slides. Don't want them. I was originally thinking of the smaller because maybe I could keep it in my driveway. But now I'm thinking we probably don't have room even for a 25 foot RV in the driveway--or if we did, we'd have to put it under trees that drop large nuts and once cracked our car windshield.

So, obviously, a 30 foot would have much more room. But would it be much harder to drive? To park in campgrounds or boondocking? We're only a family of 3, btw, but of course, sometimes we'd like to have guests.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Oh, also, I was thinking maybe with a 25 foot we could more easily avoid a toad and just drive as needed to stuff.

 

[Lou Schneider]

How much rear overhang does each Class C have?  Short rear overhangs make for better handling.
Long rear overhangs lead to poor highway handling, problems with the rear end scraping and tail swing during sharp maneuvers.

If a side view makes it look like the house is balanced on the rear axle I'd look elsewhere.

 

[OnSabbatical]

It looks to me like the difference is more in between wheels than rear overhang.

 

[OnSabbatical]

here's the 30 ft

 

[PancakeBill]

30'.  You buy the 25 and will be wishing for the extra space.  Overhang looks about the same.  No matter which size you get, backing will become second nature.  Remember most of the CG's you will be in, folks back 45' coaches into many of the same spaces.  Practice in a parking lot with cones.  Look at CG's on internet and check site sizes of listed.  35' wide I would say is close to average, some will be more narrow if in older places, but get at a[e measure and lay the cones out. 

If offered, take a drivers course.  Or look for YouTube vids that give pointers, you will get the hang of it. 

 

[RVRAC]

You may want to drive them to see how you feel.
Get the bigger one, you will be happy.

 

[Isaac-1]

Check out the OCCC (cargo carrying capacity) rating on each, many 30 ft class C's have very little cargo carrying weight capacity.

 

[youracman]

Check out the OCCC (cargo carrying capacity) rating on each, many 30 ft class C's have very little cargo carrying weight capacity.

^^^^^ X2 ^^^^^

I calculated the OCCC for my 31 ft - 9" rig (the sticker on the closet door is for CCC) using the formulas the glossary here on the Forum and it comes out 2125# which is kinda skimpy.  (I get "whacked" for about 180# owing to hyd levelers installed.)  I have weighed mine loaded for travel and it is real close to the GVWR.  The front and rear axle weights were within the GAWRs but the front was closer than I would like.  So for almost all Class Cs in the 30ft range you have to be extra careful not to overload; the shorter ones, not so much.  One thing you can do to mitigate the limited cargo thing is put some of the dense/heavy items in the toad; there is usually considerable "slack" in the GCWR ..... if your toad is pretty light; lotsa folks do that.

On the plus side, a lot of the 30-footers have a nice long wheelbase so that is a "good thing" for handling.  Mine is 220" so I have a wheelbase to overall length ratio of .58 ......... which is pretty good.

Good luck in the hunt.  Stay safe.



 

 

[Isaac-1]

Following up on this if the specific model was built on both the E350 12,500 GVWR chassis and optionally on the heavier E450 14,500 chassis, buy one that was built on the E450.

 

[TheBar]

Going without a toad really depends on the wheelbase. The rear overhang does not get in the way of turning corners. Pickup trucks range up to 22 feet. I would guess most 25 foot Class C's would be the same wheelbase with more overhang so it would be like driving a crew cab with a long bed. My 30 foot has a longer wheelbase so turning right on a 2 lane road forces me into on-coming traffic. I do it but really have to time my turns.

 

[JudyJB]

You really won't notice the extra length while driving or even parking.  Mostly, you just drive the front and the rear follows.  Mine is 32' and I can fit in a parking lot in two spaces--I pull forward in a shopping center type lot.

However, the CCC is a big thing.  I have only 1330 lbs on mine and I travel alone.  Just taking two extra people with me would put me really over weight. 

Also, i think you are making a big mistake in avoiding slides.  Without them, your rig ends up being a long aisle to the point where it is hard to pass one another as you walk front to back.  With my two big slides, mine feels open and is much more comfortable.

Also, another big consideration is tank sizes, particularly the grey water tank.  You need a bigger one with three people.

 

[Ex-Calif]

I like a "power margin" on my vehicles.

For a given Class C the bigger chassis and heavier vehicle may have less margin on power / tow less given the same engine and transmission.

Just a personal preference but my sense is that after 26 feet I would be looking at a class A. In fact I was in the market for a 24-ish Class C when Marvin fell into my lap...

I don't know a bout your vehicle choices number but "travel" loaded Marvin is at about 13,000 pounds with a MCGVR of 19,500 and a 3,500 pound rated hitch.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The practical drivability difference between 25 ft and 30 ft is almost nil.  We can cite technical differences, but it's the kind of stuff that car magazine write about.  I'd focus on my use and livability needs, not the length.  You need to stand back and think about what is important to you.

If you want to carry a lot of gear, e.g. sport stuff or lots of tools, the shorter RV on larger E450/4500 van chassis will leave more cargo capacity for your stuff. The larger coach body eats more of the available cargo capacity.

Also, don't ignore the class A coaches in the 26-30 ft range. They will offer more storage space, greater carrying capacity, and usually have more usable floor space than a class c.

 

[Isaac-1]

As an owner of a sub 30 ft Class A (29'5" bumper to bumper) I agree with all that stuff Gary said, my nearly 20 year old coach us built on a 17,000 P32 chassis, and has just over 3,000 pounds OCCC, and was optionally available on an 18,000 GVWR chassis.  A few class A's in this size range have over 5,000 pounds OCCC. As to parking I have a 178 inch wheel base, you can see it parked backed in over the curb at a visitor center in my avatar photo, a standard full size parking space is 22 ft long, so it sticks out a foot or so, about as much as a crew cab pickup does when parked nose in.  In the 4 years since buying the coach we have traveled roughly 20,000 miles through 15 states from Florida where I bought it, to Utah without a TOAD so far, spending around 220 nights in the coach, not counting this years hurricane induced driveway camping.  On 2 occasions we have rented a car at our destination, and have used Uber, Taxis, public transportation (shuttle buses, etc.) a few other times.  Last year we bought an electric bicycle to help with our transportation options, though we have not had an opportunity to use it much, I suspect we will end up getting a second one so we can both ride.

Having said all this from time to time I wish I had the something smaller, that would fit in more parking spaces, but at the same time don't want to loose the cargo / floor space.

 

[A Traveler]

...Also, i think you are making a big mistake in avoiding slides.  Without them, your rig ends up being a long aisle to the point where it is hard to pass one another as you walk front to back.  With my two big slides, mine feels open and is much more comfortable...

I completely agree about the slides. They aren?t that big a deal from a maintenance point of view, but they are a huge deal when it comes to the additional living space they provide.

I think you should broaden your search a bit.

 

[TheBar]

What kind of camping will you be doing? Weekends with a 2 week vacation once a year? Or 6 month "Sabbaticals" as your username suggests? On longer stays slides and cargo weight are more important so you should be looking at longer Class A's. If you are a weekender you typically are using it more like a motel room and not living quarters. In that case options like slides just add to the overall weight so buy a stripped down basic unit.

Then consider if you will spend your time camping on a river bank or in an RV park. If you get a 40' diesel pusher stuck in mud it will require a semi tow truck to pull you outta there. I wish I still had my 20' Minnie Winnie. It would go anywhere and park anywhere. I drove it to work when the car was in the shop. I couldn't fit my 30 footer in the parking lot at work.

 

[OnSabbatical]

To clarify, I'm no longer on Sabbatical, though maybe I will be in the future again. I'm figuring to use the RV for my family for school vacations and summer trips. In the past we mostly stayed at camp grounds, though we did boondock once in the Badlands, and that was pretty great. I used to drive a 40ft fifth wheel, but we sold that and our dually, and I don't want to do do a towable again.

I'd like to do some state and national parks as well commercial campgrounds. (I have a horrible memory of trying to get that 40 ft trailer in Sequoya National Park after being told it would fit). We may want to try some more boondocking. We live in GA if that makes any difference.

Additionally, I'm looking into the possibility of renting out our RV when we're not using it, which is one of the reasons I don't want slides, because I don't want them getting stuck on people. When we owned our fifthwheel, the slide outs occasionally gave us problems, and eventually they had to be fixed. I'm looking for a lower maintenance ownership experience.

And, from what I've read online, Class C's are cheaper to drive and maintain.

That having been said, you've certainly got me thinking about a small class A with a slide or two. . . .

 

[Isaac-1]

I think you will find most people here will tell you renting out your RV is a horrible mistake, when the topic comes up out those that have experience doing it, about 8 out of 10 regret it, say that the rental money does not cover wear, and damage to the RV, and that 3/4 of renters blatantly abuse the RV.

 

[curry]

As the owner of a 24 foot Safari class C I would avoid the longer one.  Since we bought ours, I've never wanted to drive a longer one.

 

[Isaac-1]

Curry, wow talk about a unicorn those things are very rare, and were only built for what 2 years?