Torn between 2 Motorhome?s

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stangconv

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Looking at 2 Motorhome?s, ones a 98 Winnebago Adventurer on the Chevy P30 chassis (454 engine)
The other is a 1999 dolphin with the Ford V10 engine.

Winnebago pros: seems well taken care of
Older guy retired who is selling.
Outside looks nicer.
Like the basement storage better

Cons: interior has a lot of wood look.
Floor plan works but isn?t that great.
Needs inspection


Dolphin Pros: Wife loves the floor plan.
One year newer.
Interior looks more updated
No inspection required

Cons: outside looks more dated.
Basement storage is clumsy to me.
Needs a couple things done to it.

I guess it?s coming down to Ford V10 or the Chevy 454. I hear the Chevy can wander and be quite expensive to maintain the front end.

I currently have a 1996 Fleetwood with the 460 and the drivetrain has been pretty rock solid for me.

However they are each about 4.5 hours in opposite directions. So my kicker is that I really only want to go see one if possible, and I?m going tomorrow.

Any advice?
 
It is a tough one.  You can always paint the wooden interior if necessary and update inside.  Ultimately though the thing that makes time in the RV pleasurable is the floor plan. 

If it rains and you need to be indoors playing games, reading, watching TV etc. will it be comfortable?  Is the bed area to your liking? Is it easy to manoeuvre around the kitchen?

I would guess some of these would get old really quickly if you didn't like them. 

If you are not sold on either, keep looking.....  Don't buy something that is ultimately too much of a compromise for you both.

Why are you getting rid of the current RV??
 
The wife isn?t unreasonable and we want to get the best we can for our money.

Just need something a little bigger for the growing family. We race motocross so really don?t spend much time inside even in bad weather.

I should post both ads
 
LOL... there's a lot of truth to what Tom said. Prior to our current coach, we owned a 1994 National RV Seabreeze with a 454, and then a 1999 Tiffin Allegro 32M with a Ford V-10. They were both one year old when we bought them. Yes, the Chevy did "wander" and when we sold it five years later, the front tires were abnormally worn and had to be replaced. The engine also had a tendency to run right near the hot mark when climbing grades.

The Allegro with the Ford V-10 ran flawlessly for the nearly 12 years that we owned it, it handled much better than the Seabreeze and the engine temp never got close to the hot mark. I'm a Chevy guy, but in my opinion, that Ford V-10 was a far better RV engine than the 454. The early V-10s had a problem with there being too few threads in the heads for the spark plugs, but that was resolved.

I very much agree with the idea of prioritizing the living area (floorplan, amenities etc.) over the drive train. You're going to spend a lot more time living in it than driving it.

Kev
 
Without knowing condition this is an impossible question to answer.  Also the P30/P32 chassis coach can be made to handle well with some aftermarket suspension upgrades.  My coach is on a P32 chassis and does not "wander" though it does have about $4,000 in suspension upgrades added in the last 5-6 years (most by the previous owner).  In my opinion the P30/P32 chassis gets a bad reputation because so many manufacturers built too large of coaches on it by extending and overloading the chassis, I feel if the length is under 31-32 feet does not have over 50% rear overhang and the weight is kept below a 18,000 GVWR it can be just fine. 

p.s. on the front end wander issue, it seems many alignment shops will mis-align these coaches and use the GM P30 bread truck alignment specs, they see P30 in their computer, click on that, and don't realize there is a difference.
 
Wow some fantastic info here. Thanks so much for the advice.

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-rv-motorhome/saskatoon/99-ford-dolphin-motorhome/1500124169?utm_campaign=socialbuttons&utm_content=app_ios&utm_medium=social&utm_source=ios_social

Here is a link to the dolphin.

And the Winnebago which is on Facebook (may need to be logged in, I don?t know)

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/964412510666794/

I do know a bit about Motorhome?s but I?m leaning towards the Winnebago only because I know the guy was pretty meticulous with it.

However it wouldn?t take me much to sway my mind.
 
I was going to say Dolphin until you made your last comment: "I know the guy was pretty meticulous with it." To me, this was an item on my top 3 list of importance when shopping for my Class C. I hate headaches and if you're anything like me, the last thing you want to have to worry about when you're prepping to head out to a race is whether the RV is ready to go.
 
I personally probably would keep looking but if I had to choose I would agree with your wife. I am only a week into RV life so maybe out of the mouths of babes...

I am already struggling with cooking with my limited galley space. I had already made plans to extend the counter with a flip up table over the aft end of my settee.  The Dolphin appears to have a great galley layout and a nice big fridge. Plenty of storage in the main berth too.

I have been in my basements a total of like 5 times since I got here. Not a priority.  The outside of the RV is totally personal choice but I find the Dolphin "cool" and has character with that paint scheme, if somewhat dated. But I am somewhat eclectic and would rather stick out from a crowd rather than blend in.

All the mismatched wood in the Winnebago would eventually drive me nuts. Again personal choice.

The Winnebago appears to have a huge overhang but maybe that's no big deal for you or doesn't matter. Mine is a P30 chassis and is 31.5 feet so it's probably the same-ish. I put new shocks and steering damper and new front tires and it did fine on the 800 miles or so coming down here.

I have had the misfortune of moving around for a job a lot. Several times I had to pick housing before arrival of family - I never chose right - LOL...

All in all a long way to say Seilerbird is right - Momma is gonna be the one cooking for the crew, I expect, so make momma happy.

Final thought - whatever one you go to look at, don't fall in love with the pretty.  Fall in love after you own it. Be brutally honest, especially about the mechanical condition.  I put about $3,000 in mine immediately after purchase to make it "basically" right in the chassis and something I would be comfortable driving 1600 miles.

Edit to Add - Is that a no door situation on the toilet in the Dolphin?  That's a show stopper for me. Especially if more than just me and my wife. For me stinky business is a private matter...

 

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The brochure says the Adventurer 33WQ has a 216 inch wheel base, and 33'6" inch overall length which should put the rear overhang within the acceptable range.  By contrast my coach is 29'5" overall on a 178 inch wheel base, which I feel is the upper end of the acceptable ratio.  Given what I see in the ad, I am inclined to think it has probably been well maintained overall with the mix of mechanical, and cosmetic upgrades.
 
Rarely is engine or chassis brand or type an important factor, especially between similar size and year coaches.  Condition, state of repair, and suitability of the floor plan re the big hitters.

Why do you say the Winnebago needs an inspection while the Dolphin does not?  What sort of inspection?
 
Gary beat me to it... but, yes, why does one need ?inspection? and the other not? What sort of inspection?

I would want a professional inspection of any house 20 years old. Both will need safety inspections if required in your state.
 
For any used, and probably most new RV's the key is to inspect, inspect, and inspect, assuming you have decided it is a viable candidate based on floorplan, cargo carrying capacity, etc.  Remember the prime killer of RV's is rot, most often associated with roof or sidewall wood rot due to water penetration, sure mechanical drive-train failures, and even frame failures occur also, but by and large the killer is related to water penetration. 

As to these two based on the design, adding a tag axle to a gas coach like this was a "cheat" commonly used in this time period to build a bigger house on a chassis that was not originally designed to carry this much weight, some of these tag axle conversions work better than others. In this era the Ford F53 had superior weight carrying capacity vs the P30, though in other ways the F53 of this era can be seen as inferior, neither were great for larger coaches  (As a side note Workhorse introduced the W series chassis in 2001, and Ford redesigned the F53 in 2006, giving Workhorse the edge on chassis design for about 5 years).  As to factory support at this late date, Dolphin is an orphaned coach, so you will be on your own when it comes to build details, etc, by contrast Winnebago has perhaps the best reputation in the industry when it comes to providing technical documentation on their discontinued products.  This says nothing about actual parts availability, but if you need a wiring diagram, parts numbers, etc. Winnebago likely has it and is willing to share it with you.  This sort of information can be very handy when it comes time to trouble shoot systems, when you need to know where a fuse for the water pump is located, etc.
 
I?m up in Canada and the Winnebago is out of province so that?s why it needs an inspection.

We pull a small enclosed race trailer. We don?t cook a ton inside and really try not to.

https://i.imgur.com/o0e9K3v.jpg

Here?s our current setup. Not sure how to post a pic lol

However the dolphin may be sold already. Might make my choice easier
 
The 98 P32 chassis has the Vortec 454 that's port injected @ 290 HP (1996 and up). Exhaust manifolds help up fairly well on the Vortec engine. Nice grunt motor. Will out run your 245HP 460 Ford. Like previously noted the IFS is fixable but pricey.
The 99 F53 V10 was about 290 HP but you have to listen to is scream @ high RPM. Not a grunt motor. Can be made to handle well with just a front track bar and proper toe in.
I'm a Ford type of guy but between the two, I would go for the P32 with the nice low RPM grunt motor and then let Robert Henderson at Henderson's Line up make it handle correctly. He's the goto guy for the old P32 front ends. https://www.hendersonslineup.com/.
But as already noted, you get what the Boss likes. GRIN

Richard
 
jackiemac said:
It is a tough one.  You can always paint the wooden interior if necessary and update inside.  Ultimately though the thing that makes time in the RV pleasurable is the floor plan. 

If it rains and you need to be indoors playing games, reading, watching TV etc. will it be comfortable?  Is the bed area to your liking? Is it easy to manoeuvre around the kitchen?

I would guess some of these would get old really quickly if you didn't like them. 

If you are not sold on either, keep looking.....  Don't buy something that is ultimately too much of a compromise for you both.

Why are you getting rid of the current RV??
Click to expand...


+1 Floor Plan
 
The dolphin was sold, so we went and checked the Winnebago, and my wife fell in love. The pictures didn?t do it any justice. The fellow took a lot of pride in it and it shows. Lots of extras. I drove it about 2 hours already and it drives so nice.

Kids came for the ride and they love it too
 
stangconv said:
The dolphin was sold, so we went and checked the Winnebago, and my wife fell in love. The pictures didn?t do it any justice. The fellow took a lot of pride in it and it shows. Lots of extras. I drove it about 2 hours already and it drives so nice.

Kids came for the ride and they love it too
Click to expand...

Congratulations, just shows you can't judge by a photo. Safe travels!
 
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