Chevy Class Cs over 30 foot and Class C Stability

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Ride Everything

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Sep 12, 2006
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Hello all - couple of questions. Curious why you don't see Chevys offered in Class C coaches over 28ft or so?  I've always been a chevy fan, but they're difficult, if not impossible, to find new.

Also, been reading about the lack of stability on Class C coaches around 30 feet. I've seen quite a few private party ads where the seller beefed up the suspension on relatively new coaches.  I've driven both the Class A and Class C and didn't notice TOO much of a difference (short drive).  Can the Class C chasis on 30 ft coaches handle the weight?  We really like the Class Cs but reading about all of the suspension/weight issues has us concerned.

Any feedback from owners with these types/sizes of rigs would be great.

Thanks!
 
Good evening:  I am going to throw my hat in the ring.  I recently purchased a 2001 30.5' Coachman and could not be more pleased with the handling, ride, or anything else at this point.  It has the Ford V10 and like you, I have always been a chevy guy.  Three Corvettes in the stable right now.  It does have the Banks system, headers, fuel map, air intake and has plenty of power, even towing a toad.  We live in Amish country and went for a ride just the other day towing our toad through the country side, narrow roads, etc., no problems or issues and felt very stable.  Even felt like I was auto-crossing while dodging those "road apples". ;D  This is just my experience and I do not know about others.  Good luck in your search.
Richard
 
The van cutaway chassis used for Class C's is typically limited to around 14,000 lbs. That's not much for a coach in the 30 foot range, and I would strongly recommend a Class A if you are buying in the 28 foot and above size. You get a more robust chassis, with a GVWR in the 18,000-24,000 lb range, and more storage underneath (basement).

I think the reason you don't see  many C's built on Chevy vans is because the Chevy 3500 has a GVWR of a bit over 10,000 lbs, too little for any but the smallest Class C. The Chevy 4500 can carry up to 14,000 lbs, though, and thus is close to the Ford E450. Not sure why you don't see many (any?) larger C's based on the C4500. Maybe not priced as low as the E450?
 
I had a 1998 29 foot Class C Tioga on a Ford chassis with a V10. I liked the room over shorter C's, but even so, it was much less than my current 34' Winnebago. My biggest problem was tires. Had three or four blowouts on various long lonesome roads over about a 4 year period. Initially I had replaced all the tires with new Michlens.

The other problem I had was the suspension. If I turned a corner a bit to sharply, it would sway very badly. Probably that had a lot to do with the tire problem.

So my feeling now is that if I want an RV that long - for whatever reason, I would go with a Class A.
 
I lived in a 32 foot class C with a Ford Triton engine. I was very pleased with the performance. However now I live in a 32 foot class A and it seems like it is about 8 feet longer than the class C due to the fact the class C wastes the first 8 feet with the engine compartment. Class As are built on better stronger chassis, have more interior room, have a lot more storage space, larger holding tanks and they get about the same gas mileage.
 
Thanks everyone!  All the responses seem to be right in line with the research I've done and I'm telling you, EVERY salesman we meet tells us to go for the A class.  I'm obviously skeptical of anything a RV salesman tells me (although we have met a few good ones) so I figure here is the best place to ask the question.  My wife is sold on the bunk house models so we sort of need to go around that size to get what we need.  I want a huge living area for Sunday football and poker, and she wants the kid's beds....go figure...

Thanks again!

Gary
 

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