FishB8s
Fredericksburg, VA
Full Member
Joined: 08/30/2004
View Profile
 Offline
|
I'm usually on the truck camper page, but the wife would prefer we start looking at class Cs. I have a couple of questions:
1. What is the difference b/n the Winnebago Access and the Itasca Impulse? Is it akin to GMC and Chevy; same, just different badging?
2. We would be pulling a boat and would like to stay in the 22-25 ft range. Would the Winnebago View or Itasca Navion be suitable for towing (dodge sprinter chasis - mercedes benz 3L 6 cylinter turbo diesel)?
3. What other manufacturers besides Winnegabo/Itasca should I be looking at? I am impressed w/ the Pheonix RV, but they are pricey. Any suggestions is appreciated.
Thanks.
|
hotbyte
Barnesville GA
Senior Member
Joined: 08/31/2004
View Profile
|
On question number 2, any particular reasoning for limiting the size?
I, too, was wanting to stay in the shorter range (24-27) but could not find the floor plan DW would go for after being used to a 30' 5'er with super slide. We finally settled on the 32' Gulf Stream in signature. Although I've only done it once, I towed and launched our 20' bowrider with no problem. I was really surprised how well it went. It could turn out to be beginner's luck and next time will be a disaster 
Our Web Albums Temporary Web Albums
2006 Yellowstone SE, 1998 Dodge Durango SLT 5.2L and 2002 Glastron GX205
|
ron.dittmer
Near Chicago
Senior Member
Joined: 02/26/2007
View Profile
Offline
|
FishB8s wrote:I'm usually on the truck camper page, but the wife would prefer we start looking at class Cs. I have a couple of questions:
1. What is the difference b/n the Winnebago Access and the Itasca Impulse? Is it akin to GMC and Chevy; same, just different badging?
2. We would be pulling a boat and would like to stay in the 22-25 ft range. Would the Winnebago View or Itasca Navion be suitable for towing (dodge sprinter chasis - mercedes benz 3L 6 cylinter turbo diesel)?
3. What other manufacturers besides Winnegabo/Itasca should I be looking at? I am impressed w/ the Pheonix RV, but they are pricey. Any suggestions is appreciated.
Thanks. I would NOT plan on towing anything with the Sprinter diesel considering it has nearly half the power of the Ford V10.
I don't know what Phoenix USA is quoting with their "Factory Direct" pricing but I was led to believe it wasn't bad. This Dealer on the east coast has brand new 07s and 08s he used as models, now discounted heavily. They have new chassis and RV warrantees too. You can check his inventory on-line.
* This post was
edited 11/06/09 10:08pm by ron.dittmer *
Bought new in June 2007, Phoenix Cruiser-2350
Fits inside our garage.
Dingy towing a red Toyota MR2 Spyder
See The Inside by clicking on "View Profile" and scroll down
|
FishB8s
Fredericksburg, VA
Full Member
Joined: 08/30/2004
View Profile
Offline
|
hotbyte wrote:On question number 2, any particular reasoning for limiting the size?
Yes, my wife says so. Her daily driver is a suburban and she already thinks that is to big. So she would prefer we look at the smaller class Cs so she would feel comfortable driving it on occassion. It would be used mostly to camp during fishing tournaments, hence the requirement to easily tow a boat. My son is only 5 so the three of us would fit comfortably in the smaller units.
|
FishB8s
Fredericksburg, VA
Full Member
Joined: 08/30/2004
View Profile
Offline
|
ron.dittmer wrote:I would NOT plan on towing anything with the Sprinter diesel considering it has nearly half the power of the Ford V10. Thanks, and good point. That certainly helps narrow my search.
Besides winnebago, what other manufactures should I be looking at?
|
|
|
hotbyte
Barnesville GA
Senior Member
Joined: 08/31/2004
View Profile
|
FishB8s wrote:hotbyte wrote:On question number 2, any particular reasoning for limiting the size?
Yes, my wife says so. Her daily driver is a suburban and she already thinks that is to big. So she would prefer we look at the smaller class Cs so she would feel comfortable driving it on occassion. It would be used mostly to camp during fishing tournaments, hence the requirement to easily tow a boat. My son is only 5 so the three of us would fit comfortably in the smaller units.
OK. Didn't know if issue was towing/launching boat with longer MH. Seems you have kind of opposite dilemma we had...DW wanted bigger MH. Good luck in your search!
|
Tiger4x4RV
San Diego County, California
Senior Member
Joined: 03/14/2007
View Profile
|
Some Tiger owners tow boats, some have small boats on the roof. Tiger with crew or extended cab might serve your purpose. The optional 4WD is handy on those slippery launch ramps, and the 23 degree angle of departure is also useful for launching.
As to your wife driving it, it is not much larger than a Suburban. There are quite a few female Tiger owners.
http://www.tigermotorhomes.com/
2006 Tiger CX 4x4, 8.1 L gas V-8, Allison 6-speed
|
FishB8s
Fredericksburg, VA
Full Member
Joined: 08/30/2004
View Profile
Offline
|
Thanks for the info on the Tiger. I had not heard of them before, but it would definitely meet the requirements of what we are looking for. I may call the 800# for more info during business hours. Thanks.
|
Bordercollie
Garden Grove, CA, USA
Senior Member
Joined: 03/07/2002
View Profile
Offline
|
Think twice about buying a class C shorter than 27 feet bumper to bumper. With short rigs you usually don't get a dedicated rear RV queen bed and have to convert a dinette, sleep on a lumpy jacknife convertable sofa, or sleep in the overhead. You also get much less storage room for supplies and "stuff". A rear bedroom is much more comfortable and convenient and one can stay in the rear while the other is forward watching TV etc. If you are young, non-arthritic, and don't mind set-up and take-down hassles at bedtime and in mornings and stashing stuff in the shower stall and overhead etc, shorter rigs are tolerable. A 27 footer is not much different to drive or park than a 22-24 footer, I wouldn't want any longer and ours fits our driveway.
|
ron.dittmer
Near Chicago
Senior Member
Joined: 02/26/2007
View Profile
Offline
|
I "Second" Bordercollie's comments. A double or queen bed planted in the middle of the rear bedroom is ideal. The shortest I've seen like that is 26 feet.
Our PC-2350 Here is 23'-8" end to end, which forced us into a rear corner bed floorplan. At age 51 it works fine for us. I don't know when in our 70s. We will see.
But the OP having a 5 year old, it sounds like they are far behind us in age. A rear corner bed should be managable, baring obesity issues. With a single child, our specific unit has the convert-a-dinette-bed, but if ordered differently, you could have a double bed in a slide-out there, then addding a single over-the-driver bed. That short RV could sleep 5 people if ordered so, though daily living would be very tight.
Any shorter motor home on an E350-V10 chassis, especially without a huge cab-over bed, makes for easy driving, and also easy boat launching. If the boat you plan to tow is a huge monsterous & heavy craft, you could special order my unit on a more capable E450-V10 chassis, but then the comfortable ride is sacrificed for a more towing capable chassis. People do that for over-sized trailering, like large travel trailers & boats, and multi-horse trailering.
|
|
|
