tpi
Southern CA.
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Joined: 02/22/2005
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I think a lot of your size considerations are partially driven by the kind of campgrounds you go to. Private RV parks? 24 or 26 foot no big deal. The other consideration is how many people?
I love camping in small forest service campgrounds. I'm a single traveler. 24 ft. for me is plenty. I made the mistake buying too big last time.
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PhilR.
Central Texas
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Joined: 03/13/2008
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To simply answer your question without bringing up stuff you didn't even ask about -- no, as long as you are comparing the same exact chassis, I do not think that two extra feet will make any kind of a difference. A 24' rig is still going to take up two parking spaces anyway, and doing so will still easily accomodate two more feet.
Our class C is 24.5' long, and we can take it - and park it - in any city center. Sometimes we take along a hitch-mount carrier with cargo box that adds an extra two feet, and we don't change anything about how we handle the driving, or the parking.
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snowdance
Yreka, Ca
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Joined: 12/09/2010
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Our C is also 24.5' long over all.. We have a couch, dinette, big closets, bath and rear kitchen. (Pics of inside at our pic site). One thing we like about our rear facing kitchen window is the driver can use the inside rearview mirror to back into a parking spot. We do not tow.
We use it for day trips, touring, shopping, weekend trips and long trips to. We do use the over head bed for storage and wife sleeps on the dinette and I sleep on the couch. We just throw a fleece blanket down and use an unzipped sleeping bag for a comforter. Zip if you get cool. To store them we just stuff them in a lanudry bag(do not fold or roll) and toss on forward overhead. Takes less than 2 min to make or unmake. We have redone both so they are as or more comfotable than our beds at home. We think its a PIA to make or climb into over head bunk..
We look at our motorhome as the 2nd car. We both drive it. My wife and her friends would not even think about going shopping in a car when they can have every thing they need with them..
Snowdance
We spent most of our money traveling... Just wasted the rest..
Chevy 7.4 Vortex
2000 Jamboree 23b Rear Kitchen
http://www.flickr.com/photos/snowdance38
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ClassBGirl
Memphis, TN
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Joined: 10/09/2001
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We have the Triple E Regency GT24MB. It's 24 and 1/2 feet when you measure it bumper to bumper. We tour with it as well as camp for a week or two at a time. We do not tow, and have found it easy to park and get around in even in Memphis, TN city traffic where we live. We like the fact we can get in the older campgrounds, many state parks, and national parks with smaller tight sites that larger rigs cannot. We have the small slide with the U-lounge and Murphy bed that is very easy use. That really frees up the interior space, plus allows for a large shower and dressing area. A couple of interior pictures are on the "Let's post some INSIDE pics of our great Class C's!" thread.
My husband also likes the pick up and power we have with the Ford E-450 and having the smaller 24 foot chassis. Many larger chassis also use the E-450 and as a result will be pulling more weight and length with the same engine.
Good luck with your search.
ClassBGirl, Hubby, and "Bogie" the Basset Hound
2012 Triple E Regency - GT24MB (Grand Touring - 24 ft. - Murphy Bed)
Ford E450 Chassis with 6.8L EFl V-10 Triton
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vikrv
Pacific Northwest
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Joined: 08/06/2010
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Back in our rental days we rented various Class C motorhomes ranging from 24 to 32 feet. 26 feet was plenty maneuverable and I don't recall a noticeable difference from 24 feet. 32 feet was definitely more affected by the wind and had more tail swing. We are currently at 28 feet and I don't see a large difference in driveability compared to 26 feet. We still fit in 2 parking spots back to back but we usually don't do that due to the width, rather we will park across multiple spots farther out in a parking lot in less used areas.
2006 Jayco 28', E450 6.8L V10, TorqShift
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butterflyplants
California
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Joined: 05/12/2009
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We had made up our mind to go with a 26. I thought I had done all the research and was convinced that size was perfect for our needs.
Then by serendipity, an elderly friend knowing we were driving to New Mexico by car, offered to rent an RV for us as long as we dropped and picked her up in Arizona on our way to New Mexico.
An offer we could not refuse, so we rented a 26 footer. By the end of the trip, however, we were astonished to find out that we would have been miserable in a 26 footer. In fact, we could not wait to get home.
The 26 footer drove as we had expected, however, the problem was the bed. The layout for the particular model we wanted was laid out across the room forcing whoever got the outside section had to climb over the other to go the bathroom at night. The 29 footer, on the other hand, is laid out so that we each have our own side of the bed.
Something we had not for seen. We now have a 29 footer. Longer and harder to drive, but we sleep at night. We caught a break.
Pete
2006 Fleetwood Tioga
29 Foot
1988 Suzuki Samurai (future toad)
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mlts22
Austin, Texas
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Joined: 11/15/2010
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I would say that the corner queen bed can be a pain with two people, and sometimes with one because of having to climb into bed. For me, it works out because I am mainly travelling solo. However for a couple, or perhaps a family, it might be a better trade-off to go the extra 2-4 feet so a full queen is obtainable.
Of course, there is always the Forest River floorplan with the full queen bed in a 22 footer, although it is accomplished by having the bed fold in half when the slide is drawn in.
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Lumpty
Greater Gotham City
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Joined: 03/29/2002
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As just about everyone has said, there is no real difference in drivability between a 24' C and a 26' one, particularly if they are built on a 158" wheelbase. The longer one may be on 176", and that will make it more stable but loose some manuverability.
What also is 100% true is what appears to be the length in the model number is tyically off by 12" to 18", or even more. My "2300" is actually 24'-5". With that, I have the right rear corner queen, a reasonably sized bath in the LR corner with a solid door, the vanity outside the bath, then continuing on the left side a huge double closet with six drawers below, then a dinette. My floor plan also has a dead area of about a foot behind the drivers seat which on first appearance looked like wasted space, but actaully is a great spot for several hard case pieces of equipment we typically carry, as well as a small trach can when parked. On the right, immediately behind the cab is the entry door, then the kitchen, back full circle to the bed.
I am missing the swivel chair, but we are going to fix that by putting the cab passenger seat on an aftermarket swivel mount. The only time I really want it is to have a place to sit and drink my morning coffee, when all four of us go and all 3 sleeping positions are getting used, and I'm up before everyone else. This is only a few trips a year as typically it is only my son and I for race weekends. When my wife is along, she takes the inside bed position won the corner queen, as she NEVER gets up in the middle of the night. We manage just fine for space. For dressing there is an accordion divider that pulls diagonally across from the bed/fridge wall to the closet/dinette. Some times it takes cooperation, but what's family for?
No slide here either, once agan for the aforementioned box strength, less chance for leaks and to save weight. I'm using every pound of capacity in my E450 chassis carrying a small house by towing heavy.
This is my second unit. Ten years ago I had a 29' C, with a long 208" wheelbase. It went down the highway well, but was significantly larger to drive in-town because of the length and stretched chassis.
Rob
Too Many Toys.
- '11 E450 Sunseeker 2300
- '11 F250 Lariat 6.7/Crew Cab/4x4
- '09 C6 Z51
- '05 Acura TSX daily driver
- '86 Civic and '87 CRX race cars
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gerrym51
unknown
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Joined: 07/31/2007
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mlts22 wrote:I would say that the corner queen bed can be a pain with two people, and sometimes with one because of having to climb into bed. For me, it works out because I am mainly travelling solo. However for a couple, or perhaps a family, it might be a better trade-off to go the extra 2-4 feet so a full queen is obtainable.
Of course, there is always the Forest River floorplan with the full queen bed in a 22 footer, although it is accomplished by having the bed fold in half when the slide is drawn in.
the 2250 is 24 ft long
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pnichols
Santa Cruz Mountains
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Joined: 04/26/2005
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Quote:I am missing the swivel chair, but we are going to fix that by putting the cab passenger seat on an aftermarket swivel mount.
That approach works best when there is no, or very little, floor height difference between the cab floor and the coach floor.
So called "basement" type Class C construction makes this floor height difference so great as to mean the person sitting in the swiveled passenger chair will be sitting very low in the coach area relative to anyone else and will have their legs nearly straight out in front of them.
Basement construction provides generous outside compartments, however. Our 24 footer is built this way so a swivel passenger chair would not be too useful, but otherwise we love our taller outside storage cabinets.
Phil, 2005 E450 Itasca 324V Spirit
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