Chieftain 22 On Board Storage Question

[Jedidad]

I've been looking at Class C's around 24 ft but recently ran across a really nice Class A 87 Winnebago Chieftain 22 in primo shape. Problem is, judging from the photos there doesn't seem to be a lot of storage other than the inside cabinets and there's not a lot of those. I'm not seeing much in the way of basement storage if any.

There is a drop-down bed above the driver compartment that appears to normally be stowed in the UP position. I'm wondering if it could be lowered a bit to be used as a storage compartment. (I would never need it as a bed). Not sure how much headroom above the driver would be left though.

Can any of you current of former Chieftain 22 owners chime in on this?

[Jedidad]

IAMICHABOD wrote:
I had a 87 Chieftain, and as stated the overhead bed comes down to the top of the seat,no in between,I know of a owner that removed the mattress and put a shelf in its place.The real problem I found was almost no outside storage,there was some good storage inside but not near enough.I ended up putting a storage pod on the roof.

It was on a P30 chassis and was The most evel handling vehicle I ever drove,I did every mod possable to help it but only had moderate success,it was always a handful to drive.I would never have another one.

The the Class C I have now has more than 100 cubic ft of storage in the rear area,I made sure that I had a lot of room in this one because the total lack of space in my Chieftain.

Good info. Thanks. I got interested when I saw the Chieftain had basically the same floorplan I've been looking at in a Class C (corner bed, etc). I love the vintage style MH.

[IAMICHABOD]

I had a 87 Chieftain, and as stated the overhead bed comes down to the top of the seat,no in between,I know of a owner that removed the mattress and put a shelf in its place.The real problem I found was almost no outside storage,there was some good storage inside but not near enough.I ended up putting a storage pod on the roof.

It was on a P30 chassis and was The most evel handling vehicle I ever drove,I did every mod possable to help it but only had moderate success,it was always a handful to drive.I would never have another one.

The the Class C I have now has more than 100 cubic ft of storage in the rear area,I made sure that I had a lot of room in this one because the total lack of space in my Chieftain.

[ItsyRV]

Here's the complete 19877 Winnebago brochure. Look through the Chieftain section and maybe you'll spot something in those pictures or floor plan.
1987 Winnebago

This is the operator's manual. Same thing, it may mention something about storage.
1987 Winnebago Itasca Owner

[Lwiddis]

May be “primo” but it’s still 31 years old.

[zigzagrv]

Had a 1985 30' Chieftain years ago with the same setup, and if I remember, the drop down bed came down almost to the top of the seatback. So, unless you're very short, it would be sitting on your head. You possibly could put a stop of some sort in the mechanism to prevent it from coming down that far.

Outside storage is a problem, but IIRC, the indside storage was pretty good.