Class A RV Questions

I am just curious. I have a few rather silly questions for members on this forum who have Class A type motor homes.

First of all I am wondering who all has these types of motor homes?

The second question is a multiple part series of questions. How long have you had this current motor home ? and how many miles does it presently have on it ? Does it have a gas or diesel engine?

The last question is regarding if you tow a vehicle along with you when you travel?
I have had some people tell me that it is rather foolish to tow another vehicle along with us so that it can be used for local transportation once we park the motor home at a campground or at a dry camping location.
We have never taken any trips anywhere that we have not either used a dolly to tow a vehicle or have towed a vehicle with all 4 wheels on the ground.

If we did not tow another vehicle along with us, we would basically be stranded on foot. We could always rent a vehicle at that other location, but it just seems so unhandy to not have some means of transportation, once we position the motor home at any location. It is not real handy to break camp and run to the grocery store or some similar errand.

Sure would appreciate hearing from you about this.

Thanks a lot,

We have owned two different Class A's;
A 1977 Pace Arrow 27 foot (terrible floor plan!), 440 Dodge engine.
A 1988 Suncrest 32 foot, rear bedroom (NICE floor plan!), 454 GM engine
The Suncrest had 101,000 miles on it when we finally sold it.
I towed a Datsun Pickup behind the Pace Arrow, but the Suncrest didn't have a hitch.
Now, we have a Tioga 29H Class C, 460 Ford engine, and I tow a Jeep Rubicon behind it. Once I reinforce the rear frame, I can put the Subaru on the trailer and take it if we so desire.
Most of the places we go it is impossible to rent a vehicle, so we either take it with us or do without.

I have had 4 class A RVs, 2 gas and 2 DP, over the years from a 96 Coachmen Catalina to the present HR Endeavor. We bought this one new and it has 26K miles. You have seen the pictures of our "toads" behind the B & B wagon Train and being full timers, we always take out toads with us. We will leave the truck here in March when we go to Mexico for a few weeks, but will take the ATV's to use as our local transportation. I agree with you, that it would be a PIA to not have a toad and have to break camp to go somewhere.
Bob

We moved up to class A's some years ago to a '89 30ft Allegro that had every goodie known to RV'ers but wound up having engine problems. After putting a rebuilt in it and going on a trip, breaking down every 2-300 miles due to sloppy mechanic work, we traded it for a '99 Coachman.
I came out OK $$ wise on the deal and wound up with much more power (V-10), 4 more ft. & a slide. This sweetheart had new tires, airbags, awning, batteries, & looked almost unblemished. It was well used at 53000 mi. and only needed upgrading of things to please us. So far so good as the 9000 miles we've put on it have been mostly uneventful after the initial shakedown repairs. I don't tow a toad but carry a small scooter on the hitch for getting around. It's no big thing to pull in the slide, up jacks & drive to Walmart for a shop if needed, but we're rarely in one place for so long that that's ever been necessary. Our last trip averaged 8.2 mpg over 3 weeks & 4500 mi.

We have spent the last couple of years researching Class A motorhomes and this will be our upgrade when I near retirement. We may be making the purchase as early as this coming spring.

We have had many types of RVs over 35 years of RV'ing and as such have determined that for our purpose, living about 80 - 85% of the time in the RV the Class A is the best setup for us.

I've been driving 40 - 45' Urban/suburban bus for the last 21 years and as such probably have as much or more experience with where and bus (Class A) can and can not go when one is in town. For this reason we have determined that a TURD (towed urban driver) as I call them is pretty much mandatory if you wish to do much in the way of sightseeing or exploring once you've set up camp. Otherwise you are constantly setting up and taking down unless the destination you are camping at is where you wish to stay and play.

I've looked into the idea of a dolly, flat tow and trailer. Each has it's benefits and limitations. In our particular situation I intend to have all three options. ALL THREE!!!! I can hear people say. Yes, but to be used at different time and for different reasons. The cost is actually quite minimal when one really looks at it to have all the options available.

We will have a small "home base" here in Canada. The main reason for this is to satisfy Canadian requirements for address re health insurance, vehicle registrations, Income tax, and to have a place to store those things that after the RVing years are over, you still want around you. Also, if one of us should be layed up for a period of time, it gives a location to safely do this at.

The trailer behind the Class A would be our main travel companion when going south in the USA. It allows us to carry the small car as well as other items we will wish to have along with us. Things like the aluminum boat, some tools, atv, etc. Those things that one may wish to take to enjoy various activities during 6 or so months on the road. A dolly, stored at home would then enable us to take the car to the city when we went to spend a couple of weeks in the bigger towns, such as where my wifes son and his wife live. We have lots of friends there and there is a campground right at the edge of town that we enjoy. Setting up the Coach there and then having the car to run around town in is the only way to go in a large city. Why not flat tow, because the car can't be flat towed and as it is new and with 10 years warranty, I'm not changing cars for the sake of cheap dolly. The flat tow option is for my 4x4 pickup when heading out into the hunting and fishing areas. Plenty of nice camping that is Coach accessible then use the 4x4 to get into the bush. So, options are sometimes a good thing.

As to the coach we will be looking at a Diesel pusher to be sure and with a tag axle. Why a tag, towing. Yes I know the single axles are rated to tow just as much etc, etc. The stability and balance given by a tag particularly when towing just shy of 10,000lbs will be well worth the minimal extra cost. The other advantage is load distribution. It is much harder to end up overloading one axle when you have a tag between your steer axle and the trailer. Having both types of bus at work, I can tell you that the tag costs virtually nothing in terms of fuel and maintainance costs and the peace of mind and control it offers when towing is well worth it. Now, of course, I'm also one who tows a 37' 5'ver currently with a dually one ton. The trailer is right at 90% of the trucks tow rating and I know lots of people tow rigs just as heavy and just as long with single rear wheel trucks. I just like the added stability and safety of the dually. If you get a flat on the dually rear it is normally just one tire on a side and you can safely get stopped. A rear blowout when towing a large 5'ver with a single rear tire truck is one of the most common causes of a jacknife and loss of control usually leading to a rollover.

So these are some of my thoughts with regards to the Class A's that are available today and why we are looking at going that route once we are no longer 10 week a year holiday working stiffs.

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Joe, this is a picture of our rig. We have been camping/Rving for about 35 years. Started out with a tent, popup, 28' TT, 30' TT, 33" 5er, and now a Tradewinds, 37' MH. As you can see, it is a DP. It is a 1999, with 300 CAT, 6 speed Allison. It is a Country Coach Edition of Tradewinds, made by National RV. We purchased it new in 99. It now has 172,000 miles on it. I try to do most all the service on it. If you can't do a lot of service, then it gets pretty expensive in the shops. Of course, this is with gasoline or diesel. We tow a 2000 Explorer. I installed the Remco disconnect. This vehicle has been towed about 150,000 miles of the 172 on the MH.

We enjoyed every type of camping/traveling we have ever done. I could post thousands of pictures but there were no digital cameras then. LOL Takes too long too scan and the quality is not good.

Started Rv'ing with my parents in 1957. Got my first TT in 1968.

Have had TT's up until '88, then got a small Type B, then a Type C and then 3 Type A's one gasser and two DSDP's.

Will not go without a toad, just too much you can't see after you park the rig. We even towed a '95 Honda Ody behind the Type C MH. No way to see Yellowstone without a car.

I was progressing from 20' ClassC to 27' class A and adding few feet every few years ended up with 40' conversion.
The only time I towed was when I had PWC (jetski) and towing pickup wit PWC on it was the first idea. Than I made a frame for the hitch and am carrying PWC on the back of the motorhome, so toad makes no sense.
We usually travel with motorhome and seldom stay in one place for longer than 2 days.
For checking the area I am carrying a bicycle, or sometimes trail bike.
Than we have no problem to take 8 miles hike.

I really can't imagine how starnded and inconvenient it would be if we never took another vehicle along with us when we are travelling. We rarely ever stay in one location for very long at all, but we always like to get out and scout around the area and see lots of the local sights and explore the area , that you sure can't see from the campground or any other drydocking location. Even to run to a grocery store or any other little errand it would be essential.
We love to get out and hike around and get lots of exercise, but it just would not be reasonable to try and walk to do some shopping.

We bought our RV new in October 2004. We currently have just over 30K miles on it. It has a Cat C7 turbo diesel engine. It is 39 foot long with 3 slideouts and we get about 7.4 miles per gallon if we are not towing anything and then between 6.8 to 7.0 if we are towing a vehicle. That is mostly on fairly flat terrain and I am sure that we would consume more fuel if we were driving in lots of mountains.

We started off using a dolly to tow Barb's PT Cruiser convertible. We used the dolly until August 2007 when we traded my old truck in and bought the newer 07 Sport Trac which is towable with all 4 wheels on the ground.

Here are a couple of pictures.

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After a TT and a Fiver, since 81 we've had the following motorhomes:
1979 23' Georgie Boy Cruisemaster Class C towed Madza GLC & Dodge Colt RT
1988 28' Sportscoach Travel Master Class C Toad Dodge Colt RT and Ford Aerostar
1988 19' Coachman Class B no tow.
1998 37 Damon Class A Gas, 2 slide outs,towed a Aerostar & a Geo Tracker 4x4 4 door
2006 40 Tiffin Phaeton, 4 slides, towed a Geo Tracker & Ford Explorer Sport Trac, the RV was bought new in 12/05 after we went fulltime, it's a diesel pusher with 53000 miles at present.

At present we're looking for a 22'-24' B+ motorhome for some special summer "vacation trips" away from our "home".

Hi Lightning,
I have had a variety of RV's but 2 years ago I sold my 31 foot 5er for a motorhome. I presently have a 2005 39' kountry star diesel pusher with 3 slides.
We get 7.8mpg towing a 2006 Honda CR-V with 4 wheels down. I looked at the idea of a dolly or a trailer to transport anouther car BUT you still have to find room for the dolly or trailer at the campground. We have towed the CR-V 15,000 miles the last 2 years and this works great for us.
Regards,
TnT

Howdy there Terry and Teri,

Glad to see more folks chiming in. I wish that we could get as good of fuel mileage as you are. Like you indicated we used a dolly for about 3 years and it was ok, but was sort of a pain to wrestle around and was always in the way. It is so much easier to connect and dis-connect when you tow with all four wheels on the ground.

Larry

Seems to me that the senior crowd are more apt to own a Class A m/h. If for no other reason there is more money when you get older and more time to devote to the care and feeding of a Class A. Everything is just more convenient in a Class A as opposed to other RV's.

I've had my diesel pusher for about 5 years (I retired 3 years ago) and I have about 65k on the odometer.

I've only been on one trip when I didn't have my toad and that was my very first trip. If I'm miles from town, it's just a PITA to break camp to go get essentials. Even to retrieve ice from the campground office might be a three or four hour hike. I know, there's always a bicycle but it's not realistic to ride a half day to get to town for a gallon of milk. Towing is cheaper for me also. I haven't notice any appreciable difference in my fuel mileage when I tow as opposed to not towing and I based this on one long trip (but my fuel mileage hasn't changed since that trip). The speed I drive is what changes my fuel mileage.

For me toad on short vacations is the habit related to what I see on my present vacations in Las Vegas.
Generally we overeat (courtesy of affordable buffets and kitchen in our room) so I am making a point of walking the stairs. 99.99% of visitors use escalators and they don't even bother to pull the level on coin machines, but use electric button instead.
We've been on 4 weeks vacations to Baja and in those 4 weeks I never had to take a long hike to buy supplies. So the excuse of towing a car for getting the groceries is just that IMHO. :D

I need a bigger referigerator. About a week or maybe 10 days is the max mine will hold.

Going to Mexico we had lot of canned and dried food. My wife hesitate to use Mexican beef. :(
Than how many members go on short vacations and don't move the motorhome for 10 days?
is it something wrong with stopping motorhome at grocery story? :o

like Walmart....

Nothing wrong with Wal*Mart, we do our shopping before we settle in for the night in their lot.

We have never as yet gone on any trip into an extremely remote area or one that did not have all the basic provisions within a few miles.
Just as Tinstar mentioned we never go anywhere without towing our truck along with us. In many locations we always enjoy getting out and seeing the sites in the local communities. I am sure that we consume a little bit more diesel fuel by towing the truck along with us, but it is well worth it for us just to have the alternative means of getting around.

We do stay at places like a Wal-Mart when we are traveling long distances.
It gives us a place to park for a few hours to catch some sleep, that is normally pretty quiet, well lighted, and normally big enough to accommodate several large sized RV's. This also gives a place in most instances to get another batch of odds and ins as needed.

oh geez. Another reminder that we are "getting up there" in age! B) B)

oh geez. Another reminder that we are "getting up there" in age! B) B)

Yes I get another reminder of that every time I walk past a mirror.

Hello, been rv'ng a long time(parents). We're both 33 now. Bought our first MH a 31 foot Class C five years ago in '05 at the tender age of 28. It had 70,000, miles we put over 35,000 miles in the little over the two years we owned it. Traded for a new 2008 31' Class A, loving every minute of it. We have two kids 2 & 4. We do have a tow vehicle but honestly don't bring it along very often. I find it easy enough to connect and disconect if and when we go somewhere while camping. That and having someplace for the kids to relax during the day excursions makes sense to us. At 31' feet it's pretty manageable. Ours have always been gas V10's. Having resaerched alot on the subject prior to buying I just couldn't justify the extra expense of purchasing and owning a diesel. Not that either is better or worse, it just came down to $$. We live NJ, travel up and down the east coast, a few trips to the midwest. With a planned cross country trip for 2012, kids will be a little older, that and my 5 weeks of paid vaca will be in full swing (actually jan '11)WOOHOO! We love it and couldn't imagine not owning one.

Hello there phoneguy. Welcome to this forum. I think that you will really enjoy being a part of this group.

I have a brother-in-law that is also a phone guy in Wichita. He started there back when the Wichita Lineman was a popular song, and that was what his first job was as a Wichita Lineman. He has since zoomed up the chain quite a ways and is sort of a big shot there in their high tech automation. He started with Southwestern Bell and now works for AT & T.

Being from the New Jersey area you will get to meet a great little lady named Marites. She and her wonderful family also live somewhere there in New Jersey.

At a ripe old age of 33 you are really getting a good start on your RV'ing life style.
I wish that my wife (Barb) and I had of started at that young age. I hate to admit it but I have underwear that is about your age. :P

Well I will stop rambling for now.
Glad to see that you have joined our forum. I am sure that you will enjoy it.
If you are in to photography, that is even better as we love to share our pictures and we would love to see some of yours.

Once again, welcome aboard.

99.99% of visitors use escalators and they don't even bother to pull the level on coin machines, but use electric button instead.
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Next time were both at Vegas, can I get you to pick up my black jack cards. They're heavy. javascript:emoticon(':D')