Possibility of upgrading this winter. Any general reference topic I could search or what I may want to stay away from? Looking at a Four Winds or similar. A slide is a must. Sleeps at least 6. About 30' or so. Towing a Cobalt or something small. We'll be checking on toads after we get the Class C.. We like the storage area in a few Class C's. I know this forum is a great place for info.
If you like Fords, you will have more rigs to look at, and as you well know, the chassis is all the same if its on a Ford, or a GM. So its all in the quality of workmanship in the coach, and floor plans.
We have a Four Winds and think its well built, and its holding up well, and I'm sure others will say the same about other brands.
Look close, and drive them all. Good luck and welcome aboard.
2001 27' Four Winds Class-C E-450 V-10.
Buick Park Ave Ultra, Ford Ranger PU, JD 500 backhoe.
1941 Farm All "A"
Congrats on your possible upcoming "C." We are just about to take possession of a slightly used Winnebago Outlook 29B and just cleaned out our trailer today. Hopefully we'll be able to pick it up by the end of this coming week! We, too, tow a trailer (in my signature).
We are fortunate to live close to an RV dealer who is a Winnebago dealer. I haven't seen any Four Winds so I can't comment on the quality of those units.
Be careful about the amount of cargo that you can tow. Some of these units are close to capacity right from the factory. Also, don't be sucked in by a huge storage compartment in the back. These beasts usually have a lot of overhang behind the rear wheels and any weight will tend to "lighten up" the front wheels causing steering issues. "Tail swing" is another thing to learn about as you make a sharp turn and your tail swings out in the opposite direction.
Having the ability for your family to use the bathroom or someone to prepare an easy meal while driving and having the kids entertained with the TV is something we're looking forward to!
Steve.
* This post was
edited 08/02/08 08:04pm by DigiNut *
Thanx for the info. We looked at a few Minnie Winnies and liked them. I never thought about the front end lightening up if we pack the hugs storage space. It's gonna be an off or early season purchase so I have time to research. The show in Allentown this year had some great prices and that's what made us really think about a C.
Check weights carefully. We're a family of 6 and when we were doing our research back about 5 years ago, we determined that an E-450 based Class C with the space (storage and living) we wanted could not be used in the manner we wanted without exceeding the rear GAWR and the GVWR, by quite a substantial amount. (Yes, I know the newer E-450 have a bit more capacity, but it's all on the front axle which usually doesn't help much.) In our estimation, we needed a minimum of 2,000 lbs. of capacity for people, food, water & stuff. The rig we finally bought (a gas Class A) has about 3,000 lbs. of said capacity and on average, we use between 2,000 - 2,500 lbs. of that depending upon how much stuff we need to pack. You won't find an E-450 based rig with a slide of the length you're interested in that can carry that much weight without exceeding the limits set by Ford.
My recommendation is to look at rigs built on the gas C-5500 Kodiak chassis. You STILL have to look are the weights carefully, but if you stay in the 32-34' range with a 22,000 lb. GVWR chassis, you should be able to have 2-3,000 pounds of capacity true cargo carrying capacity. PLUS you get an Allison transmission!
Oh...and oddly enough, if you're concerned about fuel efficiency numbers, even though these are larger than the E-450 based rigs, the mpg numbers are roughly the same. They'll be more dependent upon your driving style and terrain than the drivetrain & GVWR.
Good Luck and have fun in your research.
~Rick
2005 Georgie Boy 3625 DS on a Workhorse W-22 (Class A)
Rick, Gail, 1 girl (12-Angel), 1 girl (7), 2 boys (8 & 5), 1 plump Golden Retriever.
2001 Honda Odyssey with Demco Aluminator tow bar & tow plate, SMI Silent Partner brake controller.
We're in the same boat. We just wrote up a deal on a 1999 Itasca 29N and will be getting rid of the truck and trailer in my sig. Similar floorplan to the trailer, but now we can pull the boat too! It's a big step for us...hopefully a good decision! We'll also be looking at pulling the wife's Jeep.
Roadfrog wrote: We're in the same boat. We just wrote up a deal on a 1999 Itasca 29N and will be getting rid of the truck and trailer in my sig.
Congrats Roadfrog! We are enjoying our 29B and quickly forgot about the trailer. Even though our Jayco trailer was of great quality, class C's such as the Itasca/Winnebago line are in a different league altogether.
Again be aware of storage space weight limits. I have a Bigfoot 29G and it has space to put in a ATV if I had one. I recently noticed a weight limit for that space to be 325 pounds, and it's about 4 foot high.
Quote: Congrats Roadfrog! We are enjoying our 29B and quickly forgot about the trailer. Even though our Jayco trailer was of great quality, class C's such as the Itasca/Winnebago line are in a different league altogether.
Enjoy !
Thanks! We are still awaiting delivery. Lots to do 'til then - buy a new cd/dvd/monitor (with back up camera) to replace the cassette deck (LOL - I'd almost forgotten what they looked like)!
Also need an awning and a receiver hitch. Looking forward to trying it out before summer ends. You're right about Winnebago quality, everything from hinges to knobs to hardware all seem above and beyond everything else we looked at.
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