Danceisart wrote: Child safety seats? Most motor homes have seat belts in the dinette that car seats strap to. My older two children are out of car seats.
Right, but they still don't offer near the protection that a real, DOT approved seat provides. In some cases there are specific warnings saying NOT to use carseats in the dinette for that reason.
I know thats true of almost all seating in a MH, but smaller children in carseats are kind of a special case because of how 'fragile' they are. You really need to have them in a good, DOT approved seat (and MHs only have two of those - the driver and passenger).
You will also find the dinette seats are not very practical for children that small - the one on the inside will be very difficult for you to reach, unless you remove the table when traveling.
We thought through this many times, haha. We wanted to step up from our TT to a MH for the last several years, but determined it just didn't make sense to do until kids were older and out of carseats.
Soo, I'm sticking to my earlier recommendation - find you a nice E350 van, and a quad bunkhouse TT, and make your best deal. Thats what I would do in your situation, with that many children.
OK, I'll be somewhat of a dissenter from the usual crowd here, but what I say is from our own personal experience.
First of all, changing the dinette/sofas over every morning/evening is not a big deal. If you stow the pillows & bedding in the bins overhead, it's a 5 minute process at the beginning and end of each day. (OK, now that they actually try to help, sometimes it takes 10 minutes. LOL) At times, we've been on the road for over 2 months at a stretch and it really is not a problem. Now, if we were full-timing, then I'd think about it, but I'd also be looking for something in the 40-45 foot length. But that's high $$$ DP territory, and that was not in our budget.
Our rig has 2 sofas and a dinette up front. When we bought it, our children were 7, 4, 3 & 1. While bunk floorplans on class A's gassers were quite rare back in 2004, we always felt like the added "living space" when we're awake was more important then dedicated sleeping space at night. Now, 8 years later, we are still happy with our choice and have not found ANY gasser bunk flooplan that we would prefer over our floorplan. I know some love their bunk floorplans, but we've yet to see one we'd prefer over ours.
I HATE the floorplans that have the bunks right next to the "adult" bedroom. While I never would've thought about this when we were shopping for our motorhome (this was our first RV purchase), I cannot tell you how many times wifey has been in a "romantic mood" at the end of the day and having 8-10 feel of space between us and the kids sleeping area is nice. (Must be that "fresh air" or just being away from home. Don't know....but I take advantage of it when I can! )
Putting the AC's on and having the radio/TV on up front for them at night keeps them out of earshot of whatever happens in the bedroom. It is also helpful if we decide to watch a movie with "inappropriate language" in bed, we know they can't hear the dialogue.
As for safety, I'd LOVE to see anyone show me statistics showing that having your child (or anyone else for that matter) in a DOT approved seatbelt in a 5,000 lb. vehicle being any safer than one in a non-DOT approved seatbelt in a 20,000+ lb. vehicle. I've always felt that my family is safer travelling in our motorhome than in the minivan. In a collision, mass is on your side. The occupants of the heavier vehicle have the advantage. Plus you have the advantage in the motorhome that you are larger and heavier than probably 95+% of the vehicles on the road. (Do NOT put the children up front! Of the few motorhome accidents which have been posted on these forums, it's always the people up front that are most likely to be injured. So much for the benefit of DOT approval!) Our rig came with 12 factory seatbelts from the factory (4 at the dinette, 3 on each sofa, plus passenger & driver). This has worked well as they grow up because it offers numerous seating positions and options.
Another consideration is weight carrying capacity. You should probably look for something that will have about 2,500-3,000 lbs. of cargo carrying capacity for water, food, people & stuff. If you don't know what the weight acronyms GVWR, GAWR, GCWR mean, you should do some research on those terms REGARDLESS of what type of RV you eventually decide upon. Paying attention to the weight ratings, in my opinion, is paramount among safety issues.
Lastly, travelling in a Class A with a family is so much easier than everyone being cramped in a car or truck. For the most part, the vacation begins when you leave the drive way. If you get caught in a traffic jam, you use the time for potty & snack breaks. When the traffic clears, while all of the other folks caught in the jam are heading for the next rest stop, you just keep making time down the road.
Feel free to send me a private message if you have any additional questions.
Good Luck in your search and keep your options open.
~Rick
* This post was
edited 06/10/12 05:28pm by Rick Jay *
2005 Georgie Boy 3625 DS on a Workhorse W-22 (Class A)
Rick, Gail, 1 girl (16-Angel, Lexi96.org), 1 girl (11), 2 boys (12 & 9).
2001 Honda Odyssey, Demco Aluminator tow bar & tow plate, SMI Silent Partner brake controller.
I have been looking at a newer year American Tradition, you can get a 2008 for around 170k. Anyway, many of these newer coaches have rear bathrooms in a 'bath and a half" design. It is not a difficult conversion to convert the rear wardrobe into a bunk, or even remove the rear toilet/sink and convert the entire room to a bunk room (just wall off the shower). This is something any carpenter can do, just make sure you cap off the water/sewer lines. Best part is that if done right, you can return it to stock when you decide to sell it without to much trouble.
It's very hard to find a class a bunkhouse, and since I refuse not to have a tag axle, conversions seem the only option.
I own a Holiday Rambler Admiral 34 SBD 2008 with 2 bunks, dinette bed, Master queen and a queen air bed in the sofa. I can sleep 8 if their mostly small and friendly. The bunks are why I traded my 2006 for our 2008. Got her for the 4 Grandkids we have.
Quote: I HATE the floorplans that have the bunks right next to the "adult" bedroom. While I never would've thought about this when we were shopping for our motorhome (this was our first RV purchase), I cannot tell you how many times wifey has been in a "romantic mood" at the end of the day and having 8-10 feel of space between us and the kids sleeping area is nice. (Must be that "fresh air" or just being away from home. Don't know....but I take advantage of it when I can! )
Putting the AC's on and having the radio/TV on up front for them at night keeps them out of earshot of whatever happens in the bedroom. It is also helpful if we decide to watch a movie with "inappropriate language" in bed, we know they can't hear the dialogue.
..We have a MH with the bunks right outside our bedroom like you speak of, and I have to disagree - we love this arrangement.
We LOVE the fact that we can put the kids to bed, and we still have our living area completely free and clear, for us to relax some before going to bed. We decided from the beginning, that we did NOT want any arrangement that meant putting the kids on sofas or dinettes to sleep. This would mean we have NO living space once they go to bed.
Our solution to the privacy issue was very simple: installed a lock on the door to our room so we can lock it shut, and use either the rear a/c or TV for 'white noise', for those (very frequent in our case, hehe!) times when we're in a 'romantic' mood.
Rick Jay wrote: ..Our rig has 2 sofas and a dinette up front. When we bought it, our children were 7, 4, 3 & 1. While bunk floorplans on class A's gassers were quite rare back in 2004, we always felt like the added "living space" when we're awake was more important then dedicated sleeping space at night.
..We also decided that our living space when we're awake was important also, and since we are awake later than the kids, we did not want that living space taken completely away by being made into sleeping quarters.
Our bunks take up very little space. Because of where they are, that space really would not be used for much of anything if we didn't have them (maybe extra closet space?). However, not having them would mean our ENTIRE living space would be taken away when kids go to bed. Kind of a no-brainer decision for us - would much rather give up some closet space, than our entire living area.
Quote: As for safety, I'd LOVE to see anyone show me statistics showing that having your child (or anyone else for that matter) in a DOT approved seatbelt in a 5,000 lb. vehicle being any safer than one in a non-DOT approved seatbelt in a 20,000+ lb. vehicle. I've always felt that my family is safer travelling in our motorhome than in the minivan. In a collision, mass is on your side.
..True, but not when so much of that mass is nothing more than flimsy wood, fiberglas, aluminum, and luan that explodes into a zillion pieces (or becomes lethal flying projectiles) when a major wreck happens.
Go look at whats frequently left of a 20,000 lb MH after a rollover or major collision, then do the same for a minivan or pickup truck. I think that will answer your question about safety between the two, without having to involve any statistics.
MHs definitely have their advantages, and are great to travel in. No doubt about that, and that is why we upgraded to one recently. However, don't be deluded into thinking that overall safety of the passengers is one of their advantages, 'cause it is not. Their mass does help, but if we HAD to be in a major wreck, the MH is the absolute LAST vehicle I'd prefer to be in. I'd take the air bags, crumple/crush zones, steel cage surrounding, etc. of a pickup or van ANY day. ESPECIALLY, if there were small children in carseats involved!
Annnyway, I still think the OP's best choice for the time being, is to step up to a larger quad bunkhouse TT, and E350 van to tow it. Unless, you don't mind doing like Rick Jay and using sofas and dinette for the kids to sleep on. Some don't mind that, while many of us prefer not to.
Will & Angela
2 children that love camping, Stephen & Allison
2012 FR Georgetown 351DS on F53 (V10) Chassis Our Rig
For a family of six you sure could have a whole lot more room with less car seat shuffling to deal with if you went with a large (32') travel trailer with dual opposing slides in the bunk house. Wildwood, Jayco, and several others have this set-up. Pick up a used one ton van and the whole family has lots of room traveling down the road as well.
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