Class B vs B+ Motorhome

[Meeks]

Originally Posted by c21bill

The Navion had a lot of negatives mainly design related. The negatives of B+'s in general is they will get a bit less mileage. My Navion averaged 15.3 on a cross country trip and the Airstream averaged 18.3 on 2 cross country trips so 3mpg less with the B+. The B+'s also have body structure outside the rear wheel track so less stable in winds and trucks passing. It would be nice if Mercedes offered a wider rear axle for RV upfitters.

Makes sense on less mpg. I do have concerns regarding the stability in wind and trucks passing. I will know more when I test drive one and rent one down the road.

It would be great if Mercedes offered a wider rear axle! We can dream .

Thanks for your response!

[Roadtech]

Originally Posted by FlyFishinRVr

I don't know why more upfitters don't build on the Ford E450 cutaway chassis. A neighbor has an older Forest River Class C on that platform and the outer dually is perfectly aligned with the outer wall of the RV. I would think that would make for a more stable platform. Is the Ford cutaway not considered "fancy" enough, or have enough creature comforts or safety features for the RV crowd?

Check out Coach House: http://www.coachhouserv.com/
We had the Coach House Platinum on the Ford E450 with the V10 for a number of years. It drove really great. We would still have it but went with a AS 27FB for more room and got tired of pulling a tow car.

[Meeks]

Originally Posted by AI927

I owned a class C on a sprinter chassis before buying an Interstate so I am a little outside of your original question. One reason I sold the C was that it had very little cargo carrying capability, something like 1100 pounds. While it had great outside storage I had to always be very careful not to overload it. I essentially had to keep the black and gray tanks close to empty when traveling and I never filled the fresh water tank.

Another reason I sold it was I did not like the way it handled. The Interstate is much more stable on the road. Another selling point of the Interstate is the very comfortable seats in the back. The only place to sit in my class C was the dinette seats (excluding the front seats). Our dinette was very uncomfortable to sit in.

The extra width and height of the class C was not an issue getting around (except for handling and wind noise). The mirrors on my unit actually extended out more than the Interstate.

With all this said I did look at the Unity. That is a very nice unit.

You bring up a number of really important thoughts I will most definitely keep in mind during this process (along with everyone else's excellent points). Cargo carrying capability is important as is handling! If it's not an easy drive I don't want to be a part of it! And there is no doubt in my mind that the Interstate, especially with the air suspension system, is the best ride available in a Class B.

Thank you for your thoughtful response.

Chris

[Meeks]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

One thing to ask yourself is WHY a Class B feels small to you. Do you or your traveling companion simply not like the sensation of walls you can reach out and touch, or is the complaint more functional than aesthetic?

Functional can largely be fixed. Aesthetic concerns, not so much. As I often say, our Interstate was tiny back in 2014 when we bought it, but it's pretty darned large here in 2018 because of what we added to the functionality. And I'm not nearly done yet.

Really good question. I reckon' it's aesthetic so not easily remedied without a bigger mind shift than I seem able to do at the moment.

I love looking at all the mods and additions that you and others have done on your motorhomes. Inspiring. And so cool!

Chris

[Meeks]

Originally Posted by Boxster1971

All in can say is B+ = C. The RV manufacturers created the erroneous Class B+ for marketing. Anything built on a basic cargo van is a Class B. Anything built on a cab chassis cut-away is a Class C. Some say if a cab chassis motorhome doesn’t have an over cab bunk it is a B+. But I’d call it a C- [emoji41]

Ha! Totally agree! It's a C-. Obviously doesn't sound as good as a B+ .

Chris

[Meeks]

Originally Posted by Roadtech

Check out Coach House: http://www.coachhouserv.com/
We had the Coach House Platinum on the Ford E450 with the V10 for a number of years. It drove really great. We would still have it but went with a AS 27FB for more room and got tired of pulling a tow car.

Thanks for the tip!

Chris

[Meeks]

Originally Posted by FlyFishinRVr

Oh man, now you've got me drooling! Imagine if an upfitter used the Dodge 5500 SLT w/ Cummins 6.7L Turbo Diesel. 900lbft of torque and 440A of alternator charging goodness with their dual alternator option. 16,000lbs of GVWR and 30,000lbs of towing capacity, just in case you wanted to pull your real house behind your RV....

OK, that's it. Let's go start our own RV company and offer this thing in 4x2 and 4x4 and show the world what a boondocking machine REALLY looks like, LOL!

Wouldn't that be great! The RV, that is. Not the starting another business part !

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by FlyFishinRVr

...
I don't know why more upfitters don't build on the Ford E450 cutaway chassis. A neighbor has an older Forest River Class C on that platform and the outer dually is perfectly aligned with the outer wall of the RV. I would think that would make for a more stable platform. Is the Ford cutaway not considered "fancy" enough, or have enough creature comforts or safety features for the RV crowd?

Oh, but they do, Grasshopper. Or, very close, at least. Earth Roamers are built on the F-550 chassis (4WD). Starting price $450,000.

Big hullabaloo on Instagram right now because Earth Roamer is about one week away from releasing their 200th unit, which I note with pleasure has been slightly de-masculinized relative to prior builds. Some time ago, I emailed them offering my unsolicited opinion that they were too far toward the Y end of the chromosomal spectrum, for which I received the standard "thank you and PFO" response. But then it seemed that they did move somewhat toward the center with female-friendlier designs.

[FlyFishinRVr]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

Oh, but they do, Grasshopper. Or, very close, at least. Earth Roamers are built on the F-550 chassis (4WD). Starting price $450,000.

Big hullabaloo on Instagram right now because Earth Roamer is about one week away from releasing their 200th unit, which I note with pleasure has been slightly de-masculinized relative to prior builds. Some time ago, I emailed them offering my unsolicited opinion that they were too far toward the Y end of the chromosomal spectrum, for which I received the standard "thank you and PFO" response. But then it seemed that they did move somewhat toward the center with female-friendlier designs.

I had forgotten about these, mainly because of the price.

I'm sure they make a very capable vehicle, but it's not exactly something I want to take to the kids soccer game, use as a second car, or take on long drives to visit the Mouse's. If I was going to go off the grid for a month in the Alaskan bush, or that zombie apocalypse thing ever happens, then I could see this being an excellent choice....

[Alex AVI]

Originally Posted by FlyFishinRVr

I had forgotten about these, mainly because of the price.

I'm sure they make a very capable vehicle, but it's not exactly something I want to take to the kids soccer game, use as a second car, or take on long drives to visit the Mouse's. If I was going to go off the grid for a month in the Alaskan bush, or that zombie apocalypse thing ever happens, then I could see this being an excellent choice....

Same here, forgot due to high price, but for the very serious off-gridder it would be ideal. Maybe they'll come up with a tamer 'city-dweller-full-hookups' version that would be cheaper (wishful thinking)

[FlyFishinRVr]

Originally Posted by Meeks

The main "must have" items are:
A bed for two that has at least one side accessible and doesn't have to be fully made up each day (open to a murphy bed).
As many windows as possible so we don't feel cut off from the outdoors when inside (modern Airstreams excels at this).
Enough coach width to not feel too tight. 7' seems to be our minimum. The 5' 10" interior of the Interstate just feels too tight, unfortunately.
There are many others such as tank sizes, etc but we can work with those.

Like a Leisure Travel Unity Island Bed model (or Twin Bed if you prefer that setup)? Seems to tick most of your boxes.....

[Gulliver]

This is for Interblog: We are new to the forum, as well as RVing with our (new to us) 2016 Interstate EX. The prior owner never really used it (only 2000 miles on it) nor any of the systems. It's a total blank slate, and we'd love to see what you've done to increase the functionality of your interior. Ours has twin beds that pull together into a queen; and 4 seats up front, one of which we've removed to create more space for the road bikes we plan to bring as well as the small grill we've purchased.
Any help with configuring how to carry / store all the necessities would be much appreciated.

[Pahaska]

Originally Posted by Gulliver

Ours has twin beds that pull together into a queen; and 4 seats up front, one of which we've removed to create more space for the road bikes we plan to bring as well as the small grill we've purchased.
Any help with configuring how to carry / store all the necessities would be much appreciated.

If you have 4 seats up front, you have a Lounge model, not a GT. GTs have only 2 seats up front, where Lounge models have 3 or 4.

I put intermediate shelves half-way up my upper cabinets to allow me to store more with less mess. I also use plastic bins in the upper cabinets to hold underwear, socks, shaving needs, and medicines. Makes for much less clutter that way.

In the big upper rear cabinet, everything goes in plastic tubs with snap-on covers. The bins stack 2 high. We carry a hand-held Dyson vac and charger. The long rug attachment stays home. We carry a Swiffer and a few wet pads. I left out one section of handle to make it less bulky.

Tools and small spare parts go in two small soft-sided tool bags. I carry a drill with 2 charged lithium batteries, but the charger stays home.

I removed the fold-down bed extensions. We don't need them at our heights and removing the extensions freed that space and the space for the pull-out supports.

[Rig Rat]

We are new to the forum, as well as RVing with our (new to us) 2016 Interstate EX. .....and 4 seats up front, one of which we've removed to create more space for the road bikes we plan to bring as well as the small grill we've purchased.

************************************************** ************

Gulliver, Welcome to Rv-ing and this forum!

Questions for you; which of the 2nd row seats did you remove?

Were you able to remove all of the bolts/nuts that held that seat to the floor?

Do you plan to re-attach that seat anytime in the future, ie re-sale time?

We have toyed with the idea of removing our drivers side 2nd row seat recently but can't visually locate all of the 4 bolts holding it down! The fresh water tank on our 2015 obscures some.


Thanks!

Mark

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by Mister B

... 4 seats up front, one of which we've removed to create more space for the road bikes we plan to bring as well as the small grill we've purchased. ....

Questions for you; which of the 2nd row seats did you remove?...
We have toyed with the idea of removing our drivers side 2nd row seat recently ...

Sideways comment: Someone is selling two Interstate seats on eBay right now (here). I wondered if any of their inspiration derived from this thread.

[Gulliver]

We removed the drivers side seat. It's heavy!! Got the nuts loosened without much trouble. We are building a shelf above that space this weekend that will have quick-release attachments for the forks of our two road bikes, and will store the small portable gas grill beneath that shelf. Thus, we put the bolts back into the floor; but that's just so they don't get lost. Hopefully the photo I took uploads so you can see what it looks like.
Yes, we plan to keep the seat so that at re-sale the new owner can decide what they want to do.

[Rig Rat]

Appreciate the photo and answer to my questions!
By your reinserting the bolts, were you also able to attach all of the nuts as well?
We weren't sure if nuts we couldn't see that are hidden by the water tank would fall off or stay attached to the hole on the underside!
Thanks again!
Mark

[InterBlog]

You know what they say about the word "assume".


I had ASSUMED that the second row of seats in those Interstates which were born with second row seating... I had assumed that they are optionally removable just like the second row seats in my Gen 1 and Gen 2 Toyota Sienna minivans. Why wouldn't they be??

First and foremost, every van is a van for purposes of versatility - if this were not true, it wouldn't be a van. It would be a useless sedan whose sole purpose is to carry people.

Anything else that the van accomplishes is secondary to its first purpose. What good is any van which lacks this first purpose, as manifested by (among other things) the ability to remove seats when needed? And to re-install them when needed?

But apparently Interstate second-row seats are all-or-nothing. Either installed and left severely alone, or "Houston, we have a hardware problem" because the nuts become questionably-accessible when the seats get sprung.

Suggestion in the face of this: Request of Airstream that they install their second row seats using the same kind of flexible attachment system as is used in Siennas and every other such van, so that people can pop them in and out at will whenever they need to carry a dog crate, bicycles, a Big Green Egg, or Grandma.

Rant concluded.

[toskeysam]

Interblog...your post struck a familiar nerve. I’ve considered, and sketched up, seat base changes that would allow removal and reinstallation of those seats. My goal is to be able to swap out small cabinet/drawers with the seat as needed. Obviously, these would not be “highway approved” and as such present a host of liability issues.
Not that difficult to design. It’s done in other brands....unfortunately I lost access to a machine shop a long time ago........sniff.....still miss the smell of cutting oils. Have a similar sensation when someone lights up a Marlboro...even 37 years after quitting.....[emoji38][emoji38]

[Gulliver]

When removing the rear seat behind the drivers seat please be aware that:
The nuts in the floor will not fall away.
However they will slide horizontally out of place if not secured with the bolts.
You will find with the seat removed that Airstream cut two holes in the floor to insert the bolts into the correct location for bolting the seat to the floor. Likely they snaked the bolts into the appropriate location.
In our application with the seat removed and custom building a bike rack for two road bikes secured the rack with two QR fork fittings we will use the existing seat bolts to secure the new bike rack to the floor so it does not become a flying saucer in the event of a rapid stop, sharp corner of accident.
Here's hoping that this information can be of assistance.
Gulliver