Thinking about a camper van ...

Pilawt

Pilawt

Final Approach
Gone West
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Pilawt
... or "Class B motorhome" or whatever they call them.

Mission: Extended weekend trips for the two of us. Rare, if any, boondocking, no offroading. Our son and his family are full-timers in a 39-foot fifth-wheel, so we might meet up with them from time to time on their trips. We don't have RV storage space at home, so we'd have to rent storage.

To our untrained eye the Winnebago Solis or Travato, both based on the gasoline-powered Ram van, seem attractive.

Go.
 
An awesome idea, if I must say. I have two friends with these, one has a Ford Transit conversion, the other has a Mercedes Sprinter. I’ve taken a peak inside of the Transit and it was very nice. IMHO, the size of these vans are perfect for the mission and make a lot of sense.
 
My neighbor has a Sprinter motorhome. Wow, very nice... but the price, yikes.
 
We love our Tiger, it's older but they have kind of a cult following. Based on a Chevy Astrovan, they're still made today but now based on 4x4 trucks and a LOT more expensive, the old ones are quite reasonable. Has sink, stove, fridge, toilet, shower. Ours is a poptop but there are also fixed top versions.

upload_2022-3-29_8-54-45-png.105785
 
Pilawt said:
Mission: Extended weekend trips for the two of us. Rare, if any, boondocking, no offroading. Our son and his family are full-timers in a 39-foot fifth-wheel, so we might meet up with them from time to time on their trips. We don't have RV storage space at home, so we'd have to rent storage.
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Do you need:
  • an indoor kitchen?
  • an indoor shower?
  • an indoor toilet?
 
Most class B's and smaller class C's will, like ours, have a "wet bath", meaning the toilet is in the shower. We usually use the campground shower but it's nice to have our own when needed.
 
MauleSkinner said:
We were thinking about a camper van, and ended up with a 31’ Class A. :rolleyes:
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RVs are like boats, garages, hangars and houses for some people. A camper van is nice, but only for short while until you crave something larger. If you want a small shower and bath go with something larger. IMO 31' is a good size for 2 people.
 
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Gary Ward said:
RVs are like boats, garages, hangars and houses for some people. A camper van is nice, but only for short while until you crave something larger. If you want a small shower and bath go with something larger. IMO 31' is a good size for 2 people.
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Yup…walk-around queen bed (without having to run a slide out) was probably the biggest factor. When we got married, I had a 4x8 teardrop camper that I’d built. We did a couple of trips with that, but ended up taking turns hanging out the door to breathe because it was a little claustrophobic. Most people go in smaller jumps from a small trailer to a Class A, though. ;)
 
Here is a smoking deal...Class A unit though, I think.
https://www.rvtrader.com/listing/2017-Winnebago-SUNSTAR-29VE-5022879986


Pilawt said:
... or "Class B motorhome" or whatever they call them.

Mission: Extended weekend trips for the two of us. Rare, if any, boondocking, no offroading. Our son and his family are full-timers in a 39-foot fifth-wheel, so we might meet up with them from time to time on their trips. We don't have RV storage space at home, so we'd have to rent storage.

To our untrained eye the Winnebago Solis or Travato, both based on the gasoline-powered Ram van, seem attractive.

Go.
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Chinook (prior to 2005) for the win.
Do your research.
 
I have a 32ft class C on an E-450 chassis. Mostly weekend type travels, few week trips, longest was 19 days on the road.

I've often thought those travato vans and similar looked like great roadtrip machines for a single of a couple. Not great probably for long term living, but as a travel machine, yeah.

I know you said rare boondocking, but as a travel machine that's part of the advantage. It's great to be able to overnight in a walmart parking lot or similar places. I found when we were really trying to make miles, I could go about 3 nights "off-grid" before I needed to find an RV park or state park campground to plug in and let my guard down to get some rest.
It's a good way to travel, rest breaks along the way, having your own kitchen and bathroom, and so on
It's great when the wife and kids want to go shopping or do something I'm not interested in....like the beach.... I can stay in the RV, with all the comforts of home and they can take their sweet time. Everyone is happy!

Those small van RV's make a good bit more sense i think because the smaller size is much easier parking which is helpful both for shopping and in town tourist stuff, but also for overnights. They won't have nearly the tankage though so it's a different dynamic....but still probably good for a couple nights off grid before needing to dump and recharge.
Still, I can totally see it being much more realistic to scatter in some hotel nights along the way than with a larger RV.

I used to watch a couple on youtube quite a bit, fitrv, that had a travato. Did a lot of modifications and upgrades. Haven't looked for them lately, I assume they're still doing it.
 
Sportsmobile on a Sprinter basis. The one with the platform bed in the back and a garage for mountain bikes, skis etc. underneath. Big lithium batteries, all electric, no bottled gas, no generator. Little wet bath with cassette toilet.
 
What’s the “usual” method of getting around locally? I know it depends. Tow a trailer and then use the tow vehicle getting around? Or drive the RV and tow the around-town vehicle? Anyone drive an RV toy hauler with a motorcycle tied down inside? I can see advantages and disadvantages of each.
 
asicer said:
What did you end up doing with it? I always thought those things were kinda cute, but not enough to get me into actually building one.
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When we moved for my current job, it had to live outside and didn’t fare so well. The landfill got everything but the trailer frame (which my brother built for me), and that’s now a utility trailer that we get a lot of use out of.
Doesn't sounds like a very good return on the time invested. :)
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I used it a fair amount when I was single, so I think it mostly worked out. :)
 
A good friend of mine built himself a teardrop, and it worked perfectly for him. Solo travels that weren't too far away, to campgrounds where they had facilities. Basically, it was a portable one person tent that was dry. Easy to tow behind his mini-pickup. He went to RC events that typically had on-site camping. No way his wife would go along with staying in that, but that wasn't their plan so it worked out fine.

So my take away is that if you set your expectations right, it could be awesome.

As to Sprinters, I seem to remember them being kinda rusty around here, but then again everything rusts in upstate NY.
 
Matthew said:
What’s the “usual” method of getting around locally? I know it depends. Tow a trailer and then use the tow vehicle getting around? Or drive the RV and tow the around-town vehicle? Anyone drive an RV toy hauler with a motorcycle tied down inside? I can see advantages and disadvantages of each.
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It's a van. You drive it to wherever you want to go. Take bikes along to get around in a campground.
 
weilke said:
It's a van. You drive it to wherever you want to go. Take bikes along to get around in a campground.
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Right, the Class B is a van, so you can use it for getting around if necessary. But what are some of the pluses/minuses for trailer vs A and C options? I know my neighbors have a Class C and they tow a car behind. And @Ted has his method. But what's the tradeoff for driving an RV and towing a car vs driving a truck and towing a trailer? I'm completely unfamiliar with either.
 
Brad W said:
I have a 32ft class C on an E-450 chassis. Mostly weekend type travels, few week trips, longest was 19 days on the road.

I've often thought those travato vans and similar looked like great roadtrip machines for a single of a couple. Not great probably for long term living, but as a travel machine, yeah.

I know you said rare boondocking, but as a travel machine that's part of the advantage. It's great to be able to overnight in a walmart parking lot or similar places. I found when we were really trying to make miles, I could go about 3 nights "off-grid" before I needed to find an RV park or state park campground to plug in and let my guard down to get some rest.
It's a good way to travel, rest breaks along the way, having your own kitchen and bathroom, and so on
It's great when the wife and kids want to go shopping or do something I'm not interested in....like the beach.... I can stay in the RV, with all the comforts of home and they can take their sweet time. Everyone is happy!

Those small van RV's make a good bit more sense i think because the smaller size is much easier parking which is helpful both for shopping and in town tourist stuff, but also for overnights. They won't have nearly the tankage though so it's a different dynamic....but still probably good for a couple nights off grid before needing to dump and recharge.
Still, I can totally see it being much more realistic to scatter in some hotel nights along the way than with a larger RV.

I used to watch a couple on youtube quite a bit, fitrv, that had a travato. Did a lot of modifications and upgrades. Haven't looked for them lately, I assume they're still doing it.
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Same here, RVed quite a bit. Love boondocking. We can go 3 days also self contained talking showers.
We went from Cincinnati to Sacramento pretty many times in 3 days in our freightliner chassis RV. One trip wife did not get out for those 3 days until we got to Sac. Great having our own private bath.

So many memorable nights boon docking out west from us.
One late afternoon we left Cody Wy and drove east on 14, starting getting late and very rural and no rest areas. Until we got to Greybull WY. There was a rest area in the middle of nowhere next to a Aircraft museum and airport!! A aerial firefighting museum.
https://www.google.com/maps/@44.5051122,-108.1154656,14.03z
Very cool place to visit when we woke up the next morning.

My wife used to stress about where we were going to stay each night when she first starting RVing with me. I converted her, she is Ok with wherever we wind up. Just so she can walk the dog when we stop.
 
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Matthew said:
Right, the Class B is a van, so you can use it for getting around if necessary. But what are some of the pluses/minuses for trailer vs A and C options? I know my neighbors have a Class C and they tow a car behind. And @Ted has his method. But what's the tradeoff for driving an RV and towing a car vs driving a truck and towing a trailer? I'm completely unfamiliar with either.
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Honestly it depends completely on what you want out of your RVing experience.

For us, we like driving our house down the road. That's why I have a perfectly good pretty new 1-ton diesel truck that is exactly the sort of thing you see towing giant 5th wheels and we went out and bought a 20 (now 22) year old bus. Then when we get where we're going, the Land Rover is much easier to park than a big pickup and still hauls all 5 of us (oh yeah, I had to buy the Land Rover, too, since we didn't own it before the RV).

If you like driving your house down the road, an RV (Class A/B/C) is what you want over a trailer. But if you have a trailer, you just unhook your tow vehicle when you get where you're going and you drive that. If you like not having to own more vehicles, then a trailer is nice because your pickup or other tow vehicle can double as your normal daily driver (I see this a lot, especially with F-150 Ecoboosts). The only downside is that you don't have the comforts of home while you're driving and have to stop to get in/out of the trailer.

The nice part about a Class B is that it's small enough that you can park it in normal parking spots, and thus you don't need a second vehicle (or the size of a trailer) while traveling at all. The problem is that it's a van and therefore the amount of space you have for everything (such as a kitchen/bathroom/shower) gets really cramped, really fast.

Incidentally, we thought "No boondocking" when we first bought our RV. Boondocking has become our favorite way to camp with the RV and we find gets us to the best and most scenic spots. And even if boon docking still ends up not being something you like, when you're on the way to places you'll end up wanting to stop somewhere that's not a campground. Rest area, Walmart parking lot, things like that. Really none of this is a big deal and you're not going to have many creature comforts in a Class B anyway. But you will want at least one house battery that's isolated from the engine battery so that you don't run it dead.

I'm not sure what year range you're looking at on the Ram vans, but the Ram Promasters don't seem to be very good. Friends of ours bought one, lemon lawed it (transmission issues), and the second one had the exact same issues. I couldn't recommend one. It seems the Ford Transits and the Freightliner/Mercedes Sprinters are better.
 
There are rest areas in Utah, Colorado, Wyoming etc that are nicer and more scenic by a mile than many resort campgrounds back east. Some have scenic hiking trails. We made a list of them years ago so we could remember them to go back. We found the ones that are quiet and away from the highway noise. And the rest areas are free. Some did not have electricity, only solar power.
 
Know that "Camper Van" and "Class B RV" are kinda two different beasts. Traditionally speaking a class B is really just a mini RV on a van platform where a Camper Van typically refers to more of an off grid capable vehicle and/or often self built or an upfitter custom conversion of a cargo van and bucks the traditional RV mindset in terms of travel style.

I did a full Sprinter van conversion as a weekend adventure van and freakin LOVE that thing!

I have had travel trailers and a full size RV for a while but this thing takes travel flexibility to a whole nuther level. RVs are designed essentially to go campground to campground, hookup to hookup, a van you can use as a daily driver and get in almost anywhere you can with a car. I have not stayed in a traditional campground or RV park once since building the van. Now you have to give up a lot in livability space for that functionality but the ability to have a mobile apartment with me wherever I go is awesome and can use it as a daily driver when I need to just to take the dog with me places. My van is so decked out and cozy even when I stay at friend's places that have spare bedrooms I prefer to stay in the van. They often give me a bit of a bewildered look until they see the thing.

The Travto is the best entry level Class B without breaking the bank IMO...but know those are real just mini RVs with not much off grid capabilities off the shelf. Minimal if no solar, not much battery capacity for electrical systems, small fresh water and grey tanks and really need to have hookups if going to be out for more than a day or two especially on the older models. Things like the Revel and many custom builds are designed to be off grid essentially endlessly.

While some folks like rollin down the highway in the mega mansion fifth wheels with more features that the typical home, I have fallen in love with the van life lifestyle and the access and utilitarian flexibility it allows outside a campground or RV park.

I have heard isolated problems with all three of the major van players...Ram, Ford Transit, and Sprinters...but all three have proven themselves to be worthy platforms overall so far. The older Sprinters however can be expensive maintenance nightmares but the newer models have been solid.
 
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Matthew said:
Right, the Class B is a van, so you can use it for getting around if necessary. But what are some of the pluses/minuses for trailer vs A and C options? I know my neighbors have a Class C and they tow a car behind. And @Ted has his method. But what's the tradeoff for driving an RV and towing a car vs driving a truck and towing a trailer? I'm completely unfamiliar with either.
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Self-propelled is an extra vehicle that can break down, or at least generate extra expenses. Tires alone are going to be $1500+ when that time comes. And if repairs are necessary on the road, you get a hotel room whether it’s house repairs or chassis repairs.

towed vehicles get interesting, too…we’ll have to buy a tow dolly because my wife’s car can’t be flat towed, and getting the equipment to flat tow would be an investment as well.

On the other hand, pull-behinds require a vehicle that can pull. We’d have to buy one, which would have become my daily driver, and our overall gas budget would go up. But I’d have a pickup again. :) And if the tow vehicle gives up the ghost, the replacement has to be able to pull the same rig…bumper pulls aren’t too hard to find, but a good pickup for a fifth wheel can get spendy, especially if you don’t have time to shop around.

ultimately, though, we bought our Class A because my wife likes it. :D The fit and finish was far better than most of the trailers we looked at, we can use everything in the rig without running slides out, and it’s nice to have access to the whole house while on the road.

…and for another several AMUs, I’m going to RV technician school to keep it maintained.
 
Rgbeard said:
I would guess few ever believe their RV to be too large.

Just buy a small “A”, save the cost of upgrading later. You can thank me.
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I agree with Rusty mostly. But I will make the caveat that while nobody finds their RV too large while enjoying its interior, the "too large" part does come into play when driving depending on where you want to go. The smaller your RV, the more options you have when it comes time to park somewhere for the night.

One thing I'll put in is that gasser Class As aren't going to drive very well. You've got a top heavy bus on a light duty truck chassis. A Class B will probably drive better.
 
MauleSkinner said:
…and for another several AMUs, I’m going to RV technician school to keep it maintained.
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Let me jump in with a sorta-related question: Does anyone know of an RV driving school that supplies the RV?

I've found several that provide instruction once you arrive with your RV, but my problem is that we're looking at a 5th wheel rig, my wife gets carsick if anyone else drives, so she'd be the primary driver, she really likes the larger 5th wheel trailers, but she's never driven anything larger than a minivan. I think a driving class might help steer her towards picking a trailer size (or a different RV style entirely) she'd be comfortable with.

I grew up on a farm, have a lot of experience towing trailers, and know that hauling a 40-footer around the highways and byways of North America is not something I'd find relaxing.
 
Ted said:
One thing I'll put in is that gasser Class As aren't going to drive very well. You've got a top heavy bus on a light duty truck chassis. A Class B will probably drive better.
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I’ll add that the gasser Class As are generally noisier in the cockpit than the diesels…oddly enough, not because the engine is right next to you, but the wind noise is bad. I wear an earbud in my left ear when I’m driving (my wife can’t listen to blues all day), and it actually helps a lot with the noise. The diesels are generally a higher-end finish aerodynamically.
 
MauleSkinner said:
I’ll add that the gasser Class As are generally noisier in the cockpit than the diesels…oddly enough, not because the engine is right next to you, but the wind noise is bad. I wear an earbud in my left ear when I’m driving (my wife can’t listen to blues all day), and it actually helps a lot with the noise. The diesels are generally a higher-end finish aerodynamically.
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The diesels are higher end all around. However there are tons of variations there, and two RVs that look pretty similar can be completely different in build quality.

All Class As/busses have windshield issues at some point. I've had to deal with that on mine. We are also pretty hard on our unit as far as driving on uneven/rough roads, things like that, so that makes it worse. I've learned more or less how to tweak it so that the wind noise isn't so bad. A proper bus (Prevost/MCI) will be better for this since they're designed to go 1 million miles and engineered by a form other than "Hey Cleetus, slap in that there windshield".
 
And while we’re at it…
https://beddys.com/
:cheers:
my wife got us a set, and we’ve been using it for a little over a week now on our trip. Works great! Warm enough for my wife (she throws an extra blanket over her side anyway), comfortable (we’ve got the lining that’s like cotton sheets, which I like), and just zip it up and the bed is made.
 
Class Bs are terrible in wind and the Travado engine has a lot to be desired.
 
Zeldman said:
And bed.
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For sure...
One of the main reasons I invested in a toterhome AKA a RV was the hotels. In the early 90s we went to the same hotel/motel every year during the racing season. Then ownership of the hotels started changing and the service/ cleanness went down in the late 90s. We had all kinds of problems like strangers unlocking our door in the middle of the night as the front desk double rented our rooms...more than once. Puke in the beds and worse.
Bought a toterhome to pull our race trailer and stay at the track overnight. Less stress, less traffic to drive in, more secure since we stayed with our trailer at the track. Nice having AC and a place to rest on those hot summer days also.
 
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