Guidance Needed - LOA of Class A

[CleanLivin]

Greetings All,

We are going to get back to Full Timing for a couple of years, probably 3-5 years.

Back in 1994 we "dropped out" for nearly 3 years and had the best time!

Traveled in a new American Coach Eagle, 40' rig towing a Jeep and traversed mainly the midwest to the southeast.

This time, we want to see far more of the SW, PNW and Canada - possibly Alaska.

Plan is to be out for 3 to 5 years. Mission is to just enjoy ourselves pursuing my obsession with

landscape photography and my wife with painting and reading.

We will be initially focused on the Southwest, then up through California into the Pacific Northwest.

Then cross over southern Canada to New England.

Now, we are trying to resolve the coach's LOA decision.

We are open to purchase of a new rig or one less than 5 years old with very low miles.

Ideally with a King bed as I'm over 6'4" LOA.

Next we want a washer/dryer. Diesel of course as we will be towing a car.

Fuel Efficient - Yeah, right, I know. This is not the best time to take off full timing as I expect to see diesel easily break above $5.50/gal in the

immediate future, but now is when we are free to do it. (I'm 65 and my wife is 57 - want to do this before we are too old to hike and carry a heavy camera/gear and it is foolish to believe fuel prices will return to what we experienced in the 90's.)

I would like to stay at or under 35' ACTUAL LOA so we would stand a better chance of getting into

National Parks and many State Campgrounds. Being closer to the Parks scenes for photography as well as their dramatically lower cost for campsites are attractive reasons to use them.

But I'm not finding anything in that range that is of the quality, fit and finish we are wanting.

We did look at a 2012 Monaco Vesta 32 PBS this weekend but did not feel it was reflective of the finish we want. (Please remember American Eagle is what we chose last time).

A candidate we looked at and liked, but it exceeded the actual LOA of 35', is the Monico Night 36PFT BUT it's actual lenght is 37'4" and I'm afraid the National Parks with their 35' limit would be eliminiated from staying at.

So, three questions:

1. Is there a model I'm missing that is of higher quality diesel rig that has an actual LOA of 35' or slightly less?

2. Any have the Monaco Knight 36 that can share it's fuel efficiency with me? Seems that with the 350 Max engine it would do better

than 7-8mpg I expect from a 40 footer. Also, what do you think of it's build quality?

3. If there is nothing in the 35' and under range, my wife feels that since we ruled out the National Parks and many State Park, then go for a 40 or even 42' rig. Forget the Monaco Knight and just go BIG. (I do all the driving so it's easy for her to say. But I'll admit, I never feltchallenged with the 40' Eagle we had.)

Thus, are we putting too much emphasis on trying to stay at or under 35', and if so, what's ideal - 40; 42; 45????

Your guidance?

[jrwitt]

I have no personal experience with them, but Winnebago Journey & Itascsa Meridian offer a 34Y model DP that is 34'6" long. Both come standard with a 60"x80" Queen bed and offer the option of a 72"x80" king. The two brands are both built by Winnebago and are virtually identical with just cosmetic differences as far as I can tell. I have seen this floor plan at an RV show and was very impressed. Sorry, but I have never owned or driven one so can't speak to performance or quality.

Good luck!

[Guest BillAdams]

While I have no idea what LOA is but clearly refers to length (length over all?....Don't know) I would not get terribly stuck on the 35' number. Our previous coach as 36' and we stayed in many 35' restricted parks without issue. No one is coming out there with a tape measure. If you say you are 35' you are 35' feet. If you can get a 35 footer into a site, the 37' coach will fit as well.

You will also have to consider what percentage of your camping would be in this kind of length restricted park to ensure that the reduced length will be worth it compared to the times that it would be required.

[CleanLivin]

Yes, LOA = Length Over All.

I was not aware of the Journey/Meridian - will research it to see how it compares to the Knight.

Thanks

As I've been away from the RV/Full Time scene for quite a few years, what are the current impressions of the build quality and company dependability of both Monaco and Winnebago? Also, as we will be spending some time in the mountains and in Park City, UT, what ever coach we buy must be a true All Season rig.

I learned this weekend at the Lazydays dealership that Monaco went belly up and Navistar bought them. Of course dealer said they were a first rate company today but I'd like to hear from those who really know.

[dickandlois]

Clean livin ! just sent you a private message.

R.M.

[lmsooter]

You might give the Newmar Ventana a look. They have two different floorplans in the 35 foot length.

http://www.newmarcorp.com/models/motorhomes/Ventana/74

[CleanLivin]

Thanks to all for input.

We've decided to purchase a new 2012 Monaco Knight 40' DFT from Lazy Days in Tampa.

Should be delivered to dealer from the factory the end of this week.

Decision was based on full warranty, layout of interior (bath and a half), build quality and the

new design with the MaxForce engine. I've heard of folks getting in the 10-11mpg range with it.

Jack

[kingfr]

Good luck with that at 70-72 MPH towing a 4K Toad.

[CleanLivin]

Life is interesting!

On Saturday we stopped at RV World in Nokomis, FL while enroute to Lazy Days to inspect the Monaco Knight 40'er we had put a deposit on over the phone.

At RV World we saw a new entry in the Sprinter Van conversion lineup from Great West Vans - call an EX. It is built on the Sprinter Extended body making it 24' 6" LOA.

REALLY liked it! Great features and excellent fuel economy - expect 17-18mpg.

This model has the hot water heater and furnace being fed by diesel fuel, Espar Diesel Hydronic - uses 0.08 gallons/hour of diesel at the peak heating load.

Plus it has a 15000 BTU A/C, solar palels, 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter and 4 AGM house batteries! Also has the 3.6 kw Onan propane gen set. When the wife saw the 6 cu. ft. double door frig and the king bed/sofa I felt I had a chance to talk her into it.

Last it has the Technology Package: Alpine Nav/stereo, 3 view camera, cell phone booster, Wi-Fi booster which got my interest.

Thus, we cancelled our trip to Lazy Days and bought it.

No, it's not a BIG RIG, and that is just why we decided to buy it.

Logic:

MPG verse 40' coach

Wife can drive this as easily as a car - (she drove our Roadtrek but would never go near our Amer. Eagle) thus not all the driving rests on my shoulders.

Lenght can get into almost all National Parks and State Parks - much cheaper cost per night verse commercial parks and closer to the photography sites I'm after.

Very comfortable bed and I fit in it with no feet hanging over the end of the bed!

Furnace/water heater is diesel driven - that's great!

Build quality and finish is excellent - these folks really do a nice job.

NO need for a tow vehicle and its hassle plus capital expense that brings with it.

Just one vehicle depreciates over time verse a 40' rig and tow vehicle.

List goes on and on as to its advantages in our minds.

In short, we decided it was perfect for what we want to do AND with the huge cash outlay savings over the 40'er and tow car we can stay in a motel/lodge whenever we want to.

Thus, we traded in our Roadtrek SS Agile and bougth the Great West. (We we very disappointed with the build quality of the 2011 Roadtrek SS Agile!! Dramatic deteriation from the 2006 we had.)

I expect we will see more boomers go in this direction verse the big rigs pushed by diesel prices escalating. Why give your retirement savings to the oil companies?

[Guest BillAdams]

The only thing I will mention is that you will likely not be happy with the choice of a propane generator if you dry camp much. Our first coach was a diesel with propane genset and it was a big disappointment. The genset should have been diesel as well. The propane genset sucks up propane very fast so even with a 100# propane tank I had to refill this tank way too often. The exhaust fumes on the propane genset can also be more offensive to the RV residents as well as those around you than the gas and diesel versions.

If you are not much of a dry camper then you likely won't find it as much of a drawback as I did.

[CleanLivin]

Bill,

I agree completely on the propane gen set - wish there was a diesel gen available. But at least the big propane hogs of the furnance and water heater are not diesel. We rarely drycamp so as long as we have electricity at the campsite we should be using very little propane.

Life is Compromise.

Jack