Thinking Of Going Up To An A From a C

[rmatteucci]

After visiting the Atlantic City RV Show last month and looking at some of the features on the mid-sized class A's the wife and I are considering to upgrade from our Itasca Cambria 30c to the Itasca Sunova 33c. The Sunova 33c has many of the features that we saw and are attracted to. The price is affordable and the trade-in tolerable. We are up sizing with the hopes to become snowbirds in a year or so. The Cambria is a great unit for short trips but doesn't have the room and storage we need for longer stays. The area that I am trying to get a grip on is the incidental costs such as maintenance, not necessarily numbers but any anticipated differences between the "C" and "A". On the surface I don't see much change from the Ford E450 V-10 to the Ford F53 V-10 chassis. In making the transition I just don't want to overlook anything in the decision making process. Any comments appreciated.

[erniee]

All you get is more room- and we all need more room to store more stuff.

[medico]

I found a Class A is easier to drive than a Class C, you can see better out the windshield and around the coach.

Plus you definitely get more room. I'm not really sure how much with such a small Class A, but more.

[kaypsmith]

Wise decision from class C to class A. Both being Ford V10 and possibly even the same transmission, mechanically shouldn't be that much difference. Both are front mounted engines, drive shaft lengths pretty close to the same.

As Medico pointed out the class A will an improvement in handling ability. Don't know the tire size of either, but the class A will probably have larger, which help increase load capacity. The larger tires will probably cost more, but if the new unit is new, that will put tire replacement at least 5 years down the road.

Good luck with your decision.

[ClayL]

For snowbirding I would get a 35/36 footer. That extra couple of feet can be really nice if you are snowbirding.

Something you need to be aware of.
Many full timers/snowbirds find that they need at least 1500 pounds of cargo carrying capacity (CCC) for each adult. The CCC or the newer designation OCCC will be on a sticker somewhere in the motor home - usually in a cabinet or closet.

You can see the definition of CCC HERE, and OCCC HERE.
Scroll down to "2009 New weight label" and download the pdf file.


To get CCC subtract the weight of water you will carry and the weight of the people you will carry from the OCCC.

It is common to see CCC numbers as low as a few hundred pounds (even on diesel pushers) which means it would be overloaded for weekend trips and unusable for full timing.

We have 2800 pounds of CCC and would like to have 3500. We started with a 30 footer with no slides and after a year traded it in on a new 35 footer with two slides.

[rmatteucci]

The Sunova 33c is 34' 7" in length and has considerable storage however you make some good points on the CCC or OCCC. The best I could find online was a 2013 Sunova 33c with a cargo listing of 4,008 lbs. (probably totally empty). It seems to be a secret until you look at the individual unit sticker as the different options would change the Cargo capacity. Even the several reviews I found online did not mention CCC. According to the RV Buyers Guide the 35 foot Sunova has a CCC of 3,600 and the 30 foot Sunova has a CCC of 5,300 it would hopefully be for the 33c somewhere in between. Nonetheless a good point to consider.

[campcop]

Have you looked at the Suncruiser 35F? That bath and a half sure is nice. We would never go back to one bath.

[jim.grove]

You will be amazed at how much more comfortable an A is vs a C. Much quieter and less radiated engine heat.

[pattexaco]

Take a look at the Tiffin 36LA, bath and a half and V-10 engine.