pjhootch
Iowa
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It seems for many people the unit you're looking at would be too small. That is really going to depend on you and your family. I think it would be just fine for what you're describing. The trick is really to pick something you like, that is mechanically sound and in good physical shape, and then make the best of it.
That size is perfect for National and State parks and easily driven. You run less risk of being overweight in the small unit than you do in a larger unit. Honestly, I think being limited in the amount of "stuff" you can pack into it is a positive instead of a negative. Most of us pack a ton of stuff we don't need that adds weight, just because we can fit it in and it might come in handy :-)
We have a 31 ft. monster and although I love it, we don't need it to be comfortable. We could have done well with a smaller unit too. Your kids are the perfect age to get used to a small motorhome. Of course they get bigger, but even so they can adjust to staying out of mom's way while cooking or playing outside instead of hanging around inside watching t.v. They can do that at home. My two youngest are about to be 18 and they still love camping with us and enjoy being outside or playing board games in the motorhome that they never think about when we are at home.
My folks had a 13 ft. camp trailer that we spent weeks in. They went on to a 24 ft. class A when I was a teen, and we crammed kids in and had a great time. We started with a pop-up when our kids were the age of yours. We did move to our big class C, but not because the kids got too big... because my tow vehicle was getting too old and I wanted to be able to pull over and crash on long trips across country.
I agree with the poster that said take all the kids with you and test drive it. See how it feels and take your best guess as to whether you can handle it or not.
P.J.
2006 Winnebago Outlook 31C
2001 Coleman Westlake
1996 Isuzu Rodeo
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delateurj
Sunnyvale, CA
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Joined: 09/20/2007
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We've had a FourWinds 2008 Dutchmen Express 23A for about a year. Not sure if that is the same as your depending on the year. But some thoughts are:
1. Seriously consider renting and trying it out for a long weekend. You won't be able to get exactly the same but Cruise America/El Monte have very similiar (24', rear corner bed, dinette into bed, overhead bunk.
2. If you plan on a lot of dry camping at state parks and such then check the grey water capacity. Older models were relatively low (25 gallons), one item I like about the 2008 was it going to 40 gallons.
3. Ours is comfortable with Wife and I and our large teenage son. Rear bed is plenty long, I'd like it be a little wider so if you are the sleep on your side with your arm out type of person then again I would recommend point 1 to see if this will work for you. But in the 24-25' range you are not going to go any wider.
4. The cabover bed is quite large on ours almost king size and can easily sleep 2 adults but the inside one has to crawl over the other if need to get out in middle of night and there is not much headroom.
Really depends on your intended use (how much time in camper, will you be camping in climates that have rainy days and require being inside all the time or not (rare for us)) and how long you want to go without out growing it. I think it would be okay for a few years but then you would out grow it.
For the price difference I would be looking for a used Tioga 26Q if I were you. That is what I would have gone with but I also wanted something that would fit in my driveway so we could just grab the keys and go and just come home when done. 26Q was just too long.
Hope this helps. Whatever you get, it'll be life changing in a good way.
- Joe.
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Hokie_Camper
Blacksburg
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Joined: 11/20/2007
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One question that I'm surprised that no one asked is which engine does the unit have. I have seen that some of the 23 foot units have the 5.4L Ford instead of the V10. Now the 5.4L is an excellent engine but I wonder how good it's going to be on a fully loaded MH with people, gear, water, etc.
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Harvey51
Alberta
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Joined: 12/11/2006
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When in doubt, start out small. You can always move up to a bigger one, but we all find it difficult to downsize. Perhaps that is un-American - we Canadians hear that you folks down south like to max out your credit cards and get the biggest and best soonest!
We liked the inside of a 26 footer, but I did not enjoy driving it and my wife wouldn't. We bought a 20 footer and we love it. We will certainly keep it until we are too old to climb up the ladder and probably beyond. I don't see any problem sleeping on the table. It is a huge improvement over setting up the tent.
2004 Adventurer (Canadian) 20 footer
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Bumpyroad
Virginia
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Joined: 12/01/2005
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I started out small with a 25 ft Class A Flair. after my first trip I discovered that was a mistake for just me and the wife. traded for a 32 ft. bounder.
bumpy
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klhutch
Sububan Chicago
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Joined: 09/14/2005
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Hokie_Camper wrote:One question that I'm surprised that no one asked is which engine does the unit have. I have seen that some of the 23 foot units have the 5.4L Ford instead of the V10.
Maybe they didn't ask because they checked the Four Winds website. The 23A is offered with the 6.8L Ford V10 or the 6.0L Chevy V8. Given that these are some of the smallest class C's on the road that is plenty of power.
Or maybe they didn't ask because it would make little difference if it did come with the 5.4L. For one thing the smaller C's almost always come with a Chevy option so if you disdain the 5.4L you can get the 6.0L. Unless you also disdain Chevy, of course. The 5.4L has 255 HP, 16% less than the V10. The 23A has a GVWR of 12,500 pounds or 13% less than the biggest V10 powered class C's. So the power rating would be pretty much in line with the GVWR if the 23A had the 5.4L. And when you look at class A's you will find 6.8L units with 92% greater GVWR and only 42% greater HP than a FW 23A with a 5.4L.
If you want to talk about towing, a V10 powered class A has up to 62% higher GCWR and still only 42% more HP. A V10 powered class C has up to 8% higher GCWR and 20% more HP. So for towing purposes the V10 has an edge over the 5.4L in class C's but not in class A's. Unless you tow a lot you would be well served by the 5.4L in a 23A. However the large storage area in the 23A makes it unlikely that you would need to tow a trailer for extra storage and the small size makes it unnecessary to tow a car for side trips. It is all moot of course since the 23A comes with the V10 if you want it. It's just that the 5.4L should not be a deal breaker in a unit this size. It would undoubtedly get better mpg.
Ken
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dmatt
Ventura County, CA
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Joined: 07/29/2003
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Harvey51 wrote:When in doubt, start out small. You can always move up to a bigger one, but we all find it difficult to downsize. Perhaps that is un-American - we Canadians hear that you folks down south like to max out your credit cards and get the biggest and best soonest!
We liked the inside of a 26 footer, but I did not enjoy driving it and my wife wouldn't. We bought a 20 footer and we love it. We will certainly keep it until we are too old to climb up the ladder and probably beyond. I don't see any problem sleeping on the table. It is a huge improvement over setting up the tent.
The only problem I see with this is that in this buying market you may be "stuck" with an unwanted RV for some time. If you start out buying something you aren't sure you can live with, and it's TOO small,etc., then you're gonna take a good sized hit trading up...that is assuming you can trade up at all with the banking industry as it is. JMHO
Don, Jackie and the Boyz
Madison our baby Aussy Shepard
O'Malley the Alley Cat
2007 Four Winds Dutchmen 29R-Ford E-450 V-10 towing a 2008 Toyota Matrix XR
Our camping photos
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burlmart
Baton Rouge
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Joined: 03/28/2005
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In the noticeable absence of replies from the OP, I think we are kinda just talking amongst fellow C owners.
2005 Trail Lite 213 B-Plus w/ 6.0 Chevy
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Cougargm
NE PA
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No, I've been following the thread all along and appreciate the insights posters have offered. I think PJHOOTCH hit the nail on the head as to what we've been thinking. I know it's small and we might feel cramped at times; however, we're looking at it for mainly sleeping, showering and eating some meals inside. I think it'll be primarily a destination vehicle (the lack of a slideout doesn't matter when we're driving and then a place to stay the night. Even at campgrounds the kids will be outside much of the day and we'll be under the awning ourselves when not doing something with the kids.
It seems to be mechanically sound, low mileage, in vg condition...things that are important to us since it'd be our first MH and I'm not a mechanic with cars/trucks. There's a decent amount of inside storage and I think a hitch cargo carrier can compensate for the lack of significant outside storage.
We just sold our 298BH w/ the large slideout, so all but the largest Cs are going to seem small in comparison. While that was a great floorplan for seasonal camping, it's nothing we'd want to tow and a lot more than we'd need for road travel.
I think ideally a 26' w a small slideout would be ideal but I haven't found many available in spite of extensive online searches. I think the biggest problem I foresee with a 23A (which is 24') is dressing in the AM and making a meal inside when the kids pass you on the way to the bathroom.
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Hokie_Camper
Blacksburg
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Joined: 11/20/2007
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klhutch wrote:Hokie_Camper wrote:One question that I'm surprised that no one asked is which engine does the unit have. I have seen that some of the 23 foot units have the 5.4L Ford instead of the V10.
Maybe they didn't ask because they checked the Four Winds website. The 23A is offered with the 6.8L Ford V10 or the 6.0L Chevy V8. Given that these are some of the smallest class C's on the road that is plenty of power.
Or maybe they didn't ask because it would make little difference if it did come with the 5.4L. For one thing the smaller C's almost always come with a Chevy option so if you disdain the 5.4L you can get the 6.0L. Unless you also disdain Chevy, of course. The 5.4L has 255 HP, 16% less than the V10. The 23A has a GVWR of 12,500 pounds or 13% less than the biggest V10 powered class C's. So the power rating would be pretty much in line with the GVWR if the 23A had the 5.4L. And when you look at class A's you will find 6.8L units with 92% greater GVWR and only 42% greater HP than a FW 23A with a 5.4L.
If you want to talk about towing, a V10 powered class A has up to 62% higher GCWR and still only 42% more HP. A V10 powered class C has up to 8% higher GCWR and 20% more HP. So for towing purposes the V10 has an edge over the 5.4L in class C's but not in class A's. Unless you tow a lot you would be well served by the 5.4L in a 23A. However the large storage area in the 23A makes it unlikely that you would need to tow a trailer for extra storage and the small size makes it unnecessary to tow a car for side trips. It is all moot of course since the 23A comes with the V10 if you want it. It's just that the 5.4L should not be a deal breaker in a unit this size. It would undoubtedly get better mpg.
Ken
I asked about the 5.4L because when I started looking it seems that the rental units 23A that Cruise America has, have the 5.4L.
As for Ford vs. Chevy. For years I had GM vehicles and then switched to Fords and have only had Fords for the last 10 years. Given GMs financial issues, I can't say I'd by a Chevy right now unless I got one hell of a deal. Couple that with a family member who works for Ford and it would have to really a steal!
In any case, thanks for the other points though. I'm still looking for my first Class C and still learning. I'm personally looking for as small a unit as possible with a rear queen size bed, with a Ford V10.
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