Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2011 14:50:04 -0800
Reply-To: Troy <colorworks@GCI.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Troy <colorworks@GCI.NET>
Subject: camper conversion other than Volkswagen
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I have read many times that there are no replacements for our beloved vanagon. I largely agree. I was looking at the T5, aka "CALIFORNIA", and in the comments one person mentioned how lucky we are in the US to have Roadtrek's. I really had never heard of Roadtrek, but a quick Google search revealed all kinds of information. This is basically a small class B. motorhome, er van conversion. These are built on either a Dodge 2500 chassis, or the newer ones are on a Chevy 3500 chassis. They are 17 feet long (smallest) and about a foot wider than a vanagon.
They had a 3 Cu.³ refrigerator (3 way), hot water heater, furnace, motorized fan in skylight, a toilet, indoor shower, tons of storage, 26 gallon freshwater tank, graywater tank, black water tank, 8 pound propane capacity, and a generator which runs an air conditioner and microwave (yuck), but I may change my mind when it was 100° outside;) auxiliary battery, swivel seats, airbags, antilock brakes, and well a bunch of other things. They kind of remind me of an adventure wagon in some ways for height, but are a bit wider. You would need a 9 foot garage door to put them inside, as I think they are about 8 feet tall. Surprisingly, they get close to 20 miles to the gallon. Engine is a 318 V8.
A brand-new one would set you back probably $85,000, but there are some very nice low mileage ones at under 30K and higher mileage ones at about 15K. Seems like all the complaints that we talk about with our westy are addressed in one of these. Yes, there are drawbacks too. About 9 inches of ground clearance versus about 11 for a vanagon, longer wheelbase, but still van size. The newer ones have limited slip differentials and four-wheel-drive options. Motorized seats, leather interiors, etc.
I have only seen one of these in person and liked the layout. Does anyone have any comments good or bad about these? I know virtually nothing about them other than what's been mentioned above. An alternative to a westy? or junk?
Troy |