Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2011 18:12:30 -0700
Reply-To: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: camper conversion other than Volkswagen
In-Reply-To: <524797FBDFE54F7EA2D9C28411B5C875@troyb5bff49d63>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
On Fri, Mar 25, 2011 at 3:50 PM, Troy <colorworks@gci.net> wrote:
> 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
I see lots of those during my winter visit to the Southwest. They are
motor homes more than Westie-type vans. Big, full size 3/4 ton Vans with
added height and weight.
I owned a 318 Dodge V8 long chassis van with an adventure type top, about
6-8" taller than stock. I recall closer to 12-14mpg with that one, and not
so good traction in sand or snow. Newer ones probably do better for fuel
consumption...but they are big and heavy vans, no getting around that.
Seems like they'd be more suited to freeway and large highways than a
Westie, but not so versatile. They drag going in and out of driveways (long
rear overhang) or at least half the ones I saw did. Lots and lots of them
in the California and Arizona desert..I think urban people who RV have
them. People that may be forbidden to own motorhomes by their condo owners
board or homowner's organization. You could probably park one on the street
or in a residential drive and not piss anyone off...I don't think you would
ever consider using one daily or driving it just to get somewhere in the
city.
Certainly smaller than the Class C motorhomes.
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