Date: Sun, 27 Mar 2011 17:21:34 -0700
Reply-To: Al Knoll <anasasi@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Al Knoll <anasasi@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: camper conversion other than Volkswagen
In-Reply-To: <524797FBDFE54F7EA2D9C28411B5C875@troyb5bff49d63>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Compared to our beloved spam cans, a junk is much harder to steer. However
they do have their advantages in Tsunamis.
Not a member of Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club, but does own driveable junk.
Pensionerd.
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
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