Trading in a Class A for a Class C motorhome

 

I'm sure many will think this is a downgrade, and years ago, it would have been.  Have you looked at Class Cs lately?  Times have changed, and so have their floor plans.  I've owned two Class As, and lived in the first one for about a year.  The latest one was a 2015 Forest River Georgetown 328TS.  It was about 34', and was equipped with most of the bells and whistles.  It had 3 slides, and a decent amount of storage, and was equipped for a washer/dryer.  It started having some issues, and since we would both be retired soon, we decided to trade it in on a new RV, that comes with a warranty.

But a shorter Class C?  One major downside to the Class A was the horrible floor plan.  With all 3 slides open, it had a huge living room.  If you plan on hosting an indoor dance, you're all set.  But it's wasted space otherwise.  Check out the pics below, I'll try to capture the differences between them, and why this is a far better setup for us.

 

 

Our Previous Class A

Our Current Class C

A 2015 Forest River Georgetown 328TS.  35' Class A with 3 slides.  5000 lb. towing capacity.
A 2023 Thor KW29 Quantum. 31' Class C with 2 slides. 7500 lb. towing capacity.

The floor plan.  Notice the huge amount of wasted space in the living room area.  Also, take a look at where the TV is located and where the couch is situated.
This floor plan is about 4' shorter.  Very little wasted space.  Many of the same features, but appears to be designed by someone who actually RVs.  Note where the theater reclining seats are, and where the TV is located.

Both of my Class As had the Ford V10 on the F53 chassis.  6.8L, with sufficient power to keep up with traffic, and merge onto highways.  Changing the oil and filter sucked.  The filter was located over chassis components, as was the drain plug.  Messy job.  The hood barely opened, and there wasn't enough room to even get a quart container into the fill tube.  Absolute stupid design.  I averaged 5-6 MPG towing a Jeep.
The new Class C came equipped with Ford's new larger 7.3L V8.  Two less cylinders, but more overall displacement.  It has been nicknamed the "Godzilla" motor.  Plenty of power.  This is the engine being used in all their fleet vehicles, and is over built for RVs, which is not a bad thing.  The oil pan is fully exposed, and the drain plug and filter are right next to one another.  Best layout I've ever seen, and very easy to do preventative maintenance.  The chassis is an E450 cutaway model, with the MORryde suspension.  I'm averaging 8-9 MPG towing a Jeep.

One piece fiberglass roof, with two 13,500 BTU A/C units.  While this sounds like a plus, it wasn't.  Forest River had issues with the Filon material wrinkling and cracking along the curved radius.  Mine had this issue, and my year RV wasn't covered, according to Forest River.  The following year was.  Consequently, I can't recommend their products.  Post sale customer support is paramount, especially for an admitted design flaw.  One of the A/C units failed, and I replaced it.  Still had a very hard time keeping up with the summer heat load in Florida.
One piece membrane roof.  Two 11,000 BTU high efficiency A/C units. While these units had less cooling capacity on paper, they moved as much air as the larger ones, and put out much colder air.  These work very well, and actually cycle on/off throughout the day.  It even came with a 100 Watt solar panel, and charge controller.

The online spec sheet for my specific RV.
The window sticker for the Class C.  I paid about $55K less than the sticker price.

With the slides pulled in, there is a narrow path to gain access to the back of the RV.  The bed CAN be used with the slides retracted.
With the slides pulled in, there's a little more room to reach the back of the RV.  However, the mattress folds with the slide in, and CAN'T be used.  But the dinette bed, and the overhead bunk can.

Middle of the RV, slides out, looking towards the front. Big open floor plan.  Look what's across from the couch.
Slides out, looking forward.  Less open floor space.  Very comfortable seating, directly across from the dinette and 42" TV.

View from the front, looking towards the rear.  All slides out.  Look at the TV location.
Same view, both slides out. Much less open floor space, but plenty of room.

This is the most surprising thing for me.  Both of my Class As (36' and 34'), only had a queen bed. There also was no room to walk around the far side.
A real king sized bed.  The last 1/3 of the mattress is hinged, flipping back on itself when the slide is retracted.  But once it's laid flat, the seam can't be felt.  We did add a 3" mattress topper, making this bed more comfortable than our bed at home.

The dash air was an Evans Tempcon RV system.  They are known for being lackluster, even when new.  I replaced the expansion valve on ours, which only slightly helped.  Both roof top A/C units, and generator, had to be run to keep the temperature comfortable while driving, and it struggled.
The dash A/C on the E450 chassis is the same one in the fleet vehicles.  Extremely reliable and puts out COLD air.  You don't need to run the generator and roof top A/C units to keep the cab cool while driving in the summer heat.  We do, but that reduces the cool down time of the entire RV once we setup at our destination.  I end up making it so cold, even with the fan on low, my wife grabs a blanket.

 

There are some other differences, like the size of the generator.  The Class A had an Onan 5500W model, the Class C has a 4000W model.  But the C has smaller, more efficient roof top A/C units, and doesn't require the larger generator.  The appliances in the Class A were residential size.  Big fridge, even larger than the one in our house, but only ran on AC power.  The one in the Class C is 10 cubic foot, a reasonable size for an RV, and operates on DC power.  The A had an oven, and a separate large microwave.  The C has a combination convection microwave, about the same size.  The A had  gas burners.  The C has two gas burners, and two induction burners, which are incredibly fast.

Outside, the Class A wins hands down for under floor storage.  The bays are taller.  Consequently, the floor is higher off the ground, making the driver that much higher from the road.  The C has shorter storage bays, but also makes for a shorter RV.  It's 11' 2" tall, vs. over 12' for the A.  Both have about the same 7' ceilings.

The F53 chassis, used on Class As has been around a long time.  Handles poorly, even with upgrades.  It was exhausting to drive as I was constantly fighting it's tendency to wander.  Tires are larger, and have to be balanced and installed at a truck tire shop.  Prices are much higher too.  The E450 chassis is used in all of the Ford fleet vehicles that have a van style front end.  This one came with the MORryde suspension, and handled well right from the factory.  I've done a couple of upgrades too, and my wife can drive it.  It's not as intimidating as the Class A.  The older I get, the more important it becomes that we can both break down camp, and drive the RV home.

So if you're in the market for an RV, do yourself a favor, go look at the Class Cs as well.  The days of a Gaucho style bed are gone.  Class Cs have real beds now.  Some Class Cs can be even more luxurious than a Class A.  Similar features can be available in both.  I was also pleasantly surprised when my annual RV insurance dropped almost in half, likely due to the weight class difference.

 

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Last updated 08/06/23    All rights reserved.