B+ motorhomes

[Daniel_C_]

I just bought a Trail Lite B+ 211s with 8.1 Chevy
engine. This is my fifth motorhome (others range
from an old 20' Vagabond, and three Winnegagos, from 19 to 32'. This vehicle is fantastic. I am
using it as a mobile office (and sneaking in a fun
journey from time to time). It gets about 9.5mpg
and I believe I could pull a bus behind it if I wanted! I paid low $40's which is about what I had expected to pay for a five or six year old Chinook with a nicer interior, but fewer features
(slide). I am delighted thus far.

[Wade_K_]

Gee guys, you're scaring me away from B+'s! ;^)

[Br-]

We just got out B+ back yesterday from the rv dealer, sat there for two wks. and hadn't even been looked at until we called the owner of the dealership and told him what was going on. Very
poor service. Anyway, an oxygen sensor was replaced (check engine light) and they also replaced the fuel filter, but not sure why. Poor reception in the radio, but nothing was done about that. A few other minor problems were taken
care of. We also had a problem with the drawers bouncing around some. One with the silverware actually flew off the track. The fresh water tank was also dripping from the drain tube, bad shutoff valve. We'll be taking our next trip the middle of May and will check for any more problems then. You're right about the beds, not quite enough room, but we can live with it.

[Daniel_C_]

UPDATE:
I am beginning to see some binding in the slide. Fortunately, I don't have to worry about an electric motor freezing up, since it uses a manual crank. Don't really know if there is an adjustment I can make to get everything to go smoothly. Also am struggling with an annoying problem of water being syphoned out of the water tank. I do a lot of driving in city streets and the water probably sloshes around a lot as a result. I had thought that it was being pulled out of the vent tube, but I now think that it just gets pushed out of the fill tube. I may have to install a one way valve of some sort to correct this (easier to do this myself than to leave two or three days at dealer). Driving on rough roads is taking a toll on the drawers (I can't keep any weight in them, because they get bounced off the rails, and the microwave is apparently supported by the shroud around it - it needs more support on the bottom. The bouncing is tearing the shroud at the corners. Those things will get done by the dealer. I already have 6,000 miles that I have driven on it in about 10 weeks! Got to start sharing the driving with my other car, but I just love having my "office" with me! The 211S model really has 2 single beds rather than doubles (40"wide and a single mattress is 39"). Stay thin if you are more than 2 people!

[bhk]

Please tell us, how do you like it?
we are lookingat the BT cruisers

what problems have you had (if any)?

[Daniel_C_]

UPDATE:
Just got my Trail Lite back from a list of things needing correcting. My first concern was that the bottom of the slide was making contact when extended, and I feared leaking during a rainstorm. The factory rep told the dealer that this is planned, and the large seal at the top will keep water out. There is still some reinforcing that needs to be done on the front of the slide - just quality control. The dealer has several in stock and I will begin looking at some of the construction to see if they continued making some of the same mistakes. I had a fantastic vent installed (with the thermostat, but not the rain shutoff feature), and love it. When I ordered the unit, I didn't order the $300 CD player, so I installed a Kenwood, with a pair of Kenwood speakers in front. The stereo went in easily, but the speakers were a pain in the a**. the door has a rivited extension to accomodate the factory 6.5 " speaker, and I had to work with my dremel to fabricate a suitable secure mount for the replacement speakers (which frankly don't make a lot of difference in the sound). I believe I am going to put in a "canceling" phone jack in the back to mount some old Radio Shack bookshelf speakers I have to replace the factory speakers when I want to plug in the other speakers. I will have to use the other type of jack to not mess up the impedence of the rear speaker circuit.
I am still getting about 10mpg. Planning a trip to the Valley in Texas in about a month. I will drive 65 for that trip to see what kind of mileage to expect under the most conservative conditons.
still love it!

[Daniel_C_]

COMPARISON BETWEEN TRAIL LITE AND GULFSTREAM CONQUEST SERIES:
I just looked at a 24' Conquest (by Gulfstream) at Camping World in New Braunfels. I must say that the unit looked pretty impressive to me. I will try to compare the strengths over the Trail Lite and the disadvantages
Pluses: Conquest has better seats (leather front seats), better wheel covers, dry bath, a little nicer interior, larger 2door refer, electric slide (I'm not sure it's better, but is more expensive than my crank out system), electric steps; Extended, it appears a little roomier inside.
Minuses: Conquest appears to be $7-8,000 more. It is 2 feet longer, and heavier. Has the Ford chassis (I prefer the Chevy 8.1). I didn't drive it, but I suspect that the heavier weight makes it feel more like a motorhome than the Trail Lite (I believe that the Trail Lite is about 8,500 lbs wet and loaded, with a chassis capability of 12,300 lbs).
I am still happy with my choice, but the marketplace is waking up to B+ sizes, which is good for everyone shopping for a good "in between sized" motorhome. I also wonder if resale will favor the Trail Lite, since every vehicle regresses to $0 in time!

*This Message was edited on 06-Apr-02 02:54 PM by Daniel C.*

[Tilla]

Dear experts on the American Motor home scene!
I sincerely hope someone will take the trouble to enlighten me on the following: I am a South African mother visiting my son who is graduating (grade 12) at Interlochen, MI. I would love to rent a motor home (minibus converted into a caravan, we would say in South Africa.) This I would like to rent in Michigan (any city) or even in Chicago for 2 weeks. Do small motor homes exist in the USA? Is the normal drivers licence for sedan legal? Thank you in anticipation! Tilla Henkins

[Daniel_C_]

MacHokie:
I would urge you to drive a 5.7 unit before buying one. I drove one in Boerne Tx, expecting to order that version. The salesman urged me to order the 8.1. I found the smaller engine adequate, but not inspiring, and followed his advise against my instincts that I ALWAYS know better than a salesman! Think of towing a boat or other vehicle, before deciding. As for test drives, get in touch with some dealers in Las Vegas, and strike Nellis with your Eagle. Then you can decide if it's worth driving down there with your family!

[MacHokie]

Thanks for the words Daniel. We thought the 5.7 liter would be sufficient with it's 325lbs of tourque on such a lightweight rig. We are still debating our options. Not too many dealers out here in Idaho, we have to travel quite a ways to see the rv's we are interested in. I would love to take a look at the Phoenix Cruiser 21 footer. That's a 7 hour drive to the neartest dealer though. The Gulfstream with the slide is too big for us at 23 feet. I am in my 9th year on active duty, currently flying the F-15E Strike Eagle. I hope they let me keep doing it for another 11 years! Thanks again!

[mdreilly]

It's maybe a little more expensive but the Phoenix Cruiser offers slide outs in the B+ category. Our local dealer has a 21" with slide that looks very nice.

[Daniel_C_]

MacHokie:
I can understand that you are worried about quality issues, especially after reading the thread. I have bought five new (and four used) rv's over the past thirty years. The highest dollar model was a 1986 Winnebago Chieftan. They all had problems for a while after I took delivery. I cannot talk to the high dollar vehicles (like Xplorer, Dynamax products, or Chinook, but many of the appliances are similar. Usually the exterior and interior trim is the difference. In short, if you are satisfied that you like the way the 211S rides, and looks, I would get the best price and go for it. If the slide is what you are attracted to, I don't believe that there are any other offerings than the Gulf Stream, and Trail Lite. I am not familiar with the Gulf Stream personally, but believe that it is a little better trimmed, a little longer, and a few thousand dollars more. I am very comfortable driving my motorhome, both in rush hour traffic (San Antonio), on Interstate driving, and on two lane highways. I have very good power (I do not recommend the chevy 5.7 engine which was only adequate at sea level, and probably only gets 15-20% better mileage). The Ford engines may be good also, but I do not believe that the V10 gets any better mileage, and the chevy seems to have much better numbers for the same price. Maybe the 5.4L Ford would work well, since the motorhome is pretty light. I get about 10mpg in all around driving, which is acceptable to me. Be sure to get a quote from campersfactoryoutlet.com if you are working with a local dealer. Their price does not include delivery, so figure at least a thousand (maybe a little less to the Boise area) for that. I assumed from the beginning that there were going to be more warranty claims than other units I have bought, but the difference in price, and the fact that most of the vehicle is the same as more expensive ones convinced me to go for it, and I am still delighted. I assume from your profile that you are in the Air Force? I retired about 13 years ago out of Nellis - staying in for a 20 year career was one of the few really smart life decisions I ever made. Good luck in your career!

[MacHokie]

Hey Daniel C. What is the latest with your 211s slide out? My wife and I are on the fence about purchasing a 211s. We really like the unit, but we don't want to deal with a rash of quality issues. Any thoughts? Thanks!

*This Message was edited on 26-Mar-02 09:48 PM by MacHokie*

[CJB]

I agree about the tension between the Coach and chassis manufacturers. I have had quite a fight with Dodge with our Roadtrek- it seems that their pat answer with any problem is that it is the "conversion" that is causing the problem. I have also had bad luck with the Roadtrek dealer being willing to fix certain things, while Home&Park is very good about calling back and saying such problems should have been fixed under warranty. My problems and others that I have heard about have made me feel very reluctant to ever purchase new again.

[Daniel_C_]

Br:
I am sorry that you are having such a problem with your new vehicle. There seems to be an unspoken tension between chassis manufacturers and rv manufacturers. Imagine if the chevy dealer felt that the crack in the transmission case was the fault of a blow during the coach manufacturing process! I know that here (New Braunfels, Tx), the relationship seems to be pretty cooperative. While my coach was in the chevy shop getting a oxygen sensor replaced, the dealer was troubleshooting a misfire that I had complained about. They found that an errant screw had penetrated a vehicle wiring harness during construction - cost to troubleshoot and fix was over $600, and the R-Vision people approved the work almost instantly. The total time my vehicle was out of commission was two days. Don't give up on your trip yet. If they can get the transmission in by Thursday, they should be able to slap that baby in Friday and you could leave Saturday easily! Please give yourself some time to get used to your vehicle before deciding that having a hotel on wheels is folley. I have put about 4,500 miles on a similar chassis in less than two months, and am really pleased with its performance overall.

[Br-]

Update on B+ transmission:

Chevy dealer worked on the trans last week, replaced a few parts but it was shifting hard. They decided to replace the whole trans, supposedly ordered one from Detroit. We are still waiting as the trans has not come in yet.
We were planning to leave saturday for Virginia Beach, and right now it looks like the trip will be canceled. Kind of ironic, the chevy dealer said the trans was built right here in Toledo. The dealer we bought the RV from has not been very helpful. They just want to know what the problem is so they can decide if they will continue to sell the B+'s or not. At this point we are very disgusted with the whole mess.

Hope you have better luck with yours.