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Prospecive LD owner Questions
Yahoo Message Number: 56777
I have been hanging around this site and searched the archives for a few weeks.  Thought I would venture a post to solicit advice and information from you LD owners out there.  We currently have a 21 ft Chinook Concourse.  It has served us well for our 1 week trips.  We have just retired and plan to spend more time on the road and plan to sell our Chinook.  We cannot afford the larger Chinook units and have noticed that LD seems to have a loyal and enthusiastic following.  So we have focused on this brand.  We plan a trip to the factory soon.  Currently we are thinking about three areas: handling and stability, towing a Jeep Unlimited, and floorplan/size.
1.  Our Chinook handles really well.  It is a low profile and has  the Mor Ride suspension.  Searching this site, there are a number of  posts that suggest upgrades to the suspension such as the front  stabilizer, sway bars and shocks.  This suggests that there are some  that have difficulty driving a stock LD.  We are not experienced  large vehicle drivers and are concerned that we may purchase a new  motorhome with more interior space but we are white knuckled when  driving it. Would appreciate any input here.
2.  To add to the stability concerns above, we plan to tow our Jeep  on most trips.  We have noticed that the side wind load in strong  cross winds when towing with our Chinook.  When towing we feel  comfortable between 50 and 55 mph.  The LD is a larger unit and we  are hopeful that the Jeep is a smaller percentage of the wind area  and therefore less noticable.  What are your experiences?
3.  We like going to camp sites off the beaten path.  We generally  stay in RV parks only when traveling between locations.  We stay in  NF campgrounds and the rougher the dirt road to the campground, the  better (usually less people willing to drive the road).  We can get  our Chinook into just about any tent site in NF campgrounds.  We are  hoping that we can get a LD 24 or 26 into the same site's with a  little more work.  For those of you out there that go for remote  camping, what are our experiences with the longer units?
4.  We are considering the 26 MB which seems to be the most
 popular.  We are a couple with a golden retriever.  Currently we have to make up our bed from the sofa and dinette in the Chinook every night.  We would love to have a sleeping area that we can leave mostly setup and is separate from the main living/cooking areas.  How do you folks with MB units use your rear area?  For people with the other floor plans what is your current experiences with the plans and what would you change?  Or if you could buy again, would you purchase the same plan and why?
 I realize this is a killer long post.  I appreciate your reply's and look forward to being another LD owner.  Bill Fender
Re: Prospecive LD owner Questions
Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 56778
Bill,

I can address two of your concerns:

1.  Our Chinook handles really well.  It is a low profile and has  the Mor Ride suspension.  Searching this site, there are a number  of posts that suggest upgrades to the suspension such as the front  stabilizer, sway bars and shocks.  This suggests that there are  some that have difficulty driving a stock LD.  We are not  experienced large vehicle drivers and are concerned that we may  purchase a new motorhome with more interior space but we are white  knuckled when driving it. Would appreciate any input here.

I had never driven a MH in my life and the evasive changing lane  demonstration (where Ed Newton - LD president whipped a 26.5 MB from  one lane to the adjacent lane) suprised and scared the hell out of me.
 I was sure we'd capsize. NOT! We have no suspension upgrades other  than the optional Bilstein shocks and my MB is very stable. After 9000  miles I feel like an old pro. I'm not bothered in the least with cross  winds or passing 18-wheelers.

4.  We are considering the 26 MB which seems to be the most
 popular.  We are a couple with a golden retriever.  Currently we have to make up our bed from the sofa and dinette in the Chinook every night.  We would love to have a sleeping area that we can leave mostly setup and is separate from the main living/cooking areas.  How do you folks with MB units use your rear area?  For people with the other floor plans what is your current experiences with the plans and what would you change?  Or if you could buy again, would you purchase the same plan and why?

Rather than place all the sofa cushions wall-to-wall to make a king bed we pull out both sofas until we have an "aisle" about 9 inches wide between them. That leaves us the equivelent of two twin beds and we leave twin mattress toppers and travasacks in place during our travels. It easier to make our way to the bathroom at night without disturbing the other and it's still easy to watch TV and snack comfortably. Our toy poodle loves to make the "scary jump" across the "chasm" several times a night to share himself with both of us. If we plan to entertain we stow the bedding, reposition the sofas and have at it.

Paul NE 50 2004 26.5MB
 
Re: Prospecive LD owner Questions
Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 56785
Mr. Bill Fender: To answer your posted questions, I will chime in with our experience owning first a 23.5 Multi-Plan and now a 26.5 MB LD.

"1.  Our Chinook handles really well...some have difficulty driving a stock LD." (We also had no experience driving anything bigger than a station wagon and had no difficulty driving either the 23.5 or the 26.5 stock vehicles. The vast majority of LD owners mirror this experience.)
 "2.  To add to the stability concerns above, we plan to tow our Jeep on most trips." (We tow a Honda CR-V and never know it's back there. We have numerous friends who tow Jeeps with the same ease.)

"3.  We like going to camp sites off the beaten path...For those of you out there that go for remote camping, what are our experiences with the longer units?" (We haven't tried fitting into spaces intended for tents, but have easily fit into spaces that were designated for much smaller units in NF parks.)

"4.  We are considering the 26 MB which seems to be the most popular...what would you change?" (We love our MB and use the rear portion for everything because we treasure the vistas we have with the wrap around windows. The sofas are kept somewhat pulled out and require no additional fussing with when bedtime comes. The MB is a perfect unit in our eyes and we wouldn't change a thing. The Rear Bath would be the only other model we might be interested in if we didn't have the MB.)

Anne Johnson

Loverly La Verne, CA