Lazy Daze Owners' Group

Re: Weights and Tires

Reply #25 – December 26, 2015, 10:27:42 am

Yahoo Message Number: 157742

---

Thanks for info on Tiffin.  I still stick with Foretravel

I never liked side outs.  It is nice in my IB that I have Concept 2 rower stored upright on where one of the barrel chair is then I put that rower on the hallway rowing and watching on 42 inch LED TV.  (We gotta take care of our bodies!)

Too bad IB did not work out well for me as a full timer rig so I have to move up to Class A.

I can see IB being hot seller if mothership can put IB on F550 chassis (with turbo diesel) (and same time maybe extend to something like 33 feet or so which allow the addition of closets and drawers (as well storage bays).  Then it would be very viable full timer rig stealing good number of sales from Class A market.
 If I ll downsize then it would be LD for sure, most likely the 27 ones.

Jamie

Re: Weights and Tires

Reply #27 – December 26, 2015, 12:23:25 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 157745

---

Chris,

Here is a short recap of our transition.
 We had traveled fairly extensively in our 2002 MB, with several trips of multiple months.  On a trip of nearly 6 months during winter and spring of 2014, we found ourselves wanting to explore nearly every area in much more depth.  During this trip, the idea of going full time really took hold.  We decided we did not want to keep and rent our home in California or try to keep anything in storage.  But we knew that we would need more carrying capacity and living space if we were parked for longer periods. Our perspective changed from a travel vehicle to a movable home, using our tow vehicle to really explore out of a base camp.
 My sister and brother-in-law had a gas model Tiffin, so when we started looking into possible class A rigs, Tiffin was included.  For us, Tiffin fairly quickly stood out as having the best after sale customer support.  One of the strongest things for us is the very active Tiffin Owners RV Network forum.  This discussion forum reminds me a lot of the LD Yahoo group.  This group discusses the pluses and minuses of the brand, upgrades, problems, repairs, campgrounds, gatherings, etc.
 After our house sold, we took the LD on a last trip, back to Alabama (where the Tiffin factory is) to see the 2016 model year changes.  We had settled on the Tiffin Allegro Bus 37AP.  After deciding on what we wanted, we sent our order configuration to three dealers near to Tiffin that were highly recommended  by others on the forum.  We ended up working with Davis Motorhomes in Memphis.  While waiting for the production schedule, we spent some more time traveling in the Southeast.  Once the production start was near, we went back to Red Bay, Alabama to be in the factory during the build of our rig.  Tiffin is one of the few (maybe only) companies that will allow you to be right on the factory floor right next to the people building your rig.  We felt that it was both fascinating and a privilege to watch the entire process from beginning to end and take photos of things before they are covered as the rig gets assembled.  The QA people also gave us rolls of the colored masking tape they flag issues with and told us to mark anything we were concerned about.

After the new rig was ready to be shipped to the dealer, we made a quick trip back to California (where we had some stuff in storage), put the LD and Jeep in storage, and flew back to Memphis to take delivery.  After spending a week near Memphis to look for any issues, we drove the new rig out to CA.  After emptying the storage lockers and selling the LD, we are finally on the road and traveling when and where the mood strikes us.

Art

Tiffin Forum

Reply #29 – December 26, 2015, 02:02:13 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 157751

---

Art:

Is the Tiffin forum you mention at tiffinrvnetwork.com ?

Kevin

Re: Weights and Tires

Reply #31 – December 27, 2015, 08:33:14 am

Yahoo Message Number: 157759

---

Born Free Class C rigs are often considered quality on par with LDs...well built & similar safety record with LDs...nice crafted storage...another consideration, newer BFs have slide outs. born free. rv with slide outs images Best Wishes on your search Blessed Christmas!

Re: Weights and Tires

Reply #33 – December 27, 2015, 10:19:39 am

Yahoo Message Number: 157763

---

This may be the effect of Born Free being bought by an investment group last January.  There were plans to grow the company larger.  It remains to be seen what the end effects on the Born Free line will be.

Art

Re: Weights and Tires

Reply #35 – December 27, 2015, 12:13:01 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 157766

---

in re Born Free The quality may be there. You will pay more and not get what is standard on a LD. Also, they don't have the windows the LD does. I have walked through two of them. I had no interest in them.

Re: Weights and Tires

Reply #37 – December 27, 2015, 08:13:22 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 157773

---

"in re Born Free The quality may be there. You will pay more and not get what is standard on a LD. Also, they don't have the windows the LD does. I have walked through two of them."

If the ones you walked through were more than about 4 years old, they barely resemble the ones being made today.  The models being sold now not only have the standard features the LD has but offer several others. The air conditioner is available as either ducted or non-ducted 15K BTU (the ducted is really quiet).  The floors are all vinyl tile (heated tile is an option). A demand style water heater is standard but a 6 gallon gas/electric heater is available at the same price.  All models come with a 30K BTU Suburban 2 speed furnace that is really quiet.  Winterizing valves are built in and are easy to access and use.  The company is very accommodating with changes.  When we ordered ours, I did not like the layout of the bathroom on the model we selected.  They offered to install the bathroom from another model with no change in price.  Almost any customization you want is available for a reasonable price.

If you are thinking about purchasing a new class C it is worth looking at their web site before making up your mind.  I was all set to order another LD until I discovered that I could get a Born Free on a Ford F550 diesel 4WD chassis.  Yes, it cost a lot more than the LD but most of the price difference was due to the different chassis and the diesel generator.  Now that we have used it for a full year, I really would not want to go back to a LD.

Monti

Re: Weights and Tires

Reply #39 – December 27, 2015, 10:57:43 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 157777

---

For what it's worth, we will not really get another LD either.  Our '09 MB will outlast both of us.  Frankly, it's built much better than I am, has a stronger engine than I have and with a 28 gallon black tank, oh my!    If I could only have 1/2 that size of a bladder, I might be able to sleep all night.  Finally, our LD doesn't leak.  Sometimes I do.  As I said, we will not really get another LD either.  And so it goes.

Ed & Margee Fort Worth

Re: Weights and Tires

Reply #41 – December 28, 2015, 11:06:40 am

Yahoo Message Number: 157781

---

It's been more than a few years since I walked through a Born Free. Back then, the workmanship seemed impressive, but the design and accommodations did not appear to lend themselves well for boondocking. And with about half the water tankage of an LD, they still don't.

Looking at the Born Free website, lots of things look to have been improved, I guess some of that has happened at LD too. Born Free takes a different approach to coach building as compared to LD. LD is very price conscious, often refusing to upgrade things until virtually forced to do so and having a strong aversion to change. Ed, rip, was of the mind that we know how to build them, we know what's best, and by the way, we know what's best for you too!

At 50% more money than an LD, Born Free is obviously not price conscious. They are courting a different market and seem to take the approach, if it's a nice improvement or an often requested upgrade, let's do it!

While I like the appointments of the BF, and even considering that at my age I'd rather buy an RV with all the goodies already installed, even if it costs a lot more for this convenience, the BF's lack of boondocking capacity makes is unworkable for me.

bumper

Born Free was Re: [LD] Weights and Tires

Reply #43 – December 28, 2015, 07:08:23 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 157796

---

I'll admit up I'm a bit of a nerd.  I love numbers and in depth research.  When Lizbeth and I were looking to buy a new RV we needed to know.  We have worked hard for the money we have saved.  The advice giving to us from road sages was 'buy your third RV first".  We spent time talking together what type of Rving we were going to do and where we planned to spend most of the RV time.   We divided the process between us.  It fell to me to research the physical RV ie capacities and abilities.  The layout and ease of use fell to Lizbeth.  I made many spreadsheets.  Investigated as many as I could of all the manufacturer's factories and web sites I could find.  Any manufacturer  that left out important information was removed from consideration.   The  most important and sadly the most left out item was weights ie GAWR, GVWR, UVW, OCCC and GCWR.  By the way these weights are required by Federal law to be displayed on the vehicle.   We, Lizbeth and I will never spend upwards to $150,000 on a RV without knowing what it is capable of doing under all diving conditions.  I will not put my family and others at risk diving a overweight vehicle.
 Born Free was eliminated because they did not supply this basic safety information.  Even today I re-visited the Born Free web site - no weight information.   I have no idea why this information is missing when water capacity, btu of heater and air conditioner, output of generator and all sorts of other numbers are displayed.

glen