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I Like It When....


cjac

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I like it when I see a big motorhome pass me going down the interstate over and over again in mini motorhome. Makes me wonder how much they are spending on fuel.

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Most big (class A) motorhome owners I've talked with, both gas and diesel, all seem to get between 7 and 13 MPG, varying between size and speeds, but usually in the 8-11 range.

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on a trip I pulled in to the pump 2 blocks away I saw a large class a pumping away I pulled in put in 8 gallons after 90 miles. the pump shut off and I left . and that big class a was still pumping away. another time I parked next to a big 4 slider type . guy said it was his first trip in 2 years said he got 5 miles to a gallon.

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Most big (class A) motorhome owners I've talked with, both gas and diesel, all seem to get between 7 and 13 MPG, varying between size and speeds, but usually in the 8-11 range.

13 MPG, Hmmmm 6 in the city, 7 on the highway 6+7=13 :clown2: Jim

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I had a class A diesel pusher, bus conversion. I never figured the mileage out! If I would have known for sure how bad it was I likely would have quit driving it! It did have a 144 gallon tank. Jim

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Well, fuel and operating costs are an issue for sure, but also you can't usually just park a 30+ footer out in front of the house for very long in most neighborhoods. For you folks with a nice piece of property and acreage it's a non-issue, but here in the city in N. Ca, it costs a fortune to store those big beasts and we're not talking covered storage either. Storage yard security here is kind of a myth too. Getting back to the fuel thing, that reminds me, I gotta get around to fixing my trip-odometer so I can quit stopping for fuel so soon. I've owned five '84-'85 'Yotas now and not one of them had a gas guage that was worth spit after it got down to about 2/3rds-to-1/2 of a tank of gas.They all have seemed to get exponentially more inaccurate as the tank gets emptier. Easier to count miles... :pinch:

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I think my biggest issue with the class A's is I can't just pull into a 7-11 and make a quick stop. You always have to make sure you can get out again in most parking lots or even park anywhere where you won't block traffic. Scariest thing about seeing them on the road is it seems the bigger they are the older the driver is. 42 footer you can be just about sure they are 90.

Linda S

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I've owned five '84-'85 'Yotas now and not one of them had a gas guage that was worth spit after it got down to about 2/3rds-to-1/2 of a tank of gas.They all have seemed to get exponentially more inaccurate as the tank gets emptier.

Gas gauges in my 1978 and my 1988 work perfectly. I DID have to fix them both when I first got them. Toyota uses some pretty crappy sending units and they seem to wear through the thin wire windings at whatever level where the tank is at the most. On both mine - the wires were worn through at a little below half-tank. I see now on modern autos and trucks there are no more open wire-winding on senders. more like printed circuit boards. They can be rewound with $5 worth of resistor wire (not a fun job though).

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I chauffeured a 36 ft Bluebird for an older couple one winter. They wanted to watch grandson play basketball, but the Mr. wasn't happy driving over snow covered mountains in the winter. If the trip was an overnighter they stayed in the RV and got me a motel room.

Any way over 5 trips the Bird got 6-7 mpg, and it had a 140 gal fuel tank. At that time diesel was $4 a gallon so a fill up could cost more than a used Toy MH. The thing I remember most is fueling in freezing weather using a standard sized fuel nozzle. It takes FOREVER when its 15 degrees to pump 100+ gallons.

It sure was a very nice drive though.

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I have a friend who has a Bounder RV in his back yard. He has not driven it in 4 years and can't even give it away. He quit driving because he gets 4 mpg with it. It was a mobile party for Green Bay Packer games when it did get used.

I really like it when people talk to me at gas stations and are amazed that I get 13 to 15 mpg. I open the coach up and let them look in and they are really surprised when they see that it is small inside but definitely big enough to get by. My wife makes me clean the inside of the RV every morning before we move because she knows that sometime during the day, a stranger is going to be looking into our "house."

I agree with Linda that it is really nice to park anywhere you want and be able to get out again.

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the class B's based on the Sprinter chassis also get the same mpg we do....I talked to a guy with a good size one who claimed consistent 16mpg. I think it was a diesel but may have been gas. but used ones seem to start over 50K, and you get dodge construction instead of Toyota. and I can't even imagine dealng with one in a stout NM crosswind......

hey Fred, want to come help me change out my control arm bushings? not everything on a yota is easy....but I can't imagine the misery of working on M-B engineering complexity executed by Dodge :clown2:

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the class B's based on the Sprinter chassis also get the same mpg we do....I talked to a guy with a good size one who claimed consistent 16mpg. I think it was a diesel but may have been gas. but used ones seem to start over 50K, and you get dodge construction instead of Toyota. and I can't even imagine dealng with one in a stout NM crosswind......

hey Fred, want to come help me change out my control arm bushings? not everything on a yota is easy....but I can't imagine the misery of working on M-B engineering complexity executed by Dodge :clown2:

After lurking on the class B forums for a bit I would not buy one that was out of warranty. Seems they like to throw very expensive parts at them until they find the problem. I can buy another Toy for what some people pay in class B repairs!!

Only my opinion Jim

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yah, i'm with you on that. suffice it to say that I bought a Toy! and even though it's getting a complete undercarriage rebuild and resto, it's still a lot less trouble than one of the Sprinters would be, esp one old enough that I could afford it.



the "throwing parts at it" syndrome is common to all too many mechanics these days. one reason I don't farm out much of anything cept A/C and alignment.


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a motor home from the folks that gave you the "K" car, what could go wrong? :shit: my grandpa was a Dodge dealer and my folks buy nothing but Mopar. the trans in their 300 locked in park at 26,000 miles..... and they wonder why we keep buying Toyotae (now up to 4....the Taco, the Siennaga, the MR2 spyder, and El Bandito)

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Every time I diss MB, someone gets their knickers in a knot. 45 years ago I sold MB and they were superior in every way. Now they are living on a long worn out reputation. German reliability is a myth! Jim

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i thought they were assembled by Dodge, even if they were a pretty undiluted MB design, at least the first generation? It's apples and oranges anyway, since you could buy about 5 decent toyhomes for price of one used sprinter conversion.......

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After lurking on the class B forums for a bit I would not buy one that was out of warranty. Seems they like to throw very expensive parts at them until they find the problem. I can buy another Toy for what some people pay in class B repairs!!

Only my opinion Jim

Something like a Class B built on a Dodge pickup-truck chassis with a Cummins 5.9 diesel is very basic. Easy to work on as compared to many Toyota RVs. Very reliable. And fuel mileage? You can cruise at 65 MPH and get 16-17 MPG. You're not going to find a Toyota RV in a 20-21 footer that can do that.

Also with stuff that is more contemporaneous with our Toyota RVs? Dolphin - according to them - felt a niche to fill in the mini-micro market for people who refused to drive stick-shift. This in 1982-1983. So they offered a Dolphin 900 class B with a GM truck pickup truck chassis (not a van) and a Detroit-Diesel designed 6.2 liter diesel. This was one of the very few and maybe the only RV that was not a huge Class A with that low-powered diesel.

I've wanted one for years but have not come across one yet. This too was capable of 15-17 MPG at 65 MPH (so the story goes).

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On the subject of big Class As and how much fuel they use . Here's a road-test that really surprises me. NOT a huge class A. A "mini" on a Chevy 1 ton van chassis with a 350 small-block V8 and not much heavier then some of our Toyota RVs. 5 3/4 MPG @ 65 MPH and 7 1/2 MPG @ 55 MPH. Makes me feel sort of vindicated now. My first attempt at making a small motorhome was with a 1977 Chevy 1/2 ton van with a 350 V8. Best fuel mileage it ever got was 10.9 MPG and I though my van was an odd- ball.

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