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General Discussion / Re: Selling your 2350 with dinette? Want to buy used.
« on: March 24, 2012, 06:07:52 pm »Hi Sherman,
It might help you to make up a sheet with a list of your requirements running down the page. Next to each requirement list what you think you would prefer and what you don't want. You seem to be going in circles on your requirement and this may help slow you down so you can make an informed decision. You are the first person I have ever seen that is worried about the weight of the slide out. Two guys lift the side out up and place it into the hole in the wall of the PC. Then the guy inside puts the refer and sofa or dinette in the slide. So how much does the slide weight? Maybe a couple hundred pounds, maybe 500 lbs with the dinette and the refer, both of which you are going to get anyway.
If I didn't tell you when you were here, you are always welcome to come back by to look at my PC and ask any question you have, try it on for size, or if you bring some cold ones and need to share with someone. Just give me a call or send an email. I too am retired so I am home during the day sometimes.
Thanks for the offer Tom, that's very generous, we may take you up on it! The friendly, helpful folks like yourself here on the PC forum are certainly a part of why I'm considering PC so strongly.
Good observation about going in circles -- I feel that way sometimes. Some of it is unavoidable though, or at least seems to be, because one change often leads to several others, which means re-evaluating much of what I thought had been resolved. For example -- as I mentioned above, several months ago we were very interested in the View Profile/Navion iQ -- we liked the exterior shape of the coach (no cab-over) and the walk-around queen in a rear slide. The more we looked at it though, the more drawbacks we found -- the galley leaves a lot to be desired (tiny almost unusable sink, the small 2 burner cook top w/glass cover [popular with many mfrs], and a single door fridge). Also, we plan to carry a lightweight "Enduro" (dual sport) motorcycle on a hitch-mounted carrier and got to thinking more about having to unload it in order to extend the slide and set up the bed. The newer models are actually worse in a coupe ways. Starting in 2011, WGO actually took a step back by making the shower smaller and shorter, and replacing the retractable door with a curtain. They also changed the cabinets and the door hardware (2010 and earlier had the marine-type 'push-to-lock' knobs).
For those reasons we gave up on the Profile/iQ and started looking at corner bed floor plans. We ended up here but were told by several people (here, and on other forums) that climbing over each other in the corner bed would get old and that we shouldn't give up on the walk-around queen bed idea. I don't just blindly follow any anonymous forum member's advice, but I heard this from several people who clearly were knowledgeable and had personal experience, so I figured we shouldn't be so quick to dismiss the walk-around queen idea. Unfortunately, to get a queen in a PC means going to the 2700 (and it appears as though the 2900 & 2910 are more truly 'walk-around'). So PC was out, as were many/most mfrs, because if there's one requirement I've remained resolute about it's that the length of the rig should be no more than 25 feet. I think Mercedes may have a ~24.5 foot limit for their chassis anyway, because almost all Sprinter-based RVs seem to be 24'6" long. There really are very few rigs to choose from that are <25' and have a walk-around queen. After eliminating the Profile/iQ previously, we were left with the LTV Unity U24IB and one or two others (maybe Coach House?). The U24IB is very nice in most ways, but it is expensive and it is a new design (so it's next impossible to find used). One thing I found curious was that although the LTV rigs are expensive, they use a single door fridge. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that the single door refrigerators are similar to the inexpensive 'dorm' style fridges that do not have a true, dedicated freezer. Also, they use what they call an "FRP flexroof". I haven't investigated that, but I've been told by several people that a one-piece fiberglass roof is best.
Anyway, that's the history. As we've researched and learned more about what's available and owners' likes and dislikes we've gone off on a few tangents but I've ended up back here.
It may not seem like it, but we have pretty well nailed down what is important to us. There is very little about the 2350 that I wish I could change, but the second bed is one of those things. I'd like a dinette/bed that uses memory foam -- or maybe better yet, a sofa/bed and the two swivel chairs and flip-up table like in the 2400 (but there's not enough room in the 2350). Even one chair facing forward w/table would be acceptable. My wife agrees, but she also wants a slide and an extra bed for one or two adults. That limits us to the sofa bed. Since the sofa/bed is something that can be changed if necessary I guess I'll set that aside for now.
Something that obviously can't be changed is the weight of the slide. I'm going to talk with Stuart about that. The reason I'm concerned about it (and others are not) is that the GVWR of the Sprinter is almost 1,500 lbs less than the E-350. All PC's are of course built on the Ford chassis, and even the vast majority of 2350/2400 rigs use the Ford E-350 instead of the Sprinter. I know many mfrs have trouble with very limited CCC in their Sprinter-based RVs. Of course, almost all other mfrs also put slides in their Sprinter-based rigs. With many of them, there's no option to eliminate the slide so there's no point in even thinking about it -- the CCC is either adequate for the potential buyer or it's not. With PC I have a choice -- and it's an irreversible choice. If it turns out that we can't safely haul what we want with the limited CCC of the Sprinter-based 2350 with the slide then we have a serious choice to make -- give up carrying the bike, give up the slide, or look elsewhere.
I'll give Stuart a call Monday.
Sherman