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Old 02-12-2018, 02:24 PM   #1
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Brand: Still Looking
State: Alabama
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THOR #10702
front seat leg room

I know that I am new here, but I have tried to search for an answer without success. We went to the MARVAC camper show to see first hand the model/s class c we were interested in. I must say we were impressed with the units and all was well until I decided to sit in the drivers seat. I am tall(6'2"), but I have never had any trouble with the leg room in a truck. I put the seat back all the way and still my knees were hitting the steering column. All the trucks I have driven over the years allow the seats to go back so far that I have to stretch to reach the pedals. Plenty of leg room. I contacted Thor customer service and they told me that the seats are standard Ford/Chevy seats, and no modification would be made. There is no way I could drive up north with my legs scrunched up like that. Is this normal for motorhomes? This is to be our first motorhome after years of camping with a pop up. Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?
Thanks.
Fred

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Old 02-12-2018, 02:40 PM   #2
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Originally Posted by micamper View Post
I know that I am new here, but I have tried to search for an answer without success. We went to the MARVAC camper show to see first hand the model/s class c we were interested in. I must say we were impressed with the units and all was well until I decided to sit in the drivers seat. I am tall(6'2"), but I have never had any trouble with the leg room in a truck. I put the seat back all the way and still my knees were hitting the steering column. All the trucks I have driven over the years allow the seats to go back so far that I have to stretch to reach the pedals. Plenty of leg room. I contacted Thor customer service and they told me that the seats are standard Ford/Chevy seats, and no modification would be made. There is no way I could drive up north with my legs scrunched up like that. Is this normal for motorhomes? This is to be our first motorhome after years of camping with a pop up. Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?
Thanks.
Fred
Class C's are usually on a cutaway van body and as typical of van floor layouts, knee room is at a minimum. There is an article in the latest edition of Motorhome magazine explaining this in the cover article about the new Dynamax Isata 5 30F that is actually on a Dodge truck frame instead of a van. It also has a real drawback in that you really cannot access the driver's cockpit from the coach because the chassis area is even with coach floor. I tried to do it at one of the last RV shows I attended and it was way too difficult. I am sure this is part of the reason that we ended up purchasing a Class A over two years ago.
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Old 02-12-2018, 03:21 PM   #3
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That is one of the potential drawbacks of a Class C - since the cab is on a cutaway frame, many times the house is built right behind to maximize the house space. That is one of the main reasons we decided on a Class A, we like the room to maneuver around and use the cab area when parked. We rented a Class C and tried it out, then tried a Class A and liked that the seats rotate when parked and have plenty of room to extend.
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Old 02-12-2018, 04:45 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by micamper View Post
I know that I am new here, but I have tried to search for an answer without success. We went to the MARVAC camper show to see first hand the model/s class c we were interested in. I must say we were impressed with the units and all was well until I decided to sit in the drivers seat. I am tall(6'2"), but I have never had any trouble with the leg room in a truck. I put the seat back all the way and still my knees were hitting the steering column. All the trucks I have driven over the years allow the seats to go back so far that I have to stretch to reach the pedals. Plenty of leg room. I contacted Thor customer service and they told me that the seats are standard Ford/Chevy seats, and no modification would be made. There is no way I could drive up north with my legs scrunched up like that. Is this normal for motorhomes? This is to be our first motorhome after years of camping with a pop up. Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?
Thanks.
Fred
I have the same issue with the Ford chassis. I wanted Ford when we bought our Class C because I wanted a gas engine. Just not comfortable, so we ended up with a Mercedes Diesel.
Front is comfortable for me with Mercedes, but I still worry about finding diesel traveling. We already had one problem having to hunt around a small town for fuel.
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Old 02-12-2018, 05:25 PM   #5
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I had the same reaction. We looked at a Winnebago View 24D. It had much better leg room and the whole area up front was roomier. I think that it is easier to find diesel today than it was years ago. We are still looking but the Winnebago may be what we are looking for.
Thanks for the replies everyone.
Fred
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Old 02-13-2018, 12:47 AM   #6
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Our intention when we first started looking was to buy a Class C. We had friends with a Jayco Greyhawk and we liked it a lot. When we started shopping, we looked at the Class Cs and made a shocking discovery. My wife severely broke an ankle several years ago and has two plates and ten pins in her leg along with knee issues. She got into the Class C fine and we loved the floor plan. But then she tried to get into the cab area and couldn't get past the doghouse because there was no room between it and the passenger seat and she couldn't get her foot up high enough to get over it. So, we tried the next best thing - enter through the cab door. It was too tall and she couldn't get in that way, either. Also, once I got into the driver's seat, I was too cramped to enjoy riding in it. We also realized she would have the same issue getting in to a pick-up, so a towable wasn't a great option, either (we would have had to buy a truck, too, since we didn't already have one). So, we decided maybe it was time to look at Class As after all. We did, liked what we looked at, and bought the ACE 30.3.
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Old 02-13-2018, 12:55 AM   #7
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Originally Posted by micamper View Post
I had the same reaction. We looked at a Winnebago View 24D. It had much better leg room and the whole area up front was roomier. I think that it is easier to find diesel today than it was years ago. We are still looking but the Winnebago may be what we are looking for.
Thanks for the replies everyone.
Fred
We looked at and drove a 24V Winnebago View which has the twin beds in back just like our Axis. Bumpy ride and felt claustrophobic unlike the open feeling of the Axis. Yes, I also put money into the suspension of our Axis but it would have ticked me off more to do the same thing to the View when it would have cost us almost double the money to buy. Our RV service center has a complete suspension rebuild kit just for the Mercedes Sprinter chassis.
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Old 02-13-2018, 01:48 AM   #8
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Out Mercedes Citation sprinter diesel class C Has plenty of leg room I’m 6’1 really a good ride.
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Old 02-13-2018, 02:26 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by micamper View Post
I had the same reaction. We looked at a Winnebago View 24D...

I was ready to buy a Winnie Travato, but storage and living area was too cramped, both inside and out. Check out the Vegas or Axis, several different floorplans to choose from. It was the right answer for us. Might or might not fit you!
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Old 02-13-2018, 04:34 PM   #10
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THOR #10702
Thank you

Thanks to everyone who has replied. Leg room for the driver is the last thing I would have thought of to check. This is a real game changer as they say. We will be looking at Winnebago's and I like diesels anyway.
Thanks again.
Fred
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Old 02-13-2018, 05:08 PM   #11
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Happy huning, and the best of luck to you in your search!
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Old 02-13-2018, 06:04 PM   #12
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I love the leg room in our Thor Citation and I am 6’5”... You can also swivel the chairs! We have 2 slides that make plenty of room and cargo space for the two of us. We love the Diesel and haven’t had any problems finding fuel. We use the GasBuddy app.
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Old 02-13-2018, 11:58 PM   #13
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I am 6'-4", so driver's seat legroom is very important to me. Fifteen years ago when we bought a Holiday Rambler diesel pusher, I wasn't careful about checking the legroom and on a long day I became very uncomfortable. The problem was due to the end of the driver's side slide out interfering with the seat adjustment. Eventually I built four, four inch supports and lifted the seat four inches. This help considerably, but still I needed more legroom.

Our 2015 Windsport has more legroom than I need.
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Old 02-14-2018, 12:42 PM   #14
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That's why we choose the Vegas 25.3 was the leg room and the view out front was amazing no tunnel
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Old 02-14-2018, 01:09 PM   #15
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While I agree that legroom is important: there are far more important considerations to be made, when choosing a rig.


It'd be about like buying a car because you really dig the wiper switch!
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Old 02-14-2018, 01:17 PM   #16
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Originally Posted by Bob Denman View Post
While I agree that legroom is important: there are far more important considerations to be made, when choosing a rig.


It'd be about like buying a car because you really dig the wiper switch!
Perhaps someone who doesn't need a lot of leg room wouldn't think that legroom is important, but try being cramped up for hours and hours, with your legs bent at a severe angle. There are some vehicles that I cannot drive for an extended period of time because of the inadequate legroom. Younger people probably can adapt, but those of us in our golden years have "special needs".
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Old 02-14-2018, 01:20 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Denman View Post
While I agree that legroom is important: there are far more important considerations to be made, when choosing a rig.


It'd be about like buying a car because you really dig the wiper switch!
Yeah I'd have to disagree a little here (like Metalman discussed above): Until we have self-driving RV's (won't that be fun) someone still has to sit in the driver's seat for hours. If you're not comfortable there it won't be a happy trip.
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Old 02-14-2018, 01:34 PM   #18
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You're not reading what I wrote...
"While I agree that legroom is important: "
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Old 02-14-2018, 01:53 PM   #19
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I can see things like drivers legroom (or lack of) being up to a 'dealbreaker' for some... Its all what is important to YOU...

Depends how much you drive vs park your RV of course...
As the only driver of RV, trips now being mostly a week or less with driving at both ends, and not yet having the luxury of 'it can take a week to get there' - comfort and space in the drivers seat is certainly up high on my list...
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Old 02-16-2018, 01:20 PM   #20
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Normally not the legs that start hurting after 10 hours of driving. Its the rear
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