axis/vegas advantages over class C

[blw2]

Question for all you axis and vegas owners out there. What are your thoughts on your rig vs a class C...what are the advantages?

We had out class C out over the weekend. DW and I got to talking about the rig. Thinking long range...out several years. She's of the opinion that we can just keep this same RV basically forever....after the kids grow up and out and we retire, going into a partime snowbird mode, longish trips, etc...

Me on the otherhand, I see the C as a great rig for the demographic niche I'm in now...family with kids, short weekend/holiday trips mostly...It's great for us...but the Econoline chassis is pushed to it's limit...rear axle is basically overloaded at least some of the time. The tanks area bit small, with the grey tank being a limiter for sure....and the tow rating is a bit light...

Personally, I like the length of ours. Anything much bigger would put us out of the running for some of the places we like to go. Also, the much larger A's stand a good bit taller....
so that sets my sights on a smaller A.

But from what I've seen the smaller A's (bigger than your axis/vegas) might have a bit more basement storage than ours but not much. The ones I've seen certainly don't have any more cabinet and counter space than ours. Don't think I've seen one that even comes close on that.

The axis/vegas line fits the bill on physical size for sure...but being on the econoline chassis, it seems that you'd have the same limitations I have...

So at point(what sort of chasis) do you start getting larger tanks, larger battery banks, 10,000# hitch with teh capacity to use it, tires and chasis not overloaded, etc...?
Does your axis/vegas check many of those boxes that I'm not aware of?

[Long & Winding road]

This was a delima for us as well. I had a Excel spead sheet that I created the went over the pros and cons of the C class and Axis in detail.

For me the Axis came out on top. Plus soon as my wife sat in a C then the Axis back to back it was a no brainer for her. She hates tight cramped spots - esp on long trips.

I think for the most part they are the same (Tank compacity is similar, same chassis and tow rating etc).

Some of the Axis floor plans offer more outside storage than others (one reason I went with the now discontinuded 25.4 = 70 cu foot of storage - the most of any the othe Axis/Vegas floor plans ever).

I really like the new 27.7 floor plan but it only has like 36 cu foot of storage so that wont work for me (Im a pack rat - plus I have room for bring back my recycle stuff + temp storage for when Im doing projects and Xmas presents, bike gear etc).

But if you want 10K towing you will need a diesel... So Super C or DP.

So thats your first major decision you have to make.... How much towing do you really need.

We have 8K tow compacity and when fully loaded I have 9500 # left for towing and more crap in my RV so I feel good about that.

For me the work station and having the two captains chairs that turn around and become a part of the living area was very important since I'm self employed and take up a lot of space when working.

I have my huge dash for my paper work, printer and other miss stuff, plus the booth. I love it.

I like the fact its narrower than a C class (94 inchs vs 99) so I can get in and out of tight spots.

I would like to "think" its more areo dynamic than a C class but my MPG dont show that it is (but I tend to do the Speed limit or follow traffic flow as needed at interstate speeds).

So really like you said it has many of the same limitations you have already.

[axis earl]

For us it was having the room in the cockpit area in the Axis that was not there in the Class C Winnebago View we were considering. Driving is a lot more enjoyable. Yes, there are definitely some considerations when it comes to maintenance, accessing the chassis battery, factory controls vs. Thor's stuff, etc. Still like the decision we made.

[sage]

blw2:

We retired about 15 years ago and are now going thru similar discussions and decision making right now but coming at it from the opposite end that you are.

For several years we had large Class A’s, first a 32’ and then a 38’. Our use case was traveling to a winter destination and then spending several months living in the MH before returning north in the Spring - typical snowbird. We did some tourist traveling in the summer months but the winter long term stays were our primary use. We then decided to buy a home in FL for the winters and sell the motorhome.

A decade later we decided we wanted to travel again, but weren’t interested in a rig for long term stays. So we bought our Vegas 25.2.

We’ve now sold the home in FL and decided to go back to spending 2 or 3 winter months living in the motorhome. The question we’re dealing with now is is the Vegas big enough to be comfortable for these extended stays? We’ve decided the answer is no, but we don’t want to go back to larger Class A type rig that we had before.

We’ve decided on an ACE 29.3 for a number of reasons. We would also consider a Hurricane or Windsport 29M, which are basically the same floorpan, but offering features that are options or simply not available on the ACE.

Because the ACE is built on the F53 chassis, you get a bigger fuel tank, and slightly bigger fresh water and grey tanks. Unfortunately, the black tank remains about the same 40 gallons. (if anyone from Thor design is reading this, I’d gladly give up fresh water storage for a larger black tank.)

Two of the big factors for us involved the kitchen. The Axis/Vegas rigs do not have a standard LP oven and since 2017 have moved the microwave from eye level down to knee level. The 29x floorplans fix both of these issues for us.

The final decision point was exterior and interior storage. The 27 foot floorplans were deficient in both areas, but the 29.3 and 29M plans are adequate. I’d gladly give up the exterior kitchen for more storage but even with it, these floorplans offer as much storage as our Vegas, so we’re pretty sure that we can be happy with this choice.

To summarize, the ACE 29.3 is small enough to offer nimble driving when playing tourist and big enough, with enough storage and features to be comfortable during longer term winter stays. Our Vegas 25.2 is perfect if we were only interested in short (a month or less) trips but for longer term living, bigger is better and the econoline chassis just doesn't give us what we need.

[JamieGeek]

Not mentioned is the disadvantage of having Thor build the front end instead of Ford. The Axis/Vegas units are quite a bit more noisy than a comparable class C simply because Thor doesn't put as much effort into sound deadening as Ford does (it is, however, easily fixable). There are other issues: You'll get more finger pointing about somethings being a Ford issue or a Thor issue than you would in a class C. Axis/Vegas are also on the Econoline chassis but since they aren't built as big as some of the larger C's you're not as close to the limit on the chassis (except, perhaps, the 27.7 with its two slides or the 25.6 with its one large slide.)

(Just pointing these things out to be fair--if you are considering moving to Axis/Vegas you should consider everything, not just the good.)

Having said all that: When we picked up our Axis there was only 1 floorplan available the 24.1 and we weren't even considering a C (like mentioned above I also don't really like the claustrophobic feeling of driving a C). (Ours is also old enough that 5,000 lbs is our max hitch rating.) The view out the front is great. The 24.1 really is small enough to take almost anywhere as well--it won't fit in a single parking spot like a smaller B but its close (more like a spot and a 1/2 LOL). Its also big enough that if you do want to tow a car you can--I think it straddles that line nicely.

You pretty much get all the same stuff as a similar floorplanned C but with the great view out the front and some more elbow room as well (you still get that front bunk; it just drops down from the ceiling).

Spot and a 1/2 LOL:

[Bob Denman]

Class A rigs probably have more outside storage...

But Class C rigs will have more safety hardware incorporated into the chassis...

It depends on your priorities...