Thor Forums

[Chance]

Originally Posted by talktodean

Newbie here as well. Looking to make my first purchase, and believe I will choose a Thor Compass 23TB. The Ford Chassis/Platform from engine to undercarriage looks good, and it occurs Thor has done a nice job with this unit. From those with either firsthand experience with this model, or otherwise, please chime in. Thanks so much in advance. Dean

On Transit Cutaway Chassis/Platform:

The Transit is much newer and modern than the old E-Series van/cutaway chassis, and it shows. There is no doubt about that. There is a lot to like.

There are a few things to consider on the negative side which may or may not be important to you depending on how you will end up using the motorhome.

The most obvious is much lower Gross Vehicle Weight Rating, which limits MH size and or cargo carrying capacity.

Gross Combined Weight Rating is much lower than E-Series as well which limits towing capacity. Fortunately many owners with compact MHs this size don't tow a car. But if you plan to tow a trailer, it may be an issue to investigate.

The driver's seat doesn't rotate on units I've seen. I expect Ford may fix this eventually by relocating the parking brake, but as far as I've seen its still there on floor next to seat.

Because the floor isn't flat, when the passenger seat is rotated to face back, it feels too low to floor to me.

Lastly, my wife and I both find getting to and out of the front seats much more restrictive than on E-Series cutaways. For us, this is the main drawback. The other issues we could live with since we want a small rig in the first place, and if we ever towed it could be a very light trailer.


It comes down to personal preferences. We like the cab area to feel as open to the coach as possible, closer to the feel of a Class A. In the Transit, we feel the opposite, more so than in other van cutaways.