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Doug · 11-05-2003, 08:23 PM

Of interest to me is the price. I can see the possible virtues of a smaller rig now that we ended up having to buy the second house anyway. I would be able to get by with something smaller as I would not be living in it 5- 14 days at a time, but only a few days during vacations. (Yellowstone, Jackson Hole, etc are within reasonable driving distance. Heck, all I need to do is cross Idaho and pull into a rest area for the night somewhere in Montana.) About the only real trip would be going to Maine in the summer to hit the Golden Road; that's 4-5 days each way running easy, and 4 days to spend there, more or less.

I would do my best to set it up with plenty of storage (deep cycle) batteries and water capacity, with no propane - use only engine/generator to load up the batteries for night time use. I want a real bedroom and bathroom, not the little closets of the typical class C. A real kitchen would be less necessary. Dog/cat room is a big deal - we are adopting another rescue this weekend, and 3 dogs (the smallest at 85 pounds) and a cat make for a heck of a load in most passenger vehicles.

If enough lighter, the power train can be less stout. Torque is the real issue, and many of the other class 7 rigs are stuck with nothing of interest - there is a real gap between the small motors (3126 Cat, etc) and the 14+ liter motors. Here, they have the C10's and C12's successors, etc - and that should be plenty of torque. Much as I prefer the 13 speed, the co-pilot situation calls for serious consideration of the 10 speed autoshift. What I want is a unit that will cruise at a set speed (about 70) all day without trouble, and not slow down on hills like Vantage/Ryegrass, Sherman, the ones on the eastern stretches of US17 in NY, and Jacob's Ladder.

One possible reason to consider a full size 8 - Western Star (and I think Mack, although it is off their website) can easily make a factory long frame 4WD chassis. I tend to think that this would be the hot ticket for camping Yellowstone in the winter. I don't see any sign that the M2 can be had with a 4WD front end from the factory. Other than that, these may well be a good option.

11-05-2003, 08:23 PM	#5
Doug Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Cheney, WA, US Posts: 61	Of interest to me is the price. I can see the possible virtues of a smaller rig now that we ended up having to buy the second house anyway. I would be able to get by with something smaller as I would not be living in it 5- 14 days at a time, but only a few days during vacations. (Yellowstone, Jackson Hole, etc are within reasonable driving distance. Heck, all I need to do is cross Idaho and pull into a rest area for the night somewhere in Montana.) About the only real trip would be going to Maine in the summer to hit the Golden Road; that's 4-5 days each way running easy, and 4 days to spend there, more or less. I would do my best to set it up with plenty of storage (deep cycle) batteries and water capacity, with no propane - use only engine/generator to load up the batteries for night time use. I want a real bedroom and bathroom, not the little closets of the typical class C. A real kitchen would be less necessary. Dog/cat room is a big deal - we are adopting another rescue this weekend, and 3 dogs (the smallest at 85 pounds) and a cat make for a heck of a load in most passenger vehicles. If enough lighter, the power train can be less stout. Torque is the real issue, and many of the other class 7 rigs are stuck with nothing of interest - there is a real gap between the small motors (3126 Cat, etc) and the 14+ liter motors. Here, they have the C10's and C12's successors, etc - and that should be plenty of torque. Much as I prefer the 13 speed, the co-pilot situation calls for serious consideration of the 10 speed autoshift. What I want is a unit that will cruise at a set speed (about 70) all day without trouble, and not slow down on hills like Vantage/Ryegrass, Sherman, the ones on the eastern stretches of US17 in NY, and Jacob's Ladder. One possible reason to consider a full size 8 - Western Star (and I think Mack, although it is off their website) can easily make a factory long frame 4WD chassis. I tend to think that this would be the hot ticket for camping Yellowstone in the winter. I don't see any sign that the M2 can be had with a 4WD front end from the factory. Other than that, these may well be a good option.