Narrow Wheelbase (1 Viewer)

[6pm Cowboy]

I am just getting over viewing all the motorhomes at malvern. Mindblowing.

Most of them had wheels where you would expect them to be ( ie, one in each corner ) but there was one where they were set much further in, probably a foot or more. Now I am not sure if this was because they used a particularly narrow chassis or because they had built an extra wide top on it..... but either way would having the cab and habitation area a lot wider than the wheels affect the handling ?

 

[Jim]

Were these American or or European motorhomes you were looking at?

 

[6pm Cowboy]

I looked at a hell of a lot of MHs and they get confused in your mind but almost certainly european. If I remember rightly they had 'Advantage' on the side.

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[Brisey]

I think you were looking at a vehicle from the Pilote range. Usually built on Mercedes chassis the wheels appear to be a good few inches in from the edge of the body.

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[oldlowie]

Howdy,

It was most probably a Continental coach-built motorhome such as a Chausson or a Rapido or a Hobby that you saw (there are loads of different makes, as you found out!). These are usually wide-bodied compared to British-built 'vans, (7' 6" rather than 7' 2") as they usually have fixed beds and a bathroom and shower alongside. Also, they are built on chassis cabs rather than perched on the top of a platform cab, giving a lower profile, sometimes without the need for a sticking-out step, just a cut-away that the bottom of the door fits into.

I have a Chausson on a Transit chassis cab with wheels around 9" inboard. The handling is superb, I suppose the lower overall weight distribution compared to a climb-aboard type motorhome, which I had previously, offsets the fact that the body is wider.

And before you ask, no, it's no harder to drive than a car. Just watch out for drivers of tiny hatch-backs who need to traverse the white line to negotiate a right-hand bend!! :Angry: If lorry drivers can keep to the left, why can't they?

 

[Johno]

Hi 6pm Cowboy
The Sevel range of base vehicles Fiat Ducato, Peugeot Boxer etc are produced with a wider rear wheelbase and lower chassis height specifically for the motorhome market, where as Ford, Renault, and Merc' bases are a normal chassis designed for general use,this may explain why some wheels are further into the body work on motorhomes built on these base vehicles.

John.

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[derekfaeberwick]

Sorry to be a wee bit pedantic but wheelbase is the distance from one axle to the other, the width between the wheels is the track.

File:Wheelbase and Track.png - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia :thumb:

 

[6pm Cowboy]

Sorry to be a wee bit pedantic but wheelbase is the distance from one axle to the other, the width between the wheels is the track.

File:Wheelbase and Track.png - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia :thumb:

OK (almost) always happy to be corrected
I wish I had taken more notice of what the MH make and base were but I think I was on mental overload by the time I got to that one. I was just wondering if it would affect the handleing and was something I should look out for.

Many thanks for all your replys.