Which motorhome circa 10-15 years old has the highest rear end ground clearance? (1 Viewer)

[kwism]

Due to a having a rather steep driveway I'm looking (before having to fit air-ride) a used motorhome with the best rear end clearance (I believe it is called Departure Angle). If yours is particularly height looking then please do let me know the make/model, so I can investigate further.

Thanks you very much to your valued reply - Chris

 

[CazPaul]

Nice one that’s really technical, I just thought “Thot looks a high back end without too much overhang, it’ll do”

 

[bigtwin]

Thanks everybody for their input..most wonderful!
I've done a few measurements on the driveway (see image) and depending (I'm sure on a number of other factors, load etc) I'm looking at between 52-45cms for the departure angle on overhang > axle lengths 2.4-2.05m - Does that sound excessive? I've never owned an MT, so a bit inexperienced I'm afraid

View attachment 463208

Great work kwism.

My van (Dethleffs i7870 (tag axle) 8.4m long) wouldn’t manage that slope but my van is very intolerant of slopes. My vital statistics are:

• Distance from rearmost axle to towbar - 2.6m
• Ground clearance at towbar - 30cm

I doubt many vans would be as unsuitable as mine though.

Ian

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[BuilderBob]

I bought a van, got it home, it scraped the rear steel bar / tow bar down the drive for about 1m as it was quite steep.

Considered all the usual solutions, in the end I made a pair of 'Ferry Rollers' welded them to the bar and solved the problem, quick, cheap and workable in any situation,
Vehicle has to be front wheel drive or it doesn't work.

 

[bigtwin]

I bought a van, got it home, it scraped the rear steel bar / tow bar down the drive for about 1m as it was quite steep.

Considered all the usual solutions, in the end I made a pair of 'Ferry Rollers' welded them to the bar and solved the problem, quick, cheap and workable in any situation,
Vehicle has to be front wheel drive or it doesn't work.

How did that solve the problem?

Presumably the lowest part of the roller was lower than the lowest part of the chassis?

In which case you will now be grounding out on slopes that you previously wouldn’t have so will be increasing the frequency of grounding. Further more, you will also be imparting a greater load being transmitted to the chassis/bodywork than had you done nothing.

The only perceived benefit is that the driver will hear a slightly more pleasing sound to the ears when a roller grounds as opposed to the chassis/towbar grounding. If that’s the ‘problem’ being solved, I’d be having a word in my shell-like.

Ian

 

[funflair]

I don't think you are going to find that clearance without messing about with air suspension.

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[funflair]

Thanks everybody for their input..most wonderful!
I've done a few measurements on the driveway (see image) and depending (I'm sure on a number of other factors, load etc) I'm looking at between 52-45cms for the departure angle on overhang > axle lengths 2.4-2.05m - Does that sound excessive? I've never owned an MT, so a bit inexperienced I'm afraid

View attachment 463208

Just been over to our van (its in a shed) and I set the air suspension down at the front and up at the back and it is still only 400mm clearance at the back so the good news is that you have saved a fortune as a MORELO won't go the bad news is that you might struggle with anything so how about just making a "fillet" to fill the angle a little bit at the bottom.

 

[bigtwin]

Just been over to our van (its in a shed) and I set the air suspension down at the front and up at the back and it is still only 400mm clearance at the back so the good news is that you have saved a fortune as a MORELO won't go the bad news is that you might struggle with anything so how about just making a "fillet" to fill the angle a little bit at the bottom.

View attachment 463311

But if your overhang distance is less than 2.05m Martin, it could be ok.

Did you measure the overhang?

Ian

 

[funflair]

But if your overhang distance is less than 2.05m Martin, it could be ok.

Did you measure the overhang?

Ian

Yes and more than both examples about 2.6m I think, I was surprised I didn't gain more by dropping the front and raising the rear, maybe I would get a touch more doing it manually as this was just one of the settings on the remote ie "Head down A--e up".

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[Sundowners]

Our flair used to get in our quite steep gateway where other much smaller Van's would scrape down also a pvc bottomed out coming through---' ours was flair 7100i on iveco----- I wouldn't even look at a van without at least 16" wheels

 

[bigtwin]

Yes and more than both examples about 2.6m I think, I was surprised I didn't gain more by dropping the front and raising the rear, maybe I would get a touch more doing it manually as this was just one of the settings on the remote ie "Head down A--e up".

About the same as ours then Martin.

Ian

 

[duane0001]

Problem solved!

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[Hirsch]

Dig the drive out perhaps?

 

[kwism]

Dig the drive out perhaps?

It's concrete about .5m-.75m thick under the brick work, trust me I know as had the driveway laid a few years back - but thanks for the suggestion (=;

 

[Hirsch]

It's concrete about .5m-.75m thick under the brick work, trust me I know as had the driveway laid a few years back - but thanks for the suggestion (=;

Well good luck with the search. Might it be possible to construct a temporary contraption to help overcome the problem then remove it when parked? Or is that not realistic?