Winterised motorhomes (double floor) ?

[MotorhomeKing]

Hello everyone.

I intend to buy a motorhome to live in soon and have decided a tag axle will be best so I don't have to worry too much about payload with the all the junk I'll inevitably accumulate over time (I am a class CE licence holder).

As I'll also be living in it over winter and suffer from cold feet then insulation is important to me, especially the floor, so I am looking at models which have those.

Can anyone tell me which models have this feature please? I have seen a Dethleffs 7877-2 on ebay has it (too expensive at £80k!) and also a Euromobil A 770 EB too (sadly sold). Needs to be RHD, manual, van based, less than 5 years old and have good size garage.

I like the higher platform too for extra privacy as you can't see inside from ground level. Not interested in Hymer type stuff that looks like a mobile library bus.

I really like the Swift Kontiki BE 679s with the rear bed over large garage, but sadly no double floor from what I can tell.

Thanks .

 

[CazPaul]

Older model German A class are a good buy but you want one only a few years old.
Niesmann, Concorde, Hymer, Carthago.

We have a small 2005 6.48metre Concorde good quality and big double floor containing waste, fresh and all pipe work.

 

[MotorhomeKing]

Older model German A class are a good buy but you want one only a few years old.
Niesmann, Concorde, Hymer, Carthago.

We have a small 2005 6.48metre Concorde good quality and big double floor containing waste, fresh and all pipe work.

Hi, thanks. I've checked out all those models and they are what I call mobile library buses(!). I don't like that design at all. Must be van based.

 

[Jamesh]

Hi, thanks. I've checked out all those models and they are what I call mobile library buses(!). I don't like that design at all. Must be van based.

Coach built then......

Cheers James

 

[RM_Marine]

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[Itsmcb]

Your talking about a Burstner A747 or Burstner Argos 747 the newer version. Euramobil make a similar older version as do Concorde. Eura Mobil Terrestra 770 is another similar van.

 

[MotorhomeKing]

You can't get what you won't without having what #2 states

?
Do the Dethleffs 7877-2 and Euromobil A 770 EB not have insulated double floors then?

 

[Itsmcb]

?
Do the Dethleffs 7877-2 and Euromobil A 770 EB not have insulated double floors then?

Indeed they do

 

[MotorhomeKing]

Indeed they do

OK thought so! Not sure what RM Marine means then.

 

[MotorhomeKing]

Your talking about a Burstner A747 or Burstner Argos 747 the newer version. Euramobil make a similar older version as do Concorde. Eura Mobil Terrestra 770 is another similar van.

Thanks mcb. The Burstner A747 had not been picked up by my radar. I see a 2016 on ebay for £74k which looks smart, albelit quite plasticky on the exterior (those grey panels look very cheap). LHD though unfortunately and a tad outside my price range anyway. How high does the build quality of the Burstner's rank when compared to, say, Dethleffs and Euramobil would you say?

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[Itsmcb]

Thanks mcb. The Burstner A747 had not been picked up by my radar. I see a 2016 on ebay for £74k which looks smart, albelit quite plasticky on the exterior (those grey panels look very cheap). LHD though unfortunately and a tad outside my price range anyway. How high does the build quality of the Burstner's rank when compared to, say, Dethleffs and Euramobil would you say?

Sorry I don't have personal experience of these to compare, there will be others on here that do but I would suggest viewing a few and judge for yourself

 

[Lenny HB]

I like the higher platform too for extra privacy as you can't see inside from ground level. Not interested in Hymer type stuff that looks like a mobile library bus.

If you are going to full time you have just written off the most suitable. More space much better insulation around the cab area and most have double floors also easier to drive.
I don't think any UK vans have double floors and the insulation is poorer and not fully winterised like contental vans.

 

[denisejoe]

Euramobile 690 hbl has all you ask but it’s an A class or the 820 models also have a double floor

 

[Parrot Face]

We had a Knaus with a double floor, great for underfloor storage.

 

[jongood]

Hi, thanks. I've checked out all those models and they are what I call mobile library buses(!). I don't like that design at all. Must be van based.

Have you checked them out by actually going in them or is this online?

IMHO you have discounted a whole group of motorhomes that are generally acknowledged as being the roomiest, warmest and best quality. A good used A class can be great vfm especially if they re over 7.5 tonnes. Tbf they re harder to find over here because Germany and LHD are where the biggest market is but there are some about.

The problem with the van based ones ( with some notable exceptions) is that the converters are constantly chasing weight so things are getting lighter and flimsier and would be less durable as a long term vehicle. Unfortunately having a "tag" won't solve this as the extra axle and length is simply tagged on.

As you may be able to tell from my Avatar, I'm in the KISS mindset, I like to change my own gears because I know which gear I want to be in and its less likely to let me down and I hate stop-start, electric handbrakes and most of the other electronic sh*te that send you into limp mode etc.

But each to their own.

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[bridgedino]

Hi, thanks. I've checked out all those models and they are what I call mobile library buses(!). I don't like that design at all. Must be van based.

And I thought I was the only one that saw them as library buses

 

[CazPaul]

Funny how we all see things differently, when we first started Motorhoming all those years ago we both said we don’t want one of those huge coach built vans with the big ugly carbuncle on the front.

The A class are far more integrated and well designed we thought, better use of space for the length, look much nicer visually and warmer.

Each to his own though.

 

[BusyBuilder]

Our first van was Ford Transit based, then we got an A class. What we both noticed when driving was that the A class is the same width front to back so was easier to judge spaces. And you get a better view.

 

[jongood]

And I thought I was the only one that saw them as library buses

You ve got a Bailey - look like they ve been squashed

 

[funflair]

Mobile library bus for me please more space, better insulation and put it on a decent rear wheel drive chassis and you get a proper double floor housing all the tanks and services and heated as well, on top of that you get decent payload and better traction on the wet and slippy stuff.

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[Loopyloo]

Weve got a coach built Rapido with a double floor & fixed bed to the rear, we love it.

 

[PaulC70]

I don't even know how to find out if mine has a double floor to be honest It's a Bailey Alliance SE if anyone knows?

 

[BusyBuilder]

We have 6 opening hatches in our floor, 1 for garage, 1 for grey tank access, 1 for clean tank access. Then 3 for storage, 1 of these drops below the lower floor so in the airflow on the underside of the van and over a foot deep, easily takes wine/whisky/gin bottles stood upright, this is what we call the drinks cellar as its always cold in there.

 

[denisejoe]

We have 6 opening hatches in our floor, 1 for garage, 1 for grey tank access, 1 for clean tank access. Then 3 for storage, 1 of these drops below the lower floor so in the airflow on the underside of the van and over a foot deep, easily takes wine/whisky/gin bottles stood upright, this is what we call the drinks cellar as its always cold in there.

We've got a small locker like that! We can access it from under the seat inside or through an outside door; really useful for the alcohol and the UHT milk!

 

[Figaro]

I wonder if the OP ever found his dream 'non library bus' motorhome ?
MotorhomeKing

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[Speve]

I think OP has had his five free posts? But I believe he is cutting off his nose to spite his face by rejecting A class vans we have had Coach builds but would not go back to one now especially if living in one full time as A class are so much more comfortable and draughtproof

 

[TinaLes]

I agree chaps, what the OP desires in the way of features for full timing are best suited to A Class Motor homes.
Yes, to the unfamiliar eye, they are ugly, but calling them Library Vans, even after 4/5 years my Mrs still calls them "Bakers Vans", still does, and it still makes me laugh.
The best looking A Class for me, is The newer N&B Flair or Arto's, although we do love the new Carthago's they just cant cut the mustard looks of The N&B's, hopefully all A Classes in the future will have enhanced more slick front end looks.
Hymer's and many others are improving, its amazing how your personal taste changes after you have been in the frame for a few years, and appreciate things better.

Full timing in vans is becoming ever more popular, last figure I heard quoted somewhere suggested 20K full timing vans in the UK
This "Lifestyle" choice by many is not easy, especially in the UK with parking restrictions/costs etc, but to be off grid, most of us know that involves some serious kit to allow it to be practical, let alone possible in winter.

If it were my lifestyle choice I would be looking for the most stealth like van conversion, to blend into surroundings better, but certainly not a great big 7/8/9 mtr white/silver or gold lump tag axel, with sat dishes etc.

LES

 

[Neil S]

I don't even know how to find out if mine has a double floor to be honest It's a Bailey Alliance SE if anyone knows?

Bailey don’t have a double floor

 

[jongood]

I don't even know how to find out if mine has a double floor to be honest It's a Bailey Alliance SE if anyone knows?

If you look underneath can you see the water tanks? If yes then its single. Another good test is if it getting out of bed in the winter takes several goes because the floor is so cold.

 

[Pausim]

One sometimes overlooked aspect of winterisation is the position of the grey water drain off valve. If it is a tap on the end of a pipe it isn’t winterised. The tap and the pipe full of water behind it will freeze solid and no amount insulation or tank heating is going to let you drain off the water when you need to. The valve must be inboard where it won’t freeze. Some use motorised valves and others have mechanical ones.