Family of 4 considering a BornFree, and have questions

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willald

Family of 4 considering a BornFree, and have questions

Post by willald »

We are considering 'moving up' from the 34' RV trailer we own, to a motorhome. Really like the class C arrangement, it seems better laid out for a family.

And, the BornFree design is the ONLY one I'd trust as far as safety is concerned. Pretty much, if a Bornfree would not work for us, we'll probably stay with what we have. We've been spoiled by the way a truck/trailer combo keeps everyone in a steel-caged truck when on the road. Bornfree seems to be the only coach that would give something close to the same level of safety. Seen too many times, how most other motorhomes will *disintegrate* when in an accident.

Having said that, I'm wondering if a BornFree coach would work for us. There would be a total of 4 of us - me, wife, son (5 yrs old), and daughter (6 months). That being the case (and considering what we're used to now), we would need a good size unit.

Anyway, here are some questions:

1. Is there anyone out there with a family this size, that camps in a bornfree? How does it work? Does it feel 'cramped' inside, with this many?

2. It appears the biggest model built now is a 26' model, I had hoped to find a 30' model, seem to recall they built that size before. Do they still build such? Does it have a slideout? We really like the space a slideout gives you.

3. Has Ford started offering their new 3valve V10 in the E450 chassis used by bornfree (they do use an E450 chassis, right?) I'd definitely want this new more powerful V10 if we went this route, 'cause we'd need to tow a car as well.

4. is there any website where I can get better/more detailed specs/information about Bornfree's product offerings, better than bornfreemotorcoach.com? I couldn't get much from that website. I know I could stop by a dealership down the road and look at them, but I'm not ready to do that yet. :)

Anyway, any and all comments are appreciated, and welcomed. :)

Will
Tim and Mia

Family camping

Post by Tim and Mia »

We love camping in our 26RSB Born Free. This is our second unit, the first being a 24RB.
We have a total of 4 children plus myself and wife. So, the 6 of us have a lot of fun. We are a close knit family and don't mind being tight sometimes.
You might want to consider the 30' rear queen walk around model?
One thing that was imperative for us, was that the cabover had the queen bed feature and not the entertainment center.
Our arrangement is: Two boys in cabover bed, two girls on the sofa pull out bed, and mom and dad in the rear side bed.
Our first unit was a 1984 diesel model and our most recent one is a 2003 gasoline Casual Elegance.
I hope this helps!
Bill Ruh

Family camping

Post by Bill Ruh »

Hi Will,

Our family of four (daughters now 10 and 12) has had a 22' rear door with cabover bed for six years now. We've driven 60k miles and slept in it 199 nights. It's a great size for us. It's small enough to park most anywhere; we typically use just one space by hanging the back over an edge. We do not tow a car and my wife finds the motorhome easy to drive (in fact, she drove it to an out-of-town soccer game yesterday to have a comfortable space to for a hot lunch). It's big enough in camp; the layout is quite good and it is definitely not cramped with the four of us, even during a 3-week western trip. We've traveled with my wife's parents several times (six of us), with 2-4 sleeping in a tent but everyone eating and showering in the motorhome, and that worked out well (though my wife's parents are marvelous people and that always helps in close quarters). We occasionally camp with another family of four, and will sleep six and feed eight when the weather is bad, but I definitely would call that cramped. I'd suggest sitting your family down in various sizes with a good layout and envision your day. It's a personal choice, but for us, bigger is not better and slideouts are a maintenance item not worth the trouble.

I don't know any other class c that offers the rear captains chairs and pull-up table. When driving with the table stowed, every family member gets a bucket seat with seat belts, which is much safer than side-facing sofas or even forward-facing bench dinettes. Infant and booster seats fit well in the captains chairs. The only slight disadvantage with the pull-up table is that meals are not as convenient as a dinette; our children use the captains chairs and my wife and I sit on the sofa, holding our plates in our laps, with our drinks on the table.

Another advantage of born free is that the cabover is unusually wide (5'6"), so our children sleep front-to-back rather than the usual side-to-side. For younger children, this lessens the concern about rolling out, and for our older children, either child can get in or out without distrubing the other.

A motorhome fits us much better than a trailer. We can really cover the miles much better than a car or van. We have drinks and meals in the frig, games and books always available, and each child has her own space in a captains chair.

Hope that helps a bit. Good luck with whatever you decide.
willald

Re: Family camping

Post by willald »

Thanks for the replies (keep them coming). It definitely helps, to hear that other families similar to our size, are able to travel/camp in these things comfortably. My biggest concern is if we'll be too crowded with 4 of us in one of these things. Maybe not. Especially, if others with 4 children seem to make it work. :)

Bill, I was wondering, how infant seats would work in those captain's chairs, glad to hear that its not a problem. I too, like the idea of everyone in the family having their own captain's chair.

The bed up top is 5'6" wide?! Wow, that makes it almost the size of a queen bed! Having a good size bed over the cab like that, is the main reason I like the Class C design over a Class A, when you are travelling with a few children. We've definitely been spoiled by having a bunkhouse, and not having to make up/set up beds every night. Trying to avoid having to do that, if possible.

You're right - we're just going to have to sit in one, try it out, see if it would really fit us, and if it'd be worth giving up all the space we have in the trailer, to have a little better mobility. Me thinks we're going to find it too crowded for our liking, but just have to check one out and see.

I'm still wondering - Is BornFree still making the 30' model with the queen bed in the back? If so, where can I get info on it? Their web page says nothing about it. I'd be curious what kind of payload capacity that model would have. If its got the same 14,000 lb GVWR as the others, seems like you'd be overweight almost before you load anything into it...

Also, does any of the floorplans offer a slideout?

Will
mi99amigo

Re: Family camping

Post by mi99amigo »

Hey Will!! This is Chris from the Hybrid group! I had no idea you have a recent addition to your family. Congrats!

We have had our 26RSB since June and love it! We were able to take a long trip with our family of four (girls 18 & 15) once before our oldest went off to college. The girls shared the cab over bed no problems. The cabover bed is the reason why we chose a C over an A.

The quality of the coach is amazing and the factory suport is out of this world.

The 30 foot models are harder to come by. I do not beleive that they offer a cab over bed in the 30 footers, but I could be wrong on that. You are also right in thinking that CCC would be limited in the 30 footers.

They are also experimenting a 34 footer on the Chevy Kodiak C550 chasis with the Duramax and Allison 6 speed.

Still we prefer our 26 footer as it is very manuverable and easy to park. I take mine on errands all the time.

Yes, spend as much time as you can in one, as the showroom, RV shows, drive one around, etc. Y'know the drill.

PM me if you like.

Chris
Bill Ruh

Family camping

Post by Bill Ruh »

Hi Will,

We've always attached infant seats to the captains chairs with the lap belt. Some booster seats require a shoulder belt, which our back captains chairs don't have, but you can get booster seats that attach with a lap belt, then have their own harness (e.g. britax husky, good to 80lb).

A standard queen bed is 80x60 and our cabover bed is 82x66, minus a bit at the corners. IMO, it's as comfortable as the bed in our house.

No born free that I've seen have a slideout. IMO, motorhome slides really compromise safety (though they're fine in a trailer with no passengers).

A 34' travel trailer has more usable space than a 34' motorhome, so if you really like that size, you may not be happy with a motorhome, especially a smaller motorhome.

I guess we're more travelers than campers. We often are in different places each night and we sightsee along the way. Very different than driving to the lake and staying for a week, or driving campground-to-campground, then fanning out from there.
willald

Re: Family camping

Post by willald »

mi99amigo wrote:Hey Will!! This is Chris from the Hybrid group! I had no idea you have a recent addition to your family. Congrats!
Hahahahaha! Small world, huh, Chris?! I knew y'all had got a Class C, didnt know you had got a BornFree. Cool!

Yeah, our family "grew" last April. See, Chris, if you had been at the rally last June in Myrtle Beach, you'd have known that, and seen our little girl, Allison. Look at the pics Jan posted from the rally, there are several of her. :)

I like the sound of what you said BornFree is experimenting with, a 34' model on a Chevy Kodiak chassis. Thats what Im talking about! LOL! :)

Reality is, by the time we ever do this (if we do), they probably will have that 34' Kodiak model out, and we may well go that route. By that time, I guess you'll be in a 45' Prevost, right? Hahahahaha! :D

Then again, I'm really starting to think we will get 'claustrophobic' in a unit like this, and will just stick with what we have. Would be nice to have the mobility of a motorhome, but we haven't decided if we want that mobility bad enough to give up all the space our trailer has.

Will
Trisha

Post by Trisha »

Check out that 32' foot BF on the Kodiac chassis that we saw in Branson. Full Queen walkaround bedroom perfect for the parents who need privacy, no lack of cupboard space (but a little less kitchen cupboard space, but then, most don't cook like I do) and some great features in the galley.... and you have the dinette and the couch.

With a 6 month old, you'll be set for a long time with that unit. No slides, no skimping on safety...but more room. Really should go take a look at that one. It might be just what you want.

Trisha
willald

Post by willald »

Trisha wrote:Check out that 32' foot BF on the Kodiac chassis that we saw in Branson. Full Queen walkaround bedroom perfect for the parents who need privacy, no lack of cupboard space (but a little less kitchen cupboard space, but then, most don't cook like I do) and some great features in the galley.... and you have the dinette and the couch.

With a 6 month old, you'll be set for a long time with that unit. No slides, no skimping on safety...but more room. Really should go take a look at that one. It might be just what you want.
Trisha, might you (or anyone else) know where I might could find info on this 32' model? Bornfree's web page says nothing of anything bigger than the 26' model.

Will
Barbara & Ken
Posts: 143
Joined: Mon Aug 15, 2005 5:36 pm

Post by Barbara & Ken »

You need to get this info straight from the source. Call the Born Free factory in Humboldt, Iowa, and ask to speak with Jerry Ehrhardt. We've always been able to get good info from Jerry about anything RE: Born Free.
Barbara & Ken
Jim & Denise Wilson

26' works for us

Post by Jim & Denise Wilson »

We recently went through this same thought process and ended up with a 26' rear side bed. We have 8 year old twin girls. The 26' is the largest unit that is made with a cab over bed - and my girls loved that so that was that! It is so large that 3 or 4 kids can sleep up there - heads out/feet in!

Good Luck!
Jim & Denise Wilson

P.S. Don't hesitate to contact the factory (Kim Olson) or Jim Downing (Florida) they both have traveled with their kids and are wonderful people.
willald

Post by willald »

Thanks for all the responses, they were very helpful.

I have requested info from Bornfree, but I think at this point, nothing BornFree makes is going to give us enough space to keep from feeling 'claustrophobic'. I say this, based on the fact that you cannot get the cab over bed in anything larger than the 26' model. And, the 26' model is just too small for us. I know many of you have even larger families than we do and are perfectly happy in your 26' units, but I believe we've been 'spoiled' too long, by having so much space inside, and don't want to give that up (at least not for a while).

Fact is, we are more of 'destination' campers than 'on the road' campers, anyway, and really like to have some space inside when we get to our destination. Would really like the mobility of a motorhome as well, but like so many other things in life, 'you can't have your cake and eat it, too'. :)

I'll keep an eye on Bornfree's product offerings, though. If they ever come out with a 34' model on a Kodiak chassis with a cab over bed like Chris suggested, we'll definitely have a look at it.

Happy camping. :)

Will
Trisha

Post by Trisha »

Oh, I know what you mean will. I personally have the 26' all to myself. With kids, I don't think it would work for me.

I'd be looking for a train with separate passenger cars. :)
willald

Post by willald »

Trisha wrote:Oh, I know what you mean will. I personally have the 26' all to myself. With kids, I don't think it would work for me.

I'd be looking for a train with separate passenger cars. :)
Train with separate passenger cars? You mean something like this:

http://home.carolina.rr.com/thealdridge ... 0001sm.jpg

(Thats what we have now...Can you see why a 26' MH would be somewhat tough for us to get used to? LOL) :D

Will
Trisha

Post by Trisha »

willald wrote:
Trisha wrote:Oh, I know what you mean will. I personally have the 26' all to myself. With kids, I don't think it would work for me.

I'd be looking for a train with separate passenger cars. :)
Train with separate passenger cars? You mean something like this:

http://home.carolina.rr.com/thealdridge ... 0001sm.jpg

(Thats what we have now...Can you see why a 26' MH would be somewhat tough for us to get used to? LOL) :D

Will
It was a joke... :lol: I was thinking one car for each kid and one for the adults. Maybe one each...who knows...that makes a 4-car train. :) I was kidding.

Trish
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