New member, possible buyer

[jobrien]

Back in 2003 my wife and I were looking at Born Free's. We were fortunate enough to meet some of you at a rally you were having at a campground in PA, near New Holland if I remember correctly.

We met Mel, the Wolf's and others whose names I can not remember. At that time I could not convince my wife that we could fit into a 26' rear corner bed model. She is strictly against the corner bed concept. So we bought a 32' Tiffin Allegro. It's been a good motorhome for us, but now I see Born Free has come out with a 32' model on the Kodiak chassis. That has caught my eye!

So I figured I would register on this forum, introduce myself again, and gather some information to use as fuel to inspire my wife to look at motorhomes again.

My questions to start are:

Has anyone seen the new 32' model? What do you think of it?

I know you all have biased opinions, but is the Born Free quality as good as it was a few years ago?

HAve you heard of any issues with the Kodiak chassis?

Thanks ahead of time for any info you have and are willing to share. I will be contacting the factory for more info also.

How far from route 80 is the factory? We will be heading thru Iowa late in June and maybe I can persuade "her" we have to stop

John

[bill crommett]

I-80 t0 I-35 north to US 20 and west to US 169. I would guess it is about 100 miles from Des Moines.

[Mel Wilbur]

Hi John, If you are going to be in the Humboldt area be sure to check out the club rally information. Our rally is June 19-21 and the factory homecoming is June 22-25 and we sure would like to get a chance to say hello. This would be a great way to check out the new coaches and get some first hand info from owners. Best of luck and have a safe trip.

[jobrien]

Thanks for the replies.

We'll be leaving NJ on 6/23 and probably would just miss the homecoming rally, plus we will be in a rush to get out West. But coming home we will have more time to stop in Humboldt and see the factory.

I received the BF info packet yesterday and started looking things over. Big price difference between the 26' and the 32' models. I know the 32' is a whole different animal.

Does anyone know what the CCC is on the 26' rear bath model? I know some of the Ford chassis are near the limit right out of the dealers, especially the ones with slides. The literature says the 32' has about 3,500 pounds CCC which is great.

Thanks again.

[Dave&JanPotter]

I know some of the Ford chassis are near the limit right out of the dealers, especially the ones with slides.

Born Free's do not have slides. Just a minor correction but a big item if you must have them. Personally, we like to keep it simple and like the added security of the roll bars.

[jobrien]

I know the Born Free's do not have slides, and that's one of the reason's I like them.

I was referring to a Winnie we looked at a few years ago that only had about 350 pounds of CCC, due to the weight of the slide. To me that becomes a safety hazard.

Tahnks for the replies. I'm just gathering info at this point, and will try real hard to make a stop at the factory in July.

John

[GKarschnick]

You might want to call ahead to see if there will be a 32' at the factory for you to see. I was there last week for some warranty repairs and they did not have any 32 footers to look at. (All had been sold and delivered.)

[KTnLen]

We took delivery of the same 32-ft President you see on the Born Free website in March, and I can tell you it is a super coach. This unit has the Chev Kodiak chassis, with 8.1L gas engine, and Allison transmission.

At the factory's request, in support of dealer Holland Motor Homes Open House event, I did a 2400-mile round-trip run to San Diego 14-22 May, and it performed flawlessly through desert heat, mountain cold, high winds, rain and everyt terrain from below sea level, to 11,000 ft above.

My co-pilot and his spouse thoroughly enjoyed the trip, she liking to watch the in-motion DirecTV system and crocheting while we cruised along at 70mph with hardly a flinch as we passed and were passed by semi-trailers and buses. The last day we deliberately pushed it for a total run of 700 miles from St George UT to Colorado Springs. My trip log shows we consumed about 325 gals of regular fuel, and averaged about 7.5 mi/gal for the entire trip.

The only minor snag was a spark arrestor blowout from the 3.6kW generator exhaust pipe. A tech at our destination (Holland Motor Homes) says they are known for that, and they just throw them away without replacement. Losing the generator in the desert with temps in the 100s was a concern, but the dash air did a fair job of keeping things cool until we had a chance to diagnose the problem. The genset has been mostly reliable since, although it does flare out occasionally. A tuneup without the spark arrestor in-place should remedy the problem. Besides, the production models have two roof air conditioners at 13,500 BTU each, plus a 6.4kW generator, whereas the prototype has only one roof air unit at 15,000 BTUs, and the aforementioned 3.6kW genset.

This was a fantastic shakedown cruise for "Steamboat Willie" and the Humboldt Homecoming later this month is our next major trip. We will be towing a flatbed car hauler with a Mini Cooper on board, so won't be hard to spot. We would love to have you and other BF owners visit and tour this unique unit.

[jobrien]

Cathleen and Len;

I sent you an email.

John

[Trisha]

CCC for the 26' RB; I have a 2005 26' RB. I weighed with full fuel, water, lpgas and a few personal items already added, plus me, and I still have about 1,400 CCC left. I guess my total CCC would be about 1,600.

With that in mind, I have to find a way to keep most of the weight closer to the front axle.

Patricia

[jobrien]

I am still trying to decide which is the best model to go with.

Since there are no dealers here in NJ (the closest is in PA) and we work during the week it's hard to see different models.

Are there any members on here who also live in NJ and possibly own a 26 foot RB that would be willing to give us a tour?

Will also be contacting the dealer in PA to see what they have in stock.

Thanks again for everyone's advice and time.

John

[Barbara & Ken]

Call the Born Free factory and ask for a list of owners in your area who will agree to show their coaches to prospective buyers. They will send a list within a week or so.

This is exactly how we had the opportunity to see three or four different coaches in the Albuquerque area. After we purchased our Born Free, we also were able to show our coach to eventual buyers.

Born Free owners are usually eager to show off their coaches, and you can get some real life questions about the pros and cons answered. But there really aren't any cons with a Born Free.

[KTnLen]

Forgive me if you already know all this, but at the Born Free Home Page, you can click on "Locate a Dealer" then select the region, and the dealer inventories can be seen.

http://www.bornfreemotorcoach.com/locat ... 20Atlantic

The D.J. RV inventory for Danville PA is currently showing:

Stock# Model
6869 26' Rear Bath
7305 24' Rear Bath
7306 26' Rear Side Bed
7316 26' Rear Bath
7335 24' Rear Bath
7357 22' Built For Two

There is at least one other member of the Leap'n Lions in NJ, plus a few in MD, PA, and NY.

You can also look at photos and specs for about 40 Born Frees at
http://www.rvtraderonline.com/adsearch/ ... ocess.html

These online dealers also have some Born Free units for sale.
RVRegistry.com
RVSearch.com
RVOnline.com
RVTrader.com
RVUSA.com

As well, there is an inventory list at the Born Free factory. For example, there is a 30-ft Rear Queen Demo unit with 2,000 miles for sale, along with a few other new and used units.

Good luck.

[Ron & Bobbie]

John,

We live in Manahawkin, NJ -Exit 63 on the GSP. We don't have 26' RB but we do have a 2006 BFT that we could show to you. We will be leaving for the Pre-Rally and Homecoming next week but could arrange something before that if you are interested.

[jobrien]

Ron and Bobbie;

Thanks for the offer, but we would have to see the actual models we are interested in to see the layout, storage, etc.

I am taking a ride on Friday to the dealer in PA. They have the 26RSB and RB in stock. I would be ready to take either one, but my wife is the hard sell. She has to take a lot of extra stuff "just in case" so downsizing will be rough for her. She doesn't think we can go to less than a 29'. I prefer the driving convenience of the smaller lengths. If we have to go to 29', I can keep my 32' and not notice the difference.

We're still discussing the pros and cons right now and also looking at some other 26-28' brands/models.

Have a good trip.

John