Taking your View/Navion off the pavement!!!

[CraigS]

Greetings all!
New to the site, already gained lots of insight on the View.
Living here in Idaho where the state is 60% public land, I'd like to know have owners taken their rigs off the beaten path. We have forest service roads all over the state.

Concerns about clearance? Leveling system height concerns?

Feels like you can take the View off the beaten path as long as you go slow and steady.

Thanks, Craig

[crah]

Originally Posted by CraigS

Greetings all!
New to the site, already gained lots of insight on the View.
Living here in Idaho where the state is 60% public land, I'd like to know have owners taken their rigs off the beaten path. We have forest service roads all over the state.

Concerns about clearance? Leveling system height concerns?

Feels like you can take the View off the beaten path as long as you go slow and steady.

Thanks, Craig

I've taken mine on some well maintained dirt roads and 1 forest service road with rutts. Regular dirt roads are not an issue at all. Ground clearance is not great especially with the levelers. I've had my levelers scrape in a few places. The box portion of the RV does lots of creaks and flexing. I see plenty of other view owners doing it. Take it slow and steady. Not the best rv for that type of road but doable. If I was doing it as my norm, I would upgrade my tires to an All Terrain tire.

[BlueGekko]

We’re on a 3 month road trip out west. Take our ‘19 Navion off road on forest service, BLM and Harvest Host lands several times a week. We avoid rutted and water grooved areas, drive slow to avoid rockin and rollin and camp at some of the most beautiful spots out here. Naturally, some roads may have hanging branches so getting around them can be a challenge. If you’re worried about the occasional ding or scratch, stay with private CGs and avoid WallMart parking lots. If you’re more interested in the view and the peace and quiet, take a chance and drive slow off away from the black top.

[CraigS]

Greetings from smoky Idaho! Thanks for the insight, the off-road tires are a great suggestion.

[Jos 56]

Most forest roads once accommodated 18 wheelers (and some still do) so you mostly have the watch the ground clearance. I once had a branch fall on the roof that took out a vent cap. I've not lost another one since I got a spare.

[Boilerpe]

We were in South Dakota and were doing well on the Forest Road, but we had a poorly maintained cattle crossing. It caught our leveler and we were sunk. Other FRs have worked fine. Be aware.

[Elkman]

For me the worry is getting stuck 50 miles from the nearest town and RV tow service. Many of these areas also lack cell service so one has to travel to the nearest town with an RV service operation and also probably block the road for other travelers in their vehicles.

In the past I made it a point with my travel planning to arrive at the local ranger station during business hours so I could get the current forest service road maps and ask them about current conditions.With the widespread fire danger I would also worry about getting trapped in an area or impeding fire crews with their large vehicles.

Years ago I was driving down from the mountains along the Angeles Crest Highway in a small roadster and making good time but I saw a large truck getting closer and closer in my rearview mirror. I pulled over to let it pass and it was a USFS truck with more than a dozen fire fighters in the back. I was driving at 90% of what my car and my skill as a driver could manage but the fellow in the forest service truck was driving at 100% of his large truck's and his capabilities. At least with my small car it was not a problem to pull over on the mountain road and let them get past me.

[MarvinFickle]

Our 2010 Winnebago Via is built on the previous Sprinter chassis, so it may not represent the same experience as the current model (mid-2018). We have driven extensively on dirt and gravel roads throughout the West, including the notorious "Road to Chicken" from Dawson City to Tok in Alaska. It has survived these trips with minimal damage, although I routinely tighten screws and bolts where appropriate. The Sprinter chassis is built for commercial use, and is expected to last under less than optimal circumstance. Dirt roads will provide access to a lot of great boondocking opportunities. (Of course, there is always the cleanup afterwards.) A problem may be narrow side clearance on many mountain roads where maintenance has been limited over the past two seasons. Safe travels.

[johnh123]

Originally Posted by Boilerpe

We were in South Dakota and were doing well on the Forest Road, but we had a poorly maintained cattle crossing. It caught our leveler and we were sunk. Other FRs have worked fine. Be aware.

Then what happened?

[powercat_ras]

I have a friend with a View who dropped the front passenger side wheel into a large pothole when driving off road to camp on Forest Service land at Lizard Head Pass and it damaged their Kwikee Step, the bottom of the step hit the ground and bent it so that the motor would not operate it anymore.

So that's another risk when driving a low clearance Winnebago off road.

I drive my Vista off road you have to be very aware of ruts and potholes and really creep along at low speed so that ones you can't avoid don't "get" you.

[Elkman]

It is incorrect to state that the Sprinter chassis is designed for commercial use and equate its use as a commercial van operating at 70% or less of its GVWR and its use to support a motorhome that puts it at 100% of its GVWR most of the time. There is not much in the way of reserve capacity for the chassis or the suspension or steering components.

When I evaluate a course of action and the risks involved I ask myself what is the worst that can happen and can I and my passengers deal with it. I don't hope for the best and go for it regardless.

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by Elkman

It is incorrect to state that the Sprinter chassis is designed for commercial use and equate its use as a commercial van operating at 70% or less of its GVWR and its use to support a motorhome that puts it at 100% of its GVWR most of the time. There is not much in the way of reserve capacity for the chassis or the suspension or steering components.

When I evaluate a course of action and the risks involved I ask myself what is the worst that can happen and can I and my passengers deal with it. I don't hope for the best and go for it regardless.

Wise man…

[Phil G.]

Originally Posted by Elkman

It is incorrect to state that the Sprinter chassis is designed for commercial use and equate its use as a commercial van operating at 70% or less of its GVWR and its use to support a motorhome that puts it at 100% of its GVWR most of the time. There is not much in the way of reserve capacity for the chassis or the suspension or steering components.

When I evaluate a course of action and the risks involved I ask myself what is the worst that can happen and can I and my passengers deal with it. I don't hope for the best and go for it regardless.

You've hit upon a subtle thing regarding many of the later model Class C motorhomes available -> they are pushing the design limits of the chassis they're built on so much that there isn't much left in the margins for their braking, drive line, suspension, and frame systems.

This is probably going to continue unless Ford and/or Chevy continue offering a Class 4 chassis series chassis going forward. The current MB, new Ford, new Ram, etc. delivery van type chassis don't seem to be available above about the one-ton Class 3 chassis series.

What is still needed going forward for a bit more rugged small Class C use is a chassis that falls in the sweet spot between the 3 series and the 5 series of chassis. Both the Ford E450 and Chevy 4500 cutaway chassis fill this need - but how much longer are they going to be available in cutaway form for use by Class C builders?

When we bought a new small (24ft) Class C motorhome for just the two of us to use in exploring and camping in rough road areas, we definitely wanted one built on the Ford E450 chassis instead of the Ford E350 chassis. The E350 chassis would have handled our motorhome's weight most of the time by being very careful and lucky - but doing so right at the high end of it's E350 design specs for the braking, drive line, suspension, and frame systems. You can still find small new Class C motorhome models optionally available on the Ford E450 or Chevy 4500 chassis ... but it's getting more and more difficult.

We can confidently take our 24ft. E450 Class C carefully offroad and it always handles it well. For some improvement in ground clearance, we use larger diameter tires instead of what came stock on it. We try to "hope for the best, but prepare for the worst" when taking our small Class C out to the far side of beyond.