[whatsnewell]

This is one of the things Elaine and I love about our Newell Classic.....it has wonderful clearance, and we have been able to boondock in some pretty remote areas as a result.  We have 620 watts of solar panels on our roof and have been able to go as long as 22 days without dumping, or running out of fresh water.....

   

   

   

....of course, our Classic only weighs 29,000 lbs, so that makes a big difference!

[Richard]

I don't want to be around you if you have gone 22 days without the running of fresh water. Me thinks you meant running out of fresh water.

Just messin with ya.

[BobALou]

This is one of the things Elaine and I love about our Newell Classic.....it has wonderful clearance, and we have been able to boondock in some pretty remote areas as a result.  We have 620 watts of solar panels on our roof and have been able to go as long as 22 days without dumping, or running of fresh water.....

....of course, our Classic only weighs 29,000 lbs, so that makes a big difference!

Clarke, your pics are glorious. Those settings would be my ideal, but it sounds like that may be a bit more aggressive than what might be prudent for a longer/heavier coach.

[kyleb]

My '87 is 40 ft long. has a tag axle, & has about 12 inches of clearance at ride height. It is 12 ft tall.

It seems to me the most important thing for boondocking would be large tanks (fuel, fresh water, waste).

Most important for off-roading is ground clearance, followed closely by height & width considerations.

Have fun in your search for the ideal RV for your needs

[encantotom]

you have 12 inches of clearance at the trailer hitch in the back?

my 90 had 6 inches or so and my 02 is under 6 inches

tom

[Little]

That's the reason we went for the '86. The hitch is 14" above ground. Rest of the coach is 12" or so. Not really a jeep or razor but just right for what we do. We saw a 45' Monacco down to the body in Yuma Tue. Didn't look like much fun. Not much frame to hook to either. I plan to upgrade the rear hitch to mount to the frame in 6 places but still allow for removing the oil pan. Too hot here to do much outside in the afternoon.

[whatsnewell]

I've actually got 17" from my receiver to the ground.

[encantotom]

showoff

tom

[Nebster]

We love to boondock, and we did so in our Newmar before we got the Newell. We retrofitted the Newell specifically to improve dry camping longevity (power, water consumption), although those improvements also make transit from one RV park to another more pleasant as well.

After two months on the road now full time, I can tell you that our 44'8" Newmar was slightly more flexible off road than the Newell. The Newell has a broader array of stuff hanging down low that reduces clearance, and curbover strikes more often. (However, being able to manually air up to clear something can really help with one-shot obstacles where you have time to dial in the bags.) The Dutch Star we drove before also had a low-hanging Aquahot exhaust, but otherwise I think it was about two inches higher. Those two inches were significant.

So far I have dragged the Newell into some muddy roads (not too bad, but not great), power-slid it around a corner on a loamy dirt road where a big rig going the other way (in an oil field/national grassland) forced me to the side, camped on the alkali flats for Burning Man, and driven about a mile across a bumpy grass field for the solar eclipse. I have NOT tried a packed sand beach, although I asked the lead mechanic at Newell if he thought it could pull it off, and he said "maybe." Ha, ha.

I've had some issues with dust and dirt. Namely, at Burning Man, my jury-rigged genset filtration eventually failed, and I had to remove it to make power. That ingested dust eventually killed the blower fan motor, although it took a while for it to die. Also, lately on a few dry dirt roads, I've observed a fine dust making it through the edge of one of my rear slides. Not sure if that means I'm about to lose a slide seal or what, but I didn't get dust incursion on the Newmar.

In general, I think the differences between a Tiffin/Newmar and Newell are not that much insofar as boondocking is concerned. You can get in a lot of places if you're careful and a little reckless. You definitely have to be willing and able pay for repairs and towing and whatever else. We are; it is just part of the operating cost for us. All of which is absolutely worth it, for the unique spots and experiences, for us.

Good luck...

[BobALou]

We love to boondock, and we did so in our Newmar before we got the Newell. We retrofitted the Newell specifically to improve dry camping longevity (power, water consumption), although those improvements also make transit from one RV park to another more pleasant as well.

After two months on the road now full time, I can tell you that our 44'8" Newmar was slightly more flexible off road than the Newell...

Thanks so much for your real world comparison of your boondocking experiences with the two coaches...great info!! Out of curiosity, what types of retrofits did you do to "improve dry camping longevity"?