Chinook RV

Hey folks,

I have a Roadtrek Popular 200 Widebody year 2000 on the Chevrolet 3500 chassis. The bed is very, very comfortable. The bed is a king sized bed and it is very roomy. We usually leave the bed made up all of the time. Plus is drives great! Very stable. But the problem is that you have to shower in the hallway, and the overall layout is pretty cramped.

I've been looking at the Pleasureway Excel TS (Ford) 20 foot, Phoenix Cruiser 2350 (Ford) 24 foot, Chinook Concourse 2100 (Ford) 21 foot, or the Chinook Destiny 2400 (Chevrolet) 24 foot. I'm thinking about full timing with the wife because I want to do this before we get too old. I am 50 and the wife is 51. I'm 5 foot, 11.5 inches and 230 pounds. She is 5 foot 1 inch, and 105 pounds.

I was wondering how comfortable the jackknife sofa sleepers are. Comfort is very important to us. I guess we are looking at dinette models, so the sofa and dinette can be combined into one big bed. I am open to placing a memory foam topper on the bed for extra comfort. We sleep on a Tempur Pedic at home and love it.

I am about to eliminate the Phoenix Cruiser because the permanent bed is 50 X 76 and I taped that off at home to try it out, but it felt too small.

I only want the Pleasureway Excel TS if it has a push button electric sofa that converts to a king size bed. This will make transition time easy and fast.

If the Chinook beds are comfortable, then I just have to decide between the Concourse 21 foot and Destiny 24 foot.

How comfortable or uncomfortable are those beds?
Any comments on the other RVs?
Anyone fulltiming in the Concourse or Destiny?

John

You might get a mixed reaction to the Concourse couch/bed comfort. I've read on here some don't like it. I typically sleep on the couch and drop the dinette for the dogs. I think the couch and when folded out, the bed to be comfortable for me. What part of the country are you in? I think you need to get in one and try it out to see if it's for you.

I have the concourse and i wouldnt recommend the fold out sofa as being good for full time RV living. When its folded down the back is one section and the seat area is the other section with the opening right down the center of the two. I have considered Removing the factory seat cushions and building a two peice bed frame so that it can still be folded up and placing a small mattress on it. The dinette bed might be ok for your short wife if shes 5 feet tall, but its no good for anyone taller than that because of the seat backs. You could fold the couch down and sleep with your head towards the wall on the dinette side with your feet on the couch side but you still have individual cushions on the dinette.
If i was to full time in mine i would completely redo the couch area and the dinette area. I would remove the dinette completely, then build a fold up bed on that side with a desk setup attached to the bottom so when its in the folded up position it become a desk area. Then on the couch side i would remove the couch and build more storage cabinets.
Right now i do the same as the previous comment, i sleep on the couch and my Dog uses the dinette bed, he goes from the floor to the bed multiple times during a night. He prefers the floor but he is full grown now and i think his legs get cramped trying to lay between the couch and dinette.
As far as the Ford handling goes mine handles like an oversize porsche now since i put air suspension on the back. Originally it came with whats called Mor-Ryde suspension on the rear and IMO its junk and never should have been an option on such a short heavy truck.