Greetings from Indianapolis!

[vraiblonde]

Here for two days - what a great little city! It's large and spread out, so you don't have 8 million people living right on top of each other. This makes for pleasant encounters and less crabby folks hating their life. There's a super cute downtown, plus a couple of other gathering districts where folks go to shop/eat/drink and enjoy the city.

Yesterday we went down by the canal, which is also a riverwalk. It's more dedicated to the arts and recreation, and less about commerce. People are friendly here and say hello to you as you walk by. This is in contrast to large cities, where nobody speaks or makes eye contact unless it's to hustle you or rob you.

Indianapolis appears to be a highly liveable city, with low crime and lots of cultural amenities. I'm not sure anyone would vacation here, but if you were looking to get out of a crime infested hell hole and your company transferred you to Indy, you'd be very happy here. I don't really have a lot to say about it after one full day of exploring, but I have a very favorable impression.

 

[black dog]

Please don't kid yourself about downtown Indy being safe, stay away from the East and NWest sid s of town. I would suggest that you visit the zoo and see the new orangutan exhibit and if time allows The Children's Museum and or The Speedway Museum. Have dinner at one of the restaurants in Broad Ripple or one of the well known restaurants right downtown... If you are heading west and are looking for lunch check out The Tamale Place on the west side of town.

 

[Yooper]

Nice update. Thank you.

Always thought Indy was a nice, no - great, mid-size city. But in our recent travels through last year and this (with RV and toad) we're finding Indy to be a nice city that is suffering the same maladies of many mid-size cities: too-fast growth. The interstate through the city and loop around Indy during rush hour are actually more like "stop hour" roads. Got caught in rush hour last year and it took us almost two hours to get from the west side to east side going around the city via the northern loop (traffic radio was telling us it was much longer if we tried directly through the city or the southern loop; and this was with no accidents reported anywhere!). We now make sure we clear Indy well outside commute times.

And if you're heading (north)west on I-74 from I-70 (from the east) be aware that there is no direct connection; you have to get off the interstate and travel along a many stop-lighted road for about 2 miles (I forget what the street name is, but our GPS got it spot-on) before getting back on the loop, heading south, and then getting on I-74. It's the only glitch in an otherwise pretty good interstate system through and around the city.

We also found the "KOA Indianapolis" campground (located next to Mount Comfort RV south of I-70 at Exit 96) to be quite worth the cash you'll lay out.

--- End of line (MCP)

 

[Monello]

with RV and toad

What set up do you have?

 

[Monello]

Some pics from Indy

Downtown monument


State capitol


Canal


Canal art

 

[vraiblonde]

Please don't kid yourself about downtown Indy being safe, stay away from the East and NWest sid s of town. I would suggest that you visit the zoo and see the new orangutan exhibit and if time allows The Children's Museum and or The Speedway Museum. Have dinner at one of the restaurants in Broad Ripple or one of the well known restaurants right downtown... If you are heading west and are looking for lunch check out The Tamale Place on the west side of town.

We had dinner at Tavern on South, per the Visitor Center lady's suggestion. Monello had a chicken salad club with broccolini, and I had a lovely grilled pork chop with fresh apple chutney and grilled asparagus.

We did go down Broad Ripple, and...Meridian Street? Where the big historic homes are. I have no doubt that Indy has at least one rough area - all cities do - but the general feel was .

 

[Monello]

 

[stgislander]

Some pics from Indy

Downtown monument
View attachment 124984

State capitol
View attachment 124985

Canal
View attachment 124986

Canal art
View attachment 124987

View attachment 124988

Damn. Even their canal is suffering from green algae bloom.

 

[Yooper]

What set up do you have?

A small set-up. 27' Class C and compact SUV (about 50'; RV, tow-bar, & flat-tow). How 'bout y'all?

 

[Monello]

A small set-up. 27' Class C and compact SUV (about 50'; RV, tow-bar, & flat-tow). How 'bout y'all?

2005 Coachmen Aurora class A 34 ft with a 2017 Jeep Cherokee toad. Old toad was a 2002 Ford Explorer Sport trac. 2 bikes and a 10 foot portabote round out our modes of transportation.

We are mulling around updating the rig. I'd like another slide out. Right now we have a ton of exterior storage, I'd like to get at least as much storage as we have now. More storage would be a bonus but not a deal breaker.

 

[Yooper]

2005 Coachmen Aurora class A 34 ft with a 2017 Jeep Cherokee toad. Old toad was a 2002 Ford Explorer Sport trac. 2 bikes and a 10 foot portabote round out our modes of transportation.

We are mulling around updating the rig. I'd like another slide out. Right now we have a ton of exterior storage, I'd like to get at least as much storage as we have now. More storage would be a bonus but not a deal breaker.

View attachment 125008

Very nice set-up. Thank you for sharing.

We debated Class A or C but ultimately ended up going C as my wife and I both felt as first-time RV drivers (our previous experience was all towables) an A might be too much RV. A little tight for me as I'm a bit mobility disabled (vet), but the smaller size has worked to our favor managing the driving, systems and repairs, etc. The Ford E-450 is most definitely not going to win any limo comparison contests but it gets the job done. And the V10, while being a LOUD beast, is very weight-hauling and towing capable. It's funny in that we get the same MPG whether we're towing our Escape or not.

And overall, we do like the quality Winnebago seems to put in over at least some of it's competitors. You mentioned slide-outs. I like them, but the one slide-out we have has been a problem after a very bad bit of road on I-90 in South Dakota where the wind torqued the house so badly that the slide-out came out about two inches. While all is now within spec, it still doesn't run as well or smoothly as before (and, of course, it was just out of warranty!). We also have had some issues with the slide-out leaking , but most of those issues were more the issue of the RV not leveling correctly). Though I must admit that one of my biggest surprises is how much common junk RV manufacturers use. The parts that have failed so far (we bought it new in 2012) are ones that seem to fail for everyone and everyone complains how crappy the part(s) is(are). And yet no one seems interested in building a better, more durable mouse trap. So as they fail I try to find something that while they may not be exact matches (but enough to do the job) they are better in the long run, So far, about 50% success.

Disappointed that no Ford dealers in SoMD will service the Ford E-450 and also disappointed that we have to travel over 100 miles for service on the house half. But so goes RV life, right? Taking the good with the bad and learning as one goes...!

--- End of yarn (MCP)

 

[black dog]

Very nice set-up. Thank you for sharing.

We debated Class A or C but ultimately ended up going C as my wife and I both felt as first-time RV drivers (our previous experience was all towables) an A might be too much RV. A little tight for me as I'm a bit mobility disabled (vet), but the smaller size has worked to our favor managing the driving, systems and repairs, etc. The Ford E-450 is most definitely not going to win any limo comparison contests but it gets the job done. And the V10, while being a LOUD beast, is very weight-hauling and towing capable. It's funny in that we get the same MPG whether we're towing our Escape or not.

And overall, we do like the quality Winnebago seems to put in over at least some of it's competitors. You mentioned slide-outs. I like them, but the one slide-out we have has been a problem after a very bad bit of road on I-90 in South Dakota where the wind torqued the house so badly that the slide-out came out about two inches. While all is now within spec, it still doesn't run as well or smoothly as before (and, of course, it was just out of warranty!). We also have had some issues with the slide-out leaking , but most of those issues were more the issue of the RV not leveling correctly). Though I must admit that one of my biggest surprises is how much common junk RV manufacturers use. The parts that have failed so far (we bought it new in 2012) are ones that seem to fail for everyone and everyone complains how crappy the part(s) is(are). And yet no one seems interested in building a better, more durable mouse trap. So as they fail I try to find something that while they may not be exact matches (but enough to do the job) they are better in the long run, So far, about 50% success.

Disappointed that no Ford dealers in SoMD will service the Ford E-450 and also disappointed that we have to travel over 100 miles for service on the house half. But so goes RV life, right? Taking the good with the bad and learning as one goes...!

--- End of yarn (MCP)

What made you pick gas over diesel?

 

[Monello]

Very nice set-up. Thank you for sharing.

We debated Class A or C but ultimately ended up going C as my wife and I both felt as first-time RV drivers (our previous experience was all towables) an A might be too much RV. A little tight for me as I'm a bit mobility disabled (vet), but the smaller size has worked to our favor managing the driving, systems and repairs, etc. The Ford E-450 is most definitely not going to win any limo comparison contests but it gets the job done. And the V10, while being a LOUD beast, is very weight-hauling and towing capable. It's funny in that we get the same MPG whether we're towing our Escape or not.

And overall, we do like the quality Winnebago seems to put in over at least some of it's competitors. You mentioned slide-outs. I like them, but the one slide-out we have has been a problem after a very bad bit of road on I-90 in South Dakota where the wind torqued the house so badly that the slide-out came out about two inches. While all is now within spec, it still doesn't run as well or smoothly as before (and, of course, it was just out of warranty!). We also have had some issues with the slide-out leaking , but most of those issues were more the issue of the RV not leveling correctly). Though I must admit that one of my biggest surprises is how much common junk RV manufacturers use. The parts that have failed so far (we bought it new in 2012) are ones that seem to fail for everyone and everyone complains how crappy the part(s) is(are). And yet no one seems interested in building a better, more durable mouse trap. So as they fail I try to find something that while they may not be exact matches (but enough to do the job) they are better in the long run, So far, about 50% success.

Disappointed that no Ford dealers in SoMD will service the Ford E-450 and also disappointed that we have to travel over 100 miles for service on the house half. But so goes RV life, right? Taking the good with the bad and learning as one goes...!

--- End of yarn (MCP)

I often chat up the mobile RV repair guys in the campground. All state business is booming. A large part of that is the failure rate of the parts put into today's RVs. Mostly Chinese made and of poor quality. It's common to hear someone with a new rig and having it in the shop 6-7 months in the first year of ownership.

We've had our issues but, fingers crossed, nothing major. I dropped the rig off for 2 weeks early last winter. We found a furnished condo while we were homeless. I had a bunch of nickel & dime fixes. I tried to get the carpet replaced with a different flooring but they didn't want to handle that.

I got a new toad and had the tow base plate added. When we went to pick up the toad with the RV, the attach points were now about 6 inches higher than the previous truck. So we had to grab an extender. I figured it was just plug and play and never imagined that the attachment points would vary. Problem was we had to race across town to pick it up and we didn't allow time as we planning to be at our next location a few hours.

At the end of the day all RV issues are remedied with time and money. Just how much of each is the unknown.

 

[Yooper]

What made you pick gas over diesel?

Diesel comes at a price both initially with the purchase (can be upwards of $20k more than a similar non-Class C gasser model), higher fuel prices at the pump, higher maintenance costs, and the costs of that urea-like stuff now required by law. We figured we would have to drive over 100k miles before the savings covered the diesel-related costs! For a Class C I can't think of a real good reason to go with a diesel; I'm not sure anybody really makes one (not to include Super C's). For Class B's the only answer earlier was to go with a diesel-based Sprinter chassis, but with Ford offering a 3.5l Ecoboost gas engine (same as in F-150 and Raptor (though detuned, of course)) you get the towability of a diesel and decent mileage. So if we go Class B at some point, we're going Ford Transit-based (I have a 3.5l Ecoboost on my truck and LOVE it; no problems either at the 6-year mark).

For Class A's it's a bit different and Monello is probably far more informed than I am at this point. But at this point, if I was going to move up to a Class A I would still go for a V-10 gasser over a diesel pusher. Mostly because that's what I can afford. For Class A's the gas/diesel difference isn't just the engine (where the price differential starts getting up into the $50k (and higher) level), it's also in the RV itself as Class A diesels tend to be more luxurious than gasser Class A's. And more complicated than a gasser. At least that's how I'm understanding it at this point.

--- End of ramble (MCP)

 

[black dog]

Diesel comes at a price both initially with the purchase (can be upwards of $20k more than a similar non-Class A gasser model), higher fuel prices at the pump, higher maintenance costs, and the costs of that urea-like stuff now required by law. We figured we would have to drive over 100k miles before the savings covered the diesel-related costs! For a Class C I can't think of a real good reason to go with a diesel; I'm not sure anybody really makes one (not to include Super C's). For Class B's the only answer earlier was to go with a diesel-based Sprinter chassis, but with Ford offering a 3.5l Ecoboost gas engine (same as in F-150 and Raptor (though detuned, of course)) you get the towability of a diesel and decent mileage. So if we go Class B at some point, we're going Ford Transit-based (I have a 3.5l Ecoboost on my truck and LOVE it; no problems either at the 6-year mark).

For Class A's it's a bit different and Monello is probably far more informed than I am at this point. But at this point, if I was going to move up to a Class A I would still go for a V-10 gasser over a diesel pusher. Mostly because that's what I can afford. For Class A's the gas/diesel difference isn't just the engine (where the price differential starts getting up into the $50k (and higher) level), it's also in the RV itself as Class A diesels tend to be more luxurious than gasser Class A's. And more complicated than a gasser. At least that's how I'm understanding it at this point.

--- End of ramble (MCP)

Thanks...

 

[Yooper]

... All state business is booming....
.
.
.
At the end of the day all RV issues are remedied with time and money. Just how much of each is the unknown.

We had the same problem with our Falcon tow bar set-up! Fortunately, we had about a week before the trip so I could order one in and get it set up at a relatively leisurely pace.

I'm sure the dealers and their service depts are thrilled business is booming. But the cynic in me can't help but wonder if they build in crap knowing that it inconveniences the owner but benefits the dealer. Makes me feel that the RV industry remains willfully mired in the 1970s and how Detroit used to do business.... I would have hoped that Winnebago would lead the mid-price sector in doing better, but I don't think even the high-price manufacturers are doing all that well from what I keep reading.

I would add that all issues can be dealt with with time, money, and finding a dealer who's willing to service your rig!

--- End of travail (MCP)