[Deleted User]

We’ve been full time in BoB (the Big ol’ Bus) for about 4 years now. We travel with a high energy Jack Russell mix furkid and just lost our cat of 22 years about a month ago. As you might imagine, in rainy or extreme cold situations, it can get a little “tight”, but that is true if you have slides or not. Our previous plastic coach had 3 slides and a great floorplan, but persistent rain or extreme cold still gave us cabin fever, and the slides leaked when it rained – even after a bunch of effort and $$$$ to try to fix the problems. Overall, we (I) chose our riveted, no slide coach with an eye toward relative “simplicity” (if that’s even possible with any conversion) and future reliability & maintenance issues/costs, and for us, it was a good decision. As for storage space…our experience is that you will fill up whatever space you have. I currently have about 1/3 of a bay “empty”. I could most likely lighten the load a bit & come up with an aditional 1/4 bay or maybe another 1/3 bay, but generally we have plenty of room for what we want & need. Knowing how you want to use the coach will more severely limit your purchase options, but finding the right floorplan and basement configuration for you will pay big dividends in your comfort on the road.

We enjoy our coach, love the lifestyle, are still best friends after more than 45 years of marriage, and aren’t planning to settle down or trade coaches anytime soon.

Good luck!! Enjoy the hunt for your coach!! As you already know, folks around here are more than ready to help you spend your money!! 😉

[Tim]

Except for a couple months helping back at the farm, we’ve been full-timing in a non-slide since Dec. ’15!

No big issues without slides. We each have our “own” space to sit and relax, eat, read, or watch TV. We don’t miss the 18″ extra which basically gives you a bigger aisle (that is, for 2 slides vs. 4 slides), and takes away storage space.

Having had a couple folks in our Bus, I think if we wanted to entertain company more in our Bus, then an extra slide would be nice. But over the last 10 months, and having many HH or get togethers with folks, all of them have been outside to take advantage of our beautiful vistas (for the most part).

We have gotten together to play cards with some folks, but met in a women’s 5th wheel where she had a great big round table right in the middle of the living room. If I wanted something more like a house, it would be a 5th wheel. But I don’t, we love our Bus!

I know you’ll get debate from many folks, but I’m so glad we choose our H-345. You will not find another RV that has such huge bay space or the number of large interior windows which creates an “open air feeling”, even in a non-slide.

Someday, we’ll get another house … but so far, we’re not missing living in a S&B after 35 years, nor living without slides!

[Archived]

Brett,

In 2008 the wife and I, plus a short legged Corgi mix spent five weeks in a 40′ no slides coach. We drove from NC to San Diego, up I-5 to Portland, across the upper states, south in Illinois, over to Indiana then Kentucky and Tennessee before returning home to NC. When we started out my concern was would we remain married following the trip. Somewhere around Hickory, NC the wife says to me, “Let’s sell the house and go full time in the coach.” I was stunned. We had a great time, all kinds of weather and roads, stops for doggie rest areas, and even a few mechanical problems along the way.

Other trips have been to OKC and Maine with another group, Seattle for work in 2015, Pittsburgh in 2016 also for work. The 2016 trip also included a return trip through Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee before returning home to NC.

Slides, to have them or not, that is the question. We chose not after reading many posts about them not retracting, leaking, and controls being inoperable. It is truly a matter of personal preference.

[Archived]

Dorothy and I have no slides. I would confess, as I was shopping and looking, it boiled down to budget constraints, but, in retrospect, the lack of slides has not been a minus. First of all…our coach, like so many is simply made for two people…if it had twice the square feet, it would still be a coach built for two…us! (As I like to say….Parties 10/ eats 4/ sleeps 2) Slides or no slides, comfort is the longest suit of this motorhome; huge tanks, good heating and ac, almost total sound insulation, wonderful appliances, and it drivesI better than yo’ grandmama’s Buick!

I’ve pondered whether a “next” coach might include slides. I think the pondering will continue indefinitely, because I have no inclination nor yearning for anything other than the coach I own….it is an awesome machine.

[glen]

Karen and I spent 4 months traveling across the country in our non slide 40 footer and never felt cramped. Even when our daughter and son-in-law joined us for a week.

Tom

[Archived]

We have been over 14 years travelling the country in RVs full time. Four years of that was in a 5th wheel with two monster slides, two bedrooms and two full baths. We moved from that to our 95/96 XL with no slides 8 1/2 years ago. We have missed the second bathroom but we have Never missed the slides. There are three of us traveling together all the time and we have no problem but a 4th feels crowded after a few days for us.

Davy

[Tim]

For longer than I have been RVing I have wanted a Prevost based bus but was always derailed my bank budget. Moving ahead to now and several fiberglass coaches later we still don’t have one, even though we could have had we not gone through so many fiberglass units..lol Anyway now we have a nice coach, have done a ton of upgrades and have it pretty much set up for us. It has for big slides and alot of room BUT it still isn’t a bus. Oh yea and budget is still an issue..lol

With budget being the issue I have come to the conclusion that I don’t think I will find a two slide bus in my price range. So we started kinda looking at single slide units and there just aren’t many. Now we are down to non-slide buses and there is where we are.WE full time and just don’t know if we could go from four slides to none. I think we can, but momma is not that sure. She is used to getting out of bead and having room to get dressed, she is not real excited about not being able to walk around the foot of the bed…lol She is getting closer, but now our issue is that we have found one we both like and it appears to be a nice unit….BUT we are afraid to get rid of wht we have to get a non slide and then a month or 6 later realize we just don’t have room and are tired of tripping over each other. If our current coach was paid for and the bus would be nearly paid for it wouldn’tbe a big issue. but ours isn’t and a different one wont be.

We are just not sure about leaving a nice coach with plenty of space and going to a nicer bus with half the space…Ughhh

Anyway, thanks to those that have answered.We do appreciate it.

[Brett]

Brett:

We aren’t full timing in our non-slide Prevost … but here are my two cents.

How tall are you and Momma? I’m 5-7, Cathie is shorter. I think being short in stature helps make a non-slide coach work. I think that a taller couple would have a more difficult time in a non-slide vs slide coach.

Just my thoughts.

Note to those of you out there debating between a plastic coach and a Prevost bus. Please look closely at what Brett said about the money spent on non-Prevost coaches over the year. Geo Prentice has told me the same thing more than once. Don’t test the waters with a plastic coach … dive into the deep end of the pool, get that Prevost the first time out, and you will not be looking back.

[Corey]

Dick, I completely agree with you on agreeing with me….lol Yes for what we have spent on fiberglass we cold have had a Prevost, but lik eman we had to start small and in budget in order to rv at all and then slowly work ur way up. The only real way we could have done the Prevost from the beginning or anywhere along the way would be to do without any RV for many years while we saved the money we were spending on fiberglass and then we wouldn’t be enjoying rving at all. So it’s a catch 22 for working people with no money.

As for your question, I am 6’3 and about 300lbs (just retired from military a couple years ago, so not fat, just big) Momma is 6′ and uhhh weight appropriate….lol So we are not your run of the mill small statured people.

I just don’t know if we can gamble and throw away space…..I used to build street rods and like most builders say, the small blocks are a ton of fun, but there aint no replacement for displacement. In this case displacement being floor space. Just don’t know.

[Archived]

Because of the chassis structure in a Prevost in the sense it does not have a conventional 2 rail frame running down the length of it, but a “bird cage” chassis struture slides may open up floor space, but it comes at the expense of useable space for storage or features such as more pantry space or room for a washer and dryer. Prevost slides require room on each side of them for the structure around he opening and the slide mechanism. The bays of a slide equipped Prevost are compromised by slide structure also so the bottom line is extra walking space comes at the expense of added coach weight, added complexity, and reduced storage space.

The 45 foot coach we had prior to our current 2 slide coach had significantly more storage because when I swapped stuff from that coach to the current one I had boxes of stuff from the older coach that would not fit in the newer coach. If we full timed it in our two slide coach we would be giving up the ability to carry a lot of things we used to carry, including 2 full size bikes that used to be caried in the bay.

I have no clue what you lose in a conventional motor home when slides are added, but you do give up some space for storage.

How the coach is used determines the value of slides. If the coach is driven often, and does not spend extended periods in an RV resort slides add little value in my opinion. If on the other hand the coach is parked for longer periods in an RV park especially when there is a lot of good weather so the outside becomes part of the living space the extra room from slides tends to make you forget your are in a bus, but more in a small home. For me the choice is easy because I have seen some conventoinal motor homes in detail and there is no way I would trade any of our three Prevost coaches and their robust construction, impeccable higway manners, and protective structure for a conventional motor home built to a significantly lower quality and safety level.

[AL]

Brett, I have re-read your posts and am trying to gain some perspective on exactly what you mean by full time. Are you pretty much on the move ? Do you spend a significant amount of time in any one place ? Do you winter or summer in a set location ? Geo.

[Archived]

Just did 9 months full timing in our non slide H, no problem, better half even commented, we don’t need no stinking slides.

[Chas]

Full time meaning we have no house. We live in the coach. We spend 2-3 weeks someplace and then move to someplace else. We will winter for 2-4 months someplace, but still probably move around a little bit.

Hope that answered your questions. No we do not sit in one place more than about three weeks before moving on.

[Brett]

Brett, We full time 6-7 mos. in the summer in a single slide H. Previously we did the same thing in a non-slide XL. We were certainly more comfortable in the non-slide XL than in any previous multi-slide “plastic” coaches previous. We went the H route for the taller bays and larger windows. Originally we were looking for a 2-slide Vantare, but ended up with the single slide because this bus was special in a lot of ways. The only real reason we wanted the bed slide was to not have to do the shuffle past the foot of the bed. We solved that by installing a wall hugger bed (details are in the Up Dates thread dated around May or June ’15). Our experiences with the last two Prevo’s has convinced us that we could easily full time year round if we so chose. We put on 20-22K per year and could NEVER go back to driving anything we owned previously. Plus the service and support that is available to a Prevo owner is unparallaled. That combined with the actual driving experience and the redundency and robustness of all the other systems on our coaches, makes the thought of anything else a non-starter. Hoping that this adds some clarity. Geo.

[Archived]

Yea it does for certain. And everything I am hearing says we can do it….I think we can, actually I am sure we can…But I don’ thave momma quite convinced……as for the driving and handling aspect, she don’t drive so she won’t get that part….lol

Maybe if I cold get her to read the threads on here…..lol

Thanks all