Winnebago Vista 35F or Sightseer 36V

[Rondar]

Hello everyone.........we are new to this forum and are looking at these two MH for our first full time encounter. We will primarily split our time between two locations (north and south) to spend time with kids and grandchildren. We will also spend a few months traveling to other locations.

We like both and the 35F had the bath and half that is very nice. The 36V has more room overall. Just looking for some feedback from owners of these two MHs. We are planning to buy in the next month or so.

Thanks,
Ron

[rtr]

I have a 2007 Sightseer 35j and love it lots of room with 2 slides

[garykk]

We enjoy our 35F, especially the two bathrooms....can you guess who got the bigger one..

I guess it will boil down to which one you like best..

[VSPA]

Originally Posted by Rondar

.....We like both and the 35F had the bath and half that is very nice. The 36V has more room overall. Just looking for some feedback from owners of these two MHs. We are planning to buy in the next month or so. Thanks, Ron

Welcome to the forum. This is one of those places that I have learned far more than I have been able to contribute. The wife and I just recently bought the 2014 Itasca Sunstar version of the 35F, it's the fourth class a we've owned over the years, including a new piece of junk full wall slide RV we only kept for five months earlier this year. It was not a Winnebago product. At first I wasn't really sure about the 1/2 bath idea, with extra tanks, valves and so forth. One trip with the new unit, and I'm totally convinced that we made the right choice. Not only do we love the floor plan, I wouldn't want to go back to a single bath. It has simplified the morning routine. After DW finishes her morning shower, she moves to the half bath to do the balance of her make ready. That leaves the main bath for my use and keeps us out of one another's way. The second toilet is just simply nice to have just in case. I miss having a recliner, but the slide out couch addition goes a long way to make up for it. I'm prone to curl up with an Afghan in the corner it creates, and watch the fireplace, the TV and/or both. IMHO it has better that the average basement storage. Had room left over after transferring items from the previous and slightly larger coach. Not real impressed with the can good type"pantry" storage as ours has the larger 4 door refrigerator, but came up with a quick fix for that. For years I've used the Wally World 6 x 12 x 18 in Sterilite plastic storage containers with the snap close ends in the basement. I now use five or six of those for can good and heavy food items and store them under the couch. That keeps all that weight out of the overhead cabinets and makes room for light items like bread, chips, so forth and so on. As an added note on the storage under the couch, I slide these containers out to the middle of the coach when operating the slide. Less wear and tear on the L/S slide tracks.

Best of luck on your choice and let us know which one ya' choose.

[Clay L]

Check the CCC or OCCC - depending on the year - later years use OCCC.

One thing full timers need to be aware of is CCC. That is the extra weight you can carry. Most of of us full timers have found that we need at least 1500 pounds per person. We have 2800 total and would like to have 3600.

I have seen a number of motor homes (including some diesel pushers) that have as little as 360 pounds of CCC. That is hardly enough for a weekend much less full timing. For more info on CCC and the newer rating OCCC see:

CCC
HERE and

New OCCC
HERE

To get CCC from OCCC subtract the weight of the water and the people on board from the OCCC. That leaves you with the amount of cargo you can safely carry.

[garykk]

Stan, do you have the bench seats at the dinette? What I did was install doors on the face of the benches. Now the wife just slides large plastic bins in and out. I bought two cabinet doors fromWB as they would not sell me the finish or give me the paint code. Our last 5th wheel had these doors and its much easier to use the storage under the benches.

[VSPA]

We've got the bench seats so many thanks for the idea.

[garykk]

Originally Posted by mustang652

We've got the bench seats so many thanks for the idea.

I used the drivers center overhead doors as template. I found it was easier to remove the bench face for cutting, only a few screws...
I did buy a couple of maple doors but as I said, could not match the finish so had to buy two cabinet doors from WB....a bit $$ but dealer gave me a break..

[mpasso]

Gary, I've been wanting to install doors on on the ends of the dinette bench for the same reason. How big did you cut the opening and do you have a pic you can share?

[SuperGewl]

We traded our used Suncruiser 33V for our 2014 35F and yes the Wifey loves it. It actually looks like a DP. This unit has more storage than the last unit and about as much as our previous 5th Wheel. I haven't really loaded it up yet. We are short a bit on the pantry when compared to the Suncruiser but the 4 Door fridge with built in ice maker makeup for that. Bath and a half is great, the only way to go. There are some things they could have done better but I still luv the unit.

[garykk]

Originally Posted by mpasso

Gary, I've been wanting to install doors on on the ends of the dinette bench for the same reason. How big did you cut the opening and do you have a pic you can share?

Sure PM me with your email and I'll send them to you.

[HOHDR]

Ron,

I'm not an owner, yet, but I'm researching Winnebago gassers for full timing, too. I heeded the advise of Clay and others regarding the OCCC and have collected that information from models of the 35F/35B, 33C, and 35P/37F.

Loaded with options, the 35F had an OCCC over 4800 pounds. Although I don't have data on the 36V, its larger size and additional standard features make me suspect its OCCC is less than 3000 pounds.

FWIW, the Adventurer 35P model I viewed had an OCCC of 2633 pounds, which is why Winnebago offers an optional 24,000 pound GVWR chassis in place of the standard 22K chassis. A beefier chassis isn't available for the 36V.

Before you commit to the 36V, try to determine its OCCC. Winnebago has a service tip sheet explaining where to find that information in MH's manufactured after 2008.

[RayAndLin]

Great info here! We are doing research on different class a's and the OCCC is something I can't find without looking at the actual coaches. As we are in a relatively rural area, we can't be driving (literally) hours to check out a label. Where else can we find the OCCC of the models as we compare?

My thanks,

Lindsay

[Clay L]

If it is a Winnebago you can call customer service with the model number and get general/designed weight info (OCCC or CCC depending on year) or give them the VIN or Winnebago ID number and get the weight with Winnebago installed options.