Class B RV Under 8 Feet With Bath for Garage Parking

[reodds]

Hi Everyone, my wife and I are looking to get a Class B RV. We would like one that has a built-in bath, and most of the usual amenities, but with an exterior height that is less than 8 feet tall, so it can fit into our garage, and be a daily driver.

We are rather short in stature (I am 66", and my wife is 60"), so we do not need or want a high interior ceiling.

So far, in my research, I am not able to find anything like it. Either, they have interior heights that are less than 66", or greater than 72". No one seems to have one closer, but less than to 70". Same with the exterior dimensions, either 72" or greater than 96".

Any suggestions? By the way, I am not opposed to a pop-up roof, but I would want one with hard sides, not canvas.

Thanks!
Roger

 

[booster]

Hi Everyone, my wife and I are looking to get a Class B RV. We would like one that has a built-in bath, and most of the usual amenities, but with an exterior height that is less than 8 feet tall, so it can fit into our garage, and be a daily driver.

We are rather short in stature (I am 66", and my wife is 60"), so we do not need or want a high interior ceiling.

So far, in my research, I am not able to find anything like it. Either, they have interior heights that are less than 66", or greater than 72". No one seems to have one closer, but less than to 70". Same with the exterior dimensions, either 72" or greater than 96".

Any suggestions? By the way, I am not opposed to a pop-up roof, but I would want one with hard sides, not canvas.

Thanks!
Roger

I guess I am missing your point. If it fits through the 8' door why can't the interior height be over 70"? It seems like an unnecessary requirement.

A Maxvan Access is 7.5" high and 75" inside standing height. Why would that not work?

 

[reodds]

Thanks for the quick reply Booster! The Access is an intriguing option, however the "stand-up" area is limited to a very small depression in the floor by the bath, the majority of the van has a very limited height, certainly not stand up. even for me!

 

[Doneworking]

We have a 9x9 garage door on the third door of our attached garage. One of the reasons we have always just said no to a newer unit is the fact that nothing we have seen we like to replace our 2007 Roadtrek 210P has an exterior height that will fit thru a nine foot garage. Our house was built in the late 90s and we didn't anticipate having a B taller than nine feet. The construction/design of the house is such a higher door opening could not be accomplished without losing the appearance of the house. I am 5-7 and my wife is 5-6 and it works just perfect for the both of us. You do have to duck a bit to get into the bed but that is no problem for us, probably because we are used to it.

 

[Jordanb]

What about the Maxvan Access. It is 90" tall

 

[reodds]

We have a 9x9 garage door on the third door of our attached garage. One of the reasons we have always just said no to a newer unit is the fact that nothing we have seen we like to replace our 2007 Roadtrek 210P has an exterior height that will fit thru a nine foot garage. Our house was built in the late 90s and we didn't anticipate having a B taller than nine feet. The construction/design of the house is such a higher door opening could not be accomplished without losing the appearance of the house. I am 5-7 and my wife is 5-6 and it works just perfect for the both of us. You do have to duck a bit to get into the bed but that is no problem for us, probably because we are used to it.

The exterior height of the Roadtrek is 8'6", unfortunately our garage door is an inch less than 8', it's a no go for us. That's what is making this so frustrating!

 

[Jordanb]

I believe the height in the back where the couch/bed area is 65"

 

[reodds]

What about the Maxvan Access. It is 90" tall

The Maxvan looks great on paper, but, as I mentioned, the depressed floor is a very small area by the shower/kitchen, the rest of the area is too low to stand up in. Thanks!

 

[booster]

We had the same issue when we were looking almost 20 years ago our doors were 8' high and 9' wide on a 10 foot ceiling. I was able to enlarge them to 9' 3" high, so on a 9" ceiling the most you could gain would be a few inches. No problem for use. I can tell you from our use. It is very rare that we would even be standing in the van when not in the kitchen or bathroom and the Access has full height to both.. The rest is just getting stuff from cabinets and passing through. The standing height area in the Access is a shorter going to the rear but not by a lot. They list 75" in the drop floor area and the only reference I found showed the same 65" in the non drop area as was mentioned by others. If you haven't been in one, you may want to go a see. One inch lower than your height might not be a big deal for you, and your wife would have no issues. We are OK in our Roadtrek with me at 67" tall, but many taller folks have the same Roadtreks and don't really have any issues with the low areas because they really aren't used for standing even though the roof is a couple of inches lower than their height.

I have never seen a van pop top that didn't have canvas sides but they do make hard shell top with canvas side ones that when closed are all solid with some that tilt and some that go straight up. There are camper trailers that have hard side pop ups like the Safari Condo Alto, Aliner, and Trailmanor.

I agree that canvas sides are not that desirable compared to solid, but you may not ever find what you want if you can't get higher entry.

As far as I know sportsmobile still make most of the available vans with pop top so you may want to check with them.

They do list a low roof Promaster option in regular length. It appears current Promaster lows are 91" tall and have 66.9" cargo height so very tight inside.

You only have 96" max to play with and probably a bit less depending on how it is trimmed. Staying safe would indicate maybe 94" or even lower if the approach is sloped much. That would probably mean there is about 90" left for ceiling height, flooring, anything hanging underneath, and ground clearance.

 

[booster]

OK, let's consider a fairly unusual way to sorta kinda get what you want.

Again this is Sportsmobile, but might apply to other pop tops also.

If you look at this link, Sportsmobile show dimensions for their pop top, with the upper bed which is optional, with the top up and down.

pot top dimensions

It is a hard cap, so no canvas showing or leaking when down.

On the standard van of various brands, it appears that if you left the top down you would have nearly full van length standup height for people your height. It doesn't eliminate the canvas, but removes nearly all of the downsides of it.

 

[youngnretired]

Keep in mind what booster posted doesn't include an AC unit, and appears that an option for one isn't available either from a quick look thru their website. They could possibly make a custom and add one somewhere.

A standard Chevy Express van roof is around 84" high (7.0'), and a low profile AC unit is 7-11" high. By the time you take a standard height van and add a low profile roof AC unit, you are pretty much maxed out for exterior height for your 8' door opening, but still don't have interior height to stand up in. You can have a custom van made and place an AC unit somewhere besides the roof. I think the problem with having a full bath/shower in a van that has a pop up top that will fit inside an 8' garage is that the shower/bath would need to occupy space under the pop up, which may make the interior space limited for standing and being able to walk around, or for sleeping arrangement.

Give any consideration to renting a storage unit with a 9'+ door height to park it in, or having a custom van made?

 

[booster]

If air conditioning and and/or a generator are requirement the Access comes to the top. It comes with both.

 

[youngnretired]

I just looked and the Maxvan Access may fit all of the OP's needs, except for full standing capability over a majority of the floor area.

Access | Wide Body Class B RV | MAXVAN® Innovative RVs