Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 13, 2025 ...

I never really understood this 40+ foot phenomena.

I was at FT as the calls came in for James.  Three of them in 5 mins and I heard he has three people taking messages.  Wow, he seems very busy right now.  Hope you get your call back soon. The lady who was writing one in the computer for James said a few were from people out on the road.  I do not know if it was your message though.

Photo is of our 40 footer in a "campground" in Idaho. We stay off the interstates as much as we can. Yes a forty foot coach with a Jeep Liberty is limited when compared to a 25' anything, but we still manage to get off the beaten path.

Roland

For us there was no "phenomena" when choosing coach length. We want a vehicle that will give us a livable interior, and plenty of storage space (both inside and in the basement area) for extended (perhaps multi-month) traveling or potentially full-timing at some point. In the mid-to-late 90s Foretravels (in our price range) there is a marked difference in exterior and interior storage space between the 36-foot and 40-foot U320 models, and the bathroom design is far more livable (at least for us) in the 40-foot models.

I have driven a significantly shorter motorhome, as well as a 96" wide, 35' long coach for our church tour groups. Our 40-foot U320 fits in most of the same spaces as did our shorter one, and in terms of maneuverability I notice very little difference between the smaller tour coach and our motorhome.

For us, "size" isn't nearly as important as are storage and livability, and so we didn't go into the selection process with some pre-selected must-be-a-certain-length criterion.

I think there are a lot of reasons why my wife does not want to go over the 35-36 foot length, and I am likely not doing her concerns/arguments justice. some of it may be a lack of knowledge on both of our parts. Maybe I'll talk to her to see if I can get a better understanding of her concerns.

Walt - why not have her sign up on the forum herself so she can ask questions and get to know all of us crazy Foretravel fans and more about the coaches?  She just needs an e-mail address that's different than yours.

38ft. works great for us.

ditto here

We see little or no gain in space in adding two feet to the length.  Also, my automobile driver's license works fine on a 38 footer in California, but not if over 40 feet.  Also some roads are restricted and 40+ cannot use them legally.

That is something else to consider. I saw YouTube video on a coach for sale in which the salesman mentioned that the coach was actually 39-feet, 11 inches and would not require a special license to drive because it was under 40-feet. This was an Oregon dealer, I believe.

My kind of spot. Where in Idaho was this? (We live in Boise.)

It depends on your state licensing authority.  For example Texas bases it on weight, not length.