Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 14, 2025 ...

looking for FT (non-slide) owners in PNW

March 01, 2014, 01:18:33 am

We're looking to purchase an older Foretravel and have been looking in the usual places online as well as on this forum. We're quite interested in a non-slide Foretravel for sale in Florida.

We have owned two small motorhomes, one with a slide and one without, and in a short coach a slide is miraculous in the extra space it provides. In a longer (and wider) coach, I don't think it would matter so much since there's so much more room generally. My husband is not convinced.  Since we're in Oregon and can't easily look at the Florida unit, I was wondering whether there are any owners of non-slide Foretravels in Northern California, Oregon, or the Northwest generally who would be willing to let us take a look at their coaches just to walk around inside and see how it feels. That way, we could decide rightaway whether a slide is a must-have for us.

We are looking at 34ft which is probably very limiting.

Thank you.
Linda & Robert

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Re: looking for FT (non-slide) owners in PNW

Reply #1 – March 01, 2014, 08:18:06 am

Welcome, Linda and Robert. If you click on the member map button at the top of the page you can zoom in on your area. Then click on the pin that is closest to you and you can see who it is and what they have. You can then contact them directly to arrange a visit.

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Re: looking for FT (non-slide) owners in PNW

Reply #2 – March 01, 2014, 09:16:05 am

Linda and Robert,  34 Foot coaches are rare, the most popular lengths are 36 and 40 foot with a few 38's.  Mine is 36' and has no slide and we in the past have lived in it for up to 3 months ( two of us and two dogs ), we had all the room we needed although a big slide would always be welcome. ( mine is for sale now as our traveling days are over ).
1995 U280 36 for sale
Find someone near by and they will probably be glad to show off their FT.  I am in GA so am probably too far away.
Good luck with your search.

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Reply #3 – March 01, 2014, 10:13:57 am

My wife and I and one dog lived in our 36' 270, no slide, for seven years while camp-hosting, travelling, and finally (the last year) as we built a house in the northern mountains of NM.  We did not tow, except for the last three years, a Honda ATV.  (It could go places we could not walk.)

There was always plenty of room inside.  Or under the canopy.  Or if the weather was unfriendly, there was always the start button....  My wife still boosts of how happy we were being so close for so many years.  We still have the motorhome.  In fact, last night I equalized the batteries getting ready for a possible trip.  Today is supposedly the first day of Spring.... andy01

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Re: looking for FT (non-slide) owners in PNW

Reply #4 – March 01, 2014, 10:25:21 am

Linda & Robert

We have a 92' 40ft no slide that we full time in that we would be glad to show you. We are in Tucson at the moment but will be in Seattle area this summer. (As you probably know summer in Seattle starts July 4th!)

see ya
ken

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Reply #5 – March 01, 2014, 11:33:49 am

Anytime, we're about 30 miles NE of Seattle. Bit of a hike but if you happen to fid yourselves in the area, let me know.

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Reply #6 – March 01, 2014, 12:47:29 pm

Thank you for the helpful (and fast!) replies, especially the tip about the member map. I have already learned a huge amount from this forum just reading around. And thank you for the kind offers which we may take you up on (with notice, of course)

We currently own a 24' Winnebago View, so 34' seems huge to us. If we could, we would be looking at 32'.  There is SOB 32' we're going to look at and drive, see what we think but from all I've read FT just seems so much better built in the ways that matter, ie the structure, the engineering, etc. And the tank sizes! Sure seems like heaven to me!

Linda

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Re: looking for FT (non-slide) owners in PNW

Reply #7 – March 01, 2014, 01:41:28 pm

Linda,

We went from a 26' GMC Royale  to a 36' U 240 so we understand your concern. After a few days the length and size intimidation will subside. The thing that was a bigger shock was having to change from small hidey campsites to larger sites in campgrounds.

Pamela & Mike

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Reply #8 – March 01, 2014, 03:53:33 pm

Linda, you are welcome to have a look at ours, although it may be bigger that you are looking for at 40 ft. We are just North of you and about 3 miles West of I-5 at exit 228.

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Reply #9 – March 03, 2014, 07:18:38 pm

I am also just north of Seattle with a 36' 320 you would be welcome to look at.  Gordon Cole

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Reply #10 – March 09, 2014, 10:26:06 pm

Thanks again for the offers and encouragement. We have commitments here at home for a couple of weeks but we will PM folks who offered to let us look at their coaches and arrange convenient times to visit.

Linda & Robert

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Reply #11 – March 10, 2014, 08:32:08 am

My fist unit was a 34 foot no slide and for living it was just as livable as my 42 foot two slide. But under bay storage was a lot less.  We took lots of weekend trips and two week trips. The slides and bigger coach shines when you are going to be away for weeks. I spent 10 plus weeks in it this summer.  Made a huge difference. 

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Reply #12 – March 10, 2014, 08:19:08 pm

HI John
Thanks for the insight, that's good to know.  We spent 7 months on the road in our 24' with one small slide and mostly it worked pretty well. But now we want to , if not full-time, at least spend a large amount of the year regularly on the road and it would be really nice to have more space and storage. 34' or 36' will seem huge!

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Reply #13 – March 10, 2014, 10:49:39 pm

We spent a week at West Glacier (inside the park) this past summer in a tent (hey, we like camping in tents) and noticed that those who were in tents all spent a great deal more time outside. The RVers seem to fall into two camps: those who spend time inside and those who don't. We had a 40' Tiffin across the road from us for 4 days and only saw the owners when they transitioned between the motor home and the car. But down the road there was a huge 5er with a camp kitchen set up outside and the entire family was out there a lot.

Sue and I have always loved hanging around a camp kitchen and sitting in our camp chairs under an awning; even in the rain. For us the motor home is more of a bedroom and bathroom and less of a "living area" so having a narrow coach (better for navigating the roads on the Baja Peninsula) isn't that big a deal. But those folks in the Tiffin at West Glacier would probably feel pretty cramped.

One of those things where Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV) really counts. Neither approach to RVing is more right or more wrong. Everyone is different. We had a 5er with a slideout and weren't impressed. We have a 1993 8'-wide motor home and think it's fine. YMMV.

Craig

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Reply #14 – March 11, 2014, 08:14:28 am

We had more storage inside with our lay out on the 34 then we did on the 36.  We had more underbuy storage on the 36 then the 34.  THis is important why:  Well, if you want to carry a spare tire then the 36 is the smaller with a Joey bed that will fit one. I could not fit one underneath in my 34 so I got a tire carrier and put it in the hitch.  I got everything in the 34 other then that.

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Reply #15 – March 18, 2014, 01:04:59 pm

We have a 36' non-slide U320 in Portland You are welcome to look at...

Cheers

Chris

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Reply #16 – March 21, 2014, 05:05:42 am

Thanks for the generous offers and all the info and encouragement. We've now had the chance (thanks so much Al and Sue) to be inside a non-slide and we were wowed by the space and liveability. My husband's become a convert!

Linda & Robert

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