Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 11, 2025 ...

Which Foretravels handle the best and have a comfortable ride?

June 25, 2021, 11:38:35 am

My wife and I have been looking at newer Class A and Super C motorhomes, but this forum has convinced me that a used Foretravel would be a better choice.  We like to camp in state and national parks so I am focusing on the 34 foot and 36 foot coaches but would also consider a 38 foot.  Slides are nice at the camp, but I didn't know if the weight of the slide effect the handling or ride.  I prefer to have all slides on the driver's side so there is the entire passenger side can be covered by awnings, but that puts all the weight of all of the slides on one side when the coach is being driven.  If the steering equipment, air bags, shocks and tires are all adjusted and operating properly, are there lengths and styles of coaches that handle and have a more comfortable ride than others?

The GVWR and GCWR is posted for the various models, but I haven't seen the UVW posted on anyone's coach so I don't know if I would need the extra cargo carrying capacity that I would have with a 38 foot tag axle.  From some information from Beamalarm, I know the tag axle helps a little with the turning radius, but does it make the ride more stable with crosswinds and passing trucks?

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Re: Which Foretravels handle the best and have a comfortable ride?

Reply #1 – June 25, 2021, 11:46:26 am

40 ft with tag axle ?

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Re: Which Foretravels handle the best and have a comfortable ride?

Reply #2 – June 25, 2021, 01:58:58 pm

Foretravel with slides are well balanced (engineered) my single slide 40' is within 175 pounds side to side weights as weighed at a GrandVention.
Buy what you like,I've  been to all National parks in my 40' no issues getting a campsite. Folklore on the need for 34' or 36' in my opinion.  I've had some "just big enough sites. But I wouldn't shy away from a 42' you use the space every day. You might have to stay just outside a national park at a commercial campground once in a blue moon, but the space is always nice. Had qty 2 36' Foretravel before the 40', really no difference with regards to getting into campgrounds in my experience over 17 years of use.
Tim

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Re: Which Foretravels handle the best and have a comfortable ride?

Reply #3 – June 25, 2021, 04:49:44 pm

The words Super C and comfortable ride are not compatible

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Re: Which Foretravels handle the best and have a comfortable ride?

Reply #4 – June 25, 2021, 07:00:27 pm

From our point of view, and strictly our opinion, you're headed in the right direction. Here's our take:

1.  No question a FT of any size will be of better quality and offer a more solid ride than most new  Class C or A motorhomes under $250k+

2.  Shorter is better in maneuvering and camping in tight spaces. We also chose a non-slide, 34' model both for the ease of use, cost saving on slide repairs and ability to fit in narrower sites.  Pull in, hit the level button and enjoy the view. 

3.  Finally, please consider that these rigs are +/- 20 years old so please consider that a $50k coach of this vintage will  eventually require additional spending on things like fuel lines, airbags, shocks and someday things like maybe a radiator and brakes (ask me how I know).  Assuming they haven't been done by a recent owner, you can choose to do some or all of these things yourself  (with advice from the experienced do it yourselfers  on the forum), or use a Foretravel knowledgeable service center like those in Nacogdoches.

Whether you wait and do these type of items when they "break" or do them proactively, will affect your total cost of ownership, and maybe your frustration in traveling, BUT, it's our sincere belief that even if you spend what's necessary at a shop in Nacogdoches, you'll end up with a more dependable coach at a total cost less than 1/2 of any new coach under $250-300k or more.

In nearly 4 years of ownership and 30k+ miles we've never been left on the side of the road or regretted our decision to buy Our Foretravel.

Good luck and happy Foretraveling.

 Randy and Karen

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Re: Which Foretravels handle the best and have a comfortable ride?

Reply #5 – June 25, 2021, 08:12:05 pm

I've not driven a rig with a tag but have had 2 36 ft FT and neither give any problem with cross winds or with trucks passing. Simple physics that cross winds won't go un noticed in any rig but I can't imagine a rig's suspension that could cushion wind any better than the Foretravel's I've driven. To understand better you need to drive some coaches. Good luck in your search.

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Re: Which Foretravels handle the best and have a comfortable ride?

Reply #6 – June 25, 2021, 08:57:51 pm

I was driving today and could hear the wind but the coach was running true.
I can't ask for any better control. 36 ft. no slide. It's the first time on this trip
that I was driving over 65 and it was effortless to drive.

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Re: Which Foretravels handle the best and have a comfortable ride?

Reply #7 – June 26, 2021, 06:09:30 pm

Go shorter, avoid slides if possible, avoid tag. We also think avoiding AquaHot may give you a better long-life experience. All coaches give you a good ride and handle great. Sometimes maint & repair are needed to bring coach to specs to avoid steering and suspension issues.

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Reply #8 – July 01, 2021, 07:49:27 pm

EVERY coach is a compromise. Figure out what's important to you and then find what suits you. Ten years ago we started talking and researching. We were open to travel trailers, fifth wheels and motor homes. After a couple of years of research we settled on a MH. We eventually chose a 20-year-old U300 40' coach. It has served us well all these years. Yes, there have been issues. No, they were not the end of the world.

We're in the small (and getting smaller) group that would prefer not to have slides. If you follow our thinking, you won't be getting anything less that about 20 years old. MOT has only one no-slide Foretravel for sale, and it is a 1998. I've resigned myself to the fact that our next RV will have one or more slides. That's just the way the world is going.

As for length, that's up to you. A 36' coach will be lighter than a 40' of the same year and trim, which will be lighter than a 42' version. That means that you will burn a few less gallons of diesel. You will also have less basement storage space in a shorter coach. That 1998 I mentioned above is nearly the same floorplan as our 40' coach. We'll see it tomorrow, but I suspect that the living areas are going to be pretty close to what we have now because several feet of our length is taken up by the nose. A shorter coach will have a smaller turning circle than a longer one. Since it has a shorter wheelbase it won't be quite a comfortable. Is it a noticeable difference? I don't know.

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Re: Which Foretravels handle the best and have a comfortable ride?

Reply #9 – July 01, 2021, 09:01:37 pm

Quote from: Bob & Sue – June 25, 2021, 11:46:26 am

40 ft with tag axle ?

2003 had a 38' w/tag and a 40' w/tag

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Re: Which Foretravels handle the best and have a comfortable ride?

Reply #10 – July 01, 2021, 09:40:23 pm

We have had 2 36', two 40' and now a 42'.    Those have been Grandvilla, U280, U295 and two U320.  After driving my daughter's tag axel coach on a road I had driven many times in our non-tag coachesI had to have a tag. 

The only time we've been somewhere they said we couldn't get a 42' into my son-in-law said watch me and he had it in the spot on the first try. 

Aquahot can be a lot of trouble but I wouldn't want to be without it. 

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Reply #11 – July 01, 2021, 09:58:10 pm

You won't go wrong with any foretravel model. But I have to say. handling and class A coach are not words that go together. Get into a big enough wind and you can blow over most anything, including you house. You won't be railing corners behind a Corvette either.  Any large vehicle with airbags tends to have that 1970's Cadillac float. Our coach has new shocks and air bags. It's just the way it is if it's setup to be comfy. So handling is "highly" subjective. I come from a back ground of riding many cafe racer sports bikes, dirt bikes and sports cars. So to me my coach doesn't handle at all. It is however perfectly safe and competent. And I have no fear of it falling over.

As an example of the ride. Our pet Cat is fine riding in a car, be it curves or interstates. She is also fine riding in the coach on the interstate. But get the coach on a back road with the ups and downs and even gentle turns. The coach floats enough that she will hurl on the tile. 

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Reply #12 – July 02, 2021, 02:21:38 pm

Bulldogdiver,  in the Unihome line up, the U225 and U240 have BF Goodrich Velvet Ride suspension, essentially rubber mounted torsion bars on all four corners.  We have a U225 and chose it because we like torsion bar suspension i.e. vintage Chrysler products, and it's simpler than the air bag suspension.

That being said the remaining Foretravel Unihome and Unicoach models all sit on 8 air bags.  Yes you're driving a 32,000 pound truck in the case of a U320, but it is riding on air.  Our 22,500 pound Grand Villa is riding on rubber.

I don't think you'll need to worry about weight distribution in  Foretravel.

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Reply #13 – July 03, 2021, 11:42:39 am

For me it was all about usability. I didn't want the hassle of slides. I do like the extra floor space that they give you but really it's not a lot in my opinion and not worth it. I've seen too many posts where people couldn't drive because they're slide was having issues. Also saw other coaches were people had to manually push their slides in. And the bladder when it needs to be replaced can be pretty pricey. Sure a four slide 42 ft coach would be nice to live in but I don't think I'd want to maintain it.
I've never driven a tag axle so I'm not quite sure what to say about that except for it does displace area that would be used for storage. And speaking of storage, my 40-footer with no propane tank and no batteries stored in the bays, still seems like I have not enough storage space. Part of it as my own fault of course cuz I carry more junk than I probably need but I live full-time in it so... If your primary focus is on getting into small sites then the smaller the better. If your primary focus is living well inside your coach part-time or full-time, then I'd say go for the bigger coach. Two days ago I was able to do a 3-point turn on a Sandy gravelly road in a State Forest. That was by myself too with nobody looking out for obstacles. Wasn't too bad.
Oh and I've seen old toolmakers coach, and those torsion bars are kind of interesting and neat. But I also saw him have to work with the jacks to level the coach LOL. On my coach I just have to hit the air button twice and shut her down. Self leveling. Provided you're on a spot where the coach can level of course it will not level on a severely unlevel area.
One word about aqua Hot. Some people hate it. Usually people that have never had it. And I'm sure like anything mechanical you may have a lemon once in a while. But other than changing out the fuel lines and the fuel nozzle my aqua Hot runs like a champ. If it does come time to repair and replace there's enough information on these forums to do that. Frankly I would not want to be without the aqua hot. But that's just me.

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