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RE: What is your prefered RV for disabled use?
Being in a wheelchair, ease of use was paramount, since my wife would get stuck with some jobs. A Class A with auto levelers is very nice, pull in, hit a button and we're leveled. Have an electric reel for 50amp cord making it easy to wind/unwind, hookup water and we're done. We only hookup up sewer when needed.
Ours has a lift for me in the chair, also makes it nice for loading/unloading the coach no carrying up the stairs. It was modified by Winne at the factory, so it is wide enough inside for me to get front to back in my chair, but there is still plenty of things out of reach, so I can't go camping by myself, gotta take the wife. :)
But we still have a hookup, we tow my van behind, and my wife gets stuck with that, 'cause once I'm in the driver seat, it is a hassle getting back out. So if you do go with an A, think about whether you'll need a dinghy and what to do with it.
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McDuff
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02/25/12 02:23pm |
RVing with Disabilities and General Health Issues
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RE: Handicapped access to pick up truck-How to get in!
I am a paraplegic and have a bunch of toys, so lifts & ramps are a way of life for me. We have a 40ft MH with UVL wheelchair lift, I drive a T&C ramp minivan, have a wheelchair sidecar motorcycle I drive it from side car, and I adapted a CoachLift RV lift onto our bass boat trailer.
We just bought an F-150 4x4 Supercrew for my wife, and I am working on getting me into it. You mentioned some of the options I have looked at like the Turney seat and stuff. The option I plan on using, is the XL Seat made by Adapt-Solutions in Canada. Though still very expensive, at ~$5K it is thousands less than the others, and the interior is still stock.
www.adapt-solutions.ca/products/index.php?prd=2
For getting into a MH or TT, the 3 best options I think are:
www.coachlift.com/rv-handicapped-lifts
www.burractuators.com/lifts/index.htm
or possibly you could adapt the Super Arm Lift, which normally is used for wheelchair, to put a seat or sling setup in it:
www.handicapsinc.com/V3Products.htm
Hand controls are very easy after you get used to them. I will say I had an Oh S**t moment the first panic stop I had, my brain went LEGS!, then NO, ARMS!!! But I have been using them now for 8.5 years without issue in both my van and motorhome. I like the SureGrip rock/push type best:
http://suregrip-hvl.com/hand-controls/push-rock.html
Good luck on your quest, we have put 25K miles on our motorhome, towing my van most of the time, and have had a blast.
edit: Oh yeah, if you buy a new car/truck, most automakers have a rebate for adding mobility products, Ford for instance provides a $1200.00 rebate. Also, in TX, there is no sales tax on ANY vehicle that will be used by a disabled person, so check your laws.
edit2: A decent website to check for used mobility items is Disabled Dealer, I see some used Turney seats there now for instance, and a couple Rv's.
www.disableddealer.com
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McDuff
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02/25/12 01:44pm |
RVing with Disabilities and General Health Issues
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RE: Winnebago Ultimate Freedom, 2004, Comments?
I have an '03 Ultimate Advantage, we like everything about it, but the a/c, it will not keep up in these brutal temps. These basement units are 2 13.5 compressors and for 40' it would be better if they were 15's. But, it seems these units are hit and miss, some owners swear by them in any temp. I would park this guy in sunlight and see how it does thru out the day. I am about to add a rooftop unit to supplement our cooling capability.
There's a very active Winne forum on irv2.com, you will get more responses, lots of UF/UA owners there.
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McDuff
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08/24/11 09:32am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Handicap Access
Depending on your budget, there are 2 nice DP's on this site, both are front door though:
http://disableddealer.com/item_search.asp?category=1020
My '03 Winne Ultimate Advantage was done at the factory. The previous owner had it built, he was selling to buy a 4 slide Country Coach. We have been very happy with it, logging about 5-6K miles a year.
Here are a few pics of the mods done.
Overall side view:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v417/McDuffTx/Motorhome/FirstMotorhomeTrip083_resized.jpg
"My" door:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v417/McDuffTx/Motorhome/Jerrys_Motorhome015.jpg
The pinchpoint, was widened at the factory:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v417/McDuffTx/Motorhome/FirstMotorhomeTrip123.jpg
The bedroom has wide spot by bed, I can wheel up next to bed and transfer over, it is a tall transfer though, a bit of work.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v417/McDuffTx/Motorhome/FirstMotorhomeTrip124.jpg
Just to show how high the MH floor is from ground, this is from inside with my 5'6" wife out there.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v417/McDuffTx/Motorhome/FirstMotorhomeTrip131.jpg
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McDuff
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06/08/11 09:10am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Handicap Access
You got some good advice above. Just remember, the floorplan is as important as getting in. If your wife cannot walk at all, like me(paraplegic from m/c wreck), then the floorplan must be open enough for the w/c or scooter to get back to the bedroom. The "pinch point" is usually as you go from living area to bathroom area, the "hallway" opening a lot of times is too narrow for passage by a w/c.
I don't think the scooter will work too well inside, the turning radius of a 3wheel scooter is rather large compared to a powerchair. I am normally in a manual chair, but do have a knobby tired powerchair for offroading, I can use it inside, but have to be real careful as it is tight back in the bed/bath area, a scooter would not work in my coach. So I would plan on getting the heavy powerchair into the coach.
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McDuff
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06/06/11 09:11am |
Class A Motorhomes
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