place under the chassis for the spare tire?

[pdemarest]

The brochure for my Premier says the rig is 21 feet, 7 inches long. Could be that the old box-nose E350's were shorter than the later round-nose models. In my case the steps stick out as far as the spare tire but the spare definitely makes it look longer. So, I'm pretty sure that my 2003 is too long. Also, the earlier Chinooks with the Ford bumpers were shorter. I like the idea of stashing the spare inside and hoping that the rear steps get overlooked. That said, I am going to measure my rig to see exactly how long it is. Like Chin_k I wanted a Chinook partially due to its size. I can park in regular parking spaces and more importantly I can pull off to the side of the road to view wildlife or scenery and can easily turn around anywhere. When I see someone in a Class A towing a car I always wonder what they do if they want to pull over or if they have to turn around. Too much rig for me.

[Blue~Go]

Good point on the fiberglass bumper. It doesn't look larger, but maybe inches wouldn't be obvious, and we are talking inches now.

Also, I think the electric step may keep its "tongue stuck out" a bit more than the manual rear step which essentially disappears to be no longer than the fixed upper step. So that may add a few inches (but then again, maybe the spare still protrudes further?).

It is great having a small nimble rig. That said, I sometimes tow a car, so I have some idea what the Class A monsters do: They get to the destination, unhook the car, and then go exploring in the car. In some ways, I explore *more* when I tow the car, because I'll take it places I wouldn't take the Chinook, and I'll of course take it while I still have camp set up (so I can fan out and explore an area from a base camp).

But the downside is that going from place to place is more of a "delivery trip" with fewer spontaneous side explorations. For me it's still not the size, or even the fact of towing; rather it's the fact that when towing a car four-down you cannot back up (it damages the tow gear and the car, due to the castering of the car wheels). THAT is the part I really dislike. I have no problem backing up a trailer, so I'll actually poke around quite a bit more when towing, say, a cargo trailer than when towing the car. That all said, if/when I'm doing a "touring" type of trip, I'd likely leave both car and trailer behind and just take the Chinook. It's fantastic all by itself in that type of situation - it IS the car*. For a base-camp and fan out type of thing, the car is nice (plus it's an easy way to carry sports gear). Still no one perfect rig, darnitall

BG

*Funny, but now sometimes when car traveling, I find myself thinking: Geez this car is so primitive. I have to actually and get out and go inside some public place just to go to the bathroom, for Pete's sake! (When not in the woods.) How easily we become accustomed to having our own in the Chinook.

[pdemarest]

I did finally measure my rig and it is 21'7", with the power steps sticking out almost even with the spare tire. With the spare tire off I'm sure it looks shorter so I'll chance it whenever I go and will just be prepared to park and take the shuttle if I get caught.

As an aside I have to say that I really dislike the idea of trying to see beautiful scenery while jammed into a shuttle full of people. I've been to Grand Canyon many times but in the last 20 years I've only gone in the winter season before the shuttle routine starts. Same thing with Zion. If I wanted to see the USA with a large crowd I'd take Greyhound! I have been researching an Alaska trip and was really disappointed to see that you have to take a shuttle to see most of Denali National Park. Apparently the round trip is almost 9 hours long and for some reason they use a really long school bus instead of something with an actual suspension. People were posting that they were sore all over from the trip. I'm hoping that the national parks get over their desire to make every outdoor experience an exercise in mass transit.

[chin_k]

I also went outside and do the measurement. I will need to taking the fifth, and not answer question related to how long is the Chinook. I think the published dimension is the length without the spare tire, just bumper-to-bumper.

[Blue~Go]

I think there may be a difference depending on electric step or manual step. It sounds like the electric step's "tongue" sticks out even with the tire (the part of the lower step that doesn't retract all the way). On the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised if the tire sticks out a bit further than the retracted step on the manual step version. I have this one, and when the lower step is flipped up onto the upper step, it fits perfectly within the footprint of the upper step (no "tongue" left sticking out). So with the manual step, perhaps the rig would be a wee bit shorter without the tire (I can't measure as my tire isn't back there now).

Also, it's possible that the later "car style" rear bumper pushes the tire out a little bit further. The type of rear bumper on my rig is a flat, chromed steel vertical steel bumper. The car style molded bumper may be plumper, in which case the tire may be a little bit further back as well.

[chin_k]

Mine is manual, with chromed flat bumper, so it would be shorter without the spare, but still over 21'.