1997 Tiffin, Allegro Class "A" Motor Home

1997 Tiffin Allegro Class "A" Motorhome, 25' long powered by a Chevy 454 engine.

I lived in a tent for 1 1/2 years, the back of a mid-size pickup truck for 3 years and in a van for 7 years. I'm getting a little older now and would like to have a few of the comforts everyone else takes for granted.

I mentioned getting a Class "C" (with the bed over the roof) to a couple of friends when I got to Arizona for the winter. They became so excited for me that I too became somewhat excited... and here we are with a Class "A" instead.

While shopping for a Class "C" my friend Ken spotted this Class "A" and went over for a look. That night he told his wife Elaine about it and she went over to see it. She approved and the two of them ganged up on me and made me buy it.

While it is 13 years old, the Allegro has only 43,000 miles on it and is in excellent condition. Mr. Motorhome, the outfit I bought the Allegro from in Quartzsite, AZ, had cleaned up what needed cleaning, fixed what needed fixing and showed off a nice motor home.

The first thing you notice with a Class "A" is how high up you are and the view you get from such a wide windshield. The driver's step is about 2 1/2 feet off the ground and you have to pull yourself up into the seat. I had to pull myself into the van also, but I could just slide over the edge of the seat to get out. I tried that with the Allegro and fell on my face. Now I use the step to step down.

There appears to be plenty of basement storage but I didn't realize how much I needed for mandatory stuff. The first compartment contains my auxillary generator, a 5 gallon gas can and whatever else I can cram into it.

The second compartment is for me. It also has an area that runs through to a compartment on the other side. I use that for fishing poles, walking sticks, paddles, etc. The large compartment is for sewer hoses, water hoses, etc. The last compartment contains an Onan 4000 watt onboard generator. There's also a small area for storage.

You should check that the compartment doors are not loose or...they will rattle in the wind...& in the rain...at 3:00 in the morning...while you're trying to sleep...without fail!

On the other side, the first compartment contains 2 5 gallon cylinders of propane and not much else. The large compartment is for me. I store some tools here along with a gas grill & a 2 burner gas stove for outside cooking. A recliner, table for the grill & other things required to lead the good life still have to find their own home. The last compartment contains tight access to the propane lines and some extra storage.

The Allegro came with 4 brand new Michilen tires. All tires still need to be inspected to ensure there's no excessive wear, cracks etc. The inside tires need to be inspected as well as the outside ones. We couldn't really get to the inside ones. One Class "C" we looked at did, in fact, have cracks in one tire from running under inflated tires on a highway.

The spare tire is... well, a spare. I don't think I'd want to change one of those tires anyway.

The ladder is quite a step. I felt like a gymnist when lifting my leg way up to the first step. A little plastic step helps with that. I was afraid putting all my weight on that ladder but it proved to be quite sturdy.

The back end of the motorhome is quite high, presumably to keep it from dragging on roller coaster hills. That however, means I had to get a drop hitch to reach lower riding trailers, tow bars, etc. We'll have to see how that works out.

Are there AC outlets outside? Do they work? How about an outside shower?

The Allegro didn't come with an awning. A couple of days with a blazing sun shining into the home moved that up near the top of my priorities.

Most people don't think to check the roof, especially with that big first step. We did. The rubber roof was in need of repair in several places and there were cracks around the vents. Mr Motorhome corrected all of those problems.

Check the inside ceilings, windows, doors, etc. for water marks & leakage. This Allegro has a carpeting material on the ceiling, presumably to help deaden outside noise. We had a pretty heavy rain a couple of weeks after I bought it & I checked around for dampness.

This motorhome came equipped with a bat wing TV antenna. It didn't go up the way it should but Mr Motorhome fixed that too.

The bedroom has windows with screens & blinds on 3 sides and cabinet space the length of each window. Ample overhead lighting and lights under 2 of the cabinets means I don't have to go far to reach a switch. We checked to make sure each light worked & each window slid open & the screens were OK.

There's a vent with a screened fan over the bed. We didn't check it and sure enough it dosen't work.

Speakers under the cabinet over the bed will be a nice touch if we can get them working with something other than the car radio.

The queen size bed has enough space to walk around 3 sides of it. The Allegro came with a brand new matress still in the plastic covering. I believe it's the law to provide a new matress when selling a motor home. I wasn't too keen on sleeping on someone else's matress.

Night stands on either side of the bed provide extra storage. A LP gas detector is at the base of one nightstand. The LED light was on, hopefully indicating it was in working order.

The bed lifts up easily and provides a ton of storage space. I still haven't tried the folding door to the bedroom to see if it works.

The hallway has the refrigerator/freezer & closet on the left & the bathroom on the right. Plenty of space in the frig & freezer for me. The frig & freezer have built in latches to keep them closed. If you're on shore power (generator, outside power source, etc.) the frig/freezer automatically switch to AC electric mode. When that source is disconnected they automatically go back to LP gas.

Not much closet space though. I found this little cabinet thingee that attaches to the coat rack & drops down making 6 seperate storage compartments for underwear, socks, T-shirts, etc. Two drawers are currently being used for dish towels and will soon fill up with other useless stuff I just have to have.

There is also new carpeting throughout the Allegro.

The closet & bathroom doors worked as did the 2 drawers.

The bathroom has a shower and a small tub to stand in with an overhead light & skylight. The hot water tank only contains 6 gallons so there will be no long, luxurious showers here. This is one of those deals where you wet yourself with the hand held shower head, turn it off while you wash, then turn it back on to rinse off. Same thing when washing your hair.

The hot water tank is something that definately needs to be checked. The seller should have gas in the onboard generator, propane in the propane tank & water in the fresh water tank to test everything you want to test. I was advised that if the hot water thingee fired up, it would continue doing so and heat the water. Same thing with the furnace.

Ceiling vent & fan worked. Shower head & light worked too.

A mirror & medicine cabinet are over the sink. A screened vent with an exhaust fan allows steam to be directed outside. This of course was tested.

Sink & counter top stand next to the toilet. There's enough room to sit on the toilet comfortably. That's pretty important when sitting & thinking & solving the world's problems.

The larger pedal on the toilet opens the trap to let the waste go into the black holding tank while the smaller pedal provides water to wash the waste down. (if the water pump has been turned on first.

A switch on the sink turns the water pump on and another turns the hot water tank on.

All were tested & found to be in working order.

That round thingee to the left & bottom of the toilet is a furnace duct outlet. Nice when getting out of a hot shower on a cold day.

The kitchen consists of a 3 burner stove/oven with an exhaust fan, microwave & cabinets overhead & a small double sink. 3 drawers and 2 cabinets plus 1 over the entry door provide storage. There are gauges to monitor the state of the house batteries, propane, fresh water, gray water & black water tanks.

The functionality is all there but there is little room to do stuff. I use the sink to put things in when using the stove and the stove when using the sink. The dinette table becomes pretty important when working under those conditions. Watch out you don't spill stuff on the laptop.

There's a light under the cabinet & 1 under the exhaust fan. For whatever reason, there are 2 AC outlets under the cabinet also. Cords will be dangling down into the sink if you plug anything in to them.

Tested the stove, oven, exhaust fan, microwave, faucets, & light.

25' Class "A" motorhomes typically have either a dinette set or a couch; there's just not enough room for both. The seat on the right has storage space under it. The one on the left has the furnace. I wanted to remove the seat on the right, move the table over there and replace the seat on the left with a swivel recliner. The furnace stymied that idea.

Sit at the table, move around on the seats and get a feel for what it will be like in the long term. There's more room on the seat over the furnace than the one with storage under it.

More overhead cabinets, more dangling AC outlets, more lights & a carbon monoxide detector with it's LED light on. There's a smoke detector over the front door that didn't have a battery & didn't work when I put one in.

The front of the coach has a large TV that is of no use to me. I hope to remove it & build a large glove compartment there for maps & such.

A queen size bed drops down from the ceiling I'm probably going to use it as a storage area for flat objects such as outside tables, recliner, etc.

Of course you'll want to take it out for a test drive before making any final decisions. During our test drive we found noises coming from the rear brakes which Mr. Motorhome fixed before the time of the sale.

The first thing I ordered was a Honda 2000 generator to provide auxillary power when boondocking (dry camping in the wilderness). I got it from Motosports of Ukiah. They have the best price around with free delivery & no sales tax. Aside from the cost, the Honda is noted for being one of the most quiet generators around. Not quiet, but most quiet.

This generator is used when the sun won't co-operate with charging my batteries (see Solar Panels below) or I'm doing something the batteries can't handle.

We put oil in the Honda, ran it for 10 hours and then changed the oil to get rid of any crap left in the engine by the manufacturer.

Instead of the shore (electrical) line connecting to a campground hookup like most RVers do, we plug it directly into the Honda. This generator will supply the power to run practically anything, including a mid-size microwave (probably) except an air conditioner. My onboard Onan 4000 is required for that. Since my normal plan excludes hot weather, that's not a problem for me. I won't be using the Onan 4000 simply because it makes too much noise & is located in the area under the bed.

(03/03/11: I actually find myself using the Onan when using the microwave because I don't have to go outside to start it & it only takes a few minutes.)

One of the things the generator supplies power for is a converter which converts AC to DC electrical current. When the shore line is plugged into something, the converter keeps the house batteries (4 Interstate deep cell, 6 volt, Workaholics) charged so lights, etc. that use DC current will always function, even when the shore line is disconnected.

Note: I also run the Onan generator for an hour each month just to keep it alive. At this time I run the furnace at full blast (which I don't normally use) & then the air conditioner (which I also don't normally use) full blast for about 30 minutes each just to get their parts moving.