Who is the R/V expert?

[Travmon]

Awesome

what’s the good, bad and ugly on the freightliner super c brands? Who to look for and who to avoid.

Well unfortunately everyone jumped on the Super C platform which is a plus and a minus.. Prior to 2010 ish any super C Freightliner/m2 based RV was pretty much a handbuilt custom unit ( renegade,dynamax, etc ) so the quality was superb . You could count on solid wood cabinets a damn sturdy floor and decent slide room hardware BUT they didnt always have all the bells and whistles of a class A. NOW once again forest river (dynamax now owns) jayco and the rest have jumped in with both feet and brought there crappy high production lack of engineering into the field.. If your not spending around 400k then you are probably gettimg a U-HAUL based ride with a camp trailer on back... if you dont find one with complete airbag rear suspension (airbag behind ) axle you will hate it.. I too am in the market as I am trying to find a replacement for my Dynamax.. the Jayco Seneca ,Sux ....

 

[wallnutz]

Reading this thread is kinda depressing because I really want a Thor Aria 4000 for my next motorhome.. it checks all my boxes albeit a little low on Hp

Dave I wouldn’t be to quick to discount the Aria. I have a 2020 Thor Venetian that had very few issues. I have put 18,000 miles on mine and have been pretty impressed with it. It only has a Cummins L-9 400 hp. Really no more issues that my friends have had with their Entegra’s and Tiffen’s. Just look at everything closely and ask for all documents on repairs. Thor has bought up most RV builders and it looks like Winnebago bought Newmar. So anything going forward besides a Marathon or a Newell will all be questionable on new builds.

 

[X Hoser]

Check out the 2006 Alpine coach on craigslist in Phoenix. Way better build quality, better cjassie and a 400 horse Cummins.

Din’t certain years of the Apine have Ignition Module issues…..that are no longer available? @ 2FF might be a good source of info on these.

 

[X Hoser]

Here’s where I’m at. I’ve had them all. DP, toy hauler tag and 5th wheel. Gas powered motorhome. Non-Toy hauler 5th wheel. They are all junk unless you get into the high dollar stuff. In a MH I’d have to tow a car but can’t tow a trailer. In a tag or 5th wheel I have a place to stay and a vehicle to use. IF I got the rv route again, I’ll by an old toy hauler, tag of 5th wheel, with enough sleeping, a crapper, kitchen a garage large enough to haul a 4 seat whatever. As cheap as I can find and just use it! No more keeping up with the Jone’s for me. I don’t want to wax it, just use it! Unless you are traveling full time, they sit most of the time anyway.

 

[Ziggy]

That doesn’t look like a Ford…what’s it doing on a tow truck?

Cuz it's a Cheby, duh.

 

[Icky]

Wouldn't it be easier to buy a new truck

 

[Ziggy]

Here’s where I’m at. I’ve had them all. DP, toy hauler tag and 5th wheel. Gas powered motorhome. Non-Toy hauler 5th wheel. They are all junk unless you get into the high dollar stuff. In a MH I’d have to tow a car but can’t tow a trailer. In a tag or 5th wheel I have a place to stay and a vehicle to use. IF I got the rv route again, I’ll by an old toy hauler, tag of 5th wheel, with enough sleeping, a crapper, kitchen a garage large enough to haul a 4 seat whatever. As cheap as I can find and just use it! No more keeping up with the Jone’s for me. I don’t want to wax it, just use it! Unless you are traveling full time, they sit most of the time anyway.

Winner!
Keeping up with the Jones' is expensive. I'm of the same frame of mind to find what suits my needs, not something to impress my neighbors.

 

[beerrun]

Winner!
Keeping up with the Jones' is expensive. I'm of the same frame of mind to find what suits my needs, not something to impress my neighbors.

Haha not trying to keep up with the Jone's just trying to keep mrs beerrun happy

 

[Ziggy]

Haha not trying to keep up with the Jone's just trying to keep mrs beerrun happy

Truth. Happy wife, happy life.
I certainly didn't think you were seeking the Jones' RV. You were clearly looking to satisfy both your needs.
How's her arm healing?

 

[beerrun]

Truth. Happy wife, happy life.
I certainly didn't think you were seeking the Jones' RV. You were clearly looking to satisfy both your needs.
How's her arm healing?

Its healing but very slow she starts physical therapy last week they are saying it could take a year

 

[Ziggy]

Its healing but very slow she starts physical therapy last week they are saying it could take a year

Ugh! I understand completely, my wife has been dealing with a back issue for over a year that sends pain & numbness down her leg. Better but still not normal by any means.
Hope it goes well for your wife.

 

[rickym20]

Went into limp mode again second time in 3wks will find out tomorrow last time it was 1700.00 to fix

Brother has a 2016, his was having issues when climbing grades with his 5th wheel . Kept going into limp mode and after a few fixes , the last one that worked was replacing the intake tube. The stock tube was collapsing causing the limp mode. He found it by accident but has been good on a few trips so far. Maybe something to look into.

My Wife and I wanted to try the RV route after having a 5th wheel for years. Loved having the enclosed but the ride to and from just didn’t work for us. Wasn’t the type of Rv you are looking for but maybe try renting a RV for a trip before going all in. We are back to a tow behind that is just big enough to haul the toys we need . Keeping us happy for now.

 

[beerrun]

Brother has a 2016, his was having issues when climbing grades with his 5th wheel . Kept going into limp mode and after a few fixes , the last one that worked was replacing the intake tube. The stock tube was collapsing causing the limp mode. He found it by accident but has been good on a few trips so far. Maybe something to look into.

My Wife and I wanted to try the RV route after having a 5th wheel for years. Loved having the enclosed but the ride to and from just didn’t work for us. Wasn’t the type of Rv you are looking for but maybe try renting a RV for a trip before going all in. We are back to a tow behind that is just big enough to haul the toys we need . Keeping us happy for now.

Why did you not like the motorhome

 

[rickym20]

Why did you not like the motorhome

We had the older 06 Seneca and like someone mentioned earlier the suspension just isn’t there and would have had to dump a lot of money to get it up to par. It was okay when just the beach cruisers on the back but when I had the enclosed with gear and toys hooked up , it was all over the place going down the road. I would tense up when passing or being passed by semi’s cause it wonder one way or the other. We did enjoy the set up once arrived but traveling sucked. Having the truck handy in Glamis helped too.

2forceful had a good story posted a year or so ago that maybe someone can find that described what you think going into a RV vs reality.

 

[RogerThat99]

It’s an 01 Tradewinds by National RV. 37 with a 300 HP cat.

@beerrun My parents had a the same moho as @napanutt , but with the mid entrance instead of the front entrance. It was a great rig. Rode great with plenty of power. We drove it to Colorado frequently towing a Durango. They bought this after buying a 32' that was too big for the chassis and handled terribly. Something to think about.

 

[Boatymcboatface]

Everyone keeps saying with truck and trailer you can leave if you need something but what’s stopping your from taking the motorhome? We camp a few places (Julian, beaches, ocotillo) where we just unplug pit slides in and drive to town. Either way if your leaving your 5th wheel or trailer behind someone needs to watch what you leave at camp. One trip daughter broke her arm so we just drove the motorhome straight to the ER sent the wife and daughter in and the youngest and (knew it was going to need surgery since she broke it in the same spot as the 1st time) I started up the generator and got a movie on and dinner going for her while we waited.
Also people mention years to of build quality and From what the people at Temecula valley rv have told us is 2001-2006 are pretty solid after that it’s a crap shoot.

Here’s a cheap way to find out if you like the motorhome or trailer set up better.
Renting is also a good idea that’s what we did and settled on the motorhome.

Articles

Articles index

www.glamisdunes.com

 

[Ol Man]

@Ol Man had one, maybe a little newer tho? Maybe he’ll chime in?

Not exactly sure what you want me to respond to, except maybe a comment on a shorter DP. Three years ago I sold our 2001 34 Alpine Coach. We owned it for 15 years, which I guess attests to how much we liked it. We put 150,000 miles on it. It had the 350/1050 Cummins and 10K towing. The Alpine had more holding tank capactity than our present Tiffin Phaeton. The Phaeton is 38 ft and the Alpine was 35, which makes it a little easier to park in government campgrounds. Alpine was built on their own proprietary chassis and it was a great handling coach. Western RV went out of business in the 2008-09 time period. I believe they only made 175 of the 34 footers. I you look back into 2FF Holy Grail posting of his 34 Alpine, you can get a lot of pics and his opinions.

 

[MK1MOD0]

My buddy had an Alpine coach for years. Loved it. it was reliable and held up very nicely.
I owned a 43ft Monaco. I know they are out of business, but would buy another in a heartbeat. Great coach, EXTREMELY reliable and well built. Plus the ride was fantastic. My .02. Buy a coach with a Cummins ISM. These are 10.8 liter, 660cu.in. Motors that are available upto 500hp. We had the 500 hp motor and never had a single issue in 12 years we owned it. The are the last of the pre def engines and are mated to the larger
” World” transmission by Allison. 09 was the last year they were available, so it would be a bit older coach, but very much worth a search for a clean example.

 

[ka0tyk]

get a bus.

 

[STV_Keith]

What would you recommend in the 100k-125k range only need to sleep my wife and I

I'm still on my first MH, and I'm sure I'm biased, but I'd suggest looking for older, well cared for units that had a big price tag back in the day. Something in the 2000-2006 range that was originally 500k or so, will run in the low 100's now. Those high dollar coaches got great build quality and equipment. Foretravel, Newell, Country Coach, etc.

 

[ONE-A-DAY]

Having had dozen or so pushers, Thor is widely regarded as a low end coach, crap actually. For 119k you can buy a much nicer, higher end rig, Revolution, older Tiffin etc. RV's really have not changed in a very long time, all that has is what the interiors look like, if you can live with what things looked liked inside 10 years ago, the RV is the same thing as a new one. Low mileage on DP is actually a take away for me. The ones I owned with low miles were the worst ones, reason being, RV's take some time to sort out issues, even as new. With low miles the warranty runs out before the issues are sorted out and you are left paying for them. The best DP's I have had were north of 50K miles.

 

[ONE-A-DAY]

Well unfortunately everyone jumped on the Super C platform which is a plus and a minus.. Prior to 2010 ish any super C Freightliner/m2 based RV was pretty much a handbuilt custom unit ( renegade,dynamax, etc ) so the quality was superb . You could count on solid wood cabinets a damn sturdy floor and decent slide room hardware BUT they didnt always have all the bells and whistles of a class A. NOW once again forest river (dynamax now owns) jayco and the rest have jumped in with both feet and brought there crappy high production lack of engineering into the field.. If your not spending around 400k then you are probably gettimg a U-HAUL based ride with a camp trailer on back... if you dont find one with complete airbag rear suspension (airbag behind ) axle you will hate it.. I too am in the market as I am trying to find a replacement for my Dynamax.. the Jayco Seneca ,Sux ....

Ours Jayco Seneca was terrible, basically a dump truck with a RV bolted to it. Noisy as hell, I could not carry on a conversation with my wife in the passenger seat. And gutless, with the small block 330hp Cummins it was a dog, really struggled towing. Ours was 2020 and it was falling part, the front cap where the bunk goes was separating from the back portion of the motorhome. We had a Showhauler and a Renegade, that is a whole different animal, custom made to order basically, but at a whole different price point.

 

[Singleton]

While I am looking at a SuperC, we keep hitting the following roadblock.

F350 wTrailer (custom built to fit Jeep). Biggest issue, if we need to stop to sleep while driving from point A to point B with Jeep inside, we have to get a hotel.

Biggest benefit - If truck has issues and needs to be fix, we can live in trailer.

If the RV needs engine/driveline/other repairs and goes to a shop, we are out of a place to live until fixed. Hotel costs start to add up quickly.

 

[ArizonaKevin]

While I am looking at a SuperC, we keep hitting the following roadblock.

F350 wTrailer (custom built to fit Jeep). Biggest issue, if we need to stop to sleep while driving from point A to point B with Jeep inside, we have to get a hotel.

Biggest benefit - If truck has issues and needs to be fix, we can live in trailer.

If the RV needs engine/driveline/other repairs and goes to a shop, we are out of a place to live until fixed. Hotel costs start to add up quickly.

My grandparents fulltime in their RV (and have for the past 6ish years) most RV repair places understand that people need to live in it during repairs and have hookups on site accordingly.

 

[beerrun]

So they are saying the #7 injector pigtail was broken. That's the one he just replaced i called him out on it and he said he replaced the injector i know thats not true but he is fixing it at no cost and will be ready for trade in today

 

[troostr]

We have a 15 Palazzo 36.1 we bought new that now has over 20k on it. Keep the shit that needs to be lubed, lubed and you're good to go. My dad has an 02 Monaco Widsor and even though I have the smaller engine, I can outrun him up any grade. I pull an Avalanche he pulls a Cherokee, It's him and my stepmom, We have 3 kids worth of shit packed into ours. I get just slightly better fuel milage too. His Monaco outweighs my Palazzo by bunch though!!

 

[X Hoser]

Haha not trying to keep up with the Jone's just trying to keep mrs beerrun happy

And there is your dilemma! I get it!

 

[zhandfull]

View attachment 1171958

Love the large camp side windows and build quality of our 99 Alpine. Chassis is pretty darn good as well.

 

[beerrun]

Love the large camp side windows and build quality of our 99 Alpine. Chassis is pretty darn good as well. View attachment 1172467

Do you tow?

 

[Tamalewagon]

Haha not trying to keep up with the Jone's just trying to keep mrs beerrun happy

Keep feeding her the Eberle. She'll never know the difference.

 

[STV_Keith]

My grandparents fulltime in their RV (and have for the past 6ish years) most RV repair places understand that people need to live in it during repairs and have hookups on site accordingly.

This and most RV roadside plans have funds for hotel/trip interruption while repairs are being done.

 

[MK1MOD0]

Here is my old set up. If ya plan on towing, get the tag axle. They are simply day and night to the standard coach for that. Straight as an arrow, and much less movement in windy conditions. Pre Def, Cummins ISM would be my vote.

 

[BIGRED9158]

Here is my old set up. If ya plan on towing, get the tag axle. They are simply day and night to the standard coach for that. Straight as an arrow, and much less movement in windy conditions. Pre Def, Cummins ISM would be my vote. View attachment 1172480

I always wondered how big ass rigs like this don’t get stuck in the washes they are heavy as shit

 

[MK1MOD0]

I always wondered how big ass rigs like this don’t get stuck in the washes they are heavy as shit

I’d air down the rear tires If it was soft. Had caps with preset pressure ya screwed on , and would only take about 5 min. Amazing how well it did with 6 rear tires aired down.

 

[STV_Keith]

Here is my old set up. If ya plan on towing, get the tag axle. They are simply day and night to the standard coach for that. Straight as an arrow, and much less movement in windy conditions. Pre Def, Cummins ISM would be my vote. View attachment 1172480

Is that a Newmar Dutch Star? If so, there's one very similar for sale on FB for $75k: https://www.facebook.com/groups/845896259499391/?multi_permalinks=1317148375707508

 

[zhandfull]

Do you tow?

Just drag the four door Jeep around, does fine with 330HP and 950 torque. The tow rating actually increased in later model along with HP and torque to 10k, think that was in 2001.

 

[MK1MOD0]

Is that a Newmar Dutch Star? If so, there's one very similar for sale on FB for $75k: https://www.facebook.com/groups/845896259499391/?multi_permalinks=1317148375707508

It’s a 43ft Monaco . There are some GREAT deals starting to show up. The RV market is tanking.

ps. Newmar makes a nice coach.

 

[2FORCEFULL]

Ours Jayco Seneca was terrible, basically a dump truck with a RV bolted to it. Noisy as hell, I could not carry on a conversation with my wife in the passenger seat. And gutless, with the small block 330hp Cummins it was a dog, really struggled towing. Ours was 2020 and it was falling part, the front cap where the bunk goes was separating from the back portion of the motorhome. We had a Showhauler and a Renegade, that is a whole different animal, custom made to order basically, but at a whole different price point.

thanks for your honesty....

 

[2FORCEFULL]

What is your thoughts on this diesel View attachment 1171825

here's my take...the only thing that that rv is rated to tow 10k is the hitch...you have to weigh it to see whats left.. pretty sure it's a ccwr of 30k...nect, around that year they had problems with the slideout... and around 2019 thy fried the QC nd hired new... problem with the 300 hp is they put a 2200 alisen trans so you can't crank up the hp... that and the radiator is tooo small... also . that model has a rv queen bed.... tooo short and narrow the newer palazzo's have newat air bag valaves and ride way better...