Class A Gas or Diesel

I love our new gasser, Allegro 36LA, the floor plan to die for! Great driver with the new 6 speed tranny, sumo springs, and the insulation that Tiffin adds in under the dog house keeps things cooler and quieter than the Jayco that we drove for the last three years.
I am sure that a DP can be quieter, stronger, smoother...... But, for what we use it for, and towing a bass boat up hills, it sure seems fine to me. Plus gas is cheap right now, and we have thousands left over in the pocket too., so see what fits.
Merry Christmas All!

Kayteg1 wrote:
I always advise to take a piece of paper and a pen, estimate you annual mileage and calculate how much you will spend on fuel driving each.
Semitruckers did it generations ago and look at their results.

how does that help to decide on a gas or diesel unit ??
they both get about 7.5 MPG but diesels way cheaper but then the diesel MH is more expensive to purchase so I personally could not make that the one and only deciding factor or even a factor for that matter
The one and only deal that would make me take a gas over diesel
are if $$$$$$$$$$$$$ is the issue.

I always advise to take a piece of paper and a pen, estimate you annual mileage and calculate how much you will spend on fuel driving each.
Semitruckers did it generations ago and look at their results.

Wow.....this thread is really all over the place. "donfrump" brings up a good point about people making disparaging remarks about something they can't afford. This really makes their opinion useless because it's so slanted.

One remark about the lack of throttle response is the craziest thing I ever heard. Large displacement diesels in motor homes and semi's are not designed to have the "pedal put to the floor". When you do that with a diesel, it will fall on it's face. They're designed to have the power rolled on. If you roll it on slowly, it will accelerate like other motor homes. Again, bad information.

If you drive down a smooth highway at 65 mph, both a gas motor home and a diesel will ride smoothly. If the road is full of potholes, both a gasser and a diesel will ride roughly. The diesel may absorb the shock a little better because of the size and weight, but you'll still feel it.

I had a gas motor home with the 8.1 Workhorse and it was a diesel eater. I could blow by most diesels on any grade. Now, the noise was horrendous in the cab, even after adding a lot of installation, but you only climb grades during about 5% of your travels, so not a big deal.

A diesel is more complicated to operate and maintain, but can haul and tow more weight. You need to decide what you want to do your coach, how often you'll use it and do you have a need for a diesel. Modern day gassers are very capable and probably the best choice for those who don't do more than 8-10K in miles every year.

My sister just took delivery of a new Fleetwood Southwind today. They were done dealing with the complexity of a diesel pusher. It's actually 4" longer than the diesel they sold and is just as nicely outfitted.

Good luck on your search. The lines between a diesel and a gasser have really been blurred so it's a tough choice.

was_butnotnow wrote:
Or should bite the bullet and go with a diesel?

Diesel. Owned a gasser and now have a DP -- more power, quiter/smoother ride, & does not "wander" like a gasser.

I started out with Class A gassers, and after 5 of them I finally got to where I forced myself to buy a new large diesel pusher (in order to satisfy my complaints). Yes, I was satisfied with just about everything EXCEPT the inferior roof design/construction. I concluded that if I fixed the roof myself, it would be a keeper. I was right. That was many years ago.
Today, I do not have enough knowledge of the current products to make a recommendation. All I know is that I would buy a large diesel pusher (if I could afford it).

Heres one thing I have noticed over my entire lifetime.When a person simply can not afford a certain product and has to settle for a lessor they simply hate the one they cant afford and will find umpteen reasons they would never buy such a item. One thing I should mention in my defense of a DP . watch the weight to HP ratio some say 100HP per thousand pounds is good rule of thumb
I think 125HP per 1000 lbs is more in my liking

The Ford V10, especially the newer ones with 3 valve per cylinder heads (anything after 2006), has PLENTY of power and will work fine. 362 horsepower and 457 foot-pounds of torque is plenty, and will do what you ask it to do. Will get a little loud when you work it hard, and it will turn a lot of RPMs, but that is exactly what Ford designed it to do, and it will do it just fine. Very strong motor.

We have a 36' MH on a Ford V10 chassis, have had it for 3 years (bought it new in 2012 - see signature). We travel pretty much everywhere we want with it, including mountains. It does whatever we ask of it.

I recently (2 weeks ago) took a new diesel pusher for a test drive, as we were toying with the idea of upgrading. It was a 2015 40' Fleetwood Discovery, with the Cummins ISL 380 horsepower, 1150 ft-lb torque diesel.

I am here to tell you, I am simply NOT impressed with the diesel at all. A couple times, just to get a feel for it, I put the pedal to the floor just to see if all this hype I've heard about diesel power was true. I was sorely disappointed. You step on a gas engine like a V10, it responds appropriately - it gets loud, and gets MOVING. You step on the diesel, it does almost nothing - it just grunts, lurks, and sloooooowly accelerates. Won't downshift and get moving like a gasser V10 will. No throttle response whatsoever, at least not like what I'm used to (and prefer) with gassers. And, this was with a brand spanking new very powerful diesel, a Cummins ISL 380 horsepower. Many diesel pushers have considerably less power than that, especially older ones.

Yes, the diesel pusher rides much smoother, handles better with the air suspension, and is much quieter with the engine in the back. But, the huuuuuge price tag that comes with, coupled with how much more complicated it is with all the air systems, then add to that the horrible (non-existent) throttle response of the diesel......Sorry, I'll keep my gasser V10 MH, and its much smaller bank note, and much better throttle response. :)

They say once you drive a diesel, you'll never go back, and not to test drive a diesel pusher with your checkbook in your pocket, as you'll buy it on the spot. Well, I'm here to tell you, neither are necessarily true. Some of us, even after having tried both, prefer our gasser V10 rigs. :)

I never have owned a gasser and when talking to my friends who have gassers the one they they complain about is the gasser hunts for gears when traveling in rolling terrain where as my diesel generally stays in one gear from the extra torque. In rolling terrain I usually set the transmission in the economy mode and it won't shift until the 1500 rpm mark. Depending on the terrain I usually don't loose more that 5 mph. Just something to be aware of.:)

Actually the GM V8 is a much larger engine than the V10. Workhorse used the v8 and it was great. I had one for 12 years in a '03 Mountain Aire with no problems (once the brakes got fixed) The Ford gets it's power from RPMs and Chev from torque of a 8.1L engine. Workhorse quit building RV chassis when GM quit making the 8.1 so the newest ones will only have a Ford V10