Front Diesel - Rear Gas?
Reading up and looking at Motorhomes and hearing about the Heat/Noise factor of Gas versus the quiet of the Diesel, mostlyd due to engine location. Also hearing about noise factor of the generator a...
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As was said, there have been both, just not many "out of the ordinary"
The most obvious is the Freightliner FRED (Front Engine Diesel) chassis, which was used by quite a number of motorhome manufacturers. This was basically a gasser chassis with a diesel engine. None of the rear engine diesel advantages, just a leaf spring gasser chassis with a really noisy front diesel engine.
Workhorse did a rear engine gas for a while, but they didn't sell enough of them, and then they left the business.
Someone made a MID-engine diesel, I think Newmar used them in some cool air ride toy haulers. Excellent idea, but maintenance was a nightmare.
One really cool gas pusher was FMC, they used a 440 dodge in the rear. Charles Kerault ran one of these, and they are still popular.
Don't forget the GMC's, they used a Toronado drivetrain (front engine front drive 455) to power a motorhome, excellent idea, also still very popular.
But we always come down to cost per unit.
Our current Ford F53's, this chassis is used in about 6 zillion medium duty delivery type trucks. This has let Ford give motorhome manufacturers a really good price.
same with the "standard DP" these are mostly variations of the basic bus chassis. Though most these days are specific to motorhomes, there is still a lot of shared parts and systems, these reduce the end cost of the "normal" chassis.
The most obvious is the Freightliner FRED (Front Engine Diesel) chassis, which was used by quite a number of motorhome manufacturers. This was basically a gasser chassis with a diesel engine. None of the rear engine diesel advantages, just a leaf spring gasser chassis with a really noisy front diesel engine.
Workhorse did a rear engine gas for a while, but they didn't sell enough of them, and then they left the business.
Someone made a MID-engine diesel, I think Newmar used them in some cool air ride toy haulers. Excellent idea, but maintenance was a nightmare.
One really cool gas pusher was FMC, they used a 440 dodge in the rear. Charles Kerault ran one of these, and they are still popular.
Don't forget the GMC's, they used a Toronado drivetrain (front engine front drive 455) to power a motorhome, excellent idea, also still very popular.
But we always come down to cost per unit.
Our current Ford F53's, this chassis is used in about 6 zillion medium duty delivery type trucks. This has let Ford give motorhome manufacturers a really good price.
same with the "standard DP" these are mostly variations of the basic bus chassis. Though most these days are specific to motorhomes, there is still a lot of shared parts and systems, these reduce the end cost of the "normal" chassis.
