I currently own a Winnebago Journey 35ft with a cat350, 2005.We are looking at a Holiday Rambler 2008 Scepter 42 tag axle with a 400 Cummins isl400. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. The reason we want to to move up is that we need more room and have read about the better driving capability of a tag axle.Any thoughts on this unit, on the motor, anything would be welcomed. I currently get about 7.8 mpg. What can I expect with the bigger unit?Thank you very much!!!!!

I have a 2007 42' Scepter, I've been full timing in it for almost 8 years. It has been a great coach, no major issues,drives great and fuel mileage is on par with your coach. The only down side to a tag axle is when its time to by tires.........Bruce

I have much the same rig... Just older. I'm on the heavy side with a combined weight of 46K lbs and after 70K miles my MPG is 6.9 with a heavy right foot. Even at that weight I'm happy with the 400 HP 99% of the time. At 10,000'+ the turbo boost starts to drop off.I still do back to back 12+ hour days as it handles that well... Do a search RR10S. Windy days or passing 18 wheelers is not a problem.With the fuel tank not right behind the front axle you can use more of the 9000+ lbs of CCC. The barn doors make it easier to access things in the basement.Monaco's good customer support is alive and well... If you need it. A lot of MH for $150K and 50K miles.It makes a great boondocking machine as we usually do five week days in a USFS CG and then resupply and move on the weekends. We are half timers and love the room from the four slides... Especially the two in the LR.

Flyjay, does the '08 Scepter that you are looking at have the DPF? (Diesel Particulate Filter)Our previous 2008 Dynasty, 42 ft., 40,039 lbs, 4 slides, etc., with the Cummins 425 hp engine, averaged about 7.2-7.8 on a regular basis. We had no problems with the drivetrain except a couple of defective coolant boxes. Finally, got a good one a year before we sold it.The plus about a tag, is that you have a set of rotatable tires to the front in case you get a bad alignment (which happened to us). And, you can't beat the ride, stability and CCC. MM.

Iam not sure if it has the filter. I will find out!!

We get 7.8-8.0 MPG and generally drive 62 MPH+ which is the shift to 6th gear point. While it's a good coach there are design issues. I had to replace the totally inadequate Monaco and CareLess wiring to the switches and repair the stripped end cap on the awning. CareLess toppers don't last very long because the cotton doesn't hold up in the sun. I'm on the verge of ordering new and much better toppers. Gen starting is a problem because mine is connected to the house batteries. The battery boost will solve that but the design is flawed as there is about 42' of wire to the batteries not to mention that it's trying to start on partially discharged batteries, lower voltage and cool weather are factors. I'm considering installing a battery on the gen slide. The Magnum charger/inverter has a number of design cost tradeoffs one being no remote battery sense. And Monaco installed it 21' from the battery and even with 4/O cable there is significant voltage drop. I had to replace the Lipper hydraulic pump right at the 2 year warranty. I found 3 design flaws with that pump and convinced they to send me the redesigned pump. There was a minor Monaco installation problem with the Valid leveling air pump that I fixed. The bed slide is slowing down and at least one problem is that the plywood isn't holding up on the bed box rollers so that fix is upcoming (the slideout itself is OK). But I'd likely buy another Monaco. So depending upon the condition of the rig the above is just a heads up. I MUST LIKE the rig since my major upgrades are: Wilson cell amplifier and antennas, PI HW 50C, battery monitor and RF Mogul sat dish. Then the 750 watt solar has a major install. The rig is NOT boon docking friendly relative to power unless you like to run the gen.The Dometic NDA1402 works great. What kind of refer does the unit have? The DPF filter is not a problem for me and the engine is very clean running.

Holiday Rambler Scepter 42 2008 | Good Sam Community

Ivylog
Explorer III
Nov 08, 2015
I have much the same rig... Just older. I'm on the heavy side with a combined weight of 46K lbs and after 70K miles my MPG is 6.9 with a heavy right foot. Even at that weight I'm happy with the 400 HP 99% of the time. At 10,000'+ the turbo boost starts to drop off.

I still do back to back 12+ hour days as it handles that well... Do a search RR10S. Windy days or passing 18 wheelers is not a problem.

With the fuel tank not right behind the front axle you can use more of the 9000+ lbs of CCC. The barn doors make it easier to access things in the basement.

Monaco's good customer support is alive and well... If you need it. A lot of MH for $150K and 50K miles.

It makes a great boondocking machine as we usually do five week days in a USFS CG and then resupply and move on the weekends. We are half timers and love the room from the four slides... Especially the two in the LR.
Waco_Kid
Explorer
Nov 08, 2015
I have a 2007 42' Scepter, I've been full timing in it for almost 8 years. It has been a great coach, no major issues,drives great and fuel mileage is on par with your coach. The only down side to a tag axle is when its time to by tires.........Bruce

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