Motorhome search, where to start

Ryanjb01 wrote:
Thanks for the great information.

A few questions:

1. What is the difference between the various Cummins Diesel engines available in Motorhomes? Is this the same engine that is used in 3/4 and 1 ton dodge trucks?

2. What is the difference between a "Hung" wall and a laminated wall?

3. Is there any chassis that I should stay away from? Why if any?

Thanks again for the information, the Ventana by Newmar looks impressive. Just what we are looking for. But I wish they had more power. 350hp seems a little on the low side. But I do not know what the torque is. Anyone know the ft/lb on the engine

1. The 350 in the Ventanna will be a Cummins ISC. I think you'll find it to be 1050 lb/ft torque. Power won't be an issue.

2. Hung wall construction doesn't reley on the lamination process for strength. It's built with aluminum studs on 16" centers with headers over the windows, doors, and slides. The wall is attached using the same type sealer as Harvestor silos (the blue ones) use. You would most likely rip the fiberglass before the Sikaflex gave up.
Laminate walls are literally glued together. The pieces of the wall are stacked together with glue between them. They are then run through a vac/press combination to sandwich the materials together. If they would never delaminate this system would be OK - depending on if the builder used enough structure as well. The issue is glues break down, quickly with heat and leaks. My S-I-L had a 2 year old TT delaminating - not good.

Newmar used to have a good video on it, now it's just a short part of this one.

Here is a picture of one builders laminated wall structure, before the parts are sandwiched in - not much there.



This is an extreme example of delamination, but once it starts it's about impossible to stop:



This would be more typical - notice the bubbling



And here is what it looks like on the inside - from a Winnebago I worked on this spring;





As far as chassis go, any newer diesel chassis should be fine. The engines, transmissions and suspension suppliers are used all of them.

The biggest differences would be when Monaco was making theirs they used a different suspension than Spartan, Freightliner, and ???. Newmar offers Comfort Drive - originally in Spartan, now in both Spartan and Freightliner. Some have independant front suspension, some have a straight beam front. Typically IFS rides better, Straight beam handles better. "Handles better" certainly is a realitive term. We've had both, I'd be happy with either.