Daveinet wrote:
The fact is there is absolutely nothing wrong with a potato chip chassis as long as one does not exceed the original design weight/length. My parents second motorhome was a 27 foot Midas on a P30 chassis. That chassis road better and handled better than their current 34 foot Allegro on a W22 chassis. So much so, at the time I was first learning to drive, I had only ever driven a car all of about 4 miles in my entire life. I hopped into the driver's seat of their motorhome and drove several 100 miles, including 10 miles of construction, narrowed lanes, and a severe crosswind. The narrowed lanes over the bridges was hair raising, but other than that, it was fine. That motorhome handled very well. I think Bumpy is missing the point. The P30 chassis was a very good design. The problem was that it was often loaded well beyond its design limits, so it is no surprise people would have complaints. You really can't fault the chassis.
I pretty much agree with you. however, with the front wheels about 4 1/2 ft apart and set way in from the edge of the vehicle, my two gave a bit of a scare at times. Hair raising at times. I don't think that it can be referred to as a "very good design" however. that chassis also had inadequate air flow past the exhaust headers which self destructed at times. they put some air dams in to try to direct the air flow past them and at one time camping world sold add on baffles for this reason.
while the chassis might have been great for a bread truck, when modified and converted into a RV chassis, lengthening the frame, adding a second rear axle, the inadequate front end, leaky air bags, narrow tread width, overheating exhaust manifolds, etc. it was less than ideal.
But if one is buying a motorhome on a 2000 or so chassis, just because it may be labeled as a Workhorse, does not guarantee that it is the upgraded version.
bumpy
