tag axle

Side note, if you are towing heavy ie 2 stack car hauler tags a big help to fine tune the toad. For a 4 down no biggie, but hauling heavy trailers big plus.
jw

Get the coach you want, with the size and floor plan you want. If it has a tag, fine, if not, fine. You don't want to buy a coach just because it has (or doesn't have) a tag axle

Having had a eight outboard airbag Beaver that handled well, I was surprised how much better a 10 airbag (tag axle) handled... like Bluwtr49 above. Because of the lifting tag my 42' has a better turning radius than the 40' Beaver. "Monaco products have 10 OUTSIDE air bags"... actually only 8 are outboard as the two on the tag are like most MH axles... inside the rails. Unfortunately the new Monaco is not using outboard airbags... not that I was going to buy a new MH.
It would be interesting to hear from someone who went from Monaco's RR10S (tag axle) to another brand that uses inboard airbags plus a tag and how well it compares to a Monaco's handling???

You really need to judge for yourself and you can only do that if you drive one. Go to your nearest dealer and see if you can find one to take out on the roads and highways for a little bit. It won't take you long to discover the difference.

good luck

Ron

When we bought our new coach, a tag axle was a must have. Typically, you don't see a tag on anything under 40'. At 40', without a tag, you get a great ride (think limousine length). You also get to a point where 40', without a tag, gets a little heavy on the rear axle and you limit the CCC. So at the 40' length you need to decide how much storage you'll need. Anything over 40' needs a tag and will really add to the comfort and handling of the coach.

As I said, we wanted at tag, but we also wanted to stay at 40' for several reasons. Our coach handles great and rides nice, but our storage is not much bigger than our 36' DP that we sold. The tag axle takes up three of the extra four feet we added. We also have a side radiator and DEF, so we lost all storage behind the rear wheels. Once you get into the 42' and larger you start gaining all that extra space back.

One of the things I didn't realize with the tag on a 40', is I can now turn sharper than my 36' could. Technically, my wheelbase from front wheel to drive wheels is the same as the 36' and my front end has a 60 degree wheel cut.

I agree that turning, lifting and adjustable pressure tags are the cats meow, but you're only going to find them on really high end coaches. Most of your new coaches have a tag that lifts, but not off of the ground. They lift just enough to take the pressure off and keep from tearing up the tires.

I had a 2000 40' Beaver Patriot Thunder with a without tag and thought it rode and handled wonderfully well. It had the 8 airbag and 8 shock chassis. Granted you could feel some push from trucks and heavy wind but not a "white knuckle" by any stretch.

Last year we purchased a 2002 43" Beaver Marquis with a tag. All I can say it WOW! The difference was remarkable in all aspects.

While I would not say I wouldn't go back to a coach without tag.....if it was the right coach. But I would certainly put a tag very high on the priority list. For any coach 40 or less I would probably not sacrifice the bay storage for a tag as even my 43' has a smidgen less bay storage than the 40' so that is something to take into consideration.

Many things about tags...here's my take...

Tag makes the coach much more stable in winds, trucks etc.
Ride is more comfortable too.
Monaco products have 10 OUTSIDE air bags. Meaning the air bags are mounted OUTSIDE the frame rails. This gives stability to the ride comfort.

Now a caveat. Make sure the coach you get has an ADJUSTABLE tag. Mine is air adjustable. This allows me to adjust the tag pressure with a simple turn of a knob. This feature allows me to adjust the pressure/weight of the other two axles. More pressure applied to the tag, more pressure applied to the steer axle and less pressure on the drive axle. So if your weights are a little off, you can adjust for those differences.

Another feature to look for is being able to LIFT the tag. On mine, I can LIFT the tag which give me a tighter turning radius as well as not dragging the tag tires around a sharp campground turn. Max speed with the tag lifted is 5mph.

Only negatives are having to budget an extra $1200 every 7 years for two extra tires, and paying for three axles through the toll plazas.....Dennis

It's true... once you've had a tag axle coach you'll never go back to a non tag. Only problem is with 9,000+ lbs of CCC it's easy to keep too much STUFF that you would have to throw out otherwise. At 40' or more it's hard to have much CCC without a tag and the cost of two more tires every 10 years is worth it.
I still put in back to back 12+ hour days as my Monaco RR10S handles that well, even with a strong cross wind or when passing a 18 wheeler.

Cuts down on outside storage but also makes coach much more stable. I do not even feel trucks going by. Worth it to me.