Tiers of Motohomes

RLS7201 wrote:
The old Fleetwood gas line up, before REV Group, was of decent value. The whole line is of the same construction materials. Some just trimmed out better. The build quality is just as good as the other brands. Just less fluff and not near the prestige and maintenance costs as the high $$ coaches.
The Workhorse W chassis ("I" beam front suspension) is good stuff. 8.1 engine with Allison tranny. Stay away from the Workhorse P chassis (Independent front suspension). It has too many issues.
The Ford F53 V10 chassis is good with some spark plug issues. Cure to the spark problem has been found. 1999 275 HP, 2000-2006 305 HP.
I can't speak for the other manufactures, seeing as how I'm driving a 27 year old Bounder. GRIN

Richard

Pay attention to Richards post. I have spent a small fortune on my IFS front end. I would look for a MH 2006 Ford or Workhorse or newer. Ford had the 362HP and better transmission in that year and the Workhorse had the 340HP and Allision transmission. Both had the straight axle front ends that are less moving parts to wear out and fail than the IFS. If you start with a better chassis all the others systems are pretty much the same, refers, WHs, AC,s etc. As far as better tier MH,s, they are built in the same lines use the same adhesives and FG for the boxes. Maintenance as others have said will be more important than Tiers. Especially check for delamination in that age MH. Also check for mods like headers, which greatly improve HP, reduced heat and increased performance. I would rather buy a well maintained Flair with Headers, FF muffler, and a CAI than a stock non maintained Pace Arrow.

JMO, we just bought an 07 Tiffin Open Road gasser last October. We weren't really actively looking for a moho yet, but this one kinda fell in our laps. At that age my biggest concern was how well it was taken care of. Ours had 43K on the clock and the rest of the coach showed about the same. It had some issues, but I'm VERY mechanical, so non of what I found concerned me. Stick to higher end name brands and you should be fine. HR, Tiffin, GBM, Winnie, and the like.

The tank level indicators always said full on the black and grey tanks, The bedroom slide didn't extend or retract, but you could hear the motor spin. The decals were cracked from age and sun damage. Tires were at 6 years old and starting to dry rot. That and it needed a good cleaning inside. We got ours for well under the book value because of the "issues".

After driving it home 1,100 miles towing the Ranger on a car trailer, it took us 2 days to get everything fixed or sorted for 0 money. We presently have 51K on the clock and over 45 days "camping" in her. She goes in the 18th for drivetrain and chassis fluid changes, a new acc belt on the engine, and front end alignment. We will be leaving in May for a PNW tour and to visit friends. We plan on being gone till the end of July. Finish the house, sell it, and go fulltime.

We thought about a diesel, but after owning diesels for decades and the cost premium of maint. and purchase price.....that buys ALOT of regular gas. We're retired and don't do "hurry up" vacations anymore. We don't usually drive more than 300 miles a day and boondock most of the time.