Diesel or Gas Class A, That's the question.
We'll be going full time in about a year, Never did the RV thing but we need an adventurous change. Wondering about the pros & cons of both. Fuel, Maintenance etc. Thanks.
Forum Discussion
Effy sums it up pretty good.
Diesel rigs generally are much higher end quality in everything else as well. There are exceptions, but it's mostly true.
The ride can be dramatically better with a diesel, as they usually have bus based suspension systems, and are not just a house/box sitting on a bread truck frame. (i.e. air bags, BF Goodrich Velvet Ride, etc, not leaf or coil springs)
Along with the heavy duty bus chassis, comes stability in winds. I've driven along just fine, and have stopped for fuel in such places as Selina Utah where other RV'ers have parked until the wind lets up. I get my diesel, then continue onwards. Once, in the Columbia Gorge, I got trapped behind a weaving old Winnebago (from the 1970's :B) that was holding up traffic until they took an exit. It was going from guard rail to guard rail, so no way to risk a pass. The semi trucks and a couple other DP's in the parade that were stuck behind it moved on after it left. (The Gorge by the way is infamous for high winds)
Huge basement storage, on the order of 200 cubic feet or more. Few gas motorhomes have such vast space underneath. Or the massive capacity to haul what you put there. (I can carry about 4 tons without going over the GVWR, not that there's that much stuff in there! :B )
If you're towing a dinghy the diesel is nice for power and economy.
As for maintenance, it's a myth as far as I'm concerned. Yes, having Caterpillar change its ten gallons of oil, multiple oil filters, fuel filters, and doing chassis lube etc. is about $450, but it's only once a year or 30,000 miles. Add up changing a gas engine's oil every 3,000 miles, and it can be as much or more if you drive it a lot. (Yearly cost)
Boondocking. Diesels usually have huge tanks because of their high GVWR chassis. If you like to boondock, you'll like being able to take lots of showers with 100+ gallon water and dump tanks. A lot of gas rigs are pushing the chassis too much to have such large tanks. (I have 60 gallons of LP gas, 80 gallons of black water capacity, etc.)
The bottom line is if you move around a LOT, then go for a diesel. If you tend to stay in places a while and only rack up maybe 5k or 10k miles max a year, then go for a gasser.
Diesel rigs generally are much higher end quality in everything else as well. There are exceptions, but it's mostly true.
The ride can be dramatically better with a diesel, as they usually have bus based suspension systems, and are not just a house/box sitting on a bread truck frame. (i.e. air bags, BF Goodrich Velvet Ride, etc, not leaf or coil springs)
Along with the heavy duty bus chassis, comes stability in winds. I've driven along just fine, and have stopped for fuel in such places as Selina Utah where other RV'ers have parked until the wind lets up. I get my diesel, then continue onwards. Once, in the Columbia Gorge, I got trapped behind a weaving old Winnebago (from the 1970's :B) that was holding up traffic until they took an exit. It was going from guard rail to guard rail, so no way to risk a pass. The semi trucks and a couple other DP's in the parade that were stuck behind it moved on after it left. (The Gorge by the way is infamous for high winds)
Huge basement storage, on the order of 200 cubic feet or more. Few gas motorhomes have such vast space underneath. Or the massive capacity to haul what you put there. (I can carry about 4 tons without going over the GVWR, not that there's that much stuff in there! :B )
If you're towing a dinghy the diesel is nice for power and economy.
As for maintenance, it's a myth as far as I'm concerned. Yes, having Caterpillar change its ten gallons of oil, multiple oil filters, fuel filters, and doing chassis lube etc. is about $450, but it's only once a year or 30,000 miles. Add up changing a gas engine's oil every 3,000 miles, and it can be as much or more if you drive it a lot. (Yearly cost)
Boondocking. Diesels usually have huge tanks because of their high GVWR chassis. If you like to boondock, you'll like being able to take lots of showers with 100+ gallon water and dump tanks. A lot of gas rigs are pushing the chassis too much to have such large tanks. (I have 60 gallons of LP gas, 80 gallons of black water capacity, etc.)
The bottom line is if you move around a LOT, then go for a diesel. If you tend to stay in places a while and only rack up maybe 5k or 10k miles max a year, then go for a gasser.
