Advice please on new diesel pusher

[daugen]

Hi. New member here, about to purchase my first motor home. Lived aboard a large boat for many years, understand the experience, just want to do it on land now due to age and physical restrictions.


http://www.mediacampingctr.com/2005-american-coach-american-tradition-42-4-slide-used-diesel-pusher-pa-i816725

I am seriously considering this coach, which is old enough to have depreciated enough for me to afford it, not only going in but the annual cost of operation, of which depreciation is always a biggie on these things. The coach gets 7mpg. I'm a retired financial planner so I did the numbers on mpg and for my usage, not an issue.

I would love some feedback on the Spartan chassis, which I'm told is a good one. Are there any serious maintenance issues on the chassis/air bags that kick in at ten years, fifteen, some point?
I've owned a hole in the water, just trying to understand the land equivalent.

Coach is coming with all new tires, and is immaculate. The prior owner owned a race car of some kind, not Nascar..., and boy his wife must have been a neatnick. Even clean under the slides.

Almost all the systems on a large coach are similar to those on a larger boat, so all the hoses and connection issues are pretty clear to us.

I went looking for a used Buick, and found what I think is an older Cadillac. I like the idea of a tag axle and the fact that if you blow a tire in the rear your day is inconvenienced, not ruined. I'm a maintenance nut, so not heading out without checking everything thoroughly anyway.

I originally went out looking for one of the MB coaches, and the rear berth was just too small for us. Boy that 14mpg sounds attractive.
But if I drive 10,000 miles a year and having a king bed makes my wife happy, well, so be it. We are retired and want to travel. This seems like a marvelous way to do it, particularly if you don't like to fly.

Ok, thinking of offering around 130K for this coach with the all new tires and everything allegedly checked out. Does that sound about right? Haven't checked NADA or rvtrader yet, but I know this would be somewhere on the higher end of pricing. For a nice coach, worth it?

I appreciate all your input. If I have posted in the wrong spot, please educate me. I have been a long time member of TractorByNet.com as my primary hobby is retirement farming, but in the off season, I've got the itch to travel. Drew

[daugen]

today's visit to the Itasca dealer went well. We checked out the 26, 27 and 31 foot versions, and liked the 27 the best. Didn't think we would like the couch/tv table style option on the one they had, since the removable "boat tables" are kinda cheesy the way they wobble. But I'm sure that could be shimmed and improved. But the tables have to be removed before the slide is shut, that's an inconvenience.


But....after we sat on the small dinette they can squeeze in that spot, and the couch that becomes a fold out, well no question which was more comfortable to sit on, the ultraleather couch.

This motorhome almost overdoes it with televisions and I thought I'd be the last person to say that. Stuffing a 42 in that little salon is likely to be overwhelming unless sitting in the driver and passenger seats spun around. Otherwise seems we'd be just too close, but this is still to be tested.

I was impressed with the fit and finish. No question the whole rig is lighter duty than the Spartan chassis or true motorcoach chassis, but then it has obviously been designed to get some weight out. I see a lot of the low weight tech used in new boats and yachts used in this 27. Frankly, I'm amazed they can get most of the amenities of a Class A in such a small package, that hopefully will handle adequately. (I've been reading up on optional sway bars and steering dampers with great interest) And at twenty eight feet overall, I'm hoping that Ford V-10 will have even a little perceptible acceleration.

Comes with Goodyear radials in a 245 size 19.5, which strikes me as a pretty skinny tire for the front.

Am I right in thinking this ia a Ford F450 chassis? 550? tried and true F53 chassis. With a tried and true engine, that could use another hundred hp but I guess economy concerns aren't going to let that happen.

So, I'll have to wrap up this thread, no longer a diesel pusher...
I'll report back in a new thread if I do buy this thing, which is getting more likely.

I'm a newbie and I'm all ears...thanks to all. Drew

http://www.colonialitasca.com/Itasca_winnebago_for_sale/9727/index.php

[daugen]

we had our boat way up the Delaware River for awhile, almost as far up as you can navigate. Fresh water, though I sure wouldn't drink it.
Boat zincs never wore out, unlike in Aventura Florida (North Miami) in that nice salt water, where the zincs disappeared like a bar of cheap soap...

It was my experience that it was hard to get someone out to work on the boat, other than the a/c guy, for less than a grand. The bill was always huge. And those environmental cleanup charges that are tacked on, for the one paper towel they used and I paid for the roll. Many times over. Marina repair yards can be budget wreckers.

What owning a larger boat taught me quickly was how maintenance free our cars and trucks have become. Granted stuff breaks, but you aren't constantly replacing Racor this and Racor that. You put gas in your car, check the oil, maybe, and just drive. And they run amazingly reliably. Not like boats. So I'm hoping also that if I do pay full freight for a new motorhome, albeit a smaller one, then with normal slide maintenance, checking the batteries, whatever, your motorhome should be pretty reliable. Like any truck it needs fluids changed. And the plumbing will leak. At some point, some place.
But I'm hoping with a new unit that might take a while. Definitely need a shakedown first drive before taking any long trips.

So tomorrow should be fun, off to drive the Itasca Sunstars and anything else interesting there.

[RFCN2]

Boats in salt water are way more expensive to maintain than motor homes. I have the check register to prove it. At least that is my experience.

[Grey_Sailor]

daugen wrote:
GreySailor,
how true. I constantly watch YouTube sea pictures and just tonight was
seeing if I could find my old boat on yachtworld.com

Spending a month on the water eating our way down the intracoastal from Philadelphia to Miami was one of the best experiences of our lives. The ten day haul butt to get home trip mostly outside was no fun at all.
Taking it slow, in a trawler, well that is very, very appealing.

Yep....I did my last haulout on the Beneteau 411 in August here in South Texas...was not fun at all! However, I just finished doing bumper to bumper maintenance on my motorhome (oil, coolant flush, main and generator engines, along with transmission fluid/filters, also hydraulic system and air receiver dryer, all fuel filters, and polishing the fuel tank)....so I'm starting to think boat maintenance isn't so bad after all!

[daugen]

GreySailor,
how true. I constantly watch YouTube sea pictures and just tonight was
seeing if I could find my old boat on yachtworld.com

Spending a month on the water eating our way down the intracoastal from Philadelphia to Miami was one of the best experiences of our lives. The ten day haul butt to get home trip mostly outside was no fun at all.
Taking it slow, in a trawler, well that is very, very appealing.

[Grey_Sailor]

Strange how the cycle of life/interests evolve....We were onboard sailboats for decades, bought our 40' MH about 6 years ago, enjoyed that experience, and now that we are retired, about to put the Dutch Star on the market so we can buy a trawler....we miss the water too much!

Good luck on your search for the right coach!

Luke

[daugen]

have decided to carefully look at the Itasca Sunstar series, which I hope does not have too bad a ride compared to the magic bus I drove.
Seems very reasonably priced for what one gets, though clearly this rig is about half as heavy duty as a Spartan chassis bus.

the 27 footer amazingly has just about everything we need. But the thirty footer, the 30T, looks like just the perfect layout. And twelve feet shorter ought to make maneuvering a bit easier.

the folks at Colonial Itasca in Lakewood NJ so far seem very responsive and nice. And they have about ten times the inventory of where I've been looking. Now Lakewood is a very strange town, about half conservative Jews, and it's pretty strange to drive through. Why there is a big motorhome place there I don't know, but it's not a hard drive from here, and I used to call on clients in Lakewood (no handshaking, no holding of doors for women, lots of rules...)so I know the area pretty well.

Just have to find the right shoe for our feet.

[daugen]

I have some very interesting pics of the underneath of the Spartan chassis I can post, but can't figure out how to post pics on this forum.

[FormerBoater]

5 minutes of pedal to the metal to reach 70 MPH indicates a severe problem.

Keep on looking, the hunt is a lot of fun.

[daugen]

I just have to keep looking, and that part is fun anyway, though I really have no desire to drive to Florida or Texas to find one, which seems to be where the RV inventory is. Like you go to Florida to find boats...

I understood the coach would be slow. This one was just too slow.
Maybe I've just got a lead foot, but when I put the accelerator to the floor and get absolutely zero sensation of acceleration, well...
I pulled out onto a major road with plenty of time, after being parked on the shoulder, and I kept waiting for a turbo, or something 🙂 to kick in. Yes I did get it up to 70, very little sensation of speed, but if I have to keep the pedal to the floor for five minutes to accomplish that, I can't imagine how much fuel that will use.

I had really thought with a C9 this thing would move. Nope, maybe the air filters were clogged but it wasn't putting out smoke and sounded fine, just was a total slug.

so the hot ticket is to get the larger engine in a smaller coach, a non tag unit? I'll have to focus on that.

I am going to drive an Itasca Reyo Q, the one with the rear walkaround queen, and see if that little MB diesel has any grunt.
I'm hoping the driving experience is better. I'm also wondering how performance would compare with my pulling a 9500 pound Airstream trailer behind the Suburban 6 litre.

I like to drive so while the size of the kitchen pantry is critical to my wife, I'm a little more oriented to what I can see/feel from the driver's seat.

well this sort of fits right in with my twenty twenty goal. I'm always looking to lose twenty pounds and gain 20hp....

still having fun, still excited, and learning rapidly, thanks for all input. I'm likely to do this only once, so I want to take the time and get it right.

[RFCN2]

daugen - check out Country Coaches and Monaco's with big CAT or Cummins motors. Mine has a CAT C12 and has lots of power. Both CC and Monaco use their own chassis and are both very good motor homes. The RVCG rates Country Coach higher but these motor homes were built down the street from each other in Junction City Oregon and are very similar. I have 505 hp and 1550 lbs torque - it is not slow.

Trust me on this. Once you get past one hour driving you will not notice the difference between 38 ft and 42 ft driving. However, when you are parked you will really notice a difference in space.

[prstlk]

The Spartan under my 03 tradewinds is very over built. I do all my own stuff if I can (read cheap *+%tard). Being under "there" many times the workmanship is impressive. Keep in mind what Spartan builds most are fire trucks.
See you out there

PS for the first time in 36 years I don't have a boat!

[daugen]

didn't think this would happen, but after taking a drive, decided to pass on this coach. It just felt tired to me, the dash a/c conked out on a 95 degree day though the back ones worked fairly well, but never got the bedroom down below 78.

The 42 felt really large to me, and seriously slow. With it being completely empty and almost no fuel, I thought the thing would show some scoot. It finally got up to speed, couldn't hear the engine at all, and found the dash very hard to read with sun glasses on.
All the awnings were tired and stained, the mechanism on one looked about ready to fall off. And I found where the front cap had been painted which no one had told me about.

Need to fall in love a little, but I left cold. For this amount of money, I need a little romance...
will keep looking. Headed over to Lakewood NJ to look at Airstreams next.

[daugen]

well, test drive scheduled for Monday morning, and I'm looking forward to taking this coach for a ride.
Will be taking a spry friend or two to slide underneath on a creeper to check out the undercarriage. Want to look for grounding damage and any leaks under the machinery. I asked for full water and a weekend cold engine.

And if those slides don't work today, I'm afraid it will be strike three for this motorhome. Mechanical reality also has to be balanced by a little good karma...