American Eagle, Country Coach, Newmar

[piku]

Hi all, I was hoping to get some advice. We currently have a 1998 Winnebago Adventurer 32ft with no slides and are a family of 3 living in it. We've just recently completed a 2 month adventure across the country and back and have decided we kind of like living in a motorhome, trailer or something of the sort. We have some ideas about snowbirding. I've always been enamored with Wanderlodges but as time has passed I've come to realize I can't afford one, especially not one with a slide. Then I found out how heavy the steel coaches are and decided maybe it's not right for me.

Firstly, I don't hate our coach. The Adventurer is a good coach as far as gassers of the time period go, but we have delamination damage from leaks from previous owners and various fixtures and furnishings breaking constantly to the point of being annoying. All possible chassis issues, we've had from fuel pumps to broken head. I've kept up with everything but it's just getting a little tiring chasing the issues. Just yesterday the entry door handle broke in half. The thing I really can't handle anymore is the ride, the heat, the noise. I want a good ride and I hear the Spartan Mountain master chassis is smooth as glass because of the air suspension. I haven't driven one yet. Can someone comment on how it compares to an F53 chassis of the era?

My budget is around $70K. I'd like to find a coach that is around $75K and talk it down to $65K so I can get out for around $70K with tax. I am looking for a diesel pusher and garage kept/mint condition as well as quality and features are far more important to me than age or mileage. I've narrowed down my choices to Foretravel U320, American Eagle and Dream (1999-2002 range for these) and Newmar coaches.

Firstly, I think the American dream/eagle coaches look the best both exterior and interior. I'd love the light sand color sofas with a darker colored cabinet. I love the white exterior and light graphics. I saw a Foretravel U320 I loved but I really think I am stuck on wanting 2 slides. I like the idea of the pantograph doors and generator on a slide so I'd love to find an eagle but a dream works fine if it's right. I really like the overhead tv and console configuration of the 2001+ so I really think I have to stick with that. I've looked at the newmars and I really think the styling is all around god awful. I really don't know what people are thinking with green and purple furniture and other things I find configured. But still I feel like I should consider it. I don't prefer the looks of country coach (like the higher end looking Affinity model?) but it does look good enough that if it was substantially better I would hunt for that. Any comments? Any coaches I am missing?

Then I found out the 02 eagle has the 400HP ISL for around $15K more. Is the 400HP a screamer compared to the 350? Is it worthwhile to spend the money for it? I'm concerned with having enough power that I don't slow down to the point of being a danger to others. That is the case now. I don't have to beat on my rig now, but it gets slow and I am full throttle up any real grades. The general idea is to find something overpowered so it lives a low stress life and maybe will last longer.

I was wondering if people could comment on the delamination issues. One of the dreams I saw was delaminating between the rear slide on the driver side and the rear cap. The dealer claimed there were no leaks. It was a shame to walk away because the coach was priced right and ran great. Someone claimed the newmars can't delaminate but then I saw that the checking issue they have could turn structural. Does the checking issue date all the way back to 2001-2002 ish or is that a later problem?

Are the air conditioners on these models supposed to have filters at the opening? They do in our winnebago but didn't in the one we saw.

What issues should I look for? I know about the ball joints, I know to look for leaks. I know the fiberglass roofs of 2000+ are better, but what am I missing. I don't want to miss anything with this big of a purchase. How should I go about evaluating the engine and generator. Any issues to look for or any good prepurchase inspections that are nationwide that I could take the coach to?

We took a route which I thought was pretty gentle from Yellowstone to Rawlins, WY which inadvertently left us up a rather steep incline. I foolishly decided not to disconnect our toad and we took the incline at 15mph, slow enough that the torque converter even unlocked. No damage, fluid isn't burnt but I decided I had enough and I want a coach with some power.

I'm after 8mpg towing 5000 pounds and carrying about 2000 pounds of people and gear. Can I achieve this in one of these coaches at 60mph.. 65? 70? My impression that is that I will see 1100 miles out of a tank with the generator running at half load with the ISC 350. Is this the case?

On the dream we looked at the slide wouldn't go in the whole way. Is there an issue with the slides or powergear mechanisms on these?

The cruise control of my coach drives me nuts. On all the little dips when the speed drops a mph or two the cruise control promptly slams the throttle to the floor causing it to scream into 3rd gear unnecessarily. If it just gave 60% throttle or so and allowed some slowdown it would be less dramatic and the whole trip would be more relaxing. How does the cruise and gear selection with teh allison work? Do you find you can set cruise even towing and it deals with the smaller grades without any drama? I wouldn't mind a downshift but I don't want to go full throttle unnecessarily for fun. Save that for the real grades. Can I lock the allison into 5th or 6th or program the cruise control maximum throttle or things like that?

And speaking of grades what can you do on a standardish 6% grade? Mine will run in 3rd for a little but I end up in 2nd gear after a mile or two and down to around 30mph. Do the DP's tend to run like this as well? I would suspect not as I was passed by several going at least 55mph up the grade.

What about reliability? How many people actually get the bullyhooed diesel reliability? I hear so often about 90K mile and 110K mile rebuilds of cummins engines. Sounds like a travesty on a motor that expensive. We have 1400 hours on our gas generator. How many can you get on a diesel generator that is used often?

Any and all suggestions are welcome. I just want to know what kind of wrinkles I will be getting into. Obviously I am used to a nightmare owning a 1998 gas coach. Will the nightmare continue or are these coaches pretty reliable and do the furnishings hold up under careful care?

[RayChez]

piku wrote:
Is the hydro hot like the aqua hot? Using diesel or electric to do radiant in floor heat? Why? Is it that much more comfortable than 2 forced air furnaces? We will probably be avoiding cold weather by snowbirding, otherwise I would certainly be interested in hunting something like that. Is there something I am missing about that system? The BTU/$ is pretty similar between propane and diesel.

Any diesel pusher will ride better then a F-53 or Workhorse chassis which are gasoline motorhomes.

Your diesel coaches will have air bags. Some have four air bags which are big versus the ten air bag which comes on Monaco high end coaches. The ten air bag will give you a firm stiff ride vs the four air bag coaches. Take a test drive on any coach that you are interested in and you be the judge. Do not believe half of the stuff put out in any forum, some will be biased to what they have even though it is not much better then the next coach.

American Eagle has the Liberty chassis which is one of the best in the market.
I believe the older Newmar coaches had Freighliner XC and some had Spartan chassis. Those two chassis are very similar in ride. Both are very good chassis, you will never wear one out.

And Country coach has their own version. Also a very good chassis.

[Tom_Barb]

piku wrote:
I want a good ride and I hear the Spartan Mountain master chassis is smooth as glass because of the air suspension. I haven't driven one yet. Can someone comment on how it compares to an F53 chassis of the era?



Any and all suggestions are welcome. I just want to know what kind of wrinkles I will be getting into. Obviously I am used to a nightmare owning a 1998 gas coach. Will the nightmare continue or are these coaches pretty reliable and do the furnishings hold up under careful care?e or are these coaches pretty reliable and do the furnishings hold up under careful care?

We shopped for well over 2 years and drove and tested about every thing we could afford below 100k.

Our 2000 Mountain Aire has the Spartan chassis it has a 4 bag ride system, and by far rides better than any coach built on a truck chassis, and we felt it rode better than the 2 monaco's we tried.

the rest of the coach is all quality, vs quality, buy junk and ………..

[piku]

Is the hydro hot like the aqua hot? Using diesel or electric to do radiant in floor heat? Why? Is it that much more comfortable than 2 forced air furnaces? We will probably be avoiding cold weather by snowbirding, otherwise I would certainly be interested in hunting something like that. Is there something I am missing about that system? The BTU/$ is pretty similar between propane and diesel.

[RayChez]

I really like the American Eagle. But any of the three coaches you mentioned you would have to go back to around 1999 models to get them for 70K. And it might be hard to find coaches with slides back then.

As far as diesel versus gas, there is no comparison. diesel engines are superior over gasoline engines in torque, longevity and no spark plugs to change. Just a much better engine. I have had both a V-10 Ford and now a Cat. Diesel all the way.

[iceyfingers]

I would look for a coach that has a hydro hot system.

[piku]

My apologies, the coaches I am looking at are 150 gallon tanks and have the typical onan quiet diesel 7500.

[Passin_Thru]

50 HP is a lot. Probably suprise you. Go drive one. The old models have more power than the new due to DPF (additive to exhaust) How about 500000-700000 mile rebuild. Expect 7 MPG at 63 Mile per hr with a toad, 65 on flat rolling country, from Albany NY to Amarillo TX and return via I81-I40 should yeild 6-7 but I would'nt expect anymore than that due to wind conditions always being from the SW or NW. A 400 should go about 40 MPH with a toad up any Interstate hill in WY because none are over 9% grade. Diesel generators should run about 15K hrs. They are on a lo-load so don't wear much. 1100 miles, You can go 15000 miles if you pull a tank behind you. Depends on how big a tank you have in one. If you are a mechanic and likie to tinler, an older one is for you. There' always something to do.