Class A Diesel vs Gas?

Captain_Happy wrote:
How deep are your pockets? And one thing to consider is the cost of Diesel fuel these days. do the math, you'll figure it out.

I'm not convinced you need that deep of pockets to support the cost of diesel on a trip. In most cases a DP will get slightly better mileage, about 1.0 to 1.2 or so and even with a $0.60 difference (which is a lot) the difference in fuel cost is probably less than $200.00 over a 5,000 mile trip.

Hardly enough to matter when you look at the generally accepted upsides to a DP.

Buy in cost difference, yea that can be significant but it's stretching to worry about fuel cost.

Just because a DP has air ride suspension DOESN"T mean it has a good ride. I had a motorhome on the Roadmaster R4R and it rode 10 times worse then my current gas Workhorse Chassis. I also owned a 40' DP on a Sparten Chassis and it rode very nicely........so my recommendation, rather a Gas or Diesel.......test drive......and then test drive it some more.....on all sorts of surfaces.
Brian

Since my truck was totaled a little over 3 years ago I had to make the gas or diesel motorhome. Tiffin makes a gas and diesel with a floor plan we liked. For me it came down to cost. I can buy a lot of gas for the difference in cost. After 3 seasons I still think I made the right decision for us.

One thing I have observed is most gasser owners know more about diesel MH's that diesel MH owners. The same thing about diesel owners who know more about gasser MH's than gasser MH owners. I say drive both of them, choose the floor plan that suits you, buy one that suit's your budget, and make up your own mind. I own a diesel pusher and wouldn't have anything else, but that's just me.

Happy owner of a 38' gasser. Paid cash. Money not an issue. If I fulltimed probably would have spent another 100k for DP. With only 8k miles in two years a DP would have been a waste of money for me. Verona eh? Grew up in Madison. Have not been back in many years. UW grad. Great area.

I will be buying a new challenger gasser. I am a fulltimer and I like their floor plan and the fact it's 37 ft. I hear a lot folks talk about the ride, comfort, and silence of driving down the road in a DP. However with only a few exceptions, I plan on moving only about 300-400 miles when driving and stay about a month each stop. Just my opinion but those big heavy diesels were meant to be driven like over the road truckers, not sitting in parks for 75% of their life, plus repair cost are much more, as is buying the fuel. I've seen a lot of really nice DP's 7,8, to 10 years old with less than 50,000 miles which brings me back to I probably need a really nice gasser.

How deep are your pockets? And one thing to consider is the cost of Diesel fuel these days. do the math, you'll figure it out.

Riding in a DP is like sitting in first class on an airplane...very little noise, you can actually have a normal conversation.....Dennis

Air ride for 500 bucks may help but I have Kelderman air ride and it works very well but you need to add a zero to that number. It integrates with the springs and makes a big difference. My coach is only a 30 ft and basically too light for its suspension. The 22.5 tires on a 33 foot coach with more weight make a big difference. You can modify the gas to make it a lot better but the DP is the cadillac ride.

Although some options appear from time to time with smaller front engine diesel chassis, and gassers are pushing toward 26,000 pounds where DPs start, what it really boils down to is HOW BIG.

A motorhome fitting a chassis 24,000 pounds down to about 14,000 GVWR is gong to be gas. 26,000 pounds on up, it is diesel. 6,000 to 12,000 pounds, you might have to make a choice, but that is mostly outside the type A market in North America. Diesel dominates under 8000 pounds in most of the rest of the world, whether the truck is hauling a house or a load of bread or flowers.