Entegra or newmar

[sawscjs]

Hello all: my wife and I will be hitting the road to Snowbird in January of 2018 we currently have a Winnebago that's older but would like to find something a little nicer we cannot decide between these two brands but she definitely wants a bath and a half. Could you readers please offer us some advice on the major things to look for in a newer model with tag axle would be great. This is not a solicitation we are just trying to learn of the pros and cons of these models. Thank you very much

[bobmct]

All of the Tiffin 40' floor plan coaches are actually 42' long and definitely within weight limits. I have a Tiffin 37AP (39' actual length) and personally like having a single rear axle and being under 40'.

[RVER]

tag axles help with overweight for the chassis rigs but they are charged much more on each and every toll booth, the charge per axle and that can add up to a lot of money. Tags rid better, cost much more for tires, ext stems and etc. There are pros and cons but I stick with 38 ft or shorter like 36 and Single rear axle. So much less $$$$ spent on tires, wheels and axle maintainence.

[RVER]

Winnebago bought Newmar a year or so ago. IT bought Grand Design before that. Grand Design has problems with customer service and workmanship so hope Winnebago fixes that but yet to be seen. Certainly hope they do not screw up Newmar which is still being made at the same site they were always. THOR bought up about 20 RV companies and kept their names so JAYCO for instance is a THOR product and there were not good experiences coming out of GD. Right now it is best to stay with used in my humble opinion. The OLDER ones were made more solid and with better construction and pride.

[Bruce_Brown]

way2roll wrote:

sandblast wrote:
With Thor now owning Entegra it would intensify my interest and choice of a Newmar product

Winnie owns Newmar now.

Fairly old news, but yes. Hopefully they don't screw it up.

[way2roll]

sandblast wrote:
With Thor now owning Entegra it would intensify my interest and choice of a Newmar product

Winnie owns Newmar now.

[DocCuzi]

2gypsies wrote:

imgoin4it wrote:
I think Newmar is exactly right that every 40 foot motor home has to have a tag. The reason is because without the tag it would be overloaded. Every one.

We had a '04 Dutch Star without a tag and even though we full-timed and carried everything with us, we were definitely not overloaded.

We traveled all kinds of roads, especially mountains and never had an issue. It handled beautifully. Of course, ours didn't have all the heavy stuff in it that newer ones have. The more you put into one on the build, the heavier it will be. We didn't want all the glitz.

When we consider weight, consider the motor size also in that equasion. A 360 cummins would weigh a lot less than a 400. A 450 would weigh a lot more than a 380hp and a 500 would weigh even more. The MFR will also change the Chassis in accordance and that's what really drives if a Tag Axle is implemented or not. It's definitely weight but not just cargo capacity weight to consider.

[imgoin4it]

I understand that most if not all the new 40 foot motor homes have a tag axel due to weight. 40 foot motor home a few years ago were not as heavy as they are now.

[Blaster_Man]

imgoin4it wrote:
I think Newmar is exactly right that every 40 foot motor home has to have a tag. The reason is because without the tag it would be overloaded. Every one.

Two years ago we traded an American Coach (they called it 40' but it was actually 40' 11"), single axle. Well within all weight limits.

[bullydogs1]

With Thor now owning Entegra it would intensify my interest and choice of a Newmar product



I too at first was panicing...but Thor is leaving Entegra alone to do their own thing and just make money (Airstream is a great example)...and as long as they do, I don't think they are dumb enough to kill the goose with the golden egg...Entegras are selling very well...and while there was a slight change in management it was not Thor initiated...and the customer service director is a pleasure to talk to and deal with....

[2gypsies1]

imgoin4it wrote:
I think Newmar is exactly right that every 40 foot motor home has to have a tag. The reason is because without the tag it would be overloaded. Every one.

We had a '04 Dutch Star without a tag and even though we full-timed and carried everything with us, we were definitely not overloaded.

We traveled all kinds of roads, especially mountains and never had an issue. It handled beautifully. Of course, ours didn't have all the heavy stuff in it that newer ones have. The more you put into one on the build, the heavier it will be. We didn't want all the glitz.

[Mile_High]

I always thought the tag was simply weight. Mine is a 20K drive and 10K tag axle.

[imgoin4it]

I think Newmar is exactly right that every 40 foot motor home has to have a tag. The reason is because without the tag it would be overloaded. Every one.

[RVER]

TAG axle will cost more to travel toll roads as they charge by axle and that extra axle can be expensive on some roads. IF going from A to B and staying for months, go with a Fifthwheel in my opinon. I now have both, Sunnybrook fifthwheel that I love and is now on a seasonal site and just picked up a sweet Newmar MountainAire MH 2003 and is very sweet. Newmar is a great company and great customer service as is Tiffen for sure.

[creeper]

smlranger wrote:
I believe the reason Newmar and some others have put 40' coaches on a tag axle chassis is due to the weight of the coach.

Speaking with Newmar, they told me it's a DOT law and everything over 40' has to have a tag axle.

Don't know how true that is, but that's what Newmar told me when I asked them about the tag axles current popularity.