First time driving a DP

[427435]

I suspect this will only create another DP vs gasser argument, but I had a chance to drive a DP today. I, a friend, and the friend's BIL took the BIL'S 2002 38' Monaco MH to the Knoxville Nationals sprint car race. We did an all-nighter coming home to Minnesota and I took a 2 hour shift driving. My take-aways were:

Quieter when accelerating or climbing a hill or on-ramp but no quieter when cruising.

Acceleration on a par with my gas MH. We were pulling a Jeep Liberty. The Monaco had a 330 hp Cummins.

The transmission shifted fine-----glad there were 6 speeds due to the limited rpm range of the diesel.

Didn't care for the front entry.

Ride over tar strips and bumps no better than mine (new shocks were recently installed).

Swaying about the same as mine, also. Not impressed at all by the air ride that DP's are supposed to be known for.

Steering precision maybe not quite as good (probably needs more caster).

Ended up in rain, and Monaco did a poor job of specing the wipers-----they did not cover as much of the window as my MH.

Bottom line, I will not be rushing out to replace my older gasser with an older DP.

[Alfred622]

I really don't want to start a "war" but I sure appreciate your objective comments. I've been pretty happy with my Sightseer (gas) but have always felt like a second-class citizen since it is not a DP. I do enjoy passing the DP's on hills though...

[wallynm]

You were riding on a Monaco built chassis that could have had either 4 or 8 air bags depending on the original cost. I have never been a fan of that chassis but other folks swear by them. Our DP is quieter in the front of the cab than our gasser and yes the DP has more noise in the rear. You can find DP's with a center door entrance if you look.

Did Bill have the tires pressure settings per the four corner axle weights or were they set for max side wall pressure.

We have changes the wipers to a length more to our liking.

427435 wrote:
I suspect this will only create another DP vs gasser argument, but I had a chance to drive a DP today. I, a friend, and the friend's BIL took the BIL'S 2002 38' Monaco MH to the Knoxville Nationals sprint car race. We did an all-nighter coming home to Minnesota and I took a 2 hour shift driving. My take-aways were:

Quieter when accelerating or climbing a hill or on-ramp but no quieter when cruising.

Acceleration on a par with my gas MH. We were pulling a Jeep Liberty. The Monaco had a 330 hp Cummins.

The transmission shifted fine-----glad there were 6 speeds due to the limited rpm range of the diesel.

Didn't care for the front entry.

Ride over tar strips and bumps no better than mine (new shocks were recently installed).

Swaying about the same as mine, also. Not impressed at all by the air ride that DP's are supposed to be known for.

Steering precision maybe not quite as good (probably needs more caster).

Ended up in rain, and Monaco did a poor job of specing the wipers-----they did not cover as much of the window as my MH.

Bottom line, I will not be rushing out to replace my older gasser with an older DP.