gas or diesel?

timmac wrote:

dubdub07 wrote:

timmac wrote:

ferndaleflyer wrote:
I have a pusher. My friend just bought a gasser with a V-10 Ford motor and I drove it home about 100mi for him----that thing sounded like a hurricane under my feet at 60--65mph. That alone would keep me away from a gasser. Get yourself a used high end pusher for that money--American Eagle, Foretravel, etc comes to mind. Stay away from the entry level pushers as they are just that.

Yep my F-53 sounded that way at 1st, but than I bought heat/sound proofing material and did the dog house and floor area under driver/passenger seats and now its so quiet I can here my radio at low volume and can now talk with wife without having to speak up..

Gassers just needs some improvements and than they will almost as good as a diesel but half the cost..

:C

Define "almost as good?"

Well that can be difficult to explain completely but I will give you a short version, most diesel chassis come with all the upgrades for better ride and such, however a gas chassis can also be upgraded by owner at 1/2 what the diesel cost such as airbags, stabilizers, sound proofing materials, etc, etc, where a diesel can win out is in hp and torque, however my 08 f-53 with the banks system does have 400 hp and 500 torque lbs does get around pretty good at 7 mpg and gas cost is usually 50 cents less per gal compared to diesel, repair cost on a f-53 will always be less, parts will be less and repair shops will be more available, I will end this here but others can add more if they wish..

Some valid point but some clarification might be in order.

Granted diesel costs more but the better fuel economy with a diesel offsets a goodly portion on the fuel difference. You have to look at the total fuel cost over a typical trip. For example on a 1,000 mile trip at 7.0 mpg vs a diesel at 8.5 mpg you actually spend $30.00 LESS for diesel. An upside for the diesel would be the topically longer range due to more fuel capacity.

As for repairs, I suspect that is only true for the Chassis parts such as suspension, steering, and etc since all the "stuff" used for living is the same as in a DP. I would suspect that for coaches of near the same wt, the chassis components are pretty much the same regardless of the engine type. Granted oil changes would be ~$80.00/year more but aside from that I'm not sure maintenance is a huge difference.

On the service center point, I'm afraid I would have to challenge that assertion. These is no end to facilities to service a DP and unless you are looking at a very small gasser access to locations can become a limiting factor.

Just my thoughts.