Forum Discussion

Ranger_Smith's avatar
Ranger_Smith
Explorer
Dec 21, 2020

Powerglide Chassis

Looking to upgrade to a used Allegro Bus on the Powerglide chassis in a few months. How does this Tiffin built chassis compare to Freightliner? Are parts readily available in case of a break down? How is the ride on one?? Looking for any advise on these.

Steve
  • Ranger Smith wrote:
    Looking to upgrade to a used Allegro Bus on the Powerglide chassis in a few months. How does this Tiffin built chassis compare to Freightliner? Are parts readily available in case of a break down? How is the ride on one?? Looking for any advise on these.

    Steve

    You'll get plenty of answers and don't know what years you're looking at, but starting around 2004 Spartan was also an option on a bus.
    For exp. on the 2010 .... https://www.nadaguides.com/RVs/2010/Allegro
  • I forgot to mention the additional advantage of a Motorhome builder making their own chassis/frame. Like Roadmaster and Alpine, Powerglide chassis/frame are built for the particular Floorplan. Freightliner and Sparten chassis are all built the same and the Motorhome builder has to adapt the box and such to that frame. Doug
  • Ranger Smith wrote:
    Looking to upgrade to a used Allegro Bus on the Powerglide chassis in a few months. How does this Tiffin built chassis compare to Freightliner? Are parts readily available in case of a break down? How is the ride on one?? Looking for any advise on these.

    Steve


    The ride is great. If you have the optional Valid Hydraulic/Air leveling system control(system uses HWH and a special air bag system), the Valid ride control, can be optimized using a Laptop PC, with Tiffins consent, to control the roll and sway when making turns to prevent sway left and right. A few on my customers have had that done at Red Bay by Tiffin. Doug
  • 1. The old Monaco built their Chassis from the ground up. But as Freightliner and Sparten did, they used standard Diesel engines from Cummins or Caterpiller. They used standard Transmissions, usually from Allison and the Drive Axles system was Dana or Eaton. The rest of the chassis was built by Roadmaster
    2. Now, for Powerglide by Tiffin and exclusive to Tiffin.
    3. Tiffin builds the Powerglide from the ground up. Frame and rails and all steel is built by Tiffin in Red Bay.
    3. They as other do use Cummins/Allison/Dana and other brands for the running gear.
    4. The reason Tiffin started Powerglide, was twofold.
    A. Freightliner was having a hard time keeping up with the demand
    B. Tiffin was tired of paying out of his pocket for his customers that were getting screwed by various Freightliner service centers by charging customers for warranty repairs that were actually Freightliner covered items. This was also true of Cummins warranty repairs and Allison repairs. Freightliner would ALWAYS state it was a Body Builder caused problem, hence not warranty by them.
    5. The Powerglide chassis was designed by the Engineer that designed the Western(Alpine motorhome) RV Diesel Class A chassis. Once Western went under over 10 years ago, Tiffin hired that engineer to do the Powerglide. The main difference between Western chassis and Tiffin is, Western had NO AIR BRAKE system.
    6. Tiffin has authorized service centers for the Powerglide chassis. The individual components,(Engine/Transmission/Rear End) will be handled by the supplying vendors, just like on a Freightliner or Sparten.
    7. Most Customers swear by the Powerglide and want nothing else in a Tiffin Diesel. Doug
  • Ivylog wrote:
    Verizon y little of any chassis is made by Tiffin, Spartan, Freightliner, or the old Monaco... REV Monaco’s are on a Freightliner chassis. Drive axles are usually Dana, airbags Firestone, engines Cummins, tranny Alison. The Monaco S-10 chassis probably has more custom built items...the H frame and various bars to hold it in place.pppp


    You need to research this. Your Info is WRONG. Doug
  • Ivylog's avatar
    Ivylog
    Explorer III
    Verizon y little of any chassis is made by Tiffin, Spartan, Freightliner, or the old Monaco... REV Monaco’s are on a Freightliner chassis. Drive axles are usually Dana, airbags Firestone, engines Cummins, tranny Alison. The Monaco S-10 chassis probably has more custom built items...the H frame and various bars to hold it in place.pppp
  • Since my friend is also considering this option, I look forward to any advice.