shortest tag axle class A?

[08-450dually]

In searching for a used quality class A, somewhere in the year 2005-2009 year, I was wonder who makes the shortest quality Class A with tag axle. I've seen Foretravel at 38 ft. Don't think I want a very long rig. Older Monaco signature titanium's are 40 footers.

Any other rigs that are shorter with tag axle and high quality??

thanks a million

[Peralko]

IMHO Country Coach and Foretravel are far superior to Monaco in terms of quality. Take a good, hard look at how the different coaches are put together and you will see what I mean. BTW, The Lee brothers, Bob and Ron, left Monaco to start their own business to build better quality coaches. Ron Lee bought up the intellectual property in the Country Coach bankruptcy and has a thriving business doing service and repair in part of the old Country Coach buildings. His goal is to start production of coaches again. He has one prototype in build as we speak (write?). The only bad thing about Country Coaches is the attractively priced, good coaches sell quickly!

[mike_brez]

[Ivylog]

This should be interesting especially if he does not put a budget to his question... in his first post the years are 05-09 so a budget of anywhere from $100K to $300+.

All three are a semi-monocoque design and since Foretravel has not gone bankrupt I'll give it the first position. They use a 10 airbag chassis and they will upgrade your interior at the factory. Pretty sure 05 and later is after their bulkhead problems. There is a loyal happy group on here that we will hear from.

I'll give Monaco second place (not because I own one) but partly because of their 10 airbags/solid front axle and their good help line ((877-466-6226) through all three owners. The new Monaco is putting on rallies where they will still fix two house item labor free on any year Monaco product.

I'd say Country Coach is a close third although I do not like their six airbag/IFS chassis which uses a big sway bar to improve it's handling. I'm sure there are those that will rate it second because of their chassis's softer ride but the extra moving parts of a IFS does not excite me.

*I'd say CC and Monaco are close enough in quality that it comes down to personal choice. That said I have read enough concerns about Monaco quality in the 08-09 years to rate Monaco third in those years. Do not know enough about CC's bankruptcy to comment.

[smlranger]

08-450dually wrote:
Thank you for the great input! I so appreciate it.

My next question will be a little harder but it will help me compare apples to apples per se':

The three contenders all appear to be high quality rigs. In what order, in your opinion, will the candidates fall in terms of overall quality?

Highest quality..........High quality

Foretravel-Monaco-Country Coach

Monaco-Foretravel-Country Coach

Country Coach-foretravel-monaco

Country coach-monaco-foretravel

Thank you

IMO, there would little difference. If I was pressed to rate those brands, I would rate CC and Foretravel equally then Monaco. But I've never owned or spent any time around Monaco coaches but do know they have a stellar reputation. In both the CC and Monaco lines, they did have some entry-level models so my comments are assuming you would be looking primarily at the top models in those brands.

Bottom line, I believe you would be very happy with a good, clean well maintained coach in any of those brands. It does seem that both CC and Foretravel had more shorter tag models. As noted, CC now has a 37' tag on their website.

[08-450dually]

Thank you for the great input! I so appreciate it.

My next question will be a little harder but it will help me compare apples to apples per se':

The three contenders all appear to be high quality rigs. In what order, in your opinion, will the candidates fall in terms of overall quality?

Highest quality..........High quality

Foretravel-Monaco-Country Coach

Monaco-Foretravel-Country Coach

Country Coach-foretravel-monaco

Country coach-monaco-foretravel

Thank you

[Peralko]

The OP question was about a short coach with a tag axle. Country Coach made a 37-foot Allure with a tag. Country Coach has a 2007 for sale on their web site. The last one I looked at had over 10,000 pound carrying capacity.

[Elliot]

I have owned 4 tag axle coaches and I did own a 2004 Foretravel 38' with tag. My best friend has a Foretravel 38' without tag. His is a beautiful coach but did not ride as well as mine and Foretravel puts a 500 ISM engine ontheir 38tags. His has a ISL 400. Their weights were pretty close but mine had far better hill climbing capability and ran smoother. Mine could tow 15000 lbs. So those of you who haven't owned a tag you really can't comprehend the huge difference to those without a tag. This is just my opinion

[DSDP_Don]

Wow.....as usual, some really outrageous comments. "Ivylog" goes out of his way to show a diagram of probably one of the most popular floorplans, in any length, by any company, that was ever made and someone makes disparaging remarks about it.

Then, I had to read the next post twice.....there is actually someone who wouldn't buy a tag axle coach for fear that over 30-40 years of RVing, it might be difficult to tow it, SHOULD it break down.:S

The OP asks for suggestions on who makes a short tag axle so he has a reference as to where to start looking for a used coach. Many ask why he wants a short tag and a discussion occurs that gives the pros and cons. Then, the OP comes back and states why he wants one, which was great, because often the OP's never return. But, alas, a few find it necessary to ruin an informative post!

[Mr_Mark1]

willald wrote:

Ivylog wrote:
Thanks for getting us back to tag axles. Will you are incorrect on towing most tag axle DP's from the front. The amount of weight on the tag is determined by the amount of air in it's air bags which is controlled by it's own pressure regulator. Raising the front up will make the regulator release air maintaining it's preset pressure/weight on the tag. I would remove the drive shaft instead of the drive axle shafts for fear of hitting it with the tag axle.

..From what I understand from those that have towed a tag axle DP that way and later regretted it, it wasn't damage to the suspension that was the concern. It was damage done to the tag axle tires from overloading them when it was towed that way. They ended up buying a new set of tires shortly afterward.

Perhaps my choice of words initially was incorrect - It isn't axle damage really, but more tire overloading damage concerns.

You make a good point, though - Perhaps on some units, enough air can be removed on the tag axle, so that it would not shoulder too much weight in the event of being towed by the front. That definitely was not the case, though, for the folks I talked to that got to buy a new set of tires as a result of that tow.

Will

Will,

I would never make my RV choice because of how it can be towed. A person should buy the RV that fits their 'living' needs/style best. The advantage of a tag axle is that it offers more CCC, stability, and prevent excessive porpoising.

In the 7.5 yrs. that we owned our previous tag axle coach, we never needed a tow. If it happens, it happens. Tow companies know what to do.

I've just never heard of the problem that you are talking about but it sure could exist as you said that know a couple that had to buy new tag tires.

I would probably release all the air in the tag bags.

MM.

[Bumpyroad]

dverstra wrote:
I'd be looking at this 40 footer
http://motorhomefinders.com/rvs/2005-beaver-patriot-thunder-40-triple-slide/

No Affiliation with it. Just a nice looking unit

a hundred pictures and no floor plan?
bumpy

[dverstra]

I'd be looking at this 40 footer
http://motorhomefinders.com/rvs/2005-beaver-patriot-thunder-40-triple-slide/

No Affiliation with it. Just a nice looking unit

[willald]

Ivylog wrote:
Thanks for getting us back to tag axles. Will you are incorrect on towing most tag axle DP's from the front. The amount of weight on the tag is determined by the amount of air in it's air bags which is controlled by it's own pressure regulator. Raising the front up will make the regulator release air maintaining it's preset pressure/weight on the tag. I would remove the drive shaft instead of the drive axle shafts for fear of hitting it with the tag axle.

..From what I understand from those that have towed a tag axle DP that way and later regretted it, it wasn't damage to the suspension that was the concern. It was damage done to the tag axle tires from overloading them when it was towed that way. They ended up buying a new set of tires shortly afterward.

Perhaps my choice of words initially was incorrect - It isn't axle damage really, but more tire overloading damage concerns.

You make a good point, though - Perhaps on some units, enough air can be removed on the tag axle, so that it would not shoulder too much weight in the event of being towed by the front. That definitely was not the case, though, for the folks I talked to that got to buy a new set of tires as a result of that tow.

Will

[Ivylog]

Thanks for getting us back to tag axles. Will you are incorrect on towing most tag axle DP's from the front. The amount of weight on the tag is determined by the amount of air in it's air bags which is controlled by it's own pressure regulator. Raising the front up will make the regulator release air maintaining it's preset pressure/weight on the tag. I would remove the drive shaft instead of the drive axle shafts for fear of hitting it with the tag axle.

[mike_brez]

Ivylog wrote:
Your comments about four slides is spoken by a true one slide person.

Not really I have had no slide,slides back to no slide. I wanted a non slide DP but DW wanted a living room slide. Happy wife happy life. We seriously only sleep in the rv we are outdoor type. As far as the weather we have a home second home in Port Orange Florida (Daytona) I still enjoy the snow and change of seasons. Snowboarding this weekend at Killington ice fishing this Wednesday.

[bluwtr49]

FYI, when I was looking at coaches I looked at several 40' with tags and the amount of bay storage you lose with a tag is significant so you need to bear that in mind as a pretty large downside.