Any used class A manufacture to stay away fom

Maybe ask on the Forest River forum too. Lots of stories there about MH problems...

We had 2 Coachmen "C"s before our current coach. Started with a 24' and eventually bought our 04' Coachmen Santara C (Ford E450) as a new previous year left over (good deal). 10 years without a single major issue before we found our current rig. If we hadn't found the Monaco, we would most likely still have it. Can't say how they are now that they are part of Forest River.

Workhorse continued to make the P32 chassis originally designed by Chevy. It had independent front suspension and a narrow track width on the front tires, Workhorse also designed it's own chassis with a solid front axle and wider track. It came with a GM 8.1 liter engine and Allison transmission, a very good combination. I'm not knocking the Ford chassis but the Workhorse chassis, W series, not the P32 series, is a good chassis.

A brief follow-up to my previous post:

I knew nothing about Georgetown or Forest River when we bought it. We just wanted that size of rig in the price range it sat. The fact that it was a private sale from the original owners from new was a bonus.

We did have a water incursion into the dining room slide due to a rotted out slide topper, mainly because I hadn't realised how bad the topper was. Fortunately it didn't wet anything else except the upper cabinets in the dining area. They got moldy, so I made replacements.

During my take-out and replace efforts, I got to see some of FRs "out of sight" build standards. I was less than impressed, particularly with the electrical wiring, but not enough to recommend strongly against FR.

Also, you're not going to see any "Chevy" Class As. There are quite a few older ones on Workhorse-branded chassis, which were a Chevrolet product at one time. GM sold the division off quite a while ago, and Workhorse-based rigs are fairly scarce.

Watch out for the "knock-kneed" ones. WH made the dually chassis like it was a dually pick-up, adding outside wheels to the back axle. On a slab-sided rig like a class A, this puts the front wheels a long way under the edge of the body. The last couple of years of WH production this weirdness went away.

My mechanic friend told us to stay away from Forest River because it keeps him in business, and the one friend who bought a FR had nothing but issues with it, but saying that, lots of folks love them and have nothing but good things to say about them. Rather than avoiding a maker, look for a something that will fit your lifestyle the best. Don't know where your stationed but with winter coming, you need to look for something well insulated, (unless your stationed in San Diego of course.) and with El Nino coming something that has no leaks.
Also consider not spending your whole wad on a rig, cut it in half and then with the extra make sure you have good tires etc.

TXiceman wrote:
Avoid anything by Thor.

Ken

You ever owned a Thor? I've owned 2 now and no issues to speak of that you wouldn't find in any other brand.

Same for us as Valkriebush. We started RVing with an old Class C just to "see if we liked the hobby". Got rid of the junker after 18 months and got a 12 year old 32' Class A (a Georgetown 325 on Ford F-53). We ran it for 3 seasons, then realised we hadn't taken it out at all the 4th season (too busy with 50th wedding anniversary party planning), so we sold it.

My first class A was a 32 footer gasser on a Ford F-53. Other than riding and driving like a truck, it had no issues.

Avoid anything by Thor.

Ken

Ok so looking at the gas RVs is there a difference between the Chevy or Ford? Is one really better than the other?