Who has one and is it gas or Diesel ? What Size 30' 40' ? I am looking at a 30 ' V10 to pull my trailer to the races. Any thing to look for or stay away from ?
Have a '98 Fourwinds 27' Class C. Chevy Vortec V8 gas. Pulls my 12' enclosed trailer no problem. Get 8mpg w/the trailer. Bought in '02 for $19k. Advice: buy used!!!
Borrowed my friends' '95, 37' Pacearrow, 454 motor and pulled a 14' enclosed trailer packed with (6) bikes and all the spares from Cincinnati to Miller.(utah) Roundtrip was 2700 miles and $1400 in gas. Pulled it great, hills would drop us down to 50mph, but she'd cruise 70-75 on the open road no problem. 85mph on the long downhill slopes thru Nebraska and Wyoming.
gots 2, '99 Damon 36' gas & '05 Tiffin 40' diesel for what each do, they will both get you down the road. the diesel don't slow down pulling along beware the early (98) v-10, blew plugs find one that has been used, not just sitting around, a sitter will nitpick you silly. a user has the nits picked out in most cases mpg seems a little better with the diesel pulling the same loads try not to get into it upside down
At 30', I assume you are looking at a class C? I have a 2008 34' Four Winds Hurricane class A toyhauler. It has the Triton V-10 as well. I really like it and it hasn't given me a single problem mechanically. However, if I had the ability to do it all over again, I would have purchased a diesel. I had the opportunity to drive a larger class A diesel with a 330 hp Cat in it last week. The diesels are smoother on the power delivery and feel much, much more stable. Good luck.
This one I can answer. The biggest thing to watch for is how the weight is distributed. A shorter class 'A' with water tanks straight out the back will leave you light on the front axle, making it a handfull to drive.. That is likely why the poster with the toy hauler liked the diesel better as far as roadhandling. Adding 700-1000lbs of stuff behind the rear axle makes the front wander easily. The gas vs diesel thing, well to be honest, seeing as the average rv only gets 6-7000miles put on in a year, the diesel isn't going to save you anything. Your not buying the diesel because you are putting on 500,000miles like a truck. The diesel cost more than gas, and service will cost more on a diesel. Thing to watch for Water leaks or signs of them. Look for stains in the ceiling and bubbles on the wall(both inside and outside), especially around windows, vents etc. Delamination is expensive to repair! Look at the roof as well. If it is rubber, feel for soft spots where water may have gotten under it and damaged the wood underneath. Tires don't wear out on RV's they just get too old. Check the date code on the tires, if they are older than 7yrs, they should be replaced. Any older than that and you are looking for trouble. Remember, if a tire blows out, not only do you still have to buy tires, now you may have to reapair body damage, holding tanks, compartments (I have seen all of these). If looking at any gas unit, look at the exhaust maninfolds for broken bolts, quite common on early v10s. Harder to fix on the v10 than the Chevy motors, as the v10 have aluminum heads. If looking at diesel, look closely at the rad. Because the rads are at the rear on most diesels, they are subject to a lot more road spray, which leads to quicker corrosion. Those are a few good points to start with. I know this, because I own a dealership up here in Ontario Canada, and have been around RVs since I was 4 years old.
And to be honest, I really do not like the idea of toyhaulers. Why not just have a trailer to tow behind your motorhome, that you could still tow behind a truck if you need to move stuff?
I'll definitely concur with this statement. Although the garage area in mine is heated and has AC and a king size drop down bed, I'd rather have the nice bedroom that would normally occupy this space and just pull a trailer with my bikes, tools, gear etc. in it. Oh well, live and learn.
Maybe this is why he is broke. Don't buy the motorhome if you can't afford the fuel to move it! Unless your planning to park it someplace and live in it!
Yep at the end of every month. Doing a little creative financing and Selling my Custom bike to help finance it. Yep still broke Thanks for some tips on looking for something that is not going to be a piece of junk.
Lemme tell ya, the deals are out there right now. The wife and I went looking at some things that would have cost us up toward $300K three years ago and now they're half that. If you have the flow, do it and do it now. Beware though, the financing arrangements suck ass right now.
Actually, most class 'A's of the same size will tow just much as that unit, as the gvw and gcw are about the same. The hitch is usually the restricting factor. That thing will only have a hitch rated for 5000lbs just like any other unit.
Actually my hitch is rated at 10,000#... Fully wet, with wife, kids, dogs, food, I can still tow around 8000#.
i'll just say this, if you ever buy a gas one, use it, then decide to upgrade and get a diesel, once youve driven the diesel, you'll wish you'd never wasted your money on the gas one. :up:
