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Old 08-29-2016, 08:46 PM   #1
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Freightliner vs Spartan option

About to be putting in an order on a new Dutch Star this week and curious on anyone's thoughts (pros or cons) on the Freightliner vs Spartan chassis option. Our current Tiffin has a Freightliner chassis but I had no option at the time when purchasing it, so just seeing if I should be looking at Spartan now?

Thanks as always & this forum has been such a great help in the last 2 weeks while we've been contemplating looking at & ordering a new coach!

-Brian
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Old 08-29-2016, 08:54 PM   #2
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Had a Spartan under our Allegro Bus, now have a Freightliner under our D/S. We also have multiple recalls with the Freightliner, in the 8 years of owning the Spartan never had one. My next coach will have a Spartan.
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Old 08-29-2016, 08:57 PM   #3
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Spartan!

They make a custom chassis for your motor coach.
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Old 08-29-2016, 08:57 PM   #4
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I love our FLCC, plus there is a shop in every town,,,
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Old 08-29-2016, 10:48 PM   #5
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FL

My new 2017 4326 is under construction on a Freightliner as I write. I did FL after calling several dealers and most said the FL rides better and more service centers.

One dealer was a Spartan service center and orders all Spartan's. I have several FL dealers in my area and that was the other reason for my choice.

My son has a 2016 DSDP and noticed the Spartan only has a two line digital display vs. FL with three lines.

If you have both FL and SPT service in your area, good luck with your decision.

LOL
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Old 08-30-2016, 07:45 AM   #6
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Can anyone confirm that because the Spartan steerable tag locks out at a much higher speed you get rear end sway on the road because of this?
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Old 08-30-2016, 07:51 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by garybtt View Post
Had a Spartan under our Allegro Bus, now have a Freightliner under our D/S. We also have multiple recalls with the Freightliner, in the 8 years of owning the Spartan never had one. My next coach will have a Spartan.
Just playing devil's advocate here. Could it be that Freightliner is pro-active while Spartan may be waiting for something to break? Were the FL recalls for something you were actively having a problem with?
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Old 08-30-2016, 08:30 AM   #8
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Reading through the Entegra board there have been several Spartan recalls, and lots of radiator failures.
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Old 08-30-2016, 08:39 AM   #9
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Has anybody had an opportunity to ride in both a DS Spartan and Freightliner or are planning to?
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Old 08-30-2016, 09:15 AM   #10
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I think most would agree that either one is a good chassis. I give the edge to Spartan.
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Old 08-30-2016, 12:35 PM   #11
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As a 20 year owner of Newmar motor homes and over 200,000 miles of driving a Spartan chassis I would suggest a Spartan chassis and here are the reasons.
1 Spartan chassis offers disc brakes on the drive axle as standard equipment, no up charge.
2 Spartan chassis are made with American steel, with 3/8 frame rails and cross members
3 Spartan chassis has 1580 lbs. more caring capacity on the 43' and 1400 lbs. on the 40'
4 Spartan chassis has 55 degree wheel cut vs. 52 degree for FL
5 The average Spartan chassis resale value is 2 to 4 thousand dollars more according NADA
6 Spartan has almost 270 great service centers across the US and Canada that specialize in motor home maintenance, not trucks
7 Spartan is American owned
8 Spartan chassis offer easy side panel access to coach service center for quick maintenance
9 Spartan's award winning Customer and Product Support Teams are available 24/7.
Spartan is the chassis for Newmar coaches like the King Aire.
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Old 08-30-2016, 01:31 PM   #12
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I have seen a couple pictures now of DSDP built on Spartan for 2017 and it doesn't appear to have the same "service center" that the 45 ' coaches are built with, but I'm not a mechanic so I could be wrong.

What I do know is by specs it appears to have a high capacity tag axle and for me the all-wheel disc brakes is a definite safety feature that I like a lot.

Bill
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Old 08-30-2016, 02:07 PM   #13
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Could not agree more Tom, and why I give Spartan the edge.
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Old 08-30-2016, 05:11 PM   #14
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Thanks everyone that's why this forum is so valuable. One thing though I heard FL chassis now has wheel cut of 60 vs 55 for Spartan. Is this significant & worth giving edge to FL over Spartan?

-Brian
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