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Old 11-13-2017, 08:13 PM   #1
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Thinking of moving up from a 37' to a 43' Dutch Star

We are thinking of going full time and currently own a Dutch Star 3736 which we really like, but think we may need some more room for full-timing. We have looked at the 4018 but we don't see a lot of gain over the 3736 other than a tag axle. We are considering a 4327, 4362, or a 4369 and leaning to the 4327. Our questions are, when parking in a campsite, for those that have had both a 37 and a 43 foot coach, is there a lot of difference between the two? Also when fueling we can fuel now at most fuel stations, how much difference is there in the 43 footers for fueling? Our towed is a GMC Canyon Diesel and we get between 8 and 9 miles to the gallons, how much is our MPG likely to change. Any thoughts on the 3 different floor plans, pro's and con's. Thanks for your input.
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Old 11-13-2017, 09:36 PM   #2
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I have an older DS but at 43' we feel like we are in a small apartment rather then an RV. There's lots of room to "stretch out". Regarding fueling, I only use large stations (mostly truck stops) as I know the diesel is fresh and I know there will be no issues getting in and out. If you're gonna use small mom& pop stations you can easily have issues.
If you use an app like Gas Buddy you can always find good pricing at truck stops. Plus there are many ways to get fuel discounts.
I am getting between 7 and 8 mpg towing my Grand Cherokee.
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Old 11-14-2017, 03:40 AM   #3
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We have a Ventana 4369 and pull a Canyon crew cab. We went from an Itasca Suncruiser 35A to this coach.

The layout, roominess and overall liveability is phenomenal. This was a great choice for us. We have not noticed any issues with campground availability or fueling.

My fuel mileage is between 7-8 mpg, but the coach has just turned over 9k miles, so relatively still breaking in drive train. I don't think you can go wrong with any of those floor plans.

We do not full time, but spend about 8 months a year on the road.
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Old 11-14-2017, 09:22 AM   #4
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Thanks for your input. We would probably do something similar to you. Right now we spend about 5 months a year in our current motorhome, and we would probably increase that to 8 months, but we think we may need more space if we do that, so we were curious what others who have done the same thing thought.

Thanks again
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Old 11-14-2017, 11:15 AM   #5
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We have a '13 DSDP 4347 and find that it meets our “long-timing” needs perfectly. The size can be an issue in state parks, but we've not had any problems with any of the private parks we've stayed in. Interior room is, for us, plenty, although I sometimes take the dog for an unscheduled walk....
We have had absolutely no issues manuvering the coach, even on narrow county roads. We only watch for low overhead issues.
We love the coach so much that we're in the process of updating to an '18 version of the same model.
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Old 11-14-2017, 11:17 AM   #6
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Very Helpful

Quote:
Originally Posted by TonyDi View Post
I have an older DS but at 43' we feel like we are in a small apartment rather then an RV. There's lots of room to "stretch out". Regarding fueling, I only use large stations (mostly truck stops) as I know the diesel is fresh and I know there will be no issues getting in and out. If you're gonna use small mom& pop stations you can easily have issues.
If you use an app like Gas Buddy you can always find good pricing at truck stops. Plus there are many ways to get fuel discounts.
I am getting between 7 and 8 mpg towing my Grand Cherokee.
Toni-Di - appreciate your comment re small apartment rather than an RV. We plan to go full time in two years. Having never had an RV, I keep wondering if a 37’ would be fine. Feel that a 43’ would be best for full timing, but then I question whether smaller would be better. We too want the “apartment” feel, albeit a small one. Your post really helps as we want to make sure that we get what we will be comfortable in. Sounds like a 43’ (45?) is the only way to go for our needs.
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Old 11-14-2017, 07:24 PM   #7
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By moving up to a DS either 40 or 43 feet you can choice a Spartan chassis. All 37 foot new DS are on FL chassis. In 17 all Spartan 40 and 43 foot chassis have disc brakes on all axles and 18 have disc on drive and front axle with tag having drum brakes. Both years FL only has disc on front axle. There are other important difference and there has been a lot of discuss here in the last couple months on Spartan and FL chassis. I always remember what Newmar puts under the top of the Newmar line the King Aire gets only the Spartan.
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Old 11-15-2017, 08:52 AM   #8
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By moving up to a DS either 40 or 43 feet you can choice a Spartan chassis. All 37 foot new DS are on FL chassis. In 17 all Spartan 40 and 43 foot chassis have disc brakes on all axles and 18 have disc on drive and front axle with tag having drum brakes. Both years FL only has disc on front axle. There are other important difference and there has been a lot of discuss here in the last couple months on Spartan and FL chassis. I always remember what Newmar puts under the top of the Newmar line the King Aire gets only the Spartan.
Tom, thanks for the input. If we move up to the 43' it will definitely be on a Spartan chassis. One reason is because we live in Michigan, the home of Spartan chassis, so any issues we might have or service we might need we could go to the manufacturer direct. I also have been following the threads on Spartan vs. freightliner. Not that Freightliner is bad as we have had few problems with ours, but I like some of the features of the Spartan over the Freightliner, and the close proximity of Spartan. Thanks everyone for your input
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Old 11-15-2017, 05:19 PM   #9
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We have a DS 40’. Prior coach was a 43’. We don’t full time, so we felt comfortable with our decision to downsize, albeit only three feet.

On the house level, with most plans, the space you gain with the extra three feet is mostly in the rear bath. How much time do you spend in the bath?

But in the basement, you give up a whole compartment. If you are full-timing, that’s a significant difference. Your 37 probably has about same basement capacity as my 40 since you don’t have a tag. So going up the full six feet gives you both the tag and another full compartment. The tag will give you significantly better ride, more braking, and a large increase in CCC. Hard to overload a tag axle coach.

Five months of the year on the road is, IMO, a significant chunk of time. If you are getting through that in reasonable comfort, I’m wondering if you really think that extra thee months on the road demands the extra SIX or EIGHT feet. Me thinks you just have that new coach itch. Just saying....
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Old 11-15-2017, 07:17 PM   #10
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We have a DS 40’. Prior coach was a 43’. We don’t full time, so we felt comfortable with our decision to downsize, albeit only three feet.

On the house level, with most plans, the space you gain with the extra three feet is mostly in the rear bath. How much time do you spend in the bath?

But in the basement, you give up a whole compartment. If you are full-timing, that’s a significant difference. Your 37 probably has about same basement capacity as my 40 since you don’t have a tag. So going up the full six feet gives you both the tag and another full compartment. The tag will give you significantly better ride, more braking, and a large increase in CCC. Hard to overload a tag axle coach.

Five months of the year on the road is, IMO, a significant chunk of time. If you are getting through that in reasonable comfort, I’m wondering if you really think that extra thee months on the road demands the extra SIX or EIGHT feet. Me thinks you just have that new coach itch. Just saying....
We spend 5 months in the coach, but not all at one time. We do October and November, and March and April, and the other month is done with a week or 2 thrown in occasionally. On the 4327 you gain a lot of the space in the forward cabin, with some in the bathroom and much more storage in the bathroom. You also might be right on the new coach itch. I think We would like a tag axle, and also some of the new features such as full tile and heated floors along with more storage capacity. Thanks for your Input, it is much appreciated
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Old 11-16-2017, 12:20 AM   #11
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For what it's worth: If it feels good, do it! We've found that as we get older we don't need to overthink most of those things that we used to stress over. Not every decision needs to be based on hard facts and mountains of information, but on what puts a smile on your face and pride in your heart.
Every decision will have it's plusses and minuses, but in the end, what counts is “how do you feel?” It's ok to be nice to yourself!
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Old 11-16-2017, 06:32 AM   #12
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Agree completely!
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Old 11-16-2017, 07:02 AM   #13
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I think everyone fine tunes their choice based on different things. We are not experienced in different Newmar DP floorplans, just the one we recently purchased.

We were full time a few years ago in a fiver. It was 39' long and we were pretty limited on what we could have but it was doable. This time around we wanted 1.5 baths, ability to take 2 additional vehicles (car/motorcycle), and an RV with an extremely good ride.

For us the Ventana 4369 with tag fit the bill. I have organized 90% of what I need to have for full timing in my bottom storage without being jammed. The living space is huge. If one of us gets out of bed in the morning before the other one, the bedroom area and main bath can be closed off, still leaving the half bath and rest of the coach available. We had two other couples over for dinner and there was plenty of room to seat everyone and actually could have easily fit in two more.

Good luck with your decision. We actually enjoyed the search.
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Old 11-16-2017, 08:28 AM   #14
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Love our DS 4369

We've been fulltiming in our 2015 DS 4369 for a little over 2 years. We absolutely love the floor plan and are completely comfortable living in it fulltime.
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