Couple of 90 Foretravel questions

[higherplane]

I am considering a 90 Grand Villa with the Detroit 8.2 Engine and Allison 745 Transmission. Was this a standard engine and how does it compare to units with the Cat engine. I don't know much about this series Foretravel so any help or recommendations would be helpful. I haven't seen the unit, just pictures and cannot even tell if it is a pusher or a puller.

[JohnFitz]

Here's a spec sheet for a 1991 ORED model.
http://beamalarm.com/foretravel-link...nd-manuals.htm
There wasn't a 1990 ORED file but I think they are pretty much unchanged between 90 and 91. The transmission is acutally a 545 not a 700 series (which is used for at least 350 hp engines) and the ORED is a pusher. I can't offer any advice about the 8.2 or CAT engines.

The ORED is a middle of the road model with an Oshkosh chassis - but Foretravel builds all their coaches with the same high quality. There's a OREG. These are pretty much traditional design RV's built on a frame rail chassis but with high quality. The low end (but still very high quality) are the front engine gas models on conventional gas chassis. I think O= Oshkosh, RE=rear engine,G=gas, D=diesel.

The higher end Foretravels are the U280/U300 unihomes of that vintage. Unihomes are Foretravels own design where the sidewalls carry the weight and there are no floor beams between the axles (full monocoque). Later in 95 they introduced the Unicoach series which have the front entry bus style. When multiple slides came about (in early 2000's) the unibody contruction had to go away because of all the "holes" in the walls.
The Unibody models are known for having huge basement storage (ie. no frame rails to get in the way)

The term "Grand Villa" refers to the sloped aerodynamic front end.

[NITEHAWK]

I have a 1989 Grand Villa with the Detroit Diesel 8.2 liter turbo-charged engine in a 36' ORED with the 4 speed Allison Transmission. I average about 9MPG towing a '96 Geo Tracker. Power is nothing to brag about (250 HP) as speed drops off when climbing hills. This engine has 67,000 miles on it so really isn't broken in by Diesel engine standards. The ORED stands for Oshkosh truck chassis (leaf springs) Rear End Diesel. The Grand Villa name was attributed to Mrs Fore who said it looked like a "Grand Villa" when she first saw it, not the front end shape. The "V" prow does improve the resistance to wind buffeting caused by Large rigs either passing or oncoming.

[cadiracer]

i just picked up a 90 gv with a 8.2 that has a bad head gasket in it (thats why i got it cheep) even with a bad gasket it doesnt run to bad. if the price is in the range you are looking to spend i would say pick it up

[bbeane]

8.2 Detroit's are not the best engines out there, they are prone to have cyl head/gasket issues. I would look for a Cummins or Cat, unless the price was right and you are prepaired to spend money to repair the engine if necessary. Of course anything with a motor in it that is 20+ years old is a crap shoot. Sooo if it runs good $$$ are right go for it. Good luck.

[MDH16]

I'm driving a 91' GV with a DD 8.2 TL . It's not a powerful engine, and people throw up all over it online it's got a couple great features. One it starts immediately if the temp is above about 30 degrees, and if you run the block heater for a few hours it starts immediately no matter what the temp is. The real winner is that it gets an honest 11-11.5 MPG.