Bought a Monaco

[ga20803]

This past summer we decided to upgrade from our 5th wheel rig to a motorhome. I solicted comments and advice on some and appreciated the feedback. Wound up buying a 2004 Monaco Camelot - Four slides/40'/400 Cummins/32K miles. New GY tires 2006 - little wear, no visible signs of aging, but still 5 year old tires. Probably will replace at least the steering tires soon. Been on a couple of trips now (one 1300 miles) and we've really enjoyed it. Handles real well, looks almost new and fits us well. Towing a RX300 on a dolly trailer (Can't even tell it's back there). So far, so good. Anyone have anything particular to this coach be glad to hear it.

[Barlow46]

Model year is 2004 and tires are 2006 and 32K total miles since new. Not sure that adds up. Did you ask why tires were replaced with 2years or less? Congrats on the coach, I think you will like the Monaco quality.

[sdennislee]

Congrats on your MH. Any pictures to post?

[ga20803]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barlow46 Model year is 2004 and tires are 2006 and 32K total miles since new. Not sure that adds up. Did you ask why tires were replaced with 2years or less? Congrats on the coach, I think you will like the Monaco quality.

Barlow46 - I bought it from the 2nd owner and he did not know. I can only assume 1st owner decided to change out to GY from something else? or some issue with some or all of the OEM tires?? Anyway DOT numbers say 2006.

[Barlow46]

He may have seen the "rivering" problem starting on the original GY's and was able to get a pro-rated deal on the originals. Doesn't really matter now, just curious. Enjoy that new coach and keep coming back if you have questions. This group of owners are very helpful and go out of their way to see you through any problems.

[StuckySB]

Congrats! We love ours 9000 miles since purchasing Jan 2011. So much easier than the 5th wheel!

[Daveroyce]

Congrats on the purchase. We recently acquired a 2004 Camelot 40 DST. In December, due to mild weather, we drove it from AZ to Palm Springs to Sacramento, over to Tahoe and then beeline across 80 to Chit-town, where it sits in storage until Spring. 3000 miles for a first drive and we loved it.

[Windecker]

Congrats! We also moved from a 5th wheel to a Monaco DP, love it.
Enjoy the ride and comfort. I would not worry about the tire thing, stuff happens. Just make sure you have the alignment checked at some point to be sure everything is straight by someone that knows what they are doing. These tires cost a lot now so you want to treat them well.
Windecker

[dlovitt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by StuckySB Congrats! We love ours 9000 miles since purchasing Jan 2011. So much easier than the 5th wheel!

Not to start anything; but would you mind elaborating. After 3 motor-homes, we have gone to a fifth-wheel which we find more livable and easier to handle. Different strokes for different folks?

[ga20803]

I would agree to each his own. In our case a main issue causing us to investigate the move in the first place was the co-pilot has hip problems. Sitting long periods are hard for her. It helps a lot if she can move around from time to time. In the MH she can do that, as well as even scoot back to couch and lay down a bit. And the boss (the yorkie) can move about as well. Going to the bathroom without getting out is a plus for her as well. Additionally, I find it very easy to get settled at a park. If necessary I can simply turn on Quite Generator and I'm on full AC if weather or timing is not good for outside set-up. Push a button and auto level. Even so, outside setup is still easier because no unhooking, leveling, etc. Just plug in shore power & water - 4-5 minutes. We also find local traveling around in small SUV is easier than our Duramax Diesel 2500 (parking, fuel economy, etc). Lastly, the upgrade in interior room (4 slides) and appointments is nice. It was just a good move for us. We weren't exactly 'unhappy' with the 5th wheel; I would say we were just 'happier' with the MH.

[Windecker]

Same for me except I think it is me that likes to get up and move around more
We moved out of the 5th wheel for two primary reasons:

1) I could not keep tires on the 5th wheel, just could not be done. New springs, heavier duty larger wheels, and heavy duty tires and it just ate them. Yes it was aligned, shocks were good... Since we started traveling longer distances than before I wanted something more industrial so the DP was a good fit.

2) I compete with giant scale model airplanes and we had to carry them all over the country in the 5th wheel which I hated. With the DP I haul them in the cargo trailer. No more gas smell in the coach and not having to trip over the planes anymore is awesome.

Funny, when we went from the TT to the 5th wheel we thought we went to heaven cause of so much less hook up and disconnect stuff to do. Then we moved into the DP and found out what we were really missing! All that said, I really enjoyed the time we had in the towables. If I can't afford the DP someday I would move back in a hart beat so I can keep traveling and camping

I think if your parked a lot for long periods of time the 5th wheel is a great piece of equipment and would likely rather have that than the MH. There is a lot of room in them and the comfort levels have come up a lot over the past 10 years or so. If your more mobile, the MH makes good sense to me.
Windecker

Quote:

Originally Posted by ga20803 I would agree to each his own. In our case a main issue causing us to investigate the move in the first place was the co-pilot has hip problems. Sitting long periods are hard for her. It helps a lot if she can move around from time to time. In the MH she can do that, as well as even scoot back to couch and lay down a bit. And the boss (the yorkie) can move about as well. Going to the bathroom without getting out is a plus for her as well. Additionally, I find it very easy to get settled at a park. If necessary I can simply turn on Quite Generator and I'm on full AC if weather or timing is not good for outside set-up. Push a button and auto level. Even so, outside setup is still easier because no unhooking, leveling, etc. Just plug in shore power & water - 4-5 minutes. We also find local traveling around in small SUV is easier than our Duramax Diesel 2500 (parking, fuel economy, etc). Lastly, the upgrade in interior room (4 slides) and appointments is nice. It was just a good move for us. We weren't exactly 'unhappy' with the 5th wheel; I would say we were just 'happier' with the MH.