Spartan Chassis on Allegro Bus

[Cruzer]

We are looking into a 42' Allegro Bus. Starting in the 2007 model year Tiffin is offering the Spartan chassis as an option. I recently checked out a 2007 42QRP Allegro Bus with the Spartan Mountain Master GT chassis versus the Freightliner XC Tag that I saw on a 2006 42QDP Bus.

Wow, what a difference! The Spartan really does offer lots of improvements and benefits in a number of areas. For a link to a complete review check out This Link for plenty of pictures and info.

[Cruzer]

We are looking into a 42' Allegro Bus. Starting in the 2007 model year Tiffin is offering the Spartan chassis as an option. I recently checked out a 2007 42QRP Allegro Bus with the Spartan Mountain Master GT chassis versus the Freightliner XC Tag that I saw on a 2006 42QDP Bus.

Wow, what a difference! The Spartan really does offer lots of improvements and benefits in a number of areas. For a link to a complete review check out This Link for plenty of pictures and info.

["007"]

Cruzer, sure do like your choice of chassis and coach the fit and finish is top notch. The kitchen table does it have a supporting leg have notice on some the table would drup down after some use on some models, I have seen.
Good luck in your quest.

[Cruzer]

No leg. It's a legless cantilever design that mounts via a very heavy duty right angle bracket to the wall behind the cabinet. It slides out about a foot or so for more room. It's the same setup as on my 2004 40' Bus and works real well.

With the Spartan chassis available I see that most every dealer is ordering them that way now. After looking at the difference between the two, it's a no brainer.

[rebelsbeach]

Mark, I'll have to do some research and might even find my own answer, but I am immediately wondering why Tiffin didn't move the 42QRP to the K2?

Is it because they're keeping the distance from the Zephyr, that is....if the Zephyr is indeed on the K2?

I know all the obvious.....price and so forth, guess I'll go looking now for the answer.

EDIT Just saw the Zephyr is indeed on the K2....that's probably a lot of my answer.... $$$$

[Cruzer]

Yep, the Zephyr is on the K2 with the Cummins 500 ISM, etc that you are very familiar with.

With the Phaeton on a Freightliner XC/Cat 350 C7 and the Bus on a Spartan Mountain Master/400 ISL that gives them a pretty good spread. I've driven a 2006 42QDP on a Freightliner XC-tag and found that there wasn't that much of a power penalty due to the extra weight over a 40' non-tag XC chassis. I'd love to have the 500, or even the 450, ISM engine but that would require an Allison 4000 and bumping the chassis up to the K2. That would add considerably to the price tag (to more than I could handle ) and the Allegro Bus is in a very favorable price position compared to it's competition. They'd lose that with a bigger price tag and they'd have a pretty big whole in their line between the 350 Cat and 500 Cummins. I noticed that when Newmar moved the MADP up to the K2/450 ISM the price jumped. Plus they eliminated the 42' floor plans and went to 45'. But, the DSDP now comes with a 42' tag axle chassis and Cummins 400 ISL so it's a good marketing spread.

According to Spartan, they are testing the 2007 spec engines and there may even be a 425 HP ISL in the future for RVs that would keep the torque at 1,200 ft-lbs so that the Allison 3000 could handle it. We'll know more about this mid-year.

[Brigadoon]

Read your article- well done!

I also like that floor plan in the Bus. If we make a change in a couple of years, this unit and floorplan is very high on our list.

The 425 hp ISL sounds good, also!

One thing that concerns me is the hydronic heating with no water heaters. I've read complaints about reliability and noise (from the diesel powered heater). Do you have any thoughts about these issues. Also what do you do during the winter between uses, i.e., is there a potentual for it to freeze? As you can guess, I don't know much about hydronic heating.

[rebelsbeach]

Terry,
Just spent the week at the National Rally with the family and I ran the diesel burner most of the time....Noise was never an issue,nor was there any neglible odor...

Most of the time I am told the 110 element will take care of water heating, except in high demand instances...
Believe me....with the wife and the daughter in the coach, that's high demand...

[Brigadoon]

See, I told you I didn't know much about hydronic heating. I didn't even consider that the system would have an electric heating element as well as burner. Now that makes sense.

Can you switch manually between electric and diesel? Can you run both at the same time like most water heaters?

[rebelsbeach]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Str8Shooter:

Can you switch manually between electric and diesel? Can you run both at the same time like most water heaters? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have side by side rocker switches....one says "diesel burner" and the other says "110V Element"...
I've run them both at the same time as well...

[Cruzer]

If you want more info on the pros and cons of hydronic heating check out the Hydronic Heating Link in the RV Tech Library. In addition to factory manuals I wrote an overview of how it works and the advantages and drawbacks to it.

I'll add that initially I thought that hydronic heating was a good idea after I did the math and realized the benefits it has (at least for me). But, I got scared out by a few negative posts on smell and noise so when we ordered the Bus we didn't get it. Now that I've camped next to others with hydronic heating I find that these issues are pretty much non-existent unless someone has a unit that needs service or was badly engineered. Our next coach will definitely have hydronic heating.

Anyway, this is a Spartan forum and I'm getting away from that topic. Oops.

[bstokes]

Cruzer,
I have been reading the Tiffin board for well over a year thank you for your insight to the 2007 ABus. We are looking wuite hard at the 07 42' and the new Beaver Contessa in the 42' length.
My question is, if you know, on the Spartan 42' chassis, does it start as a 40" and then cut or is custom built to the 42' size.

Thx in advance for your reply.

Bill

[rebelsbeach]

bstokes, WELCOME to the iRV2 forum!!

Cruzer is quite an authority on the Tiffin products as you know and I'm certain he'll be along with an answer soon...

In the mean time......ENJOY!!

[Cruzer]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by bstokes:
Cruzer,
I have been reading the Tiffin board for well over a year thank you for your insight to the 2007 ABus. We are looking wuite hard at the 07 42' and the new Beaver Contessa in the 42' length.
My question is, if you know, on the Spartan 42' chassis, does it start as a 40" and then cut or is custom built to the 42' size.

Thx in advance for your reply.

Bill </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hi Bill,

Let me be the second one to welcome you to IRV2.

The 42' chassis is not a cut-up 40' chassis. Technically, it is a Mountain Master GT chassis with the "-Tag" added to the end. The design features and general components are the same as the single axle MMGT but the 42' tag axle chassis is designed from the ground up to be a tag axle chassis and has full length frame rails, nothing cut and patched. It comes from Spartan at the proper length and Tiffin doesn't have to modify it. After crawling around underneath it (I gotta go back and look at another one next Tuesday - can't you tell I'm interested in this one ) I have to say that this thing is a very well engineered chassis and it blows away the 42' Freightliner XC-tag chassis in every little detail, as well as a few fairly major ones.

If you need any specific things answered, I can check them Monday.