FRED to be discontinued from Tiffin lineup

[woodcutter]

Talked to a Tiffin dealer Sunday at the CT RV show. He said Tiffin has 15 Freightline Fred's at Redbay plant and when they are gone, there will no be no more Front Engine Diesel!

[DriVer]

Originally Posted by woodcutter

Talked to a Tiffin dealer Sunday at the CT RV show. He said Tiffin has 15 Freightliner Fred's at Redbay plant and when they are gone, there will no be no more Front Engine Diesel!

woodcutter, Winnebago continues to use the FRED in its Adventurer line. With Tiffin coming in with their own line of chassis called "PowerGlide", I expect the Tiffin guys want to control everything in the production line. So it makes sense for them in a way to do that if they have the capacity.



When I spoke with the Tiffin reps at the RVIA Show I walked away with pretty much the same understanding although no one there committed to ceasing production. It is my guess that they want to be able to deliver those 15 more FREDs and then move on from there.

Thanks for the info. Understand you were at the Hartford Show? Been there many times during our 28 years in Stamford.

[paz]

Tiffin was one of the pioneers in using the FRED, so I'm a little surprised that they are discontinuing its use. However, we were at the Tampa RV show yesterday, and Tiffin had NO motorhome on a FRED chassis on display. That was very unusual, but the news that they are discontinuing use of the FRED helps explain it.

[Route 66]

For various reasons, no class A front diesel engine chassis/MH has been successful.

[DriVer]

The front engine diesels that are used by Four Winds in their Serrano is apparently one of the better success stories. Damon's new Avanti is equipped with a FCCC MC-L chassis with a front diesel. Winnebago Sunstar and Vista also have front engine diesel options. There is also the Winnebago Era, View and Navion. The Sprinter is going to continue to make inroads into the RV Industry and these are all front diesels and continue to be successful. Workhorse continues onward with its WxxD front engine diesels based on the MaxxForce 7.

All of the above rigs have GVW ratings of 22K or less and I expect that front engine diesels will become more prominent in the next few years in smaller motor homes as gasoline engine become less available.

I would say from my observations, look for more front engine diesels, not less.

Smaller GVW, front diesel engine coaches are here to stay!

[Gary RVRoamer]

Note also that the Workhorse W20 and W22 are now available with MaxxForce diesels and Tiffin does build on the Workhorse chassis.. IN fact, they will soon probably ONLY be available with diesels, since the GM 8.1L gas engine has gone out of production.

It does seem odd they would discontinue the FRED, though, since it has been a popular model. The 2010 Allegro Bay brochure on the Tiffin site still shows the FRED as one of the main chassis choices and the only one for the larger models (greater than 22k lbs gvwr).

[heyduke]

so what it wrong with the FRED's that they no longer want to produce them... I ask since a FRED is on my short list of homes that I am looking for.

[DriVer]

Originally Posted by heyduke

so what it wrong with the FRED's that they no longer want to produce them... I ask since a FRED is on my short list of homes that I am looking for.

I expect that the FRED will remain a SKU on Freightliner's inventory however if manufacturers like Tiffin are having challenges selling those coaches they are going to move on. One other wrench in the monkey works is that Tiffin is in their own chassis business and making their own called a "PowerGlide." To date we have not seen a front engined diesel PowerGlide.

[edgray]

Originally Posted by RV Roamer [Gary]

...........

It does seem odd they would discontinue the FRED, though, since it has been a popular model. The 2010 Allegro Bay brochure on the Tiffin site still shows the FRED as one of the main chassis choices and the only one for the larger models (greater than 22k lbs gvwr).

In the interest of providing factual info here on iRV2, It should be noted that the statement underlined above is incorrect. The spec sheet shows the "larger models" are also available on the Ford chassis with a 26,000 GVWR, along with the 26,000 FCCC FRED. Workhorse does not offer a 26,000 chassis with a front engine, therefore Tiffin builds their 37 QDB, 37QSB, and 38TGB floor plans on FRED and Ford.

Here is a link to check the details : http://www.tiffinmotorhomes.com/pdf/...roBaySpecs.pdf

heyduke: Good luck in your search. They made quite a few FRED based motorhomes in both Allegro and Allegro Bay trim levels, so finding what you want should not be a problem in the short term. Be aware that there are differences in chassis and power between the Allegro and Allegro Bay lines.

FWIW, a dealer told me that the FREDs were just not selling because the price was so close to the price of the Tiffin RED that customers were opting for the RED with the air ride and air brakes.

My best advice is to find a coach the wife likes, and go with that. All the various chassis options will "get you there"....... ED

[Route 66]

Originally Posted by heyduke

so what it wrong with the FRED's that they no longer want to produce them... I ask since a FRED is on my short list of homes that I am looking for.

Previous Class A front engine diesel MHs were too noisy and down on power in relation to the price.

[GaryKD]

It all comes down to sales and profit. Every coach manufacturer has a finite amount of manufacturing space available to them. They will fill that space with the products they feel will make the most profit. The rest are discontinued.

[Oldrtrcr]

Linked this thread to the Tiffin RV network site. Seems there are no current plans to stop the FRED. Production is planned through the 2011 model year.

[DriVer]

Originally Posted by Oldrtrcr

Production is planned through the 2011 model year.

I agree.

[puttin]

In my opinion, the F.R.E.D. is very noisy; vibrates a lot. We test drove a Tiffin 35 QBA two years ago- terrible. Upshifts/downshifts constantly- clatter all the time and could hardly carry on a conversation. We bought the Winnebago on the Ford chassis instead and are very happy.