Opinions on 2016 Eagle and Liberty Chassis

[Soapy]

We currently own a Tiffin Zephyr and have been shopping for a new rig. We are very familiar with Tiffin as we have two of them and they have a large following with their TRVN forum. The 2016 Eagle has caught our eye but haven't seen much posted about it.

It is built on the Freightliner/liberty chassis with the independent passive steer tag axle. Currently they are the only using the I Series tag axle. They put the DEF tank on he drivers side which is good but to do that they shortened the wheelbase about 10" to make room for the DEF tank between the tag axle tire and the side radiator

I'm looking for some real world options of this coach American coach in general and if the shorter wheelbase affects the handling in anyway.

[Gary RVRoamer]

I have an '04 on a Freightliner/Liberty, but that is an entirely different chassis than the 2016. We still love the coach. It had a rash of electronic problems at around age 4 but since all those got fixed it has been relatively trouble-free (as DP's go, anyway).

American Coach (Rev Group) factory service is excellent ifyou can get to Decatur, In, to take advantage. They also have Rev Group service centers in Texas and Oregon which are pretty good. And AC builds a solid coach, though still short of perfect. Freightliner factory service in Gafney, SC, is outstanding, both on warranty and post-warranty service & repairs. Highly recommended.

May I suggest joining the American Coach Owners Group on Yahoo and asking other 2016 owners directly? There have been some teething problems that Freightliner has helped with, but I think overall the experience has been decent for a all-new design.

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/American_Coach/info

[99phantoms]

Originally Posted by Soapy

I'm looking for some real world options of this coach American coach in general and if the shorter wheelbase affects the handling in anyway.

Assuming you meant 'opinions'...

I attending the Tampa RV show last Jan. One goal was to look at the American Coach products, particularly the Dream. At Lazy Days I test drove a 600hp Dream. I’m not an experienced coach driver, but I very much liked the way it drove, especially the tight turning with the steerable tag. At the show I walked thru all the AC products.

There were several things about the Eagle I noticed. They have built a generous amount of space into the compartment surrounding the engine, which is good for cooling (I guess), but that has resulted in 2 steps up into the rear bath.

Sitting in the Eagle driver’s position I noticed the top of steering wheel blocked that very nice electronic instrument display (speedo & tac guages), and that the hand-stitched leather glare shield is mounted so high I couldn’t see anything on the ground in front of the coach closer than about 30 ft. (seat full up, I am 6’ 1”) Visibility in front of the Dream was very good.

In the Dream model, I noticed the kitchen sink faucet was made of plastic… very unusual, I thought, for a coach at this price point. The AC rep did say they would change that out for me to a metal faucet.

An AC rep told me the factory was building 1 coach a day. Seems that's not a lot of coaches to carry the overhead costs of production, marketing, sales, etc.

[Traps90]

Originally Posted by 99phantoms

An AC rep told me the factory was building 1 coach a day. Seems that's not a lot of coaches to carry the overhead costs of production, marketing, sales, etc.

I believe that they also build the higher end Monaco products in the same production facility.

[Cat320]

Originally Posted by Traps90

I believe that they also build the higher end Monaco products in the same production facility.

They do now, but AC is going to move to a separate facility in the future.

The AC telephone help line is excellent. If you have a complex issue, they will stay on the phone and talk you through the fix.

If you are looking at a 45' Eagle, I think they are all now coming with the 15L, 600 HP, ISX engine.

[Soapy]

We are currently in Decatur to take the factory tour tomorrow and have looked at some of the completed Eagles. We can't get inside, but the paint jobs leave much to be desired. They have orange peel and have very thick lines between the stripes. The paint appears to be to thick and needs a better cut and buff. Very disappointed in the finish. If they all look like this it would be a deal breaker.

[Cat320]

ACs are known for wonderful paint schemes and jobs. Maybe the ones you saw have not completed the entire process. On my 14 Eagle the outside is perfect, but there are places on the inside that are not that well done.