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Campjunkie · 11-03-2012, 08:12 AM

Thinking of buying an 07 40' Phaeton. Cat engine. This would be my first pusher. I do my own maintainence & it's rear radiator. Any thoughts?

SGTrvlr · 11-03-2012, 08:21 AM

We had an 05 Phaeton with the Cat engine. Way under powered. Other than that it was a great unit.

Jack1234 · 11-03-2012, 08:56 AM

Hey Camp

Which Cat are you referring to? HP? Torque?

What is the "wet" weight of the Phaeton? What is the weight of your toad? Approximate weight of you, passengers & gear? In other words, what is the approximate CGWR you are expecting this CAT to push?

Take the CGWR and divide by 100 and this will give you a pretty good base line on HP....35,000lbs / 100 = 350HP. For a 40' MH I would also want at least +1000 ft/lbs of torque and a 2 stage engine brake.

jauguston · 11-03-2012, 03:24 PM

The requirement for a two stage engine brake will take about 95% of the Class A used coaches out of the market. We are 32,000# with toad and have lots of power with a Cat C-7 350 hp. I have a Freightliner installed Pacbrake (single stage) exhaust brake that suits my needs.

Jim

Jack1234 · 11-03-2012, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jauguston

The requirement for a two stage engine brake will take about 95% of the Class A used coaches out of the market. We are 32,000# with toad and have lots of power with a Cat C-7 350 hp. I have a Freightliner installed Pacbrake (single stage) exhaust brake that suits my needs.

Jim

I agree...probably a stupid statement on my part relative to the 2 stage engine brake. It is just that in our case we run right around #30,000 (including our toad) and while I find our Cummins 350/1050 ISC more than adequate for the GO stuff, I wish we had more than the single stage exhaust brake for the STOP stuff.

I believe somewhere around 07/08 most 40' (+#30,000) coaches switched from ISC's to ISL's to not only get the greater HP, but also the better braking from the 2 stage engine brake. Since the OP was looking at an 07..... is it really only 5% of the post 07... 40' coaches out there that are equipped with 400/1250 ISL's?

Anyway, much over #35,000 & post 07, for my money, I'd hold out for an ISL or CAT equivalent. Pre 07, I think you are quite correct in that, more often than not, you will find coaches running ISC's or CAT-7's with single stage exhaust brakes.

jauguston · 11-03-2012, 04:10 PM

Jack,

If your engine has the standard Pacbrake and you are wanting better braking you might want to look into the PRXB Pacbrake. It has more braking power than the standard one. I am just about ready to upgrade my engine with one.

Jim