Roadmaster vs Freightliner?

[gbennett92b]

We are in the process of looking for a Class A pre-owned diesel pusher no more than 36' in length. We are leaning toward Winnebago, Itasca, Monaco and Thor. Does anyone whether Freightliner is preferable to Roadmaster?

[amanda_h]

I guess it's like asking if in fact Winnebago is preferable to Monaco ...or maybe even if Ford is preferable to Chevrolet?

I'm sure most folks who do have Monacos built on a Roadmaster chassis think their chassis is more "preferable" to a Freightliner C.C. A Roadmaster chassis owner can probably cite numerous advantages or features they have that Freightliner owners don't have ...etc.

In my opinion, I like having a Freightliner C.C. because there are more of them out there. There are more service facilities. There are more techs and mechanics familiar with an FCCC coach. I like the support that is available from their factory headquarters in Gaffney SC.

But that's just me ...being an owner of a Winnebago on a FCCC chassis. I'm sure Monaco owners will disagree with me.

-harry

[greystroke]

Never owned a Roadmaster. Enough to say I like my old XC Freightliner. I am sure the roadmaster owners like theirs too. I would look for best price and floor plan and then reasearch the chassis number to make sure any known problems have been taken care of before buying. You can do that right here using search functions. Also get the carfax report on it.

[Dutch Star Don]

The most popular Roadmaster chassis in the size you're looking for is an RR8R. It stands for Roadmaster, rear radiator, 8 airbag coach. That's two bags per wheel that are outboard mounted (mounted as far outward toward the side of the coach as possible). The Roadmasters handle very well, but are not as smooth riding as the Freightliner. Monaco also made an R4R chassi which is just four airbags, one per wheel. These chasis' came on some of the lower end Monacos for a few years. They offer a miserable ride and I would stay away from them at all costs.

Freightliner offers a couple of chassis levels depending on the coach. I wouldn't buy a Freightliner chassis because there are more service locations since most of the items that are Freighliner specific are pretty durable and will be many years before a Freightliner psecific part will be needed. This also applies to the Roadmaster chassis.

The basic difference between the two....Roadmaster will handle better, the Freightliner will ride smoother.

[Larry and Suzette]

Look here; Roadmaster Chassis
and here; Freightliner Motorhome Chassis ? RV Chassis
and here;
http://serenitysys.com/rv/diesel_pus...me_chassis.htm

Diplomat Don, I understood that the RR in the Roadmaster chassis means Raised Rail and the trailing R is for Rear Radiator. Don't know that, rear radiator, relates to Gassers.

Larry

[rdkng88]

I have a Monico with 8 air bags , side radiator , and air bag leveling. I love the ride and especially love being able to get to my engine. Air bag leveling is a big plus in my opinion no hydraulic jacks . My last coach was a Freightliner and I was never unhappy with that coach either putting 93,000 miles on it. It rode very well never had any issues except the jacks for leveling. I find this to be an issue often on this site. I will add that over extending the jacks are the problem. I carried four hard wood blocks 6"x 6" x 4" thick I used them under the jacks when leveling and no more problems. Good luck in your search thumbs up for Winnebago coaches and also for Monico.

[Papa_Jim]

As an owner of a coach with the Roadmaster chassis, I can offer this opinion. The larger tag axle coaches with the Roadmaster chassis are real champions when it comes to handling. Some of the shorter coaches (36' and shorter) can have trouble with wandering. It has recently been determined by some that replacing the pan head bushings can solve that.

Our coach likes to wander. I'm preparing to replace the pan head bushings in the hopes that the problem will be solved.

I find the ride is quite stiff, very sensitive to tire pressure. Of course, with a stiffer ride, it handles very well, doesn't lean on corners, isn't pushed around by wind.

So, bottom line, my opinion is if you're considering a coach with a Roadmaster chassis, take it for a really good test drive. Satisfy yourself that it handles and rides the way you want it to.

[Moxy]

Originally Posted by Diplomat Don

The most popular Roadmaster chassis in the size you're looking for is an RR8R. It stands for Roadmaster, rear radiator, 8 airbag coach. That's two bags per wheel that are outboard mounted (mounted as far outward toward the side of the coach as possible). The Roadmasters handle very well, but are not as smooth riding as the Freightliner. Monaco also made an R4R chassi which is just four airbags, one per wheel. These chasis' came on some of the lower end Monacos for a few years. They offer a miserable ride and I would stay away from them at all costs.

Freightliner offers a couple of chassis levels depending on the coach. I wouldn't buy a Freightliner chassis because there are more service locations since most of the items that are Freighliner specific are pretty durable and will be many years before a Freightliner psecific part will be needed. This also applies to the Roadmaster chassis.


The basic difference between the two....Roadmaster will handle better, the Freightliner will ride smoother.

with all due respect i have to disagree with your assesment of the r4r chassis being a miserable ride, im not sure if you have owned one but i have, there ride although not up to the s chassis i now own, to say they are miserable is misleading, infact for the difference in money i think they offer an excellent ride and value and would recommend them to anyone, bad trailing arm years aside of coarse fwiw


Moxy

[Dennis_K]

I have had both a Freightliner and an 8 bag Roadmaster. I really haven't noticed much difference in the ride but I can say that the handling is a little better with the Roadmaster. I attribute that to the location of the air bags and the shocks. On the Roadmaster the 8 air bags and shocks are about as far outboard as they can go, very close to the body. On the Freightliner the bags are inboard of the tires and on the rear that's a big difference. The 8 bag Roadmaster also uses 8 shocks instead of 4.

[Steve Ownby]

Originally Posted by Moxy

with all due respect i have to disagree with your assesment of the r4r chassis being a miserable ride, im not sure if you have owned one but i have, there ride although not up to the s chassis i now own, to say they are miserable is misleading, infact for the difference in money i think they offer an excellent ride and value and would recommend them to anyone, bad trailing arm years aside of coarse fwiw

Moxy

I have to agree with Moxy here. The trailing arm issue has created an opportunity to purchase a pretty high quality entry level coach. If you then up grade to the Source Engineering trailing arms and ride enhancement package you would have an excellent coach for the money.

[deSanford]

I believe the Spartan is better then the Freightliner. A tag is the BEST way to go if you want good handling. deSanford PS a steer tag is better yet

[Triker56]

Originally Posted by deSanford

I believe the Spartan is better then the Freightliner. A tag is the BEST way to go if you want good handling. deSanford PS a steer tag is better yet

I didn't know that Spartan made the Roadmaster chassis, that the OP was asking about.

[Gary RVRoamer]

None of the brands he is looking at use a Spartan chassis, so that's out.

And you really can't compare chassis without getting down to specifics, i.e. the exact model/configuration used in the coach being considered. Roadmaster makes multiple configurations, e.g. the RR8R and R4R mentioned here, and Freightliner makes dozens of variants of their "XC" chassis as well as some others like the XCL, Fred, etc. The Freightliner chassis under my American tradition bears little resemblance to the one under a Winnebago Journey, for example. About the only thing they share is a Freightliner logo on the back.

[deSanford]

I will say it again......the Spartan Chassis is better then the Freightliner. Sorry I didn't know we were only talking about the RoadMaster and Freightliner. I have a RoadMaster RR8R 2011. deSanford