The more MH's I see, the more confused I get

[Yasir]

Hello, and thank you for this forum, I have read great advice and have seen many units that it all got me confused. Here is what I need help with and I appreciate all of you.

I own a 36 ft 94 Flair, low miles and wonderful but got tired of holding on so hard when a trailer passes by or if it is windy on the road. So I decided to look into Diesel and prices are just crazy. I wanted to put $50k down and possibly finance another 25-50k but I can't find something descent.

My question is, would a gas MH that is newer and longer than 36 ft be more stable on the road? My trips are about 300 miles round trip for now and all the readings I have done indicate that DP are for longer trips.

Thank you all,

[EasyRVing]

Dear Yassir,

Sounds to me as though you would do very well to stick with gas, rather than diesel --- far less maintenance, much simpler to get service, and less expensive in every way.

Strongly suggest you look into the Tiffin Allegro --- Tiffin is a solid company that stands behind its motorhomes and gives great customer service year after year.

Allegro is Tiffin's signature RV --- been making it and standing behind it for 40 years. No one in the industry compares to Tiffin for quality and service.

I full-timed in a 40-foot Tiffin diesel pusher bus for 10 years --- great coach! --- Sold it and have just ordered a new 32-foot Allegro. Chose it because of fine quality, great stability (heavy chassis, long wheelbase), and Tiffin service. Drives like a dream, plenty of power, very stable.

Happy Travels!

[Ron & Dee]

Originally Posted by Yasir

Hello, and thank you for this forum, I have read great advice and have seen many units that it all got me confused. Here is what I need help with and I appreciate all of you.

I own a 36 ft 94 Flair, low miles and wonderful but got tired of holding on so hard when a trailer passes by or if it is windy on the road. So I decided to look into Diesel and prices are just crazy. I wanted to put $50k down and possibly finance another 25-50k but I can't find something descent.

My question is, would a gas MH that is newer and longer than 36 ft be more stable on the road? My trips are about 300 miles round trip for now and all the readings I have done indicate that DP are for longer trips.

Thank you all,

Sounds like you suffer from the same thing that I had with a P30 chassis. It was a 31' Brave and it was a constant fight at the wheel.

Since trading up to a 32' Adventurer on a Workhorse chassis the difference in the ride and handling is unbelievable.

Ron

[H. Miller]

As I understand it, the downside of a gasser is the spring suspension system compared to the air bags on most diesels. We have the 8 bag Monaco and haven't noticed a truck in 15,000+ miles. Also the air brake is a great improvement on most DP's....

[HHIDan]

If it's trrailers driving by that is your biggest problem then a DP with a tag axle is the ultimate. The no-tag DP is second best and you can probably find one of those (yr 2000 to 2002) for around $75K (with a couple of slides).
Speak from experience, first coach was a class C, 2nd was a 27 ft Brave then 32 ft Adventurer then 36ft Vectra DP, then 40ft Ult. Freedom and now a 43 Newmar (with tag). I saw an improvement each time especially on first DP (because of the weight); with the tag (current RV), trailers are driving by un-noticed...

[Ron & Dee]

I hope I'm not hijacking this thread

But talking about stability, my MH rocks back and forth while just setting in a turn lane when cars go by

Ron

[clyon51]

Yasir, what chassis do you have under that '94 Flair?

Some mfgs (Ford is one) put anti-away bars on their chassis. If you have these bars, it's a good bet the bushings are gone, which render them useless. So $100 could fix your problem. If you do have a Ford, there is mod you can do to make it even better.

If your chassis doesn't have sway bars, you could look into having them added.

Failing all that, gassers with tag axles do much better than those without.

[stearn]

Our fist MH was 36' a gm P32 chassis with 19.5 tires. We now have a 38' on Workhorse 24 chassis with 22.5 tires. I was very impressed with the difference in the ride and handling. I think you will be impressed if you drive one of the mh models with the W-24 chassis.

[TxRVMan]

We have an 06 Tiffin Allegro Bay on the Workhorse W24 chassis and although I can tell when I am passed by an 18 wheeler, it is not uncomfortable at all...I think some of it has to do with the coach, yes a DP will do better with air bag suspension, but a gasser was more in our price range and better fit for our traveling style right now...but I also believe it has to do with your driving style...I used to grip the steering wheel when a truck passed in anticipation, but now I kinda roll with the air push and can do it all day long...we have spent some time on I35 between DFW and San Antonio, so I have a tad bit of tractor/trailer interaction experience...!

[NITEHAWK]

Sounds like some front end wear. Maybe checking and aligning front end along with replacing worn parts, along with updating or adding suspension assists like antisway bars. All in all, cheaper than buying another rig and finding similar problems. All this assuming you are really happy with everything else on your rig.
Another rig? I would, based on my personal experience, check out the Foretravel coaches at Encore, Motorhomes of Texas, and Foretravel. May be used but extremely and proudly maintained. No parking lot with 50-100 coaches in for warranty work.

[UFO Pilot]

Look for a MH on a Workhorse UFO chassis with the 8.1 gas engine. Mine is 39', drives like a dream and I rarely notice the wind.

[John H...]

Yasir, Welcome to the forum. You might look into installing a "Steer Safe"...

[jroethke]

I second the steering safe or simular assist. I installed a Tru Center on my Class A and what a difference it made with handing wind or truck wash.

Another thing I do not believe that my diesel pusher is any higher maintenance costs than a gas unit especially when you look at how often you need to change oil in a gas unit compared to a diesel. When your RVing there is nothing cheap.....

[Sky_Boss]

There are a few factors when dealing with gas MHs handling different from diesel MHs. They are distinctly different from diesel chassis in the area of suspensions. Here is what I think are the pertinent points.

The suspension systems in gas MHs have more areas of play. Obviously most folks understand the basics that good shocks control up and down movements. So, moving on from there...

The other to 2 axis relevant to handling are side to side (S2S) and sway/yaw.

S2S can cause a very pronounced tail-wagging-the-dog feeling when driving in high cross winds or when trucks pass. It is caused by the long springs of a gas chassis having a tendency to move side to side. To help control this you can add a trak bar. The track bar ties the chassis and coach together to minimize S2S movement. There are track bars for the back and in some chassis lines also for the front.

Sway is the tipping feeling you get in turns and maybe also felt with cross winds. If you have your chassis already has a trak bar, sway shouldn't be a prime cause for tail wagging. However, without the trak bars, it may be hard to distinguish between what is S2S and what is sway. Sway bars/bushings can wear out. Repairing bushing or adding and/or replacing with stiffer sway bars can be part of the equation. Sway bars also come in front and back flavors depending on chassis.

Steering assists are devices that help keep the steerers pointed straight. Most are sold as a safety enhancement in case of blow out. If you have a well balanced system of shocks, trak and sway bars, a good steerer can provide that last bit of fine tuning to your driving pleasure.

I currently have a Safe-T-Steer installed by the previous owner. I am looking to add a rear trak bar next to help a little bit more. If that doesn't do enough, I will progress with rear sway control, front trak and then front sway in that order.