What Year Class A gas?

[ehackney]

This is the year! (You will notice "plan" and "hope" a lot in the following text. Hopes and plans rarely come out as, er., planned.)

We plan on at least semi-retiring next February. After that we plan to take two big (2 month?) trips a year. We hope to sell our travel trailer in the spring and get serious about buying a class A motorhome after that. We will buy used. I think I have narrowed things down to a 1999-2002 National RV or Tiffen, which we expect to be able to buy doe under $60K -hopefully closer to $50K.

My question is, was there anything that happened in the RV business or with these two manufacturers in this time that would make one of the newer years better than an earlier one? For example, was a newer engine or chassis or whatever introduced in 2000, that make it a significantly better than a 1999?

Thanks in advance,

Hack
--//--

[ehackney]

This is the year! (You will notice "plan" and "hope" a lot in the following text. Hopes and plans rarely come out as, er., planned.)

We plan on at least semi-retiring next February. After that we plan to take two big (2 month?) trips a year. We hope to sell our travel trailer in the spring and get serious about buying a class A motorhome after that. We will buy used. I think I have narrowed things down to a 1999-2002 National RV or Tiffen, which we expect to be able to buy doe under $60K -hopefully closer to $50K.

My question is, was there anything that happened in the RV business or with these two manufacturers in this time that would make one of the newer years better than an earlier one? For example, was a newer engine or chassis or whatever introduced in 2000, that make it a significantly better than a 1999?

Thanks in advance,

Hack
--//--

[Gary RVRoamer]

Go for one with a Workhorse W22 chassis rather than the Ford F53 or Chevy/Workhorse P32 that was used in pre-2001 models (and also in some 2001-2002 models). It is far superior. Ford came back with major improvements a few years later and evened the playing field again, but for the time frame you are considering, I would insist on the W22 chassis (or the W20 if the rig is one with a 20,000 lb GVWR).

The W22 not only is stronger and better handling, it also has a lot more external storage capacity then the F53 or P32 of that time period.

I have a 2002 Dolphon LX and did a detailed comparison between the Ford and Workhorse versions of the same model (NRV built on both chassis during 2001 & 2002) and the difference was night and day in favor of Workhorse at the time.

[Capt Joe]

Good thread for us as we have some of the same hopes. Please keep the info coming on this subject.
I hope you will forgive the ignorance but would someone please tell me the best way to determine which chassis has actually been used in a particular MH that you may be looking at. Not to say I would not trust what I was told but I must have had some ancestors from Missouri because I want to see it for myself. And, many times when I even ask those kind of questions, I just get a blank stare back.
Thanks,

[NeilV]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Capt Joe:
Good thread for us as we have some of the same hopes. Please keep the info coming on this subject.
I hope you will forgive the ignorance but would someone please tell me the best way to determine which chassis has actually been used in a particular MH that you may be looking at. Not to say I would not trust what I was told but I must have had some ancestors from Missouri because I want to see it for myself. And, many times when I even ask those kind of questions, I just get a blank stare back.
Thanks, </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Joe,

In many(most?) cases a simple glance at the steering wheel will tell you the answer as the chassis brand will be indicated on the horn button/pad.

Regards,

Neil

[RV Wizard]

All motorhomes will have two data plates. One for the chassis and one for the coach builder. On the chassis plate information as to the date of manufacture, make, model, vin #, Wheel and tire size as well as GVWR, (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) GCVWR,(Gross Combined Vehicle Weight Rating) UVWR,(Optional)(Unloaded Vehicle Weight Rating) NCC (Net Carrying Capacity) sometime in yearlier models was listed as CCC (Cargo Carrying Capacity).

[Webster]

We just bought our National Surfside (2000) in June '05 and we love it. We have looked at tons of motorhomes and feel we got just what we needed. I was looking for 36', but this 33' is plenty big enough for the two of us (even though there's not much room to get around the bed).

I agree that the Workhorse would be better and when (if) we buy again, we'll buy National and ensure it has the Workhorse chassis (mine has the Chevrolet). My coach has a Generac generator...ensure you get Onan...as trying to get someone to work on the Generac is next to impossible.

We just looked at a 2005 Surfside at Camping World with two slides and the price was amazing...$60,000.

With the cost of diesel so high, I'm glad I have a gas model. My coach gets up to 60 mph with no strain and I usually back off to 55 to save gas.

Good luck with your purchase.

[Gary RVRoamer]

Chief,
You can get your Generac genset serviced at a number of Generac dealers - see Find Generac Dealer to locate one near you.

Or call Generac's Automated Dealer Locator at 1-800-333-1322.

[rvgrandma]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Webster:
My coach has a Generac generator...ensure you get Onan...as trying to get someone to work on the Generac is next to impossible.&lt;&lt;&lt;

I agree it is extremely difficult to find someone to work on Generac. We live in Oregon and the closest is either in Longview, WA or Southern Oregon. We did find a guy in Vancouver that only works on small generators but he helped us. There are some others that will work on Generac but only if the generator is removed from the MH.