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Old 10-24-2016, 06:10 PM   #1
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Why am I even thinking about a DP...

Hello folks! I have the RV bug again. What makes it bad is my dear wife has it too.

We are in our early 60s, getting ready to retire, and will be on a tight budget. Also, I have a pretty mean lazy streak. So we start looking at some used units and I thought a DP would be good for us. Found an early 2000 Monaco Knight that looked good. Cummins and Roadmaster.

I made a mistake. I downloaded the user guide. 12mb pdf and over 450 pages. Thankfully some of the pages were blank. I read the thing, my head started spinning and I am still trying to recover from the amount of information related to just the chassis/engine.

A "learning" Allison transmission, pac brake, how to store it options, filters everywhere, maintenance all over the place. I am pretty handy, but it seems I could spend most of the time maintaining rather than traveling.

Please give me some hope that these DPs won't take up all my time and I will have time to do some traveling!
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Old 10-24-2016, 06:24 PM   #2
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An old DP demands annual maintenance, but it does not have to be overwhelming. If you travel far distances it makes it worthwhile. Once you drive one, you will not be happy with a gasser. Maintaining a DP does cost more than a gasser, and although uncommon, can be very expensive.
On the other hand, all the stuff that comes with the DP is usually of a much higher quality.
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Old 10-24-2016, 06:30 PM   #3
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If you are somewhat lazy as you said and and on a tight budget I wouldn't.


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Old 10-24-2016, 06:33 PM   #4
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The manuals are overwhelming but on most DPs full service to the chassis/engine is once a year or 12k miles. The remainder of the motorhome maintenance is the same as a gaser. And yes, the parts are higher on a DP.
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Old 10-24-2016, 06:46 PM   #5
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'tight budget' and 'lazy streak' does not lend itself to a used DP (or used RV for that matter...)
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Old 10-24-2016, 08:34 PM   #6
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If you have a SpeedCo near you, being lazy isn't necessarily expensive.
Keep on looking, you will learn from each coach you look at.
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Old 10-24-2016, 08:56 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by saberg View Post
Hello folks! I have the RV bug again. What makes it bad is my dear wife has it too.

We are in our early 60s, getting ready to retire, and will be on a tight budget. Also, I have a pretty mean lazy streak. So we start looking at some used units and I thought a DP would be good for us. Found an early 2000 Monaco Knight that looked good. Cummins and Roadmaster.

I made a mistake. I downloaded the user guide. 12mb pdf and over 450 pages. Thankfully some of the pages were blank. I read the thing, my head started spinning and I am still trying to recover from the amount of information related to just the chassis/engine.

A "learning" Allison transmission, pac brake, how to store it options, filters everywhere, maintenance all over the place. I am pretty handy, but it seems I could spend most of the time maintaining rather than traveling.

Please give me some hope that these DPs won't take up all my time and I will have time to do some traveling!
if you buy a dp... be sure to add 10k to the price... you'll need it to get it on the road and safe...plus another 10 in reserve for repairs if needed..
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Old 10-24-2016, 10:02 PM   #8
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Ok, the Knight might be in the range where the trialing links crack which requires replacement. Not bad as it can be done with aftermarket products. Also there was a recall about the trans cooler which could come apart and put coolant in the transmission which wouldn't be good. Do your home work on that coach
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Old 10-25-2016, 06:40 AM   #9
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That only way we could stomach owning a DP is doing most of the maintenance and repair work myself. I've learned a lot in a little over six months, the main being that they take a lot of work to keep up with maintenance.
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Old 10-25-2016, 07:04 AM   #10
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Quote:
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If you are somewhat lazy as you said and and on a tight budget I wouldn't.
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Quote:
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'tight budget' and 'lazy streak' does not lend itself to a used DP (or used RV for that matter...)
Quote:
Originally Posted by barmcd View Post
That only way we could stomach owning a DP is doing most of the maintenance and repair work myself. I've learned a lot in a little over six months, the main being that they take a lot of work to keep up with maintenance.
The above advice is spot on. Start with comment # 3, with which I totally agree, factor in "tight budget" and "somewhat lazy" and comments # 1 and # 2 are the best advice you could receive!

From what you've said, owning an RV, ANY RV is probably not a good idea for you unfortunately, there is always SOMETHING to fix, be it small or large.

Then again, you DID read an entire manual! That's more than MOST people who have RV's have done!
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Old 10-25-2016, 07:12 AM   #11
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I agree with others ...tight budget and lazy streak are not particularly compatible with a DP. A used gasser might be more budget friendly and less intimidating, but there are many still little things to fix or fuss over. An rv tech gets expensive if you pay to have every little thing done by a pro. And rv'ing is not really an inexpensive lifestyle. Ask yourself how tight is that budget and how wide is that lazy streak.
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Old 10-25-2016, 07:48 AM   #12
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My wife and I have been full-timing since 2010 with a gasser. The first two years was the hardest because our used gasser needed a lot of repairs and I was not very knowledgeable. I began learning more and more about fixing things myself because hiring someone to do them is expensive and not always done right. Makes me feel good when I successfully make a repair. I do like the fact that if a drive train repair is needed, it can be performed almost anywhere which is not so with a DP. Repair costs are much cheaper on a gasser as well. We live on our Social Security so the full time lifestyle is super less expensive than a stick and brick.
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Old 10-25-2016, 09:16 AM   #13
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Maybe by now you might be thinking you over criticized yourself, only you knows that answer. You might look at some really nice mid 2000's gassers you might be more comfortable with that financial commitment. I was back and forth on which would be a better choice for me and after hanging on here for almost two yrs. I went with a gasser I'm picky and I'm always doing things to improve and maintain things on it and It fits my RV lifestyle just fine. Maybe one bigger trip a yr. and a couple smaller ones. When I retire the bigger trips might get a little bigger but my rig rides nice and is plenty quiet for me. There are more than enough posts on here about DP and gassers to help you with that decision. You might even go look for some of my early posts. They are a little funny to me when I go back and read some of them but you have to start somewhere with the questions and look for a common thread that you feel fits you. Good advice on here normally that's why I'm a supporter, I use it more than any magazine subscription that cost the same. Beware of what any salesmen try to tell you they will know your knowledge by just talking to you. Good luck just keep looking and visit some of the forums for gassers on here. Workhorse, Ford whatever.
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Old 10-25-2016, 09:46 AM   #14
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A Gasser might be all that you will want or need. It will get you to the same campgrounds on the same roads with the same views as a DP. That said, I am on my fourth DP. Each one was an upgrade from the previous one and all were new. In 17 years, I have had two alternators fail. The second was under warranty. No other mechanical problems with any of them. $350-$400 per year for oil, filters, and lube of the coach and generator. Less if I would do it myself. Just add fuel and go. I pull a 13,000# trailer, so it gets worked, especially up 11,000' mountain passes. The reliability is the main reason I have purchased new. I don't want someone else's troubles. For that I deal with the depreciation. It's worth it to me. Life is too short to always wonder what the next problem will be. But,,,, that's just me.
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