Community Forums

vsheetz · 01-12-2016, 09:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nothermark

FWIW One of the reasons why I am not interested in a DP is that she refuses to sit over the steps. ;-) p

There is a step well cover which extends to create a flat floor for the passenger.

jimcumminsw · 01-13-2016, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cwsqbm

The next question is why aren't there front-engined diesel motorhomes? It seems like it would be an easy upgrade for Ford to swap out the V-10 for a Powerstroke, and would be far cheaper than any of the current diesel pushers. I'd love a sub-30' diesel motorhome.

Yes, I know there have been front-engined diesels in the past, from early Bluebirds up through Freightliner FRED chassis. This entire post is rhetorical.

They do offer a Diesel Front Engine RV that are new models. Look at the Dynamax by Forest River Corp. some of these are built on a Freightliner chassis. If I was interested in a Diesel motor home, I would be looking at one of these.
Jim

frankdamp · 01-13-2016, 10:31 AM

Diesel engines are heavy for their power output and can be awful LOUD. When I was diving transit we had a small number of Ford E450 "cutaway" coaches. You needed ear protection when driving them. The agency replaced them with Chevy cutaways and that diesel is much quieter.

YC1 · 01-13-2016, 01:37 PM

Just returned from the Tampa RV show. I was stunned to find two Holiday Rambler pushers with a mid entry door.

What really amazed me was the normal front door entry of the Holiday Ramblers and Monacos was terrible. They have protruded the dash in so far that it is a squeeze to get by the front seat. It would need to be rotated to face backwards and then slid that direction to make it easy. When it is facing forward the entry was very tight and uncomfortable.

I did try to slide two of them back and they were already back as far as possible.

cbeierl · 01-13-2016, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 427ford

Interesting. One thing that bugs me about the DP is the passenger seat is farther back, due to the steps. Also, I'd think a front light truck diesel would work well in place of a gas V8/V10. I have a diesel in my pickup truck..works well.

This may be true of some DPs, but certainly not all. As far as I know all Winnebago/Itasca DPs have the passenger seat even with the driver seat, for instance.

Scatterbrain · 01-13-2016, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RV Vagabond

I don't see any space saving with a front bus style door. Wherever you put the door, it will take up 24 to 30 inches and a baggage compartment could be put up front as well. A door could easily fit between 2 slides.

The difference being that the 24 inches of space my entry steps take up serve double duty as the passenger foot well when driving.

Meanwhile, you can't have pass through storage in the front because of the generator, yet with a front door you can have pass through storage throughout the center of the coach.

Dutch Star Don · 01-13-2016, 02:02 PM

"docj"....There will ALWAYS be a motor home where something has been done differently, but for the 99.9% of them that I was talking about, the generator was placed up front.

docj · 01-13-2016, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

"docj"....There will ALWAYS be a motor home where something has been done differently, but for the 99.9% of them that I was talking about, the generator was placed up front.

Actually, I think the front generator was a trend that started around 2000 or shortly thereafter. I don't think you will see many of them in older MH's. My MH was a SMC product and I don't think any of them had front genny's until after SMC was acquired by Monaco. I think your estimate of >99% may be true of current MHs but is not necessarily accurate for older ones.

Papa_Jim · 01-13-2016, 05:01 PM

Our coach has the front door. My wife and I think it's just plain stupid. The only reason we can think of for a front door is that it's the way buses are built, so this looks the most like a bus. Every time we want to go into the coach, we have to start at the very front and proceed down through the entire coach. It's a real pain when we're preparing food in the kitchen while BBQing outside. To our minds, mid door makes the absolute most sense. Plus, the mid door is under the big awning. I think that's a real plus!

Jim

427ford · 01-13-2016, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Papa_Jim

Our coach has the front door. My wife and I think it's just plain stupid. The only reason we can think of for a front door is that it's the way buses are built, so this looks the most like a bus. Every time we want to go into the coach, we have to start at the very front and proceed down through the entire coach. It's a real pain when we're preparing food in the kitchen while BBQing outside. To our minds, mid door makes the absolute most sense. Plus, the mid door is under the big awning. I think that's a real plus!

Jim

Very good points, Jim.

Dr4Film · 01-13-2016, 05:52 PM

I love a diesel pusher because it's quiet and we can carry on a conversation or listen to the radio without all of that engine noise under your feet.

I love a diesel pusher because of the amount of engine torque the diesel has versus a gas coach.

A gas pusher would be a slug and a hog to own. Don't want either a gas pusher or a puller. I owned a gas coach for my first coach. It was a 1992 Airstream Landyacht 36 foot long with a mid-entry door and a 454 Chevy big block. No power, too noisy and hard to control while descending grades.

WRT to the door location there are front entry and mid entry floor-plans in both diesel and gas coaches. It's all a matter of personal choice and preferences for a specific floor-plan that will work for you.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

flaggship1 · 01-13-2016, 06:09 PM

I view the front door on DPs as a positive. For me the space in front of the seats is not "living space". It can be storage space as someone pointed out ^^. But as "non-living" space the door doesn't take away a wall, counter space, etc., and the Floorplan isn't challenged to fit in or around the door. Since Floorplan is so important - where the door is located is a natural point of discussion and varrying opinion.

As for having the engine in the rear. Quite - and no engine to shorten steering cut. I think that's less of issue with front engines today. But 55 degrees or more is nice.

It always come down to Floorplan and the hunt. Once you know what you want you can more than likely find it.

TonyMac · 01-13-2016, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Papa_Jim

Our coach has the front door. My wife and I think it's just plain stupid. The only reason we can think of for a front door is that it's the way buses are built, so this looks the most like a bus. Every time we want to go into the coach, we have to start at the very front and proceed down through the entire coach. It's a real pain when we're preparing food in the kitchen while BBQing outside. To our minds, mid door makes the absolute most sense. Plus, the mid door is under the big awning. I think that's a real plus!

Jim

Ditto. I love my 06 40'dp mid entry. My parents have a 92 dp with the mid entry so maybe I was predisposed. Without the front door, the copliot has a big side window with no pillars or hole to drop into, and she can leave all her crap in front of her recliner, where there is no hole. The storage bay that was a where my mid steps are, is now in front of the curbside front tire, no loss of storage, that's bs. I don't have or need a seperate awning for the front door. When you come in the door, the fridge is right there, so is the kitchen, not halfway back the coach. And nobody's tracking all the way back into the coach to use the head, it's basically aft of the fridge. The olny reason to walk half the distance of the coach is to get to the pilot seat or the bedroom, and from the entry door, it's impossible to walk the full length of the coach, everything is less than half the coach away. And when you're really f-f-f-faced, and walking back to your coach on your hands and knees and chin, just aim at the center of mass, that's where the door is. With a front door and seeing double, you could miss the whole thing. Just saying....

southernlady · 01-14-2016, 06:27 AM

Do the ones that have a mid entry door have a step cover for it? Or is it wide open all the time?

I am glad we have a front entry, it does have the wheel cover and I worry about accidentally stepping in the well and breaking something. When parked and closed up for the night, we raise the step cover so neither of us hurt ourselves.