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Old 03-21-2007, 08:19 AM   #1
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I have located a 2002 DSDP Model 3852. Appears to be in good condition with all service records. My concern is that it is built on the Freightliner chassis with a Cat 330. We will be spending a fair amount of time in the mountains of CO and WY. I am concerned that this combination will be very underpowered as compared to the same MH on a Spartan/Cummins 350 chassis.

Any opinions would be much appreciated.
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Old 03-21-2007, 08:19 AM   #2
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I have located a 2002 DSDP Model 3852. Appears to be in good condition with all service records. My concern is that it is built on the Freightliner chassis with a Cat 330. We will be spending a fair amount of time in the mountains of CO and WY. I am concerned that this combination will be very underpowered as compared to the same MH on a Spartan/Cummins 350 chassis.

Any opinions would be much appreciated.
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Old 03-21-2007, 09:11 AM   #3
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Hi Tucson Bill and welcome to posting on iRV2. Look for the torque of the engine as well as the HP. I can not comment directly on the coah you are considering. However, my signature coach may be a good comparison. The street weight of my coach is 29K lbs. We pull a towed with a street weight of 5074 lbs. That puts me at 34K lbs with the HP and torque you see in my signature. I have not had this coach in the Rocky Mountains. I have driven all over the Eastern USA, including many crossings of the mountains from Georgia to Pennsylvania. My coach will not set any up hill speed records, but I do pass trucks, on these hills and am usually the fastest vehicle in the slow lane. This is under the assumption that I keep my momentum up. If I get trapped and loose built up momentum, then patience is the key word of the day. In this case, I will be with the trucks. I will have to power to pass, but usually will not since it takes too much fuel, I would block the fast lane as I slowly pass the trucks and I am in no hurry. I hope this helps you.
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Old 03-21-2007, 09:20 AM   #4
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Thanks for the info Gary! As memory serves, the Cat 330 is rated at 850 lb/ft of torque. That is what has me concerned. There are some pretty good pulls up in CO, for instance, I-70 westbound out of Denver. There are a lot of miles of 6% or steeper grades there.

Bill
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Old 03-21-2007, 10:05 AM   #5
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Bill,

I used to travel those grades with a gas Kountry Star that had 450 lb/ft of torque. Sometimes I was down to 1st gear at 28 mph, but it got the job done. This was slower than I liked, but we got there.

Now with 1200 lb/ft of torque, we run the same grades with ease- as long as we keep up momentum.

I think you would be ok with 850 lb/ft.

For your consideration:

'03 KSCA- 22000lbs= 20.45 lb/ft per 1k pounds

Your DSDP- 30000lbs est= 28.33lb/ft per 1k lbs (get it weighed- if it scaled at 28000lbs the ratio would be 30.35 lb/ft per 1k lbs)

Our DSDP- 32000lbs= 37.5 lb/ft per 1k lbs

These are the numbers without a toad.
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Old 03-21-2007, 10:26 AM   #6
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My '04 Discovery had a 330 Cat. Scaled all hills fine w/a toad. I'm sure more horsepower would make it easier, but, if the coach is in great shape, I wouldn't make the engine a stopper.
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Old 03-21-2007, 11:15 AM   #7
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Don't forget that all those horses, jusk like the 4-legged kind, want to be fed and exercised whether you need them or not. It's well and good to say thay you babyfoot the loud pedal, but it's easy to stand on it and make the fuel gage plummet. If you don't have 'em, you don't have to feed 'em. For the small amount of time you actually spend climbing big hills compared to the time you spend on level ground and compared to the time you spend stationary, if the coach feels good to you (and more importantly, HER), do it and smile.
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Old 03-22-2007, 07:48 AM   #8
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Touson Bill: Be careful of the recalls. The Dometic has a recall as listed under 2002 Newmar DSDP on the NHSTA website. You may want to check out Freightliner recalls also.

A Cat 330HP comes in models 3126, 3126E and C7. do not assume what is on the Newmar specs for 2002 is the one on the 2002 DSDP. Talk to CAT.

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Old 03-23-2007, 06:57 AM   #9
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Thanks to all that replied! Some good info here. Turns out the dealer was a little misinformed. The unit is a 2001 DSDP 3852. Originally had a 300 HP Cat, but I saw a sheet from Cat that says the engine was reprogrammed for 330HP/860 lb/ft. The unit appears to be in great shape, well taken care of. Tires and batteries less than a year old. Drove it the other day and it handles very well. Going to take DW to take a look at it today.
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