Alpine Coach newbie questions

[Alpine36]

Originally Posted by Rod Fosback

Pudgy,

We went from a 11' Snow River pickup camper to a 2005 36' FDDS(Front Door Double Slide), the slides are on the driver side, it has the ISL 400 HP with 1200FTlbs of Torque, Alison 3000 trans, 115 Gallons of Diesel, 100 Gallons of Fresh water, 100 Gallons Grey, 75 Gallons Black, 10K towing, Queen bed length wise and access to the engine underneath, lots of storage under the coach, I average 7-10 MPH depending on speed/wind directions.
We tow a 2016 F150(5600LB) or a 20' boat (5000LB).
We absolutely love the coach, we have done several upgrades, Inverter to a true sign wave Magnum, had all the tile removed and laminate installed.
When we started looking we did the same as you, determined what we were looking for and then what manufacturer fit with our wants, remember they are older coaches and need TLC which is NOT cheap

If you find one and its not close there might be someone on here that would go and look for you.

I agree completely, your getting solid advice Pudgy.
We went from a terrible handling class C “Mini” to our 2000 36FDS. We must have looked at and test drove a hundred other diesel pushers from various manufacturers. Most had their share of “issues” or didn’t pass Colleen’s sniff test. Now that’s awkward…telling an owner your not interested after one minute of tire kicking…all she had to do was give me the look.
You all know the look lol.

When we walked inside our current coach we both looked at each other and said hey, we like this. After the test drive we were sold.
Don’t be shy of one with an ISC, either 330 or 350hp. They run just fine if all your towing is a 5000lb vehicle.

But having the ISL without Vansco would be my first choice if we had to replace ours tomorrow. The only bad thing about owning an Alpine is it really raises the quality expectation bar to the next level. I won’t say what brand(s) of RVs our travel companions own, but I will say we both notice the lack of quality in most of them.
Good luck in your search.

[Mitimet]

Originally Posted by Alpine36

I agree completely, your getting solid advice Pudgy.
We went from a terrible handling class C “Mini” to our 2000 36FDS. We must have looked at and test drove a hundred other diesel pushers from various manufacturers. Most had their share of “issues” or didn’t pass Colleen’s sniff test. Now that’s awkward…telling an owner your not interested after one minute of tire kicking…all she had to do was give me the look.
You all know the look lol.

When we walked inside our current coach we both looked at each other and said hey, we like this. After the test drive we were sold.
Don’t be shy of one with an ISC, either 330 or 350hp. They run just fine if all your towing is a 5000lb vehicle.

But having the ISL without Vansco would be my first choice if we had to replace ours tomorrow. The only bad thing about owning an Alpine is it really raises the quality expectation bar to the next level. I won’t say what brand(s) of RVs our travel companions own, but I will say we both notice the lack of quality in most of them.
Good luck in your search.

I went from a 1990 Ford F350 and a huge Lance camper to our 2000 36FDS 330HP. If it helps it had 60k miles and got it for $43K. I knew nothing about DP but the moment I saw the ad I fell in love. My wife is disabled from a bad back and the upper bed in the camper wasn't doing anymore. Went to look at it within a week, bought it within 2 weeks. Even the seller who belonged to the Alpine club bragged that he sold it in 2 weeks. Ive done a couple of car show trips pulling a 24ft enclosed trailer with 2 Subaru 360's; 5K lbs. Came with a very detailed log book of all outings and plenty of receipts. We've had it for 5 years now and she's been great.
Good luck, Mark

[Pudgy Camper]

Thanks everyone for your input, it's very helpful!

What years came with the ISL? Was it after 2000? There's a 2000 36FDDS for sell on RV Trader but the ad isn't very descriptive. It appears to be a good deal for a pretty nice coach.

[bcbowers]

I believe the ISL engine was an option starting in 2002 thru 2003. I also believe it became standard in 2004.

[paul65k]

Originally Posted by bcbowers

I believe the ISL engine was an option starting in 2002 thru 2003. I also believe it became standard in 2004.

ISL became available in late 2002 MY coaches. The 2002-2004 or early 2005 model ISLs still under the CAPS pumps as used on the ISC motors but sometime in 2005 these were upgraded to the preferred Direct Rail fuel delivery systems I believe.