Community Forums

youracman · 05-05-2015, 09:08 PM

I have been looking at CCs for sale for some time, but still learning. SOooo, if a CC has a Dynomax chassis, does it "automatically" have IFS ....... ....regardless of model (or year)?

I have read online where the Dynomax is CC's proprietary chassis, implemented after Gillig left the RV market; and where all Dynomax after 2000 are IFS: but what about the 98, and 99 years?

BTW- My profile would indicate I am a CC owner (I think) but I made an error somewhere when I registered. I am actually a CC or Foretravel owner "wannabe".

TIA.... Ed S in Denver

**CountryFit** · 05-05-2015, 09:13 PM

ed, not all cc's are ifs equipped. only starting 2000, cc's are; 98 and 99's are not. gillig had been used up to 1997.

dons2346 · 05-05-2015, 10:30 PM

I would not let the coach not having IFS stop me from buying one. Still a great coach without it and there are a lot of them on the road.

Mr_D · 05-05-2015, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dons2346

I would not let the coach not having IFS stop me from buying one. Still a great coach without it and there are a lot of them on the road.

Agree!

mike brez · 05-06-2015, 06:29 AM

I had my heart set on a coach with ifs. We drove a few dozen coaches and it was hard for me to tell what chassis was under us if not impossible. We ended up with a 1998 on a Gillig solid axel. You will get a much greater wheel cut with the ifs.

Peralko · 05-06-2015, 09:03 AM

I've found there is little difference in ride with the IFS. The main difference is the sharper turning radius.

Mr_D · 05-10-2015, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peralko

I've found there is little difference in ride with the IFS. The main difference is the sharper turning radius.

When we ordered our 2000 Dutch Star I had a chance to drive two different ones, one with a FL chassis and beam axle the other was a Spartan with IFS. I could feel the difference but it was very slight. On a washboard road the IFS was slightly smoother.
Either will get the job done and there are millions of Class 8 trucks out there with beam axles and they do just fine.

youracman · 05-10-2015, 11:08 PM

Many thanks for the responses. Sounds like the OTR handling differences are very minor. I was just thinking that backing into a campsite would be a little easier with IFS...........have read where a 40ft with IFS will maneuver about like a 36ft with with a beam axle.

The 36ft I was interested in had a beam axle. I called within a few days of his posting and it had been sold. The guy said "I swear, I coulda sold 10 of 'em!" Congrats to him.

I'll keep looking and methinks either IFS or beam axle will be just fine.

Safe travels............. Ed S.

**CountryFit** · 05-10-2015, 11:52 PM

well, while on the road traveling you may not feel differences, the big advantage of ifs is the small turning radius. when i was purchasing mine, i had a chance to test a few with and without ifs. at a large cul de sac, i had to do 3 maneuvers to turn around a 97 40' cc (gillig chassis without ifs), but was able to drive out a 2000 40' cc directly without back and forth.
good luck with your finding.

CoCoDave · 05-12-2015, 08:41 AM

Our 42' with tag axle and IFS Country Coach is more maneuverable than our 38' Monaco Windsor with no tag and no IFS.

There's a campground where we like to spend our last night on the road when returning home. It has a tight turn on the narrow path to exit the park. It was always a white-knuckle exercise to get the Windsor out of there without inappropriately touching anything.

With the current coach I can just drive out like we were on regular streets.

Same thing in my driveway. The Windsor required more to'ing and fro'ing to get turned around.

One thing that the Windsor had that the Affinity does not is longer mirror mounting arms. That enabled me to see the front tires well enough to pull right up to curbs/barriers/edges/etc. without touching. That was a big help in tight spots but that's a different topic.

FWIW

Smitty77 · 05-12-2015, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoCoDave

Our 42' with tag axle and IFS Country Coach is more maneuverable than our 38' Monaco Windsor with no tag and no IFS.

There's a campground where we like to spend our last night on the road when returning home. It has a tight turn on the narrow path to exit the park. It was always a white-knuckle exercise to get the Windsor out of there without inappropriately touching anything.

With the current coach I can just drive out like we were on regular streets.

Same thing in my driveway. The Windsor required more to'ing and fro'ing to get turned around.

One thing that the Windsor had that the Affinity does not is longer mirror mounting arms. That enabled me to see the front tires well enough to pull right up to curbs/barriers/edges/etc. without touching. That was a big help in tight spots but that's a different topic.

FWIW

In addition to the IFS turning cut being a great aid in tight maneuvering, the tag really helps too. The Drive Axle is set closer to the front the on non tag. This allows the tighter turning radius, with the caution of looking a bit closer at the tail swing.

All things being equal, I'd go for IFS. However, I'd go with coach condition and how well the livability of the coach itself - would be more important then IFS of Solid Axle.

Best to all,
Smitty

mike brez · 05-12-2015, 04:20 PM

I just noticed you are looking at foretravel. Aren't most of them solid axel?

Mr_D · 05-12-2015, 04:27 PM

Our 45' Magna with liftable tag has about a 13" longer wheelbase than our 40' non-tag Dutch Star and the difference is noticeable when trying to get in beside the house. The DSDP had a 55° wheel cut and the Magna is supposed to be 56°.

SteveLevin · 05-12-2015, 07:04 PM

It might be true for Dynomax chassis that the IFS are all tighter cuts than the solid axles, but it's not a hard and fast rule overall. My Spartan IC chassis has a Reyco front end and just a 45 degree cut...

Steve