2005 Holiday Rambler 36PDQ Neptune DP 300HP

[David LeMieux]

Trying to solicit some information on the above coach. We are looking to buy a new MH this spring and am enjoying doing the searching and kicking tires. Would like to get all info that I can regarding this coach. Is 300 HP big enough for this size coach..it does have 4 slides.
All info greatly appreciated....pros and cons.
Thanks, Dave

[David LeMieux]

Trying to solicit some information on the above coach. We are looking to buy a new MH this spring and am enjoying doing the searching and kicking tires. Would like to get all info that I can regarding this coach. Is 300 HP big enough for this size coach..it does have 4 slides.
All info greatly appreciated....pros and cons.
Thanks, Dave

[Dwain]

We have been kicking some DP tires as well, prefering the Monaco products over the other manufacturers. Proximity to the factory, construction of the coach and layout has been our primary focus. We currently are in our second Holiday Rambler, both of these being gassers.
For our purposes, we are looking at the 350 to 400 horse diesels, simply due to trailering requirements. We have this strange habit of dragging toys with us where ever we travel.
The gasser we have does do all we ask of her, just not a quick hill climber when it comes to the many passes here in the great northwest.

Monaco makes a great coach which they stand behind. The floorplans are well suited for our comfort. S,T and H do point out that anything you tow, the roads you travel and how much "stuff" you take with you will effect the performance of your coach. Bear in mind that the 40 footers were using the same engine, which increased to the 330 ending up with the current available 400 hp.

So many choices and considerations when shopping. You are wise to take your time when looking for the ideal coach.

[MonacoMama]

David LeMieux
First of all...welcome to thr iRV2 forum! I feel you have found the best RV forum on the web... You will find some of us here are pretty knowlegable..while others are not! (You should be able to differentiate the two groups fairly quickly )

As far as the rig you asked about...a friend of ours has a 40' Monaco Knight with the 330HP engine and loves it...so the 300HP on the 36'PDQ should be adequate - as long as you aren't pulling a heavy toad or racing up the mountains. You will NOT be the first one to the top and if you are always in hilly terrain...then this may not be suited for you.

The floorplan seems to be one of the more popular out there... or it is for the manufacturer...there are a lot of them out there...so it must be very livable!
Here is a link to that year Neptune in case you had not found it yet.

I do hope you find the perfect rig for you...and if it is a Monaco product...then you are certainly welsome to join our "Monaco family" here on iRV2!

Good Luck..and I hope this helped some!

MM

[MonacoMama]

Hey Dwain...
you should join the "Monaco Owners Forum" right now. If for some strange reason - you do not get another Monaco..then you can change...I would be honored to have you as a fellow member here!

MM

[David LeMieux]

Thanks to M/M for the link and the comments. To S,T and H, the coach is a H//R, Neptune 36PDQ very low mileage 2005 with a 300 HP Diesel. I plan on towing a Jeep Liberty which weighs close to 5K lbs. The wife really likes the fit and finish of the Monaco products, and I like what the forums have to say about Monaco. I also like what the forums have to say about DeMartini Sales. Should we decide not to purchase this coach, we will definately give DeMartini the opportunity to earn our business. Tks, Dave

[MonacoMama]

Glad we could help...Good Luck finding the right rig. The rig is rated at 7K towing capacity...so it should be fine with the Jeep. If you are like some people who are in a hurry to get there...then look at more HP and torque combination...but if you are like how I would like to be able to travel... enjoying the scenery and taking my time to get there ... then the rig you talked about is probably fine!
Let us know what you end up with!

MM

[Sixpack98]

The 300 HP ISB Cummins is a great engine. It is a little lite on the torque but on a 36' coach it should be ok for most of your travels. Pulling a 4000 lb vehicle will have some impact on performance as will some of the grades you might encounter but on the plus side your fuel economy will be great and you might see 10 mpg or a little better. I don't think the ISB would be a good choice for a 40' MH but a good engine for a 36' especially when you consider the cost of diesel fuel.

[abray]

I have that engine in a Cayman 36 footer, I am getting a little over the 10MPG mark while rolling around the 60 mark. Just came back from the West Virginia hills and had No problems with power but it did downshift a few times, OH well, that is what the trans is for. My toad is a little liter than yours (Saturn 200) but I am happy>

[Sixpack98]

you're right Abray, that is what the transmission if for. Better to keep the revs high than letting the engine lub. Another factor is cost of oil changes for the ISB. With gobs of Dodge Rams out there for the ISB parts and filters are cheaper than its big brothers. Plus, it takes less oil for an oil change.

[wdbates]

Dave
300hp cummins will be enough power even with pulling the Jeep Liberty. We had the 300hp/5speed in our last coach and it worked better than I expected and got very good mileage at just short of 9mpg at 65mph pulling a 2600lb toad for 12000 miles.
When we traded We bought the ISB 325hp cummins and the Alison 2500 world trans ony in the 6speed in a Monaco product and have even been more impressed with ride and handeling of the roadmaster chassis.
the 36pdq is very popular but make sure you can live with the CCCs of the coach..

[David LeMieux]

I would like to say thanks again for all of your contributions. The snow hasn't started to melt yet around here so I still have some time to kick some more tires.......Dave