Monaco vs Holiday Rambler?

[wjijr]

Originally Posted by cbr46

We're searching for a class A upgrade and keep coming back to Monaco & Holiday Rambler. Is this like a Lexus / Toyota thing where one is identical to the other but more nicely appointed?

Early - Mid 2000's is about the best we can justify.

And then models in our price / dimension range . . . Cayman (Neptune), Knight (Ambassador) and ? (Endeavor). I listed in increasing weight / HP which seems to correlate to how nice they are.

Can someone help describe the general make & model differences?

Yes, I've looked at brochures for all of them and picking out the details is . . . very detailed. Sorta like not seeing the forest because all the trees are in the way. But gotta thank the manufacturers for their excellent archives.

We're looking for something fairly easy to drive (compared to an F53 gasser in a 20 mph headwind), quiet HVAC (big points for heat pump), decent temperature insulation and somewhat immune from outside noises. We'll boondock in cow pastures, glamp some State parks and sometimes sit in an RV park.

It seems the Cayman / Neptune doesn't offer all that, but the Endeavor covers all the bases at the cost of a fuel chomping Cummins ISC engine.

We know many state parks have a 35 ft limit . . . . forget that! We don't want to limit our choices to 34 ft coaches. 36 or 38 seem to be a good sizes.


And what's with the 6 digit # on HR Neptune front and rear caps?

Ok, I'm rambling . . .

Looking forward to hearing some comments, and thank you in advance.

Best,
- bob

HR and Monaco were once independent, but like many others, they have been bought and sold many times over and they are now owned by the same parent company, REV Recreation Group. With the newer models you will find many design similarities on all motorhomes in the REV Recreation Group family of motorhomes.

There are many manufacturers out there that you might want to look at:

. Newmar - recently purchased by Winnebago
. Tiffin - recently purchased by Thor

Look at a lot of manufacturers and models to see what feature function you want in the motorhome, then decide the floorplan and length you want, then the drivetrain and finally the manufacturer.

I have a 2013 Newmar Ventana 4018. It is a little over 40' long with a 5' motorcycle lift, so 45'. I never had any issues with be too long for a campground.

[Endeavor40]

This thread seems to have gotten slightly off topic but....back to your original question. In the years you stated, HR and Monaco are identical coaches with different badges. Companies do this so they can have a dealer with Monaco 1 mile away from a dealer with HR that are selling technically the same thing.

[harleyjt]

Holiday Rambler was actually owned by Harley-Davidson from 1986 to 1996 when it was purchased by Monaco.
jt

[Mutt]

The high milage coach, 10+ mpg, may have had the upgrade that some folks purchased a few years ago. As I understand, the 330 engine was upgraded by a company that changed the exhaust, fuel pressure system, turbo and maybe the injectors. This is what I remember reading. The folks who had it done were really impressed with their improved fuel milage. I think they were paying about $3 to $4 thousand for the improvements. I don't travel enough to justify that kind of investment. So, I still get 8+ mpg. FWIW.

[Scooter363y]

I know that it is hard to believe but I can get close to 10 mpg and sometimes over 10. Defiantly without a trailer . Last summer I went to tow races without the trailer a total of 450 miles and it took 43 gals to fill up. I had also ran the generator for about 4 hours at the track.

I don’t drive fast, usually between 55 and 65 mph and no faster than 67 in short stretch. The coach is right at 30,000 lbs gas and water filled. I was under it today and noticed the muffler was replaced with a smaller unit. There was. About 2 inches between the clamps and the muffler. But I did notice a couple of holes in it. I thought it was getting louder! Something else to get fixed.

It does drop to about 8.5-9 under certain conditions, hills and headwinds.

I do like the outside the box thinking of the chassis. The frame and suspension design is brilliant. The placement of the 8 airbag suspension keeps the ride Cadillac smooth. We put new Billstien shocks, new Michelin tires, and centramatic balancers shortly after we got it. That was money well spent.

It seems to run better the more we drive it. We had all the fluids and filters changed shortly after we got the rig. I think it wasn’t used very much in the 2-3 years before we got it so I think the miles we put on it helped loosen things up.

Rv safe
Scooter