Allegro Bay

[Massparanoia]

My wife and I are looking at picking up a used RV. We found a 2001 allegro bay 36' on a ford chassis. It has 43k miles and is one owner. Older adult owned, husband lost his ability to drive.

It seems in excellent condition. Is there anything specific to watch out for on these? Or with the ford class a in general?

Thanks!

[Paramedic 1]

OK...how much RVing experience do you have???....how mechanically inclined are you....can you fix "stuff" yourself?? My wife and I had a 2000 40 Allegro Bus DP with 44k miles....and we liked it...BUT....you had better be handy or be ready to pay someone else to fix things. It is part of the RV lifestyle....something is ALWAYS breaking or going wrong or needing fixed...plan on it. I spent 40 years on the railroad as a machinist so fixing things was really no issue...just an annoyance....RVing is NOT for everyone...we found this out. But it does sound like a good rig and Tiffin makes great MH's and their costumer service is great....and if you can get into this rig for a good price then try it and see how YOU like it....good luck....PS...Diesels and gassers are two totally different MH's...we really liked the diesel and friends that have gassers really like our diesel....pro's and con's...I prefer a diesel...JMHO

[vsheetz]

One owner is great. Have maintenance records? Has it been sitting for long? Age of tires- they age out before they wear out. Age of batteries? Televisions original tube type or have they been updated? Allocate a couple few thousand dollars for upgrades and unexpected needs.

[Massparanoia]

Originally Posted by vsheetz

One owner is great. Have maintenance records? Has it been sitting for long? Age of tires- they age out before they wear out. Age of batteries? Televisions original tube type or have they been updated? Allocate a couple few thousand dollars for upgrades and unexpected needs.

They've got records since they bought it new. Brakes were done all the way around and new tires put on last year. TV's have been updated to LED and they put a Winegard satellite system in. All batteries were replaced 2 years ago. It's been sitting at their son's house since last september under a car port. They told me that they've taken it out at least once every other week, and have run the generator a few hours a week as well.

[Massparanoia]

Originally Posted by Paramedic 1

OK...how much RVing experience do you have???....how mechanically inclined are you....can you fix "stuff" yourself?? My wife and I had a 2000 40 Allegro Bus DP with 44k miles....and we liked it...BUT....you had better be handy or be ready to pay someone else to fix things. It is part of the RV lifestyle....something is ALWAYS breaking or going wrong or needing fixed...plan on it. I spent 40 years on the railroad as a machinist so fixing things was really no issue...just an annoyance....RVing is NOT for everyone...we found this out. But it does sound like a good rig and Tiffin makes great MH's and their costumer service is great....and if you can get into this rig for a good price then try it and see how YOU like it....good luck....PS...Diesels and gassers are two totally different MH's...we really liked the diesel and friends that have gassers really like our diesel....pro's and con's...I prefer a diesel...JMHO

Haven't been RV'ing in years. Used to go when I was younger with my parents and had a blast. Now that I have kids I want to get them into the lifestyle. As far as fixing stuff, I'm pretty mechanically inclined. Have my Class A cdl, used to run heavy equipment. Work on all my vehicles etc. Owner has it listed for $28k, gonna go see it saturday and see if he's willing to negotiate some.

[vettenuts]

Not too familiar with the Ford chassis but some of the earlier motors had spark plug thread issues. Might be worth some research in the Ford chassis forum.

[LarrytheBear]

Sounds like you have the needed skills to enjoy a motorhome!
Drive it, check it out thoroughly, negotiate what you can and buy it if it suits you.

We really like our 2006 Allegro Bay 37DB. Ours has the Chevy 8.1 Vortec with about 38,000 miles on it so I don't know about the Ford. We have owned it a little over two years and recently I took drawers out and panels off to be sure I had gotten rid of all the mouse feces (one mouse can make a lot of poop) and I have been really impressed with the behind the counter and out of site build. Over all, the house, systems and chassis quality has been great.

[Massparanoia]

Originally Posted by LarrytheBear

Sounds like you have the needed skills to enjoy a motorhome!
Drive it, check it out thoroughly, negotiate what you can and buy it if it suits you.

We really like our 2006 Allegro Bay 37DB. Ours has the Chevy 8.1 Vortec with about 38,000 miles on it so I don't know about the Ford. We have owned it a little over two years and recently I took drawers out and panels off to be sure I had gotten rid of all the mouse feces (one mouse can make a lot of poop) and I have been really impressed with the behind the counter and out of site build. Over all, the house, systems and chassis quality has been great.

I've heard that the Tiffins are pretty good quality. I have heard about the Triton engines and spark plugs, but I believe that was limited to the very early engines. You are right about mice, they are poop factories!

[Massparanoia]

Originally Posted by vettenuts

Not too familiar with the Ford chassis but some of the earlier motors had spark plug thread issues. Might be worth some research in the Ford chassis forum.

I've looked into the Triton engine spark plug issues. It's not limited to just the V10. From what I've read, its only common on the very early ones.

[cpr_vbg]

We had a 2000 Allegro 33 foot on a Ford chassis. We had to replace all that you mentioned was replaced in the past two years (tires, batteries, tv's). Engine is strong. Handling can be an issue. Check the shocks, if never replaced, they need to be replaced. Also check out the "cheap handling fix" thread in the Ford Chassis section. I also added air bags to level the coach when on the road which also helped the ride. Tiffin Motorhomes has good service support even years after the coach was built. I even got a replacement decal for the front cap from them. If you like the coach, layout and are confident of the service records and good price it should be worth buying.

[Massparanoia]

Originally Posted by cpr_vbg

We had a 2000 Allegro 33 foot on a Ford chassis. We had to replace all that you mentioned was replaced in the past two years (tires, batteries, tv's). Engine is strong. Handling can be an issue. Check the shocks, if never replaced, they need to be replaced. Also check out the "cheap handling fix" thread in the Ford Chassis section. I also added air bags to level the coach when on the road which also helped the ride. Tiffin Motorhomes has good service support even years after the coach was built. I even got a replacement decal for the front cap from them. If you like the coach, layout and are confident of the service records and good price it should be worth buying.

What shocks do you recommend for it? Are bilsteins available? Ive heard they're good.

[cpr_vbg]

Originally Posted by Massparanoia

What shocks do you recommend for it? Are bilsteins available? Ive heard they're good.

What shocks to install seems to always start a lively discussion.
I installed Monroe shocks on our 2000 Allegro in 2010 (when we bought it) as a direct replacement to what was on the chassis from the factory. The original shocks were all completely shot so anything was an improvement. If I had to do it again, I would probably install Bilsteins (which I installed on our current coach). There are a lot of threads on shocks in the Ford Chassis Forum.

[vincee]

I had a 2000 Allegro and loved it! The Ford V-10 pulled my wife's car on a dolly through out Vermont and Maine, including the northern part of the state where it gets quite hilly with ease. One thing I would recommend is a full wheel alignment, and by full I mean if the front end is out of align they heat and bend the solid front axle. I had that done on my Allegro, it cost me $500 around 2010, and it made an incredible difference in ride and handling, night and day type difference.

[FreedomDream]

Go for it and have fun!

If there are no leaks, check batteries and tire age.