Detroit diesels

[Lumberguy]

Looking at a 2014 with a DD13 500hp Detroit....not familiar with this in a motor home...lots in big sportfishers but don't know if I've ever seen one in a 45' pusher ...opinions out there o wise ones

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by Lumberguy

Looking at a 2014 with a DD13 500hp Detroit....not familiar with this in a motor home...lots in big sportfishers but don't know if I've ever seen one in a 45' pusher ...opinions out there o wise ones

Lumberguy,
Well Sir, while I can't attest to them in a motorhome, I can seriously vouch for them in ALL of our Fire trucks. We had no less than 40-50 Series 60 Detroits in our rigs from about '90 on. Our engines, (Fire engine that is) came with the 425 HP versions while our Trucks (the ones with 100' Arial ladders and all the rescue equipment mounted on them) came with the 500HP versions.

Those engines were outstanding. We'd ran Cummins and a few CATs before those and, while both of them worked, they really didn't hold a candle to the those newer Detroits. We also had a whole series of Detroit "Vs" too. As in, 6V-53, 8V-71 and 8V-92 and Silver 92 Series. Those were SCREAMIN' fire engines to say the least. Well, all except the 6V-53. Those were a crackup. They were so loud that you'd wake people up in the next area code when you fired one of those fire trucks up.

But, I'd give my I-teeth to have a series 60 500HP inserted in our present coach , an '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with the C-7 330HP CAT. You won't have a bit of trouble with that engine. It's a very, very well proven engine. For my 30 year career, I was closely tied in with our repair facility and, all the techs that worked on our fire trucks. We had very little issues with those Detroit series 60 engines. The earlier version V-8 models, well, yeah, those were a different animal. But, you'd be just fine with that Detroit.
Scott
Scott

[tizzyfit]

Years ago I owned a 42' powerboat with twin Johnson & Towers Detroit 250hp diesel engines. Great performance and, all considered, decent fuel efficiency. Averaged 1 gallon of diesel burned per 1 nautical mile @ 10 knots cruise speed. I sure wouldn't shy away from a diesel pusher with a Detroit engine, based on my experience with them in a boat.

[Steve Ownby]

Originally Posted by Lumberguy

Looking at a 2014 with a DD13 500hp Detroit....not familiar with this in a motor home...lots in big sportfishers but don't know if I've ever seen one in a 45' pusher ...opinions out there o wise ones

Monaco used DD Series 60 engine’s as an option in some of their top end coaches. I believe those were 14 liter engines. They were always well liked by their owners. They aren’t economy champs.

[Cat320]

American Coach put DD 13s in the 45' coaches for a year or two. There are not that many in motor homes, but the LTL drivers love them. Met a guy who owns a trucking company and has 50 DD 13s in his fleet, he says they are great all around engines. A few negatives...my old American Allegiance, on a Spartan, had a filter bay, the last one, curb side, so I could sit on a stool and change the two fuel filters. This coach, on a Freightliner, has all three filters on the engine, accessible only by removing the engine cover in the bedroom of the coach and reaching down from above. Where I could change them on the Allegiance, I couldn't even find them on the Freightliner. The big water/fuel separator can be reached by raising the access door on the rear of the coach. Parts (mainly filters) are very hard to locate, other than at a Freightliner dealer. As an example, the oil filter has 11 letters and numbers...you can find lots of filters on line on all the parts sites, but it's hard to find the exact one, which it must be or it won't fit. I finally gave up and bought it at the dealer's. I had the dealer change the three fuel filters and the water/fuel separator...it was $351, and that include a $12 up charge for using my credit card.

The exact numbers are 500 HP, 12.8L and 1,650 ft/lbs of torque. Plenty of Freightliner dealers for service...my closest dealer charges and extra $10/hour for MHs...from $125 and hour to $135/hour.

It runs good, no problems there. I would not hesitate to get another one.

[dverstra]

In the short time that I have had mine (9 months) , I'm liking mine.

[dons2346]

I would love to have a Detroit. More so if it was in a Prevost conversion

[1doodadd]

I would take a Series 60 over Any Cummins product. Drove one in a 3 axle Peterbilt for several years and had over 1,000,000 miles on it. It had been rebuilt after rolling over 900,000 miles. Just make sure the right shop works on it and adjusts the Jake brake if it has one. Always used Delaney and Ahlf in Bakersfield to work on ours. Best shop for the Detroit product in California

[mike brez]

We have a baby series 40 in ours.