Workhorse vs Fred

[caracio]

We are going to order a 2010 Tiffin Allegro 35QBA. This coach can be made on either a Workhorse 7.0L chassis of a Freighliner front engine diesel. We will be towing a full size 1500 Sierra GMC pickup.
Can anyone give me insights about power, performance, economy between the two choices.

[RandD]

Hi Caraicio and welcome to the IRV2 forum. You will find a wealth of knowledge here and a bunch of very nice people.

Being a wantabe Tiffin owner (we are looking for the right Class-A for us and Tiffin is at the top of our list) this is nothing against Tiffin - but, please consider your choice wisely from a towing perspective. The 2010 Sierra 1500's lightest curb weight is a bit over 4500lb. That leaves 500lb to the hitch rating of 5,000lb for any cargo. Also, neither the Workhorse or Freightliner FRED chassis can safely tow that truck if you load the motorhome to max Gross Vehicle weight. The 2010 35QBA Workhorse can only tow 4,000 LB and the FRED only 2,000LB loaded to max GVWR so you are going to need to watch your weight carefully! You also might want to consider a lighter toad. The sad part is my choice between the gas and Diesel would be the FRED for the torque and what should be a bit better fuel mileage.

I believe that the limiting factor in the FRED is the transmission and unless you can fit all of your 'stuff' in to the rig and not go over the GCWR rating with your toad, you may have issues down the road.

The Tiffin web site is not listing the general weight of the unit as delivered and I suggest that you discuss this with your dealer. They can get you weights of similar units from Tiffin so you can make an informed decision.

I hope this information helps you decide - either way, Tiffin makes a great motorhome and they understand what customer service is!

[Ken Lenger]

As noted above, the CCC is a significant problem with the 35QBA. We looked at getting a 35QBA FRED, but someone else picked it up before we could make a deal. While researching it, I wasn't sure what to do for a toad, but knew it would have to be a light weight vehicle and we would need to load the RV very light. Ended up with a 32BA instead, which avoided all of the weight problems, but don't have near the room as the 35QBA.

Have you looked at the RED 38 bunk model? It's really sweet, but may still have some CCC issues.

[paz]

The Workhorse chassis is currently using an 8.1L engine, not 7.0. The Ford is using a 6.8. The 8.1 will have enough power to tow a full-size pickup, but as others have said, you need to consider the GVWR and the GCWR.

The Workhorse, Ford, and FRED all have the same GCWR of 26,000 lbs, but the FRED has a GVWR of 24,000 lbs rather than 22,000 that the Ford and Workhorse have. IMO, a GVWR of 22,000 is insufficient for a 35' motorhome with 4 slides no matter what toad you're going to pull. The FRED will be inherently a little heavier because of the diesel engine, but your net CCC will still be a lot higher with the FRED. However, loading the motorhome up to its maximum GVWR will limit your toad weight.

As others have suggested, you may want to consider a lighter toad. A full-size pickup (especially if it's 4WD and/or extended cab) will also be in danger of exceeding the 5,000 lb hitch capacity of just about any gasser. The curb weight listed for vehicles is without options and without fluids. A full tank of gas alone will add at least 125 lbs.

[Bob (WA0MQE)]

I agree with each of these responses to your question. Don't make the mistake many of us have. These coaches are too heavy for their engine/transmission combinations, especially when considering a tow vehicle. I have the 8.1 w/Allison 5-speed on my coach and when I was pulling a 4,000 lb pickup it was all it could do to pull up a slight hill, even when the coach was lightly loaded. Forget about it at all if you were going into a headwind. I finally got rid of the pickup and now tow a trailer w/Smart Car on it. Total weight is 2300lbs. It was like adding two more cylinders to the motor.