Would love to hear from Pace Arrow owners

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vinnyinaz

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Apr 10, 2008
Posts
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Hi - I really like the look of the 2005-2008 Pace Arrows. I'm considering it for a couple of reasons. First, it's more affordable for us. Second, my wife wrecked her knee a number of years ago. She's not comfortable coming in the coach from in front of the passenger seat.

I'm really curious to hear how you feel about this model. Is it reliabe? Is it comfortable? Does it handle well? You know, all the usual stuff. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Vinny
 
I have a 93 Pace Arrow that I have owned for seven years and I love it. It is a well built coach. You don't say how long your coach is or how many axles, this definitely effects the handling on the road IMO.
longer coaches with just a single rear axle tend to wander a bit because of the rear end side to side movement due to long overhang. Perhaps the newer coaches are not as bad as the older ones.

Since you mention the side door entry I assume that the coach you are looking at is a gas model.

Woody
 
Pace's are excellent gas chassis motorhomes - lots of happy owners around. It's Fleetwoods top of the line gas model, so they are equipped pretty well.  The Southwind is very similar, essentially a sister model to the Pace, so take a look at those too.

Handle well? For a gas motorhome, yes. That doesn't mean it drives like the family car, but yes it handles decently. You might end up spending $400 or so on suspension mods later (a track bar is a common upgrade), but that's something to consider later if you feel it doesn't handle as well as you might hope.
 
When you get the Pace or any other coach if handling is not saisfactory get it weighed and inflate the tires correctly per the tire manufacturers inflation tables.  Improper tire inflation has been know to cause handling problems and is a simple fix.  Also some dealers have been known to over or under inflate tires when they deliver a coach.
 
Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for your input and yes Woody I am considering a gas rig. All of the input was great and I'm glad that it was very positive. I've been thinking of 35 -37 feet. Any other input anyone might have is always very appreciated.

Vinny
 
Mine is a 35' (actually 36' bumper to bumper but Fleetwood lists it at 35') and is a single axle. A buddy of mine had a 37' Southwind (same year) with dual rear axles and he didn't have any of the wandering problems I experienced.
I solved most of my problems by replacing the old bell cranks with new ones and adding a SuperSteer Trac Bar to the front suspension.
Ron is right about tire pressure, low pressure can increase any inherent tracking problems.

Woody
 
Thanks for the input Woody. When you talk about a double axle, you mean like an 18 wheeler has in the back? I was under the impression that only coaches over 40' had that.

I also read that if a coach is going to be over 35' you should consider diesel. I've seen a lot of used Pace Arrows in the 36-38 foot range. I'm leaning toward 36 or 37 since we're going full time. I want it to be comfortable for the both of us. Should be quite an adventure. Will the gas engine handle towing my car? It's small-just a Hyundai Sonata.

Thanks - Vinny
 
The 2nd rear axle on a motorhome is called a tag axle and is used to carry some of the weight.  It's not limited to only coaches over 40', but isn't usually needed on the shorter chassis.  The drive axle is limited to 20,000 lbs. on most roads, so if the rear axle load exceeds that, then the tag axle is added to carry the additional weight.  A tag axle also is usually a single tire per side, vs. dual tires per side on a drive axle.
 
You shouldn't have any trouble towing your small toad. Gas coach limitations show up drastically when traveling in the mountains, with a toad or not. Diesel coaches have much more torque and can lug up and down grades much easier than a gas rig.
I've compensated for that by carefully planning my trips to avoid any long steep grades.
Of course diesel engines are more expensive to maintain than gas and the fuel costs more. Mileage is a little better with diesel than with gas but not much.
If I was going to go fulltime and be on the road a lot I would probably go with diesel but if I was going to be parked for long periods of time I would go with gas.
Your preference for side door in middle of the coach pretty well limits you to gas, I know of no diesels that have the side doors.

Woody
 
While there are diesels with side doors, they are in the minority.  I have a 35' Southwind, we really love the floorplan and the amenities.  In fact, on some of the appointments we prefer the SW.  06 to 08 will not have tag axles in the Pace.  The tags on gas coaches typically means they didn't design it right and they had to add.  I would avoid a tag gas coach.  In diesel it is part of the orginal design. 

In 06 Pace has a 36D floorplan, it is a full wall slide.  Very popular and livable floorplan.  I don't remember the 35' model, but it was quite nice as well.  Ours is a 97, but the floorplan has a side aisle bath.  IOW, the bathroom is all in one, and you walk past it on the side.  Ours has two doors, one at an angle and one to the bedroom.  We have no slides. 

As to driving, we have a lower weight chassis tha the neer Pace would be, but it drives really nice, even in the west and the grades.  Never went below 45 on the ups, then downshift for the ride down.  We had mostly 6% and a few 7% grades.  The longest being on Rt 20 in Idaho north of Island Park.

If you are mainly east coast driving, no problems at all.  (unless you are from WV)


 
The tags on gas coaches typically means they didn't design it right and they had to add.  I would avoid a tag gas coach.

I dunno about that, Bill. Tags were used extensively on gas chassis in the mid 90's because the available Ford & Chevy gas chassis simply couldn't carry the size coach the market was demanding without some extra weight carrying capacity. If you wanted a large and nicely equipped gas coach, a tag was a necessity.  Once the Ford & Chevy (which by then was Workhorse)  got their act together and started building higher capacity chassis for the RV market, the need went away.

But the tag axles worked fine - I had a great 96 Southwind 36 with a tag on a Ford chassis and it rode much better than the non-tag that replaced it. The main drawback to the tag is it costs some storage space and the tires skid a bit when making tight maneuvers. I never wore out any tag tires, though
 
Gary,  That is sort of the point, they designed a coach a standard chassis couldn't carry, so they had to use one with a tag.  Chicken or egg?

 
My friends 37' 92 Southwind didn't have what I would consider a "tag axle" (one tire per side). His was a second dual tire per side axle. It rode extremely well.

Woody
 
I've only had my 36' Southwind tag axle a year now, but I'm glad I got a tag axle instead of a rig without one.  I had a blowout on an outer drive tire and that sold me on the tag axle; I was glad to have the added support when that happened.

Steve
 
Thanks so much for your comments. You guys know so much!!! I feel like a dummy. This is a GREAT forum. Thanks again.

Vinny
 
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