Cummins-Freightliner or Cat-Spartan

[Garry G.]

Hi all,
  Been looking for a class A for a couple of months now. Wife and i are starting to feel a little overwhelmed with the process. We live in Northern New Hampshire so almost everything we want to look at is a long way away. We have already made several long trips (one to Texas) only to find something was omitted in the description, handled poorly etc. Currently we are trying to decide between two Nationals,  one a 2002 on a Freightliner chassis and 350 Cummins engine with 62K miles  and a 2003 National on a Spartan chassis and a 330 Cat engine with 44K miles. I seem to remember reading something about a pattern failure on the Cat engine that had something to do with the engine cooling fan, water pump or cooling system (I could be wrong about the system) that has a life of about 40K miles and will cause an expensive breakdown if it fails on the road. I wish I could remember specifically what it was. Anyway is there any compelling reason I should choose one over the other? I know there are Freightliner dealers scattered around the country and not too hard to find but where to you get work done on a Spartan? We like both floor plans and other than chassis they are very similar coaches.

 

[maverickbbd]

The only compelling reasons to choose one over the other is interior preference and condition.  Both are good chassis and engines.  Both engines have their plusses and minuses.  Cummins has a lift pump and a high pressure fuel rail.  Cat has a HEUI pump and a low pressure fuel rail. Both are from the pre DEF era.  Just from my experience with FL there seem to be a wider distribution of franchise service centers.  Good luck on your search.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Agree with maverickbbd. Not significant reason to choose either brand, so go with condition. Most all truck shops work on both Freightliner and Spartan, and the Cummins & Cat dealers don't care what chassis their engine rides on either. Many Cummins shops are also general motorhome repair businesses, called Cummins Coach Care.

The Spartan and Freightliner Custom Chassis (FCCC) websites both have Service locators and both are good with phone customer service and direct parts sales as well. FCCC offers 24/7 customer support phone help.

 

[clink]

My only suggestion would be to check what specific engine that CAT is, and then just do a google search on it. We were thinking at one point about purchasing a National Pacifica with a Cat engine (I want to say C7 or C10 but I'm not 100% positive now) and we found that with specific engines there are some known issues that continually crop up, and received poor support for. 

I haven't found the same to be quite true with Cummins. Every engine has issues, but the specific Cat I was looking at had some documented problems. But the years you mention were manufactured before the one I was researching (and I mostly agree with the whole "they don't make 'em like they used to" adage).

 

[ronster]

All engines have their problems.Im a truck mechanic and have worked on both the common engines in motor homes.Remember the engine is only one consideration when selecting a motorhome.Some side radiator coaches are easier to work on.Cat engines have a fan idler whose bearing failes causing major damage to intercooler and radiator.My 03 Tiffen has a cat,I reccomend replacing bearing as maintaince,just did mine with belts ,tensioner and new bearings in idler and water pump tensioner.The bearing for the fan idler is only 30 dollars at auto part stores but not easy to change.Cut a hole in fan shroud makes it much easier.Most spartan chassis have ball joints,known problem at 10+ years old.Pick the coach you likle ,floor plan is most important and good luck.Try to do premtive maintaince so you dont get gauged on fhe road.  Ronster

 

[FrankW]

FYI....prior to 2003, the 8.3L Cummins used a CAPS (Cummins accumulator pump system) injection pump, not the High Pressure Fuel Rail, about $4K + labor to replace. Ask me how I know. Of course that was at 107K+ miles, so I'm not complaining. Still a good engine.

 

[Kevin]

All engines have their problems.Im a truck mechanic and have worked on both the common engines in motor homes.Remember the engine is only one consideration when selecting a motorhome.Some side radiator coaches are easier to work on.Cat engines have a fan idler whose bearing failes causing major damage to intercooler and radiator.My 03 Tiffen has a cat,I reccomend replacing bearing as maintaince,just did mine with belts ,tensioner and new bearings in idler and water pump tensioner.The bearing for the fan idler is only 30 dollars at auto part stores but not easy to change.Cut a hole in fan shroud makes it much easier.Most spartan chassis have ball joints,known problem at 10+ years old.Pick the coach you likle ,floor plan is most important and good luck.Try to do premtive maintaince so you dont get gauged on fhe road.  Ronster

Is that a problem with the acert c7's too?? we have around 30,000 mile on it. I was thinking about doing the belts hoses and thermostat, but didn't know about the tensioner. any help would be appreciated. Sorry didn't mean to Highjack.