Opinions on best 34-40 ft pushers

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
There are some differences in chassis and engines and trannys, but they aren't quality differences as much as they are capability differences. The pricier coaches have chassis improvements, just like they have improvements in other areas as well.

For $60k you can get a pretty nice DP. Your choice is a low, mid or high end model, each a few years different in age. My personal choice would be the slightly older mid or high end model because I think you get a lot more coach for the money and a couple years of age makes little difference if the coach has been cared for.
 
Looking at a 2002 Holiday Rambler. It has a Roadmaster RR4R chassis. I read some horror stories on the internet about this chassis riding bad and trailing arms cracking. Anyone know about this? is it only certain years or should I avoid this coach?
 
We recently traded a 2003 Holiday Rambler Endeavor. It was a great coach. I would also add Travel Supreme to you list. While we were looking, our search eventually came down to the Beaver that we purchased .vs a Travel Supreme. It was a hard choice to make. Ultimately, since I have both hips replaced, the air leveling with no jacks on the Beaver (no more bending over to put blocks under the jacks) was the deal maker.

Floor plan, floor plan. If you get any one of the models mentioned above that has been cared for, and you have it independently inspected before you sign on the dotted line, you will be satisfied if you love the floor plan.

Stan
 
The problem with the R4R/RR4R applied to only some years and models. SW Driveline, who sells a repair kit for it, says that HR's have the problem in the 2002-2004 Ambassador and 2002-2009 Neptune.  Another article in the FMCA magazine says the problem is only on certain R4R and RR4R chassis and that it depends on which suspension it has. See article for details.

http://www.rv-chassis.com/RoadmasterR4R_FMC1109.pdf

http://www.swdriveline.com/monaco_trailing_arms.html
 
i've got my eye on a 97 monaco SIGNATURE with slide, a 450 hp cummins and i'm assuming top of the line for 97 so it should have aquahot, etc.  it has around 73,000 miles on it  I like the engine from that vintage as it doesn't have the later day smog controls which apparently wreak havoc.  but i can't seem to find much info about those.  The floorplan looks similar to many of the monaco's from that time.  So monaco was a good builder then?  How would they compare to country coach, ts, or other high ends from that period in quality...you know,  attention to detail and workmanship?  and i think i can get it for only $30,000 because it had a leak in the shower area and other neglect issues.  Is is worth finding a 'fixer-upper' of a classic high end coach if the price is right?  its not a prevost bus but the chassis on the signature sounds impressive and it has the slide.
 
captsteve said:
Sparky, 

There are quite a few of them. look at fleetwood excursion 38' I know they have one and country coach made a couple models, one was a mid engine with lower master and upper bunkroom.

I think most mfr's have one in their line.  Why does the berkshire scare you? Forest River is a solid company and is owned by Berkshire Hathaway, Solid backing there!
Click to expand...

thanks for the excursion suggestion ;)  regarding the berkshire comment...i've read where cust support is lacking and IMHO the build quality isn't up to par with the likes of winnie or tiffin, etc.  How else can they offer so many amenities for the price?
 
So monaco was a good builder then?
Click to expand...

Sparky, Monaco was in its heyday then and yes it was a good builder.  The Signature as you probably know was the top of the Monaco line.  Country Coach also was a quality coach.

ArdraF
 
Going to look at a 1997 monaco signature with some water damage for maybe $30000. 73000 milesHas anyone ever bought a high-end fixer upper before?  We do it with real eatate,,,we ought to be able to do it with motorhomes! :)
 
PatrioticStabilist and her husband have been remodeling and fixing up an American Eagle. There are others that have done remodels and the results are amazing.

http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php?topic=48976.0
 
Been looking and to me it appears there is a big difference in quality between brands. I was very impressed with a 200 Monaco Windsor, great quality from the fiberglass roof to the side radiator to the hardwood cabinets. Damon, not so much. rubber roof, wallpaper falling off, trim falling off, broken plastic, just cheap everywhere. Holiday rambler is somewhere in between. Any input? What about Alfa??
 
We owned a 40ft 2000 Windsor for ten years. It was a great coach. Only traded because we wanted more slides (4 vs 1) and more space.

ken
 
I have looked at a couple of Alfa's. I found the quality fair at best. The basement storage was lacking and some years had bad blistering problems on the exterior, that  was part of their demise.
 
Take a look at the older Newmar's, Dutch Star and Mountain Aire.  Good quality and are recoginized as such.  Used ones are usually hard to find as they tend to move quickly.
 
About a year ago we purchased a 2005 Winnebago Journey 34H DP.  So far we love it.  Right in your price range, we paid 75K, which from all we've seen is was a good deal (new tires thrown in).  We really like the smaller end of the DP's because we get all of the benefits without the really long rig.  Of course, we bought it 99% because of the floorplan, because as everyone says, floorplan, floorplan, floorplan.  This unit was exactly what we wanted.  I recommend Winnebago highly.  I had a class C Minnie-Winnie for 15 years prior to this. Best of luck in your quest.

Steve
 
Jim Godward said:
Take a look at the older Newmar's, Dutch Star and Mountain Aire.  Good quality and are recoginized as such.  Used ones are usually hard to find as they tend to move quickly.
Click to expand...
Yes those are very nice and hard to find, along with the Country Coach.  Still looking but its looking like the best deal so far is the Monaco Windsor. When I make a decision I will let everyone know. Thanks again.
 
Check the "newmarowners" forum on Yahoo.  There is a list of ones for sale there in the files.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/newmarowners/

Also Newmar has brouchures available for some past years so you can narrow your search down to specific models.  If you find one and it is in the for sale list, some on the list can maybe comment of that particular MH as they probably know the owner through the Newmar rallies etc.
 
Jim Godward said:
Take a look at the older Newmar's, Dutch Star and Mountain Aire.  Good quality and are recoginized as such.  Used ones are usually hard to find as they tend to move quickly.
Click to expand...

If I ever sell my Class C, a late model Newmar is #1 on my list!

Scott  :)
 
Chassie info. I have a 36ft Gulfstream, Freightliner chassie. My reason for the Freightliner chassie is avalable service. I had a Holliday Rambler diesel with a roadmaster chassie. Good chassies but problem was finding service. Freightliner never a problem..Their everywhere...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 706 (members: 31, guests: 675)

Forum statistics

Threads
132,029
Posts
1,389,301
Members
137,765
Latest member
hassoalbert
Back
Top Bottom