pondigger
Wi
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Joined: 06/28/2008
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Hello...still investigating used DP's...would like to know about some options I see listed....some have Air conditioners with heat pumps...can you describe how they work and the advantages and disadvantages....leveling jacks...is there a system that shines above the others....I see HWH listed sometimes...what do you think of them?....whats a blue ox tow bar worth and are there different quality levels of those as well....double pane windows....read some posts that say some years and coach builders had trouble with them...what years and what models....single and two piece windshields...is that just astetics?.....fiberglass roofs as opposed to others (rubber I'm assuming) what the upgrade worth?...thank you all for indulging my questions and all the answers I've received....to be continued I'm sure...
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Bruce Brown
Northern NY
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Joined: 06/01/2001
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Lots of questions...and thats OK. 
A/C with Heat pumps: Nice option, not a complete deal breaker. No disadvantages, advantage is down to around 32F you won't need the furnace.
Leveling Jacks: HWH is the standard, so newer ones on the market. We have Atwood electric jacks. Kind of like a Tiffin, great customer service, unfortunately I know that. Actually after the last replacement jack they've been decent. I'd prefer HWH hydraulics, again not a deal breaker.
Tow bars can run from a few hundred to over $1000. It's nice but more of an afterthought in making a deal.
Dual pane windows = MUST HAVE. A few had issues, most did not. We've had single pane and dual pane, dual pane is a MUST IMO.
Single vs 2 piece windshield; we've had both, to me it's more of a marketing issue than anything else. This one is a non-issue for me.
Fiberglass roof vs ???. If it a true EPDM rubber roof I'm not interested. If it's a TPO type roof I actually prefer that over full fiberglass. Ours is Brite-Tek, it's our 3rd coach with one and I can see no reason our 4th won't be that way too. Many others will disagree. Some fiberglass roofs have had issues (Winnebago comes to mind) and not all fiberglass is created equally. For MY money I'll take another Brite-Tek roof.
There are 24 hours in every day - it all depends on how you choose to use them.
Bruce & Jill Brown
2008 Kountry Star Pusher 3910
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wa_desert_rat
Central Washington State
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Joined: 01/27/2012
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Heat pumps are, in general, more efficient than air conditioners and can be "reversed" to heat a coach (although as outside temperatures become colder than about 35-degrees that heating efficiency suffers). No heat wire needed.
HWH is a leading manufacturer of leveling jacks and is used by most high-end coach manufacturers. They are also still in business (handy for parts).
Craig
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sdianel
Tampa, FL
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Joined: 07/24/2005
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We have a 2004 Country Coach Allure.
we never use the heat pump. We have Hydro Hot (Aqua Hot) hydronic heating. We have camped in 17 degree temperature with ice and snow with no problem. hydronic heating also provides unlimited hot water.
We have HWH air leveling system. Love it! push a button and it levels itself.
We have a Roadmaster Falcon 2 tow bar that is motorhome mounted (when toad disconnected the tow bar stores on the RV). Roadmaster provides excellent customer service. I'm sure Blue Ox is an outstanding product too. Seen lots of people with them.
Lots of coaches have dual pane windows that fogged due to seal failure. Segi I think is the brand. We have had ours repaired at Suncoast Designers in Hudson FL. They are still worth it.
We have the 2 piece windshield. Doesn't matter to us either way.
We have a fiberglass roof. The roof caused streaks down the side of the RV but we coated the roof with Bus Kote and that stopped the streaks. We prefer fiberglass vs. rubber.
This forum is the way we learned too. Also going to FMCA rallies helped us lots.
Lonny & Diane
2004 Country Coach Allure 33' "Big Blue"
Towing 2008 Chev Colorado 4x4
Semper Fi
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crasster
Dallas
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Joined: 07/06/2007
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Most DP's are built pretty well. I haven't really seen "cheap" DP's as I have seen travel trailers. There are mediocre A's and C's, but not too many I would label as "junk".
But when you are looking a a diesel pusher, I think most are pretty darn good.
I would just get the one you like best, especially if looking at used ones. Have it inspected by a 3rd party.
4 whopping cylinders on Toyota RV's. Talk about great getting good MPG. Also I have a very light foot on the pedal. I followed some MPG advice on Livingpress.com and I now get 22 MPG! Not bad for a home on wheels.
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trickyvic3
Raymond NH.
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Joined: 09/08/2011
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Heat pumps are a nice feature to have but as mentioned above, IMHO not a deal breaker. I think you'll find that most higher end DPs will come with them. As far as windows go, duel pane is the way to go. Again, most will come standard with them. Fleetwood products had some window fogging issues. I have an 07 and have problems with mine. I'm not sure off the top of my head what others had the fogging issues.
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bsinmich
Holland, MI
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Joined: 11/18/2000
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crasster wrote:Most DP's are built pretty well. I haven't really seen "cheap" DP's as I have seen travel trailers. There are mediocre A's and C's, but not too many I would label as "junk".
But when you are looking a a diesel pusher, I think most are pretty darn good.
I would just get the one you like best, especially if looking at used ones. Have it inspected by a 3rd party.
I have seen a few new DPs when I was looking that had pieces of the trim were not crooked but missing, many items didn't work. The dealer said they fix it before delivery. My thought was that if it looked that way coming from the factory on the visible stuff I don't trust the things I can't see. Tiffin seems to have great service after you get Bob involved but that shouldn't be necessary. My Newmar has been the best of the 4 mhs we have owned. I personally don't want a DP because I don't want the extra expense for the limited amount of use it gets in our family. We put 4000 miles on in a good year and 1 oil change does the upkeep for that. Mine is 9 years old and only has 37K miles. It seems the windows that had the problem were SEGI. For the sound and temp. help they give they are worth it. If you check the Newmar they actually list the R values for the roof, walls and floor. That makes a big difference if you use it in the cooler weather as much as the real hot weather.
2003 Newmar Mountain Aire, Workhorse W22, 2008 Saturn Vue, Falcon 5250, & US Gear Unified Tow Brake
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rr2254545
Minnesota/New Mexico
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Joined: 07/12/2009
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Having had many Winnebagos - one poster said Winnebago has roof problems simply not true, if it was way would I keep buying one. We like the one piece windshield over the split as the wipers are out of the way. Good advise above on the DP if you are not doing allot of miles a year maybe you do not need the extra expense of one. One limiting factor of a gasser is the towing capacity but many cars are under 5000 lbs.
2012 Winnebago Journey 36M Cummins 360
131 Campgrounds since we retired in July 2009
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Bruce Brown
Northern NY
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Joined: 06/01/2001
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rr2254545 wrote:Having had many Winnebagos - one poster said Winnebago has roof problems simply not true, if it was way would I keep buying one.
Me? I'd call these a problem...
Click HERE
Having said that, I said some fiberglass roofs have had problems - not all of them.
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CA Traveler
The Western States
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Joined: 01/03/2004
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pondigger wrote:Hello...still investigating used DP's...would like to know about some options I see listed....some have Air conditioners with heat pumps...can you describe how they work and the advantages and disadvantages....leveling jacks...is there a system that shines above the others....I see HWH listed sometimes...what do you think of them?....whats a blue ox tow bar worth and are there different quality levels of those as well....double pane windows....read some posts that say some years and coach builders had trouble with them...what years and what models....single and two piece windshields...is that just astetics?.....fiberglass roofs as opposed to others (rubber I'm assuming) what the upgrade worth?...thank you all for indulging my questions and all the answers I've received....to be continued I'm sure...
A heat pump has additional valves that reverse the operation of the AC, hence produce heat. Very good option except they are noisy due to the fan just like the AC and of course require 120V power. Our Monacos work seamless with heat pump and propane furnace. Turn on the heat pump and it works to about 32F and then switches to propane. When the temperature goes back up to about 40F it switches back to the heat pump.
HWH probably has the best jacks. Our power gear jacks worked very well however. I had 4 jacks and there are pro and con posts on a 3 jack system.
The view with a single piece windshield is seamless. Replacement of one is more than double the replacement of 2 halves of a split windshield. Plus with a split one you generally only replace one half.
Blue Ox has a good reputation. I have Roadmaster. Ready Brake gets many good posts. For a variety of reasons you will want an auxiliary brake in the toad. Plan on about $3K. Get a tow bar that can be disconnected regardless of the toad angle behind the MH - See Roadmasters All Terrain tow bars.
I've had fiberglas and aluminum roofs with no issues. My first 2 rigs had a seam around the flat portion of the roof which is a water collection point. I was very careful about maintaining the calking.
2009 Holiday Rambler 42 Scepter with ISL 400 Cummins
2004 Honda CR-V
Bob
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