Spartan and Freightliner sell what the buyer wants, but the buyer is the motorhome manufacturer. Fleetwood and Winnebago have special deals with Freightliner and their versions of the chassis are specific to them. American Coach (Fleetwood again) has a special deal with Spartan, they have a special chassis that only they get. Newmar has a special deal on a steering modification that they have an exclusive on through this year, it is really nice if you want a Mountain Aire or higher. Roadmaster is Monaco's own chassis company, they build only for the Monaco family and they build what they are asked to build. If you buy Monaco family (Monaco, Holiday Rambler, Safari, Beaver) diesel it will be a Roadmaster chassis.

Any RV manufacturer can order one of Spartan or Freightliner's chassis with the options they want, these might include what engine to use, the particulars of the front axle, even down to what hitch recieve to include (Spartan does this one). Two 2007 Spartan Mountain Master chassis could be optioned way differently, same with Freightliner. Most motorhomes that are not built on a manufacturers own chassis are built on Freightliner, they are a bit cheaper. All Newmars, all American Coaches, some Tiffins and some National RVs are on Spartan.

Are they all built well? Yes. How about ride? You have to drive the individual units because the customization affects the ride. Top end motorhomes from all three drive very well, the low and middle is where things might be lacking.

A big difference I have seen is warranty handling.

Freightliner acts like a car manufacturer about warranty work, remember they are part of Diamler-Chrysler, they want it handled at only a Freightliner place and if they can get Cat (engine), Cummins (engine) or Allison (transmission) to do the warranty work at one of their shops instead of their own they are happy since that is not on their money. They have an accountant in Germany questioning their every line item. Some Freightliner places will play the game for you, some won't.

Spartan is about the opposite, they willingly handle warranty work and work with Cat, Cummins or Allison behind the scenes. They don't have their own shops except at the factory in Charlotte, MI, so they have to be nicer to the places that service their chassis.

Roadmaster/Monaco wants to be called first and like to refer you for warranty work. They also want the shop to get appovals before the work and can sometimes be a pain for the shop to work with.

Luckily all three do not have much warranty work to do, they are all fairly reliable. I know many with Roadmaster and Freightliner chassis that have had great warranty service, but I know others that had to deal with hassles. I don't know anyone who does not feel Spartan was unsupportive. though some have had lemons and are not sure they would buy again (some Newmar Essex had a lot of problems with their fans, some 2005 Spartans had rough rides and had to take them in over and over again as Spartan tried different air bags and shocks.)

A very few use the Workhorse diesel chassis, but mostly they buy gas chassis from Workhorse. I do not know anything about the Workhorse diesel chassis.

Remember that most of the chassis is built with truck and bus components that can run for 1,000,000 miles or more. Us motorhome drivers barely wear the brakes, engines and about everything else.

Spartan and Freightliner have very active FMCA chapters with factory support and great rallies. Freightliner owners get rebates on Chrysler or Jeep cars and trucks after the sale, good rebates.

After the warranty a lot of places can fix any of them. Remember the components are fairly standard. They all provide good after warranty support and Monaco has been known to fix things on their money after the warranty.

Alpine Coach also makes their own chassis and it drives really nicely. Country Coach, Foretravel and Newell make their own chassis and you can get good deals on used ones that mortals can afford.