Hi Everyone. Well, after 15 years the RV-Dreams Community Forum is coming to an end. Since it began in August 2005, we've had 58 Million page views, 124,000 posts, and we've spent about $15,000 to keep this valuable resource for RVers free and open. But since we are now off the road and have settled down for the next chapter of our lives, we are taking the Forum down effective June 30, 2021. It has been a tough decision, but it is now time.
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My wife and I have been through pop-ups and even managed to stay married through double towing a 21 ft. bass boat behind a fifth wheel. But after being away for about 11 years we're thinking about buying a used deisel pusher with an eye towards possible full timing. Knowing the durability and expected lifespan of deisel engines, I'm not concerned with buying "used" with the amount of miles that I'm seeing on a typical unit. But I am somewhat more concerned about the transmission/transaxles. Anyone have input, advice or "horror" stories about catastrophic drivetrain failures? Thanks.
If the transmission is an Allison automatic, you can be very confident it will be OK. That does not say you should not have a qualified diesel mechanic inspect everything.It is to say that Allison’s are a very high quality transmission.They are not uncommon in diesel pushers.
Like Bill said, the Allison transmission is very durable and if the scheduled service on it was preformed and the trans was not overheated it should last for many, many miles. The differential is also very heavy duty and I personally have not heard of any failures.
Not to say you couldn't have a drive-line failure, but I shure wouldn't worry about it.
Jim
Oh, by the way, Welcome to the forum.
-- Edited by Jim01 on Saturday 14th of May 2011 02:42:08 PM
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Jim and Linda Full-timers from 2001 to 2013 http://parttimewithjandl.blogspot.com/ 2006 Dodge 2500 Diesel pulling a Heartland 26LRSS TT May your days be warm, and your skies be blue. May your roads be smooth, and your views ever-new.
Good thing about diesel pushers, the drivetrain is usually the same as commercial vehicles (buses, delivery trucks). These components are designed for problem free fleet uses and some abuse.
You don't often hear of failures unless the MH is 20+ years old with 200K + mileage, failures can be expected with age and high mileage.
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"Small House, Big Yard "
"May the FOREST be with you" Alfa See-Ya 5'er and 2007 Kodiak C4500 Monroe
Thanks all for the replies. My last three pick-ups have been Duramax/Allison equiped so I have the upmost confidence in the Allison transmission......but it's always good to get a "warm fuzzy" from the folks who are out there doin' it.
Depending on how old the used unit is, the Allison transmission contains their synthetic fluid which is great stuff. It does not require changing like the natural stuff does. Also those tranmssions are the same one put in garbage trucks and the like. They have endured years of use and abuse. The differentials are essentially truck units and have few problems associated with them. One might have the fluid in the differential changed or at the least checked. The only failure mode I have heard of on those units is the accumulation of moisture and then rusting due to long periods of non use.
Other wise make certain that if the engine is a sleeved engine, common on most Cummins large block diesels, that the anti-cavitation additives in the cooling system have been maintained properly. If not, a hole in a sleeve could be an expensive repair bill. With no additive, a hole can happen in as few as 20,000 miles.
We have enjoyed many miles of trouble free operation from our DP.
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Full timing since 1/1/2005 American Tradition & Jeep Wrangler www.howethsjournal.blogspot.com
With proper preventative maintenance you will have years of trouble-free service. I do all my own repairs on my '99 Fleetwood American Dream. On my website you will see an Allison MD3060 rebuild under PROJECTS. I had quite a documentary on this stuff over on IRV2. The Deputies on that Forum must not like all the free help and advice.......................................and BANNED me.
I have had 2 Diesel pushers. If you read the service intervals you will see motor home use is considered light duty. Also the engines "Cummins" and transmissions Allison" on ours a 2002 and 2004 had a derate function built in to the computer so they would slow down if something was wrong.
