Thoughts on 40' DP vs. 43' DP - RV-Dreams Community Forum

BJBoyer22 · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thoughts on 40' DP vs. 43' DP

TRAILERKING · RV-Dreams Family Member

BJBoyer22 wrote:

What are the positives and negatives of a 40' vs. 43'. The only things that come to my mind are the 43's length probably eliminates a few campsites/campgrounds from consideration but they have a little more storage. What else is a consideration?
Do tag axle MH's drive differently than a 2 axle unit?
Another set of unrelated questions: does the diesel drive engine charge the house battery bank while underway? if not can the genset be operated while underway? does the refrigerator usually run on electric or propane while underway or can it be operated either way? if the coach batteries need to be charged (to start the coach) can they be recharged from the genset?
I know these are pretty basic questions so thanks for taking the time to answer and help out a newbie.
Regards, Brad

Not sure if you'd have much more storage because the tag will use up that extra 3'.

Better handling with the tag. Will usually have a larger diesel=more HP/TORQUE.

The chassis alternator will charge all the batteries if working properly.

The genset can run while underway.....I do it all the time when I run the AC or AC'S.

The fridge can run on 120VAC or propane. I usually run mine on propane(works better IMO) Sometimes I've run it on 120VAC while the generator is running.

All batteries will charge from the genny if working correctly.

Also if coach batteries are ever run low and won't start the coach there is a boost rocker switch to activate and actually boost from the house batteries.

el Rojo and Pam · RV-Dreams Family Member

Some of the newer Newmar coaches don't have propane anymore and rely on electricity for the frig., either generator or battery power. They use a diesel fired burner for the heat and hot water. Not saying this is bad it's just new technology. As far as the ride I'm sure it's better with the tag axle, but remember, Michelin tires for these are $800 ea.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

Adding to TRAILERKING's reply.

You will limit your campsites just a bit. Some friends moved from a 40' to a 43' and lost two important repeat camping spots, including a friend's driveway in the Florida Keys. They lived with it since they liked the extra room.

Tag axles are supposed to help your ride, but my wife said that her parent's 2001 40' DP with tag did not ride better than our 2004 40' DP without a tag. In that case the 2001 had a smaller engine, a Cummins ISC, than ours, which is a Cummins ISL. Two more expensive tires to buy every 5 to 7 years, more weight so less mpg, and higher tolls are downsizes. A tag will cause some trouble with tight turns, some brands give you the ability to lift the tag under 10mph to help this.

The alternator will charge the house batteries, but not as well as your inverter/charger will. The voltage setpoints will be off, no temperature compensation, etc., since the alternator is set to charge your chassis battery and not the house ones. If you have a lot of batteries, 8 golf carts or more, the alternator can burn out trying to charge them if deeply discharged. Use your generator to get them into taper charge before taking off. (Taper charge is when the charger tapers down from maximum charging amps to complete the charging.)

You can run the generator while traveling. It is good to do every once in a while if you have not run the generator. Crank up the air conditioners if hot, or heat pumps if cold, and drive with the generator for 2 hours to give it enough load to get properly exercised. If your dash air conditioner goes out (cheap pieces of junk due to a captive market), you can use the roof ones. If it is really hot, the dash air won't cool that well, so add the roof ones.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

el Rojo wrote:
Some of the newer Newmar coaches don't have propane anymore and rely on electricity for the frig., either generator or battery power. They use a diesel fired burner for the heat and hot water. Not saying this is bad it's just new technology. As far as the ride I'm sure it's better with the tag axle, but remember, Michelin tires for these are $800 ea.

Diesel heat and hot water have been around since at least the 90s, they moved it from over the road buses. It was an option for our Newmar in 2004. Newmar is not the only one with it. Many brands have had all electric models since the mid 200x's, including both Tiffin and Newmar. What is better now is the residential fridges use less electricity cool better than just a few years back. We recently replaced our Norcold with a 24cuft side-by-side Whirlpool.

WestWardHo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Wow, motor homes sound so complicated! Sorry to hijack this thread but as I read about them on this and other threads it comes to mind!

Sherry

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

I can't speak with a lot of experience with regards to the motorhomes. The wife and I test drove two different Tiffin Phaetons when we were doing our research. We drove a 40-foot model with a single rear axle and a 42-foot model with a tag axle. While both drove well, both of us thought the 42-footer with the tag axle felt more stable as we were driving it. In our case, we drove the 40-footer for about 75 to 100 miles and the 42-footer for about twice that distance, the latter being to drive the grades on the Arbuckle mountains (really just big hills compared to the Rockies).

If we were to ever go with a motorhome, we probably would have gone with a 42 and saved up our money for paying to replace two extra tires each time it was needed.

Terry

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

WestWardHo wrote:
Wow, motor homes sound so complicated! Sorry to hijack this thread but as I read about them on this and other threads it comes to mind!

Sherry

Actually, motor homes aren't really all that much more complicated. Wait until you start to working on your fifth wheel. At least with a motor home, one can pull in, stop in place, activate the auto leveling and then send out the slides. That leaves lots of time to hook up water and electric and grab a lawn chair.

Now, if one is going to be staying in one place for a longer period of time than just a few days to a week, I think the fifth wheel wins. YMMV.

Terry

Jake62 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Brad,

No personal experience in owning one, but have done test drives and the tag, to me, gives you a little more stability on the highway/cross-winds. Certainly a little more expensive in initial price and maintenance, but you need to decide if the trade-offs are worth it.

I follow a few other sites which specialize in DPs and the ones who have tags swear by them and wouldn't go back. One of the moderators on both web-sites who writes for FMCA advocates for a tag axle as well, for the same stability reasons. Of course, I'm sure there's a subjective nature in this so do yourself a favor and test drive both.

Also, a 40' DP is the most popular model which says something as well. Entegra DPs, who only made tag axles up to now, are entering the 39'-40' non-tag to compete with Tiffin non-tag as they realize this is a huge segment for individuals wanting a DP.

-- Edited by Jake62 on Sunday 16th of March 2014 03:27:39 PM

WestWardHo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Terry and Jo wrote:
WestWardHo wrote:
Wow, motor homes sound so complicated! Sorry to hijack this thread but as I read about them on this and other threads it comes to mind!

Sherry
Actually, motor homes aren't really all that much more complicated. Wait until you start to working on your fifth wheel. At least with a motor home, one can pull in, stop in place, activate the auto leveling and then send out the slides. That leaves lots of time to hook up water and electric and grab a lawn chair.
Now, if one is going to be staying in one place for a longer period of time than just a few days to a week, I think the fifth wheel wins. YMMV.
Terry

Actually Terry, it takes us less than 10 minutes to unhook, level and send out the slides, all on remote control. Maybe another 5 to hook water, power and sewer.

Sherry who who still thinks MH systems are complicated! 😄

Airplane Guy · RV-Dreams Family Member

I bought a 44' Newell a month ago and have been full time in it ever since. It has a tag that can be lifted, it is very stable. The Aqua hot unit heats the domestic hot water with diesel or electric or with the diesel drive engine while driving and heats the coach and preheats the drive engine. The alternator on the diesel drive engine is 300 amp and will charge the 6 house batteries and the 2 start batteries. Fridge is residential electric and draws 3 amps. I'm towing a Honda CRV. The 3 basement A/C units can be run while driving using the 20 KW generator if the dash unit can't keep up.

TRAILERKING · RV-Dreams Family Member

Airplane Guy................You are the man! You have an awesome coach. I wish mine had the Aqua Hot or Oasis.

ken and cindy · RV-Dreams Family Member

We love the stability of the tag axle. The wind doesn't bother us at all.

Ken

Jake62 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Airplane Guy wrote:
I bought a 44' Newell a month ago and have been full time in it ever since. It has a tag that can be lifted, it is very stable. The Aqua hot unit heats the domestic hot water with diesel or electric or with the diesel drive engine while driving and heats the coach and preheats the drive engine. The alternator on the diesel drive engine is 300 amp and will charge the 6 house batteries and the 2 start batteries. Fridge is residential electric and draws 3 amps. I'm towing a Honda CRV. The 3 basement A/C units can be run while driving using the 20 KW generator if the dash unit can't keep up.

I'd love to see pics! Newell's are simply awesome...

TRAILERKING · RV-Dreams Family Member

Jake62 wrote:
Airplane Guy wrote:
I bought a 44' Newell a month ago and have been full time in it ever since. It has a tag that can be lifted, it is very stable. The Aqua hot unit heats the domestic hot water with diesel or electric or with the diesel drive engine while driving and heats the coach and preheats the drive engine. The alternator on the diesel drive engine is 300 amp and will charge the 6 house batteries and the 2 start batteries. Fridge is residential electric and draws 3 amps. I'm towing a Honda CRV. The 3 basement A/C units can be run while driving using the 20 KW generator if the dash unit can't keep up.

I'd love to see pics! Newell's are simply awesome...

Yeah, pic's or it doesn't exist..............

Airplane Guy · RV-Dreams Family Member

I have to admit that I was unsuccessful at trying to post pics, I'm sure my thirteen year old Grand Daughter could do it but I couldn't get them to post.......any help would be appreciated.

:(

TRAILERKING · RV-Dreams Family Member

Haha..........Old Man. You need to upload your photos first to a Website like Photobucket.
www.photobucket.com
Then you link them to the Forum. Very easy.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Airplane Guy wrote:
I have to admit that I was unsuccessful at trying to post pics, I'm sure my thirteen year old Grand Daughter could do it but I couldn't get them to post.......any help would be appreciated.
:(

Bob and Diana,

To assist you with this, I posted a thread in "Guidelines and Suggestions" about posting pictures. Here is a link to that thread, in which I use Photobucket as a way of how to post photos. Pay attention to the need to make sure your photos aren't too big when you post them to Photobucket or they will be too big for the pages in the forums.

Guidelines Regarding Embedding Photos into Forum Posts

Terry

folivier · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bob you can post a link to the gallery page over on newellgurus.com to show the pictures before you bought it.

Just copy the web address and paste it here in a post. I think that'll work.