Super C's School Me
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1HasBeen
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- May 5, 2021
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Renegade and Showhauler have been at it a long time. Renegade offers Class 8 based coaches, including the Classic, which allows custom/custom ordering. They also offer the M2 based Veronas, and the S2RV based Valencia. Showhauler will build on most any chassis you want. Newmar is making a push. Dynamax also, but it's sorta odd they seem to get a shaky rep, yet the Dynamax forum is not full of horror stories, and the few owners I have met were well pleased. They do offer the 450 HP L9 in the Dynaquest XL, on the M2 112(tall hood)chassis, whereas all the Renegade Veronas are on the M2 106(Low Hood)so the L9 is 360 HP. I have read lots of negative about Nexus, and have heard the same from actual owners. I am still researching, as well, but that's what I have gathered so far.
Dockmaster
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Big difference in Super C depending on chassis. *1HasBeen laid out most of the better ones. Really depends on how much you want to tow and the power you want. The M2 will tow 20k and comes with the bigger Cummins. The Jayco’s, Nexus and other similar are only rated to tow 10k and have the smaller block Cummins with much less torque, carry less water, etc. I was looking seriously at the Dynaquest or the top of my Super C list was the Verona. I may still go this route but now leaning more toward a Class A pusher with Entegra Aspire currently top of my list.
Dockmaster
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What kind of tow capacity do you need? If you need/want the 20k tow capacity but want to save some $$ and don't need all the frills, you might look at the Dynamax Force HD. If you want the 20k capacity it has to be the HD version, otherwise its 10k. They are pretty nice for the price compared to a Dynaquest or Verona.
URCLEVER
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Before the great delete on GD I had posted on this and it was a lot of great info. I have a 2020 entegra accolade 37L. I love it, kids are easy to deal with, lots of room for entertaining inside. big bedroom, big shower, this is my wife's she shed so to speak. It has plenty of power and brakes to pull my 26ft box fully loaded with cars, water, fuel. I loved the dynamax and it had the bigger motor but wife liked the inside better on my seneca. We literally went to numerous dealers looking at these and we chose what we got. I dont have showhauler money but I do really enjoy my rig. I would get full air ride, nexus does not have that suspension and it really makes a big difference.
Go window shopping and see what you like.
Go window shopping and see what you like.
tjZ06
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- Jun 9, 2021
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When I got my last Super C I looked at a Nexus briefly - complete garbage. They're ugly, and just look/feel cheap (inside and out). They look like the cheapest, entry-level toy hauler and put together worse!
-TJ
-TJ
x3 stay away from the Nexus, complete garbage. If you want new, the ones listed above are spot on. If you are looking at the used market, don't rule out Haulmark and Optima for a class 8 toterhome. When looking at used, stay away from 2009-2013 on the class 8 trucks. These are the learning years for the engine manufacturers on the new emission requirements for over the road trucks and were plagued with emission problems.
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I went looking for that thread hoping it might have been after the reset, but obviously it wasnt, hence this post haha.
Lots of good info coming through. Appreciate all the insight.
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Jtmoney714
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- May 6, 2021
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I saw someone on gecko loop over thanksgiving with one of those f550 ones towing a stacker. Everyone I talk to say they love them. But I don’t see towing very heavy with it. Especially with how much overhang it has.
tjZ06
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I had a 2021 Thor Magnitude SV34, and overall we loved it...
Again, overall it was a great rig. The trailer you see is a 24' all aluminum that was right around 28' total length, and almost exactly 3k lbs empty (as in, empty-empty, before the e-track, before the tool box, but with the spare). I towed it with two SxSs (figure around 4k lbs combined) and that tool box loooooaaaded plus 40 gallons in fuel jugs, camp tables, spare parts, and as much other stuff as I could fit in that box.
It towed *wonderfully*. Super stable (you'll see the weight distro/anti-sway setup I used above, HIGHLY recommend it). I've posted about this before, but the very first time I towed with this rig it was in the wind and dry lightening storms that started all of the fires in Northern CA back in '20. I went up over Donner Summit down into more central Nevada, and the wind was ripping the whole time (especially on the way back). I felt super comfortable and stable, and I had plenty of power to carry good speed (like 50+... maybe 60+) up and over Donner Summit (which I think is prob the toughest overall grade in CA). We got a lot of compliments on the thing everywhere we went, and it was a great floorplan for the 2 of us (and our two schmedium dogs).
On the downside though, Thor quality did leave something to be desired, and it spent like 6 months in the first 9 we had it in the shop. Now, before you go running for the hills, this is super common with every brand new RV, we had a brand new Newmar Dutch Star before this with a similar experience. Also, we bought at the peak of the Covid-buying craze when the RV industry sold the most RVs in history, and nearly ever dealer lot was empty, so the influx of units into service departments caused long wait times. As for the issue we had, none of them were major, it was just a decently long punch-list. But again, our Dutch Star was no different, and I have the records from the first owner of my Mountain Aire and it was the same story.
A new RV WILL have issues, and it WILL take several visits to service during the first year or ownership to get it sorted out.
There were also some little design flaws too, like no trip-rail on the roof to collect AC condensation, so it would come off the roof, onto the awning, and drip on you as you hung out underneath. Obviously this would be an easy DIY fix, but just one of those things that makes you go "c'mon, really."
As mentioned, we loved the floorplan though, and I absolutely loved the little outdoor kitchen. The holding tanks were a bit small for extended Glamis trips though, which is just the nature of a smaller RV like this (they were still better than "typical" class Cs... and there was a chit-ton of space under the chassis for auxiliary tanks so that was something I was going to work on). Also, I was right up against GVWR with a light load-out and the tongue weight of my relatively light trailer - so if you care about that sort of thing, it's something to consider.
So why did we sell it? Well, mostly, I'm an idiot and change my stuff up way too often. Second, at the time we were buying a spot at a Class A only RV resort, so we needed a Class A. I replaced it with my Mountain Aire, which is in a very different price-point so it's not really a fair comparison.
Would I buy another? Sort of. In fact, I'm probably putting my MA up for sale and I might move back to something *like* this. But this time, I'd get the one made by Renegade, and in the even smaller floorplan (my MA is 40' 10", this Thor SV34 was 35' 6" and the one I'm considering now is 30' 5"). I'd rather have Renegade build quality, and if I do decide to downsize from the big diesel pusher, I want it to be a DRASTIC change, otherwise it's just not worth it (because we really do love the MA).
Oh, and I also looked very hard at the Isata 5s you mentioned, and have driven 3 now. In general the Isatas felt a little better put together than the Thor, though the Thor finishes actually had a slightly higher-end feel to them. Initially I didn't like any of the Isata floorplans, so that was the big issue, but then they came out with the 28SS. I do really like the 28SS since you get a separate bedroom in something that is only 30' 10" total, but it has a LOT of compromises because of that (tiny bathroom, and if you want a dinette that means no couch or theater seats). The other Isata floorplans just don't make sense to me. The 30FW has an "open" floorplan, but the bed is just a bed so it's sorta just out there in the living room, with just a curtain to separate it. Then the 34DS is longer than the Thor Magnitude/Omni SV34 but has slides on each side that are non-opposing. This is something I've posted about before too, but I HATE rigs with slides on both sides that aren't opposing. Why take up that much extra space in camp, and add that complexity without the upside of the open feeling of opposing slides. I do like the RAM chassis a lot though, but RAM needs to step up to more than a 6 speed Aisin. The Ford's 6.7 PSD and 10-speed were a killer combo in the Thor.
-TJ
tjZ06
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I forgot, the coolest thing about the Magnitude:
And a few glamour shots at G, cuz that's what it's all about anyway, right?
-TJ
And a few glamour shots at G, cuz that's what it's all about anyway, right?
-TJ
Kraut_n_Rice
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@tjZ06 Was that built on the 330hp chassis cab version of the PSD, or the 475hp like in the "regular" trucks?
Sand phene
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https://str8uptoytrader.com/vehicle/2009-haulmark-3301qs-and-matching-2008-haulmark-28-stacker-proline-trailer-pics/
This seems like a really good deal.
This seems like a really good deal.
tjZ06
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It was a factory F550 4x4 Chassis Cab, so 330/825 with 10-speed (2020 chassis in the 2021 coach). I kind of think Ford over-states the de-rating, or that rating is 5 minutes into a grade at WOT as it pulls boost/power because it felt just as fast up grades with my trailer behind it as my Brother-in-Law's '21 F450 with his Momentum 350G. My RV and trailer were probably 26-27k lbs combined (the RV was at every bit of the 19.5k lbs GVWR, then 7k trailer). My BIL's F450 (which has the 475/1050 HP/TQ) and his Momentum TH which would probably be about 2k lbs lighter at 24-25k lbs (~8.5k truck plus ~16k 5'er). I would NOT worry about power with these later F550-based Super Cs that have the 10 speed, at least not with anything you *should* be towing with it (aka, 10k lbs or less non-stacker).
-TJ
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Kraut_n_Rice
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I believe the 330 is pretty close. We build a machine off the F550 chassis cab. We use a system of PTOs to take power off the engine, transmission mounted and split shaft. It's calculated to be a touch over 300hp. If you look at the calculated load on a scan tool it bounces between 95-100% when we are turned all the way up.
We have a National Security
The previous shop that would did this for us ONCE did turn up the boost, unbeknownst to us. This ended up superheating the charge air cooling system, and popped the coolant reservoir for it.
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tjZ06
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Interesting, but awesome data to have. Either way, I did not hurt for power w/ that Thor SV34 + 24' box trailer setup.
-TJ
ElCaminoManT
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My old Kodiak-based super C had the LYE Duramax which was a de-tuned LMM. Rated at 330hp/620tq, it was down compared to the LBZ in my Silverado but it ran just the same towing with the Jeep on the trailer as the LBZ did towing the old 5er with same weights (about 25,500lbs combined) . I'm 99% positive that had to do with gearing as the Silverado has 3.73's and the Kodiak had 4.56 if I remember correctly. Maybe that's where the F550 makes up for the de-rated power numbers?
tjZ06
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Yeah, the F550 had 4.88s but my BIL's F450 has 4.30s, so not far behind. Both have the 10spd which as a 4.615 first.
-TJ
