SuperC RV Group

Super C RVs => SuperC Info and Discussions => Topic started by: Don Leslie on July 02, 2007, 09:19:39 pm

Title: Our second 4 day trip
Post by: Don Leslie on July 02, 2007, 09:19:39 pm
Yahoo Message Number: 3 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/supercrvgroup/conversations/messages/3)
We took our second 4 day trip this past weekend. Same routine a our first trip - to Waterford Hills Michigan to watch our son race - just under 400 miles roundtrip.

We filled up on the way home at the same station where we filled a month ago before returning home. Just a sliver under 8 mpg - not towing. We did have to sit in a line at the Sarnia/Port Huron border crossing for a full hour on the way there so that burned up a bit of fuel.

We traded down from a 40 ft 10 inch 2006 Ambassador 40PLQ and find we are happy with the downsizing. Fuel economy is nothing to write home about though. We got 7.6 mpg towing with the Ambassador and 8.3 with the smaller 39W Journey we had previously.

The Kodiak has good power but we find it very noisy. Our first MH was a 2000 Triple E Class A with the Ford V10 that we bought in 2003 and had for a year (until someone decided he had to have a diesel). It was fairly noisy and we find that the Chev is really no quieter frankly. We have to keep the radio volume up pretty high. I guess we were spoiled by two diesels that had the engine at the rear and all the noise well behind us.

The 6 speed Allison is very good and with the second overdrive we are only turning 1850 rpm at 60 mph. When there is any uphill grade in the road the fan on the engine seems to kick in immediately and that adds to the noise factor. It does this even when the revs don't change. We find 60 to 65 to be a comfortable speed range. Our GPS showed that we never got up to more than 66 mph, which is on the low side compared with the two diesels. The huge difference in torque is noticeable on take off as the Chev revs much much higher than the Cummins and Cat did.

Most of all, we miss the exhaust brake. We did not want to get something the size of the Senecas and we were not fond of some of the other manufacturers quality based on stories we'd heard. On the way home today my wife and I decided that if we do ever trade again (not very likely) we'd try and get something about the same length on a Kodiak but with a diesel and exhaust brake. The new 4.5L Duramax due out in 2009 looks like it would be perfect for this unit - 300 hp and
520 lbs ft of torque (and my guess is that it will get over 10 mpg in a C Class this size).

Jayco quality seem to be fair. It looks like the back cap is not tight  on one side and the dealer is going to have to fix it. We have the Glazed maple wood finish and it appears one section across the top of the front slide doesn't have the glazing. Not much else wrong other than loose screws (we have a box of anchors so when a screw falls out (two so far - one holding in the valence in the bedroom and another holding a box in the basement relating to a slide) we put an anchor in
to make sure they won't come out again.

The guys who design them sure don't drive em. If the back window were just another six inches lower it would not only let me see trucks in the center rear view mirror, but I'd be able to see cars as well and that would be great.

Anyway, at this point. no regrets for our decision to downsize and one thing is clear to DW - we are going to make a lot more use of this Class C than we did the Class A units as it is smaller (but it has good external storage [119 cu ft] and weight capacity) and easier to get in and out of places. In addition getting ready to go seems much simpler.

Don
2007 Jayco Greyhawk 32SS on Kodiak
Title: Re: Our second 4 day trip
Post by: krissagrillo on July 09, 2007, 06:21:31 pm
Yahoo Message Number: 9 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/supercrvgroup/conversations/messages/9)
> Most of all, we miss the exhaust brake

I think you can install an exhaust brake...we put one on an F250 Power Stroke that we no longer have.

Title: Re: Our second 4 day trip
Post by: Don Leslie on July 09, 2007, 06:31:37 pm
Yahoo Message Number: 10 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/supercrvgroup/conversations/messages/10)
I keep hearing stories about exhaust brakes being available for gasoline engines but no one has been able to point me in the right direction to locate one. Diesels are a different story though. Anyone know of a manufacturer of exhaust brakes for a gas engine.

Don