# American Motorhomes



## Guest (Jan 2, 2006)

Chevrolet Champion Titan


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## olley (May 1, 2005)

Would love to see some pictures skywriter

Olley


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## Guest (Jan 3, 2006)

*Champion Titan*

Ok will get offspring to oblige
Its not as big as it sounds! 17ft
sorry, this feels like monday. It is 27 ft


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## olley (May 1, 2005)

mines only 30', we need to start up a forum for little ARV's :lol: 

Olley


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## Sparrow (May 10, 2005)

There are those that would say there is no such thing as a small RV. 
I have met some who as soon as american is mentioned become very awkward and the first comment is about being too big for the road/campsite/field/county/country etc.
Just point out that some of the European ones are catching up with the length.
8O 


Cheers
Mike


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## olley (May 1, 2005)

Hi sparrow your right, some of the tag axle ones are over 25' and that chap who wants to be an astronaut has one thats about 30', 

Consumer's demand more facilitys, bigger bathrooms, permanent beds, Tv's genny's, been talking to tom on an american forum he didn't realise we still used cassette toilets :lol: so I think the trend to bigger and heavier vans will continue.

But imo the ARV's still offer the best value for money when compared to a simular european

Olley


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## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

We looked at large European vans for fulltiming, problem we found was the poor payload.. if you want/need a large motorhome then IMHO an RV is the best choice. 
Most large european vans are simply stretched small ones.


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## olley (May 1, 2005)

Hi jim in a previous post you said that one of the things you looked for in an RV was a sparten chassis, Why was that? I have to confess that when we where looking I never considered the chassis.

Olley


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## 97081 (Dec 31, 2005)

*chassis*

Spartan, Freightliner and roadmaster are chassis used in the larger diesel pushers,,,,,Ford and Workhorse supply the chassis for most gassers....the workhorse was once owned by GM, and chevy made the chassis back then...


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## Guest (Jan 3, 2006)

*Spartan Chassis*

Presumably that requires an HGV driving licence? Most pushers do


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## olley (May 1, 2005)

Licence types have been debated on here before skywriter, some believe you need a hgv, some say you don't.

Up to this moment no ARV driver has ever been done for driving with the "wrong" licence.

There are changes afoot, professional hgv drivers will soon need a certificate of competency along with their hgv licence, so i expect the law will change to define licence types by weights with no mention of type. So over 7.5 you will need the licence but not the certificate.

Olley


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## 97081 (Dec 31, 2005)

*Drivers Licenses*

In the US,,,drivers licenses are regulated by the individual states,,,but accepted all over by other states...In Oklahoma it takes the same license to drive a RV as to drive a car....both are licensed alike also...but in Texas,,,if the unit weighs over 26001 lbs...they have to get a class B non commercial license...


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## 97081 (Dec 31, 2005)

*Titan*

Skywriter,,,,what year is the Titan you are asking about,,,,havent seen one of those in years....at least not a new one...there is one in our town that the owner has restored to go to football games in....thats the only one I know of though..


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## johnsandywhite (May 9, 2005)

*Re: Spartan Chassis*



skywriter said:


> Presumably that requires an HGV driving licence? Most pushers do


 8O Nope. The Rockwood 30ft Pusher with Spartan and Cummins came in less than 7.5 tonnes.


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## 97081 (Dec 31, 2005)

*Pusher Weight*

Lots of the Diesel Pushers are less than 20000 lbs....no special license required for those in Texas....most pushers now are at least 32 ft...folks downsizing are buying these...course there are older pushers less than that footage....Main pusher everyone is now buying is in the 38 to 40 ft range...but if you have the money, there are the 42 and 45 footers for a million or more...LOL


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## Guest (Jan 4, 2006)

*American RV*

This Titan dates 1983. Same V8 diesel as those pickup trucks and estate 4 wheel drive things.
So far, not nearly as high on fuel consumption as I expected. Will give figures later. 
Has cruise control, auto gearbox, PAS, tilt steering wheel, 
Tows my Corsa.
OK it is old, so am I, but everything works.
It did not cost one million dollars or pounds.


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## 97081 (Dec 31, 2005)

*Titan*

The Titan I referred to is older than yours I believe...It is on the Dodge chassis with the 440 Dodge gas engine...have not seen a Titan that has a diesel engine....what make is the engine....at that time many trucks and some cars by GM used both the 5.7 and 6.5 litre engines...during the 80s many motor homes were produced...and many many of them are still on the hwys...we had a 87 Southwind,,,,first year for the basement model...and the folks we sold it to are still driving it..and they travel yearly to the mountains in Colorado,,,some of which are up to 11000 ft for roads...


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## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

olley said:


> Hi jim in a previous post you said that one of the things you looked for in an RV was a sparten chassis, Why was that? I have to confess that when we where looking I never considered the chassis.Olley


Hi Olley, I replied to your question last night but it got lost .. :?

Being more interested in 'how it works' rather than how nice the carpets were I started out looking at the chassis and reading US forums.. I also wanted a pusher with a Cummins diesel engine. 
I looked at the Spartan site >>> Here<<< and was impressed.. 
Jan was more concerned about layout and fittings, ( as most ladies are ) when we looked at RVs I would be under them while she would be inspecting the inside. 
The day we saw George was no exception, she came out and said, I love the interior honey :wink: are you happy with the chassis.. :lol: 
I said yes hun, but it's 36ft 8O .. she replied ' what's a few feet extra when it's the one you want :wink: 
A full inspection by a qualified HGV mechanic ( he was employed by a film company to maintain their RVs ) has put my mind at rest , he said .. lovely bit of kit and an engine you can't kill.


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## olley (May 1, 2005)

hi jim we only looked at front engined RV's as we wanted to keep to about 30' never looked at any diesels as i thought they would be too noisy.

The choice on petrol, was ford or gm, as I didn't want to work on either, but was resigned to the fact that would have to, I just let the wife choose.

Rebuilt a cummins once, it was in a 25ton fork truck, to my eternal shame I left the rubber rings out of the head gaskets  took along time to live that down :lol: 

Olley


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## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

Olley,

I did a lot of internet research about RVs a handful of years back. And I concluded that getting the "wrong" chassis and engine would be a huge mistake. You read of problems which are maybe small sample statistics, but there is no smoke without fire, and some of the chassis problems in particular were just so fundamental to the design you would either be forced to live with them, with every road mile being a potential irritation, or you had to ditch your mistake and sell on at a huge cost.

% rear overhang was also a contributory factor. A bit of wander on an expansive freeway was one thing, but on Devon's A-roads, say, quite another, let alone the rear swing-out issue in our cramped streets.

Getting an unreliable engine was less of a problem, but still expensive, time-consuming and inconvenient this side of the pond.

Definitely chassis/ engine/ length/ layout in that order for me, should I go the RV route (having checked width is legal).

Dave


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## olley (May 1, 2005)

Hi DA, never did much research  just went around the dealers, never realised that these sites existed. Never occurred to me that handling would be a problem with some of them

This was the first site i have ever posted on 8O and that was after we bought it.
I think after hearing comments made on this and other sites, we where very lucky getting the brave.

Olley


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