# Damon Daybreak RV



## Bryan (Aug 9, 2006)

Sorry for my first post to be so specific but I have searched and can't find the answer anywhere...

We have never owned a MH but are seriously thinking of buying a Damon Daybreak RV, 34 feet long on a F550 with a Ford 7.4 Petrol engine.

Please reply with ANY comments that may be useful and in particular, is it legal in the UK? I cannot find the width measurement anywhere on the net.

Thanks for ANY replies


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## kijana (May 1, 2005)

Hello Mr Agents

I think you'll find ALL Damons are over the UK acceptable width (unless you work for Dudleys).

If you want it from the horse's mouth, try calling Damon in the States and asking them the outside skin-to-skin measurement.

good luck

Bruce


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Damon*

Hi

Ridgeset at Dronfield in Yorkshire often have Damon's for sale.

www.ridgesetrv.co.uk

The owner is very helpful and might be able to offer you some guidance.

Rapide561


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## 88927 (May 10, 2005)

Hi
If you click here http://www.damonrv.com/literature you will find a request form for literature, it seems that it goes back to 1996, so maybe the info you need is contained there??? They are Adobe files that you download......
Hope this helps

Keith

Ps, If the Damon is already in the UK then the measurements should not be a problem as it will already have been registered and all the regs etc cannot (in my opinion) be made retrospective, and as already said most ARV's are probably going to be illegal in one respect or another :roll: :roll:


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## Bryan (Aug 9, 2006)

kijana said:


> Hello Mr Agents
> 
> I think you'll find ALL Damons are over the UK acceptable width (unless you work for Dudleys).
> 
> ...


Thanks for the info.

I've revisited Damons website and found that they have pdf's for some of their older vans.

The 1996 Daybreak has an overall width of 8 feet. As the awning is standard then this width should be fine, no?

Anyone have any more comments? PLEASE post them as I may be buying this very soon


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## 88927 (May 10, 2005)

Generally speaking NO.
The Americans tend to measure the sidewall width and do not include awnings etc so at 8 feet (96 inches), you will need to add at leat 4 inches for the awning which leaves you only 0.4 inch before you are technically overwidth :wink: :wink: and I suspect that you will have a vent or cover on the opposite side that is deeper than 0.4 inches......

Get the seller to measure the actual width with everything except the mirros include and then get the mirror measurement to add to that for a "real" overall width.....

Keith


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## MicknPat (Jul 18, 2005)

If you want an official reply to your question visit this site http://www.smmt.co.uk/motorhomes/

The web site contains this warning



> IMPORTANT: Anyone selling (or offering to supply) a vehicle is responsible for ensuring that it complies with all applicable laws. It is an offence under the Road Traffic Act 1988 if a vehicle offered for sale is too long or too wide.


At the bottom of the page is the 'latest' August 6th 31 page list of 'approved' and oversized motorhomes produced for the DVLA by SMMT.
http://www.smmt.co.uk/motorhomes/Motorhome_Directory.pdf


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## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

Welcome webagents 

As Keith said, if it's registered in the UK then it's not a problem, the recent width issues have been with personal imports from the US. 

However, and this is only my opinion, I wouldn't buy a 34ft RV with a petrol engine, if your looking at that length why not look for a diesel pusher.. ? 

You can also find help and advice on the web site below .. 


Jim


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## olley (May 1, 2005)

Hi jim word is that Workhorse are about to announce a petrol pusher. 8) 

Olley


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## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

olley said:


> Hi jim word is that Workhorse are about to announce a petrol pusher. 8)
> 
> Olley


Hi Olley

I was reading a USRV forum where the question was asked, "why no petrol pushers" .. the consensus of opinion was that it was because of cooling problems .. petrol engines run hotter I assume .. and diesel pushers can be a challenge to cool employing a huge fan that runs all the time soaking up valuable BHP.. :roll: but the benefits I feel outweigh the shortcummings .. (a deliberate play on words :lol: ) and I still think that a diesel pusher is the engine of choice in a coach over 30ft


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## Bryan (Aug 9, 2006)

Thanks for all the replies,

I'm more confused now!

According to the seller it was registered in uk last Novenber (2005), but according to the list at smmt (thanks for the link) it is classed as oversize...

What does it all mean?


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## Bryan (Aug 9, 2006)

kands said:


> Hi
> If you click here http://www.damonrv.com/literature you will find a request form for literature, it seems that it goes back to 1996, so maybe the info you need is contained there??? They are Adobe files that you download......
> Hope this helps
> 
> ...


Thanks Keith, I did not see your post before I posted.

To clarify...

The daybreak IS in the UK, on a V5, computerised MOT, been through cherished number changes and reports back from the DVLA as a Ford Daybreak.

SMMT list says OVERSIZE

Is this legal because it is already registered or...?

TIA


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## olley (May 1, 2005)

Hi webagents most RV's are illegal for one reason or another, rear overhang, tv is visable from driving seat, width ect. but we just keep on driving them.

If its registered its OK. Enjoy

Olley


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## Bryan (Aug 9, 2006)

ScotJimland said:


> However, and this is only my opinion, I wouldn't buy a 34ft RV with a petrol engine, if your looking at that length why not look for a diesel pusher.. ?
> 
> Jim


Why a diesel pusher over petrol puller? Fuel economy? If so, it already has lpg conversion so would that make it more acceptable?

If not, why not? ;-)


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## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

WebAgents said:


> Why a diesel pusher over petrol puller? Fuel economy? If so, it already has lpg conversion so would that make it more acceptable? If not, why not? ;-)


Hi

A rear engine diesel doesn't use up valuable floor space, it is quieter and more economical. 
On that size of coach with a petrol engine expect around 7 - 8 mpg compared to 12 - 14mpg with a diesel. 
LPG is roughly half the cost of petrol but with only about 80% efficiency thus reducing the cost saving and the engine power. .. Olley will be able to give a more accurate figure. 
LPG is also not widely available in Spain, not an issue if you don't intend to visit, but even in France and the UK refuelling can be a challenge as many of the pumps are difficult to access with a large RV ..( check the location the next time you visit a service station ) and the filler may be on the wrong side of the RV .. I think Olley has a filler on both sides 
Diesel on the other hand is always available from the HGV pumps. 
Diesel engines are also better suited to hauling heavy loads, due to flatter torque curves and IMO they are more reliable, cheaper and easier to service, important to me as I do my own.

When I was looking for an RV I made a list of what it must have, I wasn't concerned about fixtures and fittings, these are fairly universal nor about the make or layout, slides would have been nice to have but weren't on the list.

1. Engine... Cummins or Cat diesel
2. Transmission.... Alison auto
3. Chassis... Spartan
4. Length... 34-36ft
5. Pusher

These are my reasons for choosing George for fulltiming, others will disagree, each to his own .... such is life :wink:


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## des (Aug 13, 2005)

scotjimland makes some good points, but on the question of fuel economy, we have averaged 7.3mpg on lpg since buying. average cost 40p per litre. this equates costwise to about 17mpg, assuming petrol at £1 is 2.5 times the price. not much floorspace lost to the front engine, and the latest workhorse chassis has the engine lower, with a flat floor up front (sadly this upgrade just after our purchase). no engine service (other than oil and filter change) for 100,000 miles. however, i think the big thing with the pusher is that they are bigger chassis, usually with more payload, and increased basement locker space. if i were fulltiming, would definitely go for a pusher, but for our 50% use, the daybreak is perfect. watch out for some of the older ones, as sometimes lockers and drawers (internal) are not as deep as you might expect. finally, floorplan and slideouts are EVERYTHING. Why? Because you can't change them.


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## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

des said:


> the pusher is that they are bigger chassis, usually with more payload, and increased basement locker space. if i were fulltiming, would definitely go for a pusher, but for our 50% use, the daybreak is perfect. watch out for some of the older ones, as sometimes lockers and drawers (internal) are not as deep as you might expect. finally, floorplan and slideouts are EVERYTHING. Why? Because you can't change them.


Hi Des

All good points and interesting figures on the LPG economy.. 
Payload and the bigger chassis are very important for fulltiming, the Spartan chassis is purpose built for the RV market, Spartan also built the chassis for the American fire engines.. with full size commercial 22.5" wheels , air ride suspension, air brakes , etc. , these and the huge lockers make pushers ideal for a fulltiming family.. of coarse part timers and couples will need less space and payload.. 
I should add that George will be our home, our only home, we won't have a base to store anything.. for others fulltime means going away for extended trips of up to 10 months or more but it's not the same as saying goodbye to bricks and mortar for ever ..there is a huge difference....


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## 99821 (Jun 28, 2006)

ScotJimland said:


> des said:
> 
> 
> > the pusher is that they are bigger chassis, usually with more payload, and increased basement locker space. if i were fulltiming, would definitely go for a pusher, but for our 50% use, the daybreak is perfect. watch out for some of the older ones, as sometimes lockers and drawers (internal) are not as deep as you might expect. finally, floorplan and slideouts are EVERYTHING. Why? Because you can't change them.
> ...


...how does that work from a bureaucratic perspective? tax issues? etc etc.... does one just drop out of the system? are you declared homeless & vagrant?


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## des (Aug 13, 2005)

not homeless and vagrant - motorhomeful and happy! agree with you scotjimland re your chassis. however, know of one owner (monaco quad slide) who is deeply disappointed with his payload. however, not on a spartan chassis!


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## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

Sigeee said:


> > ...how does that work from a bureaucratic perspective? tax issues? etc etc.... does one just drop out of the system? are you declared homeless & vagrant?
> 
> 
> I would love to discuss this further but it is going seriously 'off topic' , I suggest you open a new post in the 'fulltiming' forum where these and other questions will be gladly answered .. but you may need to pay the subs for meaningful dialogue to continue :wink:


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## kijana (May 1, 2005)

All interesting points on merits of different designs. We nearly bought a diesel pusher, but now intend to go for a petrol puller.

One disadvantage of the pusher format is the engine does not see the natural ram air cooling effect of a front engine layout. By the time the air gets to the back end, it is too turbulent to be entrained into ducts. So you need a very large fan for forced draught cooling (which Cummings themselves quote as one of the highest losses mpg-wize). I'm surprised the chassis designers don't site the radiator upfront, and run tungum cooling lines aft to the engine. That way you only need a small fan, and the coolant lines themselves act as radiators thus minimising the size of heat exchanger required up front.

As to storage space, not sure that there is a great deal more in a pusher. We spent an afternoon at D$$$$$ly$ crawling over various pushers and pullers checking the locker capacities.

With a pusher, you lose all the back end lockers, plus any storage space under a fixed rear bed. But you don't get lockers at the front end, where the engine used to be. Best we saw was a token recess in the floor between the driver & pax seats, but nothing like the equivalent lost to the rear engine and fan.

On the puller we're currently looking at, not only are there large lockers all the way to the back, but the rearmost two are 'pass thru', meaning you can open one and see out of the other. So you could stow a canoe that was 100.4" long! Doubt you'd manage that in a rear-engined layout.

There's no doubt the quality of diesel pushers is way higher than gas pullers, though. Second hand prices alone will confirm this. I'm sure there is a considerable increase in fuel economy over petrol, but then you pay a lot more for the coach. So in outright annual costs for the fulltimer, I suspect it would be a few years before you saw an actual saving (depending of course on your annual mileage).

But I'm probably missing something, being outside looking in.

Bruce


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## 99821 (Jun 28, 2006)

Drive both types before you buy......I think you will find the benefits of the "industrial" chassis & systems of a pusher worth the extra wedge upfront, a more pleasant driving experience by a huge margin.... Air suspension is magnificent!

Excellent idea for the rad location etc in a pusher.... seems good to me but I'm not an engineer!


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## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

> With a pusher, you lose all the back end lockers, plus any storage space under a fixed rear bed. But you don't get lockers at the front end, where the engine used to be. Best we saw was a token recess in the floor between the driver & pax seats, but nothing like the equivalent lost to the rear engine and fan.


Hi Bruce ...
So very true, but on the plus side when you need to do a service or check anything you can do it in the bedroom and access is great, you just need to remember to tell the other half to get out of bed before starting.. :lol: :lol:

We have two through lockers amidships .. and where the engine 'should be' at the front is a huge space for the house batteries and other storage.. but even with RVs compromise is the order of the day, no matter what you buy :roll:


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## Bryan (Aug 9, 2006)

Well thanks for the replies,

This time tomorrow I should be the (hopefully) proud owner of a Damon Daybreak.

I've got a quote for insurance from Budget for about £415.

Oh, I've also upped my membership by subscribing, so expect a few more posts (questions ;-) ) in the near future...


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## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

WebAgents said:


> This time tomorrow I should be the (hopefully) proud owner of a Damon Daybreak.
> Oh, I've also upped my membership by subscribing, so expect a few more posts (questions ;-) ) in the near future...


Congratulations, I'm sure you will be overjoyed..

we are standing by for a ton of questions ... :lol: :lol:


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## geraldandannie (Jun 4, 2006)

Well done, Webagents. Dont forget to check it very thoroughly before you leave.

Congrats on becoming a full member.  You won't regret it.

Gerald


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## des (Aug 13, 2005)

congratulations! after 6 months, 3000 miles, and over 100 nights away, we are still in love with our daybreak!


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## Bryan (Aug 9, 2006)

Well, we've only gone and done it...!

We are now the proud owners of our very own motorhome 

We can't remember most of what was said during the handover, though.

I'm VERY chuffed with the self-seeking satellite dish and the sky box, the shower looks great, the toilet is a little surprising being essentially a porta-potti with a large tank.

The bedroom is fantastic, as is the high riding position.

I need new wing mirrors, and I might be selling the Kenwood cd/dvd/tv/satnav system though.

Anyway, more thorough cleaning tomorrow and probably have our first nights out next weekend.

Oh, and I'll probably sell the VERY substantial motorbike rack and aim for a car + trailer.


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## damondunc (Feb 14, 2006)

*Damon Daybreak*

Hi Webagents

Welcome aboard  

We have a Damon Intruder,36' double slide on a Ford V10, we tow either a vauxhall combo van or a suzuki vitara and get about 10 miles to the gallon,so with an Lpg conversion you should do very well on fuel.( we stick to about 55mph,)but the travelling really is part of the whole experience so there is no hurry as far as we are concerned.
There is an american auto club do at Billing Aquadome,Northampton. this coming weekend,apparently a few RVs attend( we have'nt been before ) but it could be a destination option for you.
Where there are RVs there is usually advice :wink: :wink: 
If you list your location on your profile people can help you easier.
Regards Duncan


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