Old or Older?

[Ryan Wright]

Rich,

The Wanderlodges I'm familiar with are the FCs (Forward Control -
engine up front), PTs (Pusher w/Tag axle) and SPs (no idea what it
stands for). They are all very nice coaches. The SPs are a little
smaller, I think they only made them up to 36 feet, and they have a
center-side entry door vs. the front-side door on the PTs.

I prefer the rear engine. The coach is very quiet up front going down
the road (unless the front-mounted generator is running). Flip side
is, you can't hear what the engine is doing all that well so you
really need to keep an eye on your gauges.

It is a buyer's market right now, big time. A very good time to buy a
coach. Terrible time to be selling one. I've seen some nice coaches
listed on eBay with no reserve and selling at incredibly low prices
vs. a year ago. Watch what you buy, learn as much as you can, and if
you can have another owner go with you to help you inspect any
potential purchase, do so. Personally, I'd spend a little more money
to get a well maintained coach (and that's exactly what I did).
Usually cheap = problems and you could quickly turn this dream into a
very costly nightmare. Think "stranded and needing $30,000 to replace
the engine" bad, or having to put in a $10k generator, etc. If a coach
has a lot of little things wrong with it, be very concerned. This
indicates a general lack of maintenance in my opinion and I'd stay
away - bigger problems are probably lurking under the surface. Don't
buy a "fixer upper" under any circumstances.

-Ryan
'86 PT-40 8V92

On Mon, May 18, 2009 at 8:37 AM, richafranco wrote:
>
>
> Ryan,
>
> Thanks for the good info. But what is a SP? A longer version maybe? Space
> and storage will be an issue. I had a friend a few years ago, who lived on a
> 34' sailboat and I remember him talking about Christmas presents for his
> wife and 2 teenagers. I came down to what would fit and maybe what they
> would have to get rid of to make space! I'm sure this is a typical
> conversation in the RV world.
>
> As far as the driving part, I've driven trucks in the past for a living and
> should pick up the skills pretty quickly, I hope. What about the motor in
> the front vs. the back debates?
>
> Rich