Which chassis on Dutch Star

[Mauricefs]

Which chassis is preferred on Dutch Star…Spartan or Freightliner??? Ordering 2022 DS seeking opinions and why prefer. Thank you

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Which chassis is preferred on Dutch Star…Spartan or Freightliner??? Ordering 2022 DS seeking opinions and why prefer. Thank you

TJ

 

[Neal]

Which chassis is preferred on Dutch Star…Spartan or Freightliner??? Ordering 2022 DS seeking opinions and why prefer. Thank you

As alluded by @TJ&LadyDi response above, this is always an entertaining and "passionate" discussion on any RV site. Ford vs. Chevy, whatever you want to name it. Newmar specs the chassis for the coach and the chassis vendor builds to those specs. You'll have to do your own research and be careful of the "confirmation bias" which is going to be the bias as to what the author of the opinion owns. Plenty of these discussions out there, it's one we all dread per above, I hope you can find the info you need to make your decision and enjoy your coach to the fullest.

 

[Neemer]

The best thing to do, IMO, is take the Dutch Star brochure and compare the specs chassis to chassis. You’ll see most of the differences. Also, look at the Spartan and Freightliner websites to determine how many service centers for each and where. IMO, there is no perfect decision to be made on this issue. They both make good products to Newmar’s specs.

 

[redbaron]

Ditto all said above. Choose one or the other. The floor plan matters way more.

 

[NWIP]

Consider warranty terms offered on both chassis.

 

[MapNerd]

Pfft. The answer is Freightliner.

 

[Magua]

Pfft. The answer is Freightliner.

Spartan.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Pfft. The answer is Freightliner.

Orrrrrrrr…is it really Spartan?

Please pass the popcorn.

TJ

 

[Neal]

 

[RKins]

I think back in the day Freightliner only provided rear radiator chassis, and Spartan offered side mounted radiator. That has since changed and both have side radiators now. I also think Spartan was the only one with Independent Front Suspension (IFS) which makes a lot of difference, so people leaned toward Spartan because of this.

 

[MapNerd]

Idk, my FL doesn’t seem to have those pesky DEF head problems (knock on fiberglass) and it turns off every time I twist the ignition that direction .

 

[NWIP]

I was going to stay away from this thread as I can’t help myself?. I agree this is kinda like Chevy vs Ford as @Neal stated. I had FL chassis on 2017 DS and now have Spartan on 2020 DS. There are differences so I will highlight a few.

First, is the fan drive and shroud. FL uses a drive shaft and gear box which had to be lubed and gear box breather tended to leak. Spartan is completely hydraulically driven with bigger fan blades and deeper shroud.

Second is the warranty, FL is 3 yrs with Spartan being 5 yrs. Yes you can extend the FL warranty out to 5 yrs which I did at a cost of approximately $1800. You pay a premium for Spartan chassis so you are paying for the longer warranty up front.

I had no big issues with FL and Ave not had any issues to date with Spartan. Hope this gives some insight without saying which is better?

 

[RandDescape]

I agree that the two are pretty comparable and somethings like the warranty are just pre-paid on Spartan but you can add to the FL later. However, as they did in '21 the '22 Spartans have a 20k front axle compared to the 19k FL. That is something not everyone needs, but you cannot add on later. Tag axle DPs tend to run close to the front axle specs due to the geometry of the tag and drive suspension.

- Richard

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

OK…since I initiated the popcorn response, let me say that I think @NWIP and @RandDescape raised some meaningful points. That said, we’ve owned coaches on both the Freightliner and Spartan chassis, and found very little meaningful difference between the actual platforms. There are offsetting pros and cons for both, but as @redbaron stated, in the long run the coach floor plan is the major consideration.

Is there any more popcorn? My box is almost empty.

TJ

 

[JRS]

Below is our first RV and was like you wondering which way to go (also the 1st year of the big upcharge for the Spartan - previously no upcharge) Been to Hershey 5 times prior to purchasing and asked many Spartan and Freightliner owners. Both owners liked their chassis. Now that I've had our rig for 2yrs, I'd get another FL. I love our DriveTech System which was designed by Daimler (FL's owner) and 1st offered on the DS in 2020.

 

[NWIP]

I forgot one big difference, annual maintenance cost. My FL annual service was about $1,000 and Spartan is about $2,000. @TJ&LadyDi can you please pass the popcorn ?

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

I forgot one big difference, annual maintenance cost. My FL annual service was about $1,000 and Spartan is about $2,000. @TJ&LadyDi can you please pass the popcorn ?

I don’t think my annual service on the Spartan chassis (at Guaranty RV in Oregon) has even been more than $1,200-$1,400, @NWIP. That leaves quite a bit of the $2K left for popcorn purchases.

My arms are pretty long, Bill, but I don’t think I can reach all the way to South Dakota with the popcorn bowl. You know I would if I could!

TJ