Question Spartan vs Freightliner chassis

[BiVo]

what would you recommend for a new Essex … Spartan or Freightliner … and why

 

[redbaron]

Freightliner---coming from an owner of many freightliners on a dutchstar, and now on a 2022 London Aire on spartan.

I would also highly recommend that you look at a london aire before buying an essex. Maybe you have a reason for essex, but most of those reasons can be added to the london aire.

I have king aire cabinets, floors, and leather. Not much value in essex over london aire.

 

[BiVo]

Freightliner---coming from an owner of many freightliners on a dutchstar, and now on a 2022 London Aire on spartan.

I would also highly recommend that you look at a london aire before buying an essex. Maybe you have a reason for essex, but most of those reasons can be added to the london aire.

I have king aire cabinets, floors, and leather. Not much value in essex over london aire.

What are the reasons for freightliner over spartan

 

[scottramer]

In simple terms it is Chevy vs Ford. I had a Dutch Star on a Spartan and now a London Aire on a Freightliner. Both are good chassis but Spartan has had a lot of front end problems with porpoising and DEF head failure.

I know Spartan changed front suspension manufactures a couple times over the last 4 or 5 years and I think both issues resolved but Spartans handling of the issues was terrible.

If I were to do it again, I would stay with Freightliner for the simple fact of servicing. Freightliner has a vast network of repair dealers and Spartan is lousy at best.

Plus on a personal note, I drove both chassis's before I bought my London Aire and I liked the way the Freightliner drove. The Spartan had what I call a Boulevard ride which was a little soft and mushy and the Freightliner has a more firm positive feel but not rough.

And another thing to consider, Spartan, the fire truck manufacturer spun off the RV chassis business 2020 and sold it to the the Shyft Group. The Shyft Group has now merged with the Aebi Schmidt Group in 2025. With that said, for some reason Newmar went back to offering Freightliner on the Lux coaches in the last couple and Foretravel is using Freightliner on their new coach they came out with.

 

[Neemer]

At one time, Spartan had a warranty advantage over Freightliner. 5 yr vs 3 yr. In ‘22 I think it was, FL matched Spartan’s 5 yr warranty. If there is still an upcharge for a Spartan chassis, it’s not worth it.