Wanderlodge Gurus - The Member Funded Wanderlodge Forum

 

We are new to the wanderlodge family, looking for a used 35 ft coach from the 80's and trying to find basic information. I have looked through the sites I think but cannot find information about headroom. I am 6ft and my son is 6ft 2.



At a cruising speed of 55/60 mph will these 3208s make 8-9 mpg?



What are resources I am not finding that would be good for information?



We will be in Yuma for month of Feb and in California for month of March so can visit around if we know where to go. We will be using our Class C motorhome so you can see that we are in a major upgrade mode.



Peter and Beth Sanderson

Comox Valley BC

 

Hi Peter and Beth,



i bought an 87fc35 3-4 years ago. it is the 300hp 3208 turbo. i read about every post on here i could find before i bought it. i've put about 30,000 miles on mine since i bought it... so it gets pretty good use and reliability has been good too (although you need to be mechanically minded for an older bird like these).



i have been very happy. i get around 8mpg at 65-70. for my use, i was also very happy i got the turbo. i often pull a boat, and travel in mountains. the turbo makes a big difference. based on what i've read also, the cat gets a lot better gas mileage than the two stroke detroit diesels. the DDs do have more hp, but they appear to get maybe 60% of the fuel mileage that the cats do.



i'm a little over 6' and don't have a problem with headroom. my 6'4" friends can't quite stand straight up.



the people on here are GREAT. read as many of the posts as you can about different questions you have. that helped me greatly when i made the decision to buy.



if you haven't had a diesel like one of these you will need some time orienting. they have A LOT of switches and dials. i was very fortunate to have another bird owner (Jay Darst), that gave up two long days to help me get acclimated with mine when i flew to Illinois to pick it up. but now i can't imagine going to one of the "simpleton" (forgive me) motorhomes that have 4 dials and a few switches.



feel free to email me any questions you have about my experiences with my 87FC35.



Alan Johnson

"alan.johnson%40usa.com"

--- In "WanderlodgeForum%40yahoogroups.com", "sandersonpb" wrote:

>

> We are new to the wanderlodge family, looking for a used 35 ft coach from the 80's and trying to find basic information. I have looked through the sites I think but cannot find information about headroom. I am 6ft and my son is 6ft 2.

>

> At a cruising speed of 55/60 mph will these 3208s make 8-9 mpg?

>

> What are resources I am not finding that would be good for information?

>

> We will be in Yuma for month of Feb and in California for month of March so can visit around if we know where to go. We will be using our Class C motorhome so you can see that we are in a major upgrade mode.

>

> Peter and Beth Sanderson

> Comox Valley BC

>

 

Rob Robinson...thank you for the kind invitation regarding Quartzite.  unfortunately we won't be through there until the 2nd Feb or so.  we have grandchildren birthday parties to get past this next two weeks before we can leave.  will you still be there?

 

Peter Sanderson
Comox Valley, BC

----- Original Message -----

From: "wander.rob@gmail.com"

To: "WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com"

Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 2010 3:19 AM

Subject: Re: [WanderlodgeForum] Re: potential owner information

 

Peter and Beth come to Quartzsite and see all the birds you want. Don Bradner gave you the link in his post that will provide you with all the info. You won't be disappointed. We've owned a bird for over five years now and fulltime. My wife Sue and I are from Victoria BC. Come over to Q and we'll introduce you to some very nice folks

2010/1/4 xz3kg7 <"alan.johnson@usa.com">

 

Hi Peter and Beth,

i bought an 87fc35 3-4 years ago. it is the 300hp 3208 turbo. i read about every post on here i could find before i bought it. i've put about 30,000 miles on mine since i bought it... so it gets pretty good use and reliability has been good too (although you need to be mechanically minded for an older bird like these).

i have been very happy. i get around 8mpg at 65-70. for my use, i was also very happy i got the turbo. i often pull a boat, and travel in mountains. the turbo makes a big difference. based on what i've read also, the cat gets a lot better gas mileage than the two stroke detroit diesels. the DDs do have more hp, but they appear to get maybe 60% of the fuel mileage that the cats do.

i'm a little over 6' and don't have a problem with headroom. my 6'4" friends can't quite stand straight up.

the people on here are GREAT. read as many of the posts as you can about different questions you have. that helped me greatly when i made the decision to buy.

if you haven't had a diesel like one of these you will need some time orienting. they have A LOT of switches and dials. i was very fortunate to have another bird owner (Jay Darst), that gave up two long days to help me get acclimated with mine when i flew to Illinois to pick it up. but now i can't imagine going to one of the "simpleton" (forgive me) motorhomes that have 4 dials and a few switches.

feel free to email me any questions you have about my experiences with my 87FC35.

Alan Johnson
"alan.johnson%40usa.com"

--- In "WanderlodgeForum%40yahoogroups.com", "sandersonpb" wrote:
>
> We are new to the wanderlodge family, looking for a used 35 ft coach from the 80's and trying to find basic information. I have looked through the sites I think but cannot find information about headroom. I am 6ft and my son is 6ft 2.
>
> At a cruising speed of 55/60 mph will these 3208s make 8-9 mpg?
>
> What are resources I am not finding that would be good for information?
>
> We will be in Yuma for month of Feb and in California for month of March so can visit around if we know where to go. We will be using our Class C motorhome so you can see that we are in a major upgrade mode.
>
> Peter and Beth Sanderson
> Comox Valley BC
>

--
Rob, Sue and Joey Robinson
94 WLWB