Technically, Freightliner didn't refer to it as a "recall", but a "campaign", but I had to take it to W. W. Williams Company in Phoenix and sit around for two hours this morning while they performed "Campaign TT8009EN", where they adjust the settings on the TCM because Allison and Cummings decided that an adjustment was necessary. I figured that I better get it done before we leave for our 3,000 mile trip this summer. I didn't notice the transmission shifting any differently on the 20 mile drive home.

Two years ago, when researching which motorhome to buy for our first RV, I told myself after reading everybody's comments about gas-vs-diesel that a gas RV would be sufficient for us. Boy, was I wrong! Peoples comments in the RV forums all said that if you just drive it around your home state for short weekends or one-week trips, then the gas coach would be fine, but if you live it in or drive it long distances, get a diesel pusher. Well, I couldn't justify spending $75,000 more just for a diesel pusher at the time, so I went with a brand-new 2014 Tiffin Allegro 35QBA. After putting over 10,000 miles on it in the first 18 months, I now know why people said to get a diesel pusher. Our new 2016 Tiffin Allegro RED 33AA does everything head-and-shoulders better than our gas RV did.

1. We just drove it to San Diego last weekend for its first long-trip. We towed our 2015 Jeep Cherokee and had the coach full with 4 adults and 2 kids. I remember driving on stretches of I-8 between Phoenix and Yuma last year where the gas coach downshifted to 3rd gear and revved up to 5,000 RPM on every slight hill along the way. And, I mean SLIGHT hills. Just going over an overpass would cause it to downshift abruptly. The diesel pusher very rarely downshifted unless is was a major hill, such as the long passes going to and from San Diego. Maximum speed going up the pass was 45 MPG for about 10 minutes. Other than that, it held 55-65 easily the entire way. I was able to drive almost the entire way with cruise control on. With the gas coach, I had to manually turn it off if I saw any kind of a hill coming up and build up my momentum to make it to the top of the hill without sounding like the engine was going to explode.
2. The diesel is so quiet compared to the gas coach. You can listen to the radio and hold a normal conversation between the passenger and driver in a regular voice.
3. Another advantage of the new diesel pusher over the gas coach is the way it drives. I added a front steering stabilizer and rear trac bar to the gas coach to try to get it to handle better. While those helped, they didn't begin to make up for the problem of the lightweight Ford chassis vs the heavyweight Freightliner chassis. I would get sore shoulders driving the gas coach just 200 miles because of constantly adjusting the steering wheel to keep the coach from wandering in its lane. The new diesel pusher is more like driving a luxury car vs driving an old VW Beetle. You can take your hands off the wheel for several seconds without it running off the road. I find myself driving with two fingers on the steering wheel now. The gas coach you had white knuckles from holding on to the steering wheel so tightly!
4. The air shocks are another thing that makes a huge difference. The ride on the new coach is so smooth! 
5. The diesel has an air brake system, which, until you've driven an RV with and without it, you'd never know what you're missing. It's great to apply it when going down hills, such as the long pass going to and from San Diego. It kept our downhill speed in the 45 MPH range without hardly touching the brake pedal going down that mountain pass.

If you're even THINKING about getting an RV, you owe it to yourself to test drive a gas RV then a diesel RV. There's no way you'll ever want to settle for a gas coach!

After our last big trip to Yellowstone, Seattle, Oregon and back (see blog post here), we decided that the 2014 Tiffin Allegro 35QBA gas-coach wasn't cutting it on the long distances that we're tending to travel and we started looking for a diesel pusher replacement. After looking at Thor Palazzo, Forest River Berkshire, Newmar Ventana LE, Fleetwood Excursion 33D, Winnebago Solei 36G and more, we decided to stick with Tiffin and traded our 2014 Allegro in for a new 2016 Tiffin Allegro RED 33AA (RED = Rear Engine Diesel). The deciding factor was an 80-mile test drive up to 2,500' high Sunset Point and back on I-17. The difference in handling and power was HUGE! Our gas coach takes that hill at 40 MPH with the engine revving way up to 5,000 RPM. The diesel coach took it easily at 55, even with the cruise control on! Plus, no swaying when passing or being passed by big semi trucks. I don't know which impressed me more, but I fell in love with this coach on this test drive. We made the trade today, transferring all our gear from the old coach to the new one. So far, it looks like everything will fit into the new one, even though it's 8" shorter. We'll be organizing everything in it this weekend in preparation for our next trip.