Navistar, based in Warrenville, Illinois, makes International brand commercial trucks, IC Bus branded school and commercial buses, MaxxForce brand diesel engines, Monaco brand RVs and Workhorse brand chassis for motor homes and step vans.

Speaking at the Reuters Manufacturing and Transportation Summit in Chicago, CEO Daniel Ustian said Navistar's RV making unit, created when it purchased the assets of bankrupt motorhome maker Monaco Coach last year, was already operating at a break-even level in what he characterized as the worst of times.

He said it was already a "$400 million, $500 million" a year business for Navistar but he could see it tripling in size as the RV market recovers.

"We believe it will get to be a $1.5 billion business," he said.

Among the markets in which he sees growth is South America, where commercial buses built on Monaco's one-piece bodies could help Navistar make good on its goal of becoming a player in the global commercial bus market.

And Ustian said he believes there is a growing RV in market in places like China, with its burgeoning middle class and sprawling new highway system.

"They have small RVs there now," he said. "they're pretty sparse. So I think ... there's an opportunity."

Navistar stock is publically traded on the NYSE.

Workhorse wrote this very informative and safety conscious article on maintaining a safe speed in your RV when going up and especially going down steep grades. The idea is to you let your engine do the (braking) work. Do keep in mind that the references are to gas-powered hydraulic disc brake motorhomes. Many of the principles are the same for air brakes. But is important to educate yourself to the fade characteristics of drum brakes if your coach is so equipped.

"Workhorse has found that drivers often overheat and damage their vehicle braking systems by improper braking in mountain areas or by “riding” the brakes on flat ground. The following includes suggestions from the Workhorse Technical Team as well as recommendations outlined in the DOT (Department of Transportation) commercial driver’s license manual. Workhorse has included these DOT procedures in its owner’s manual since 2007 and they apply to all types of motor homes.

In mountain driving, gravity plays a major role. On any upgrade, gravity slows you down. The steeper the grade, the longer the grade, and/or the heavier the load — the more you will have to use lower gears to climb hills or mountains. In coming down long, steep downgrades, gravity causes the speed of your vehicle to increase. You must select an appropriate safe speed, and then use a low gear and proper braking techniques.

You should plan ahead and obtain information about any long, steep grades along your planned route of travel. If possible, talk to other motor home or truck drivers who are familiar with the grades to find out what speeds are safe. You must utilize engine braking techniques to go slowly enough so your brakes can be utilized for speed reduction without getting too hot. If the brakes become too hot, they may start to "fade." This means you have to apply them harder and harder to get the same stopping power. If you continue to use the brakes hard, they can keep fading until you cannot slow down or stop at all.

Select a "safe" speed...

Your most important consideration is to select a speed that is not too fast for the:

• Total vehicle and cargo weight.
• Length of grade.
• Steepness of grade.
• Road conditions.
• Weather.

If a speed limit is posted, or there is a sign indicating "Maximum Safe Speed," never exceed the speed shown. Also, look for and heed warning signs indicating the length and steepness of the grade.

You must use the braking effect of the engine as the principal way of controlling your speed. The braking effect of the engine is greatest when it is near the governed rpms and the transmission is in the lower gears. Save your brakes so you will be able to slow or stop as required by road and traffic conditions.

Select the right gear before starting down the grade...

Shift the transmission to a low gear before starting down the grade. Pay close attention to the gear that is required to climb the grade prior to decent. For example if the gear required to climb the grade is 3rd gear, then 3rd gear should be selected prior to the decent as a base line to control your vehicle speed. Do not try to downshift after your speed has already built up above the safe posted speed limit. Once your speed has increased over the safe posted speed limit you may not be able to shift into a lower gear. You may not even be able to get back into any gear and all engine braking effect will be lost.

With motor homes, a rule for choosing gears has been to use the same gear going down a hill that you would to climb the hill. However, new motor homes have low friction parts and streamlined shapes for fuel economy. They may also have more powerful engines. This means they can go up hills in higher gears and have less friction and air drag to hold them back going down hills. For this reason, drivers of newer motor homes may have to use lower gears going down a hill than would be required to go up the hill. Usually you want the lowest gear that will keep the motor home at or near the speed you want in negotiating the downhill. For example, if you’re going down a six percent grade and wanted to go 35 mph, you would start downshifting and using the brakes to get to an engine rpm that will enable you to maintain a speed at or near 35 mph.

Proper braking technique...

Remember, the use of brakes on a long and/or steep downgrade is only a supplement to the braking effect of the engine. Once the vehicle is in the proper low gear, the following is the proper braking technique:

• When your speed increases to or above your “safe” speed, apply the brakes aggressively enough to feel a definite slowdown.
• When your speed has been reduced to approximately five mph below your safe speed, release the brakes. (This brake application should last for about three seconds.)
• When your speed increases again to your safe speed, repeat steps 1 and 2.

For example, if your safe speed is 40 mph, you would not apply the brakes to any increase in speed until you reach 40 mph. Then you apply the brakes aggressively enough to gradually reduce your speed to 35 mph and then release the brakes. Repeat this as often as necessary until you have reached the end of the downgrade.

Brake fade or failure...

Your brakes by design operate utilizing brake pads that rub against the brake disks to slow the vehicle during brake application. This braking function creates heat, which the brake system can dissipate during normal brake applications. However, brakes can fade or fail from excessive heat caused by improper use or dragging the brake to slow the vehicle on mountain grades rather than relying on the engine braking effect. To safely control a vehicle, every braking mechanism must do its share of the work. Brakes with excessively worn pads or rotors will not provide the same degree of braking power. If you are not sure about the condition of your braking system, have it inspected by qualified service center.

Escape ramps or runaway truck ramps...

Escape ramps, also known as Runaway Truck Ramps, have been built on many steep mountain downgrades. Escape ramps are made to stop runaway vehicles safely without injuring drivers and passengers. Escape ramps use a long bed of loose, soft material to slow a runaway vehicle, sometimes in combination with an upgrade. Know escape ramp locations on your route. Signs show drivers where ramps are located. Escape ramps save lives.

An example of brake-friendly driving technique in Death Valley
On a recent trip to California we made notes on driving technique when descending a mountain pass.

Background...

The motor home was built on a Workhorse W22 gas chassis, fully laden to 22,000 lb. GVWR. The driver, let’s call him Mike, is an experienced driver with a valid Commercial Driver’s License and is also a professional automotive technician. We asked Mike to drive the vehicle in a fashion that would conserve the brakes, but also be reasonable in using the engine and transmission for braking (i.e. drive it like you own it!).

We were traveling in a south-westerly direction into Death Valley National Park from the Nevada side on SR-374, with a planned stop at Stovepipe Wells Village in the park. This is quite a steep descent with almost 10 miles of 7 percent grade and 4 miles of 5 percent grade, with a total drop of around 4,000 foot over 12 miles of driving. The speed limit on some road sections inside the National Park on this road is 45 mph, so Mike shifted down to second gear as soon as we hit the down-grade. The motor home was a 2005 model with the 5 speed Allison transmission and equipped with the “Grade-Brake” feature, but Mike elected not to use the Grade Brake, instead preferring to manually shift down using the column shift.

Mike would allow the vehicle to run against engine compression with the engine speed varying between 4,000 rpm to 5,200 rpm, depending on the grade.  Each time we hit 5,200 rpm the transmission would force a shift to 3rd in order to protect the engine.  Each time this happened Mike applied the brake for a few seconds to scrub off speed and this allowed the transmission to downshift to 2nd gear again, allowing maximum engine braking in the safe speed range. Drivers should not be concerned about the high rpms in this situation because, as noted, the transmission will automatically adjust when needed to protect the engine. Also, if Mike had elected to use the Grade Brake feature, the down- and up-shifting would have happened automatically once he touched the brake pedal.

Overall, Mike applied the brake only seven times during the 14-mile descent and this includes the final stop at the T-junction with the North Highway!  Most of the applications were of short duration, with less than 5 seconds of brake pedal application required to control the vehicle speed.

Only once did Mike use the brake pedal for longer on a twisty section to ensure we remained at a safe speed. The total time of brake application was only around 45 seconds. This was quite an enlightening illustration of how driving technique learned on heavy trucks (where brakes simply do not have the huge excess capacity found on passenger cars) can allow for safe navigation of the most demanding descents with no danger of overheating and damaging the brakes on your motor home."

The Dodge (Mercedes) Sprinter might have marked the beginning of these explorations into the basic foundation of RV chassis', but as the RV industry readies for 2010 and the next decade – there are lot of great new things happening for you under the coach that rides above the chassis below.

FRED, the FRont Engine Diesel chassis also revolutionized the ability for a typical Class A to upgrade to diesel without committing to the full "bus" price, size or look. Workhorse jumped into the fray with the UFO offering gas or diesel as a pusher option on the same frame.

But it's this year that marks some really great innovation. If you CLICK HERE and read the RV Buddies article on the Tiffin chassis – you will see what we are talking about. Things like front disc brakes on an air-brake equipped diesel chassis will become the norm. Chassis makers are also incorporating more of the up-front technical work to make it easier for the RV builder to make coach building faster, easier and of higher quality. One of the things that is becoming commonplace is multi-plexed electrical systems – complicated to engineer, but these simplify production for the coach builder.

Let's take a look at some of the highlights from the major companies and see what they are up to…

Spartan NGP

Spartan has introduced a new breed of chassis. It's a fairly complete chassis that the coach builder can specify with standard or custom front and rear caps. It's a turn-key approach to allow the RV builder to focus on the layout and features for their customers, while having a dependable platform that is ready-to-go with minimal prep.

One of the other great things about this platform is the fully included and integrated automotive style dashboard. This will minimally stimulate a lot of coach builders to look at this very important area of coach design.

The initial chassis specs seem to be best suited to the 35' range of coach design. Standard diesel pusher engine is the Cummins ISB 6.7 turbo with 340 Hp and 660 lb-ft of torque. The 2500 Allison 6-speed handles the shifting. Air suspension and brakes mate the 22.5 Michelins to the frame. The specs do not specify if the front brakes are discs. This RV chassis is the result of some of Spartan's work on their fire engine chassis. The fire engine is available with discs – but that doesn't mean that these will be standard or optional. GCWR is rated at a healthy 33,000 pounds.

Workhorse W-20

The Workhorse W-20 is the big brother to the W-16 with increases in horsepower, torque and GCWR. It's also the standard chassis on the Thor Four Winds Serrano – a coach RV Buddies names as one of four best of show this year in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Horsepower is up to 230, torque is 620 lb-ft, and GCWR is 26,000 pounds. That's a significant upgrade over the W-16 model.

ecoFRED from Freightliner

ecoFRED from Freightliner, the RV industry’s first hybrid-electric Class A motorhome chassis, is now available for RV manufacturers to order and build coaches on it.

Equipped with the Eaton hybrid-electric system, ecoFRED is powered by the Cummins ISB 6.7-liter engine with up to 300 hp and an Eaton automated manual transmission.

ecoFRED offers reduced exhaust emissions, leading toward a cleaner environment, requires less fuel to operate and has an improved brake life, all of which contribute to better overall performance and a reduced operational costs.

ecoFRED offers significantly less brake wear due to regenerative braking, leading to lower replacement costs. The chassis also boasts of better acceleration and increased towing capacity, operating similar to driving an automatic transmission. (Note the "automated manual transmission reference here!)

This last summer, Brad and Amy Herzog, spokespeople for the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association, decided to use a Winnebago motorhome with the innovative ecoFRED RV chassis for its 10th annual travel tour.

RV Buddies will be following this chassis as it goes into production. Coach electrical systems and generators are different on this hybrid, and we're anxious to experience an "automated manual" transmission!

MC-L from Freightliner

Designed with a durable frame and updated driver station configuration, the MC-L Class A diesel motorhome chassis boasts greater fuel economy, enables more aerodynamic body designs and offers superior ride quality.

Powered by a Cummins ISB 6.7-liter electronic diesel engine with up to 200 hp and 520 ft. lbs. of torque with an Allison automatic six-speed transmission, the MC-L offers outstanding power and performance. An up to 50-degree wheel cut allows for superior maneuverability, assisting RV owners as they traverse through urban settings and tight spaces.

Coaches sit lower to the ground with the MC-L’s low-profile frame rail, increasing aerodynamics and ride quality. Also, the quieter front-engine diesel allows for a more comfortable ride for passengers.

Damon Motor Coach is building its new Avanti motorcoach on the FCCC MC-L chassis. According to independent testing results by Damon, the Avanti is 70 percent more fuel-efficient than any other Class A gas model.

XC and Powerliner III from Freightliner

To provide RV owners with enhanced safety and improved ride and handling, Freightliner Custom Chassis announced that all rear-engine motorhome chassis models will offer front air disc brakes as a standard feature.

Bendix ADB22X air disc brakes increase the safety of passengers because they improve stopping distance, while also easily coming to a straight, stable stop without steering correction. The air disc brakes also contribute to a passenger car-like feel, a positive for those operating a large motorhome.

FCCC rear-engine chassis include the entire FCCC XC product lineup, as well as the Powerliner III.

A few more Spartan NGP Pictures...

EDITORS NOTE: Being gear-heads ourselves here at RV Buddies makes this news on the W20D very exciting to us. It's also wonderful to see additional supporting materials that support the reason for us naming the Four Winds Serrano built on the W20 platform as one of the best of show at Hershey earlier this year. Here is the low-down from their research:

Diesel Engine’s Torque and Quietness also Provide Great New Choice for Class A Motor Homes

The Workhorse 20D/22D front-engine diesel chassis with its MaxxForce 7 engine has taken a big leap in improving motor home fuel economy while providing outstanding torque for Class A motor homes along with the quietest V8 diesel engine you might ever drive.

Independent tests at Bosch Proving Grounds in South Bend, Ind., had this chassis-engine match-up achieving up to 13.2 mpg, an almost unheard of figure for a Class A motor home. The tests were conducted with a 32-foot Four Winds Serrano coach body and loaded to the maximum GVWR of 20,500 lbs. The Serrano has been drawing heavy consumer interest throughout 2009 and was named a “Best of Show” at the September Pennsylvania RV and Camping Show by RVbuddiesonline.com. The W20D chassis and MaxxForce 7 engine are both on display at the National RV Trade Show in Louisville this week along with the Serrano.

Proven, Reliable Engine

The latest version of the MaxxForce 7, V8 tuned for motor homes generates 230 horsepower and 620 lb.-ft. of torque. “This high volume, rugged mid-range diesel engine is the heart of many International medium duty trucks. Now it is making its mark in the RV industry,” said Tony Monda, Workhorse RV vice president of marketing. “Coupled with the six speed Allison transmission, our W20D and W22D front engine diesel platforms do not sacrifice power and performance in order to achieve better fuel economy.

“These platforms have incredible grade ability and pulling power. Our proprietary RV consumer research indicated that class A potential buyers still want power and performance — but they are also demanding better fuel economy and that is what the new W Series delivers. Our strategy is to continue to integrate MaxxForce engines into Workhorse products where applicable, creating synergies with Navistar along with true market differentiation.”

Quietest Diesel V8

Drivers will also immediately notice that MaxxForce 7 is quiet. The noise level measured at 68.9 dBA in a low idle test. A high-pressure common rail fuel system, piezo actuated fuel injectors and a block and head design with a single-piece nodular iron bedplate are among the features that contribute to reduced noise and vibrations, a key to the MaxxForce 7’s front-engine application.

Popular with RVers

Presently, the Serrano coach from Four Winds International exclusively uses the W20D for both its 31Z single slide out and 31V double slide out models. Four Winds Director of Marketing Jon Krider said dealerships with the product find that “They’re seeing consumers that traditionally look at diesel pushers and longer coaches. These customers are finding many features with the coach and chassis that they like, starting with things like storage and the whole aerodynamic look and contemporary feel of the coach. So instead of spending $200,000 to $300,000 for a bigger coach, they can get a lot of what they want at a much lower price.”

Regarding the W20D and Serrano matchup, Krider said, “retail customers comment on how quiet the cockpit is for having a diesel engine under right under their feet. We get a lot of comments about just how well the coach drives because of the 50 degree turning radius and being able turn a short coach around in a tight area. And we get many good comments about the overall stability of the coach moving down the road.”

High Performance Technology

The series sequential EVRT turbocharger provides exceptional response over a wide range of engine speeds for impressive acceleration, grade climbing, towing capability and high altitude performance. The turbo is tuned to improve fuel economy while also making the vehicle very responsive to the driver. The MaxxForce 7 also provides unaided cold-starting performance from -20° F within four seconds. Routine maintenance is economical, with oil changes every 10,000 miles.