'03 Friendship Engine Specs

[bertlj]

Hi Folks!

Purchased 2003 Friendship 8408FS in April 2021. After months of shopping a 200 mile radius for something we could agree on, the wife toured a FS Quattro with white interior and informed me that we agreed on this. Because the coach had serious front cap damage ($15K estimate) we passed on that unit but continued to look. Found another in the Los Angeles area with much less physical damage for the same price and drove it home to Washington.

One somewhat subtle thing that caught my attention was the fact that the original 2003 Friendship Quattro 8408FS we looked at had exhaust on the left and the 2003 Friendship Quattro 8408FS that I drove back to the Seattle area had exhaust on the right. It has taken me almost a year (and 4 months on the road) to realize that most '03 FS 8408's have a CAT 330 AND I DON'T. Our rig has a ISL Cummins... and that is all I know at this point. Every bit of documentation I have been able to turn up does not mention anything about a Cummins engine.

SO, does anybody out there know anything about this engine? Where should I be looking for info? I can't be totally sure, but there seems to be many other things different about this setup, like side radiator with louvered sheet metal intake, missing battery box behind shore power box (side radiator issue), higher base for queen bed, unprofessional looking sheet metal work inside engine compartment, etc.

Seriously, any help here is appreciated. Thanks!

[hossross]

I know little about your coach, but some general thoughts. 1st the chassis might be a 2002, can you find the federal cert sticker to see what the Vin and date of mfg of the Chassis is? Should also be one for the coach. Use either of those Vin (serial numbers) to email GStream and ask them the year and serial number of the engine and even mfg of the engine. All I saw for chassis options on a 2003 brochure was IFS which may stand for independent front suspension. I don't know the codes for cummings engines so it may have been an option also. Any way I know all coach builders Label the RV in the year of build, but the vehicle chassis and engine can be any year prior. The title usually goes under the Chassis Vin and not Coach Vin, but they use the Coach year anyway. That is why insurance often can't find the vehicle as valid with the conflicting years on the bill of sale and what gets titled. Hope you went deceived on what you purchased. Have you contacted previous owner to see if they know any history, Have you checked car fax to see if it was in an accident, As a vehicle person, to change over a complete engine to another mfg is possible, but I assume the engine must have had a total failure and if a donner vehicle was available, they would have to take all the electronic engine controls and interface to chassis wiring also. Engine mounts, exhaust system, air cleaners etc. So if you look at the wiring and some of the other things that connect to the engine if that looks modified then a clue. One last thought to contact Freightliner and see if they built an chassis with a cummings for GS in that year. The brochure says it was an upgrade option for horsepower. See info below.

Here is brochure info
Freightliner Custom Chassis with 330
HP CAT @2200 RPM @ 860 ftlb. torque
w/Allison 6 Speed Electronically Shifted
Automatic Transmission
IFS Not Available (8404, 8408, 8409
OPTIONAL:
• 400 horsepower Cummins Engine w/
Side Radiator

[crzydennis]

Sounds like my unit. Cummins 8.4 isl with an Allison 6 speed trans. The engine housing is opposite the radiator on the passenger side. I went to Cummins for some ecm issues and they gave me a complete printout on what the power plant was doing, 2 pages. I am performing a total renovation as the floor is failing in front of the frig, washer and bathroom. Good luck with yours

[mcruff]

If your Gulfstream is on a Freightliner chassis, which it should be. Do not contact Gulfstream but rather Freightliner, they are the ones that built and delivered it. Freightliner will have all the pertinent info regarding your engine and chassis. Gulfstream only built the box above the frame. I found this out at the Tampa RV show, Gulfstream knew virtually nothing about my 2002 Friendship RV, Freightliner gave me a printout of everything regarding the chassis and engine including information on the Cat engine and the accessories installed on the engine.

[crzydennis]

Your unit sounds like mine, with the radiator on the driver's side and the exhaust runs up the passenger inside engine housing and out the center of the rear and the frame is freightliner with the Cummins 8.4 isl. All chassis questions are freightliner, and Cummins engine info from either. The coach is Gulfstream and millions is the customer service contact via email. I know nothing about the CAT engine. I have slowly learned about the coach, but have most documentation that came with the coach. As our units are older, we can do as we please based on skill set. As I have so much work to do with the floor, I am changing the interior to include a tub and tankless water heater, and better engine accessibility. Will clean up ele and hydraulic systems in process. Let me know if you need anything