Coachman 24 foot motor home.

[Komfort_23TS]

I am getting ready to purchase a 24 ft. Coachman motor home. One more question! I am going to pull a buick 4000 lb. toad. Is the chevy a better frame for pulling or the ford V 10? Thank you in advance.

[ron_dittmer]

ol' yeller wrote:
Many smaller rigs are on the E350 chassis. Also check your hitch. Most of them, especially on the smaller rigs are only rated to 3500#.

Be especially watchful with E-Series rigs made prior to 2004, and Sprinters made prior to 2008. It seems most that age and older were equipped with a 3500 pound hitch.

[ol__yeller]

I'm in the Ford camp but the Chevy is a good chassis too. Be sure to check what your owner's manual says your unit can tow. You can't assume all Fords or Chevy's can tow X#. A lot depends upon the weight as equipped, number of slides, and if there are frame extensions. Also there is a difference between the E350 and E450.
Many smaller rigs are on the E350 chassis. Also check your hitch. Most of them, especially on the smaller rigs are only rated to 3500#.

[pnichols]

Gary,

Last fall we climbed to 11,103 ft in Colorado - not towing anything - in our 24 foot Class C E450 and we did it at full road speed right along with all the SUV day-trippers and RV trailers being pulled by diesel pickups.

Is it possible that if we had been towing something we would have brought our E450 and it's V10 to it's knees?

P.S. I think not.

[FunTwoDrv]

LOL!! I'm 7400 on the rear axle and 4200 on the front... that climb was 10k ft.

Gary

[Desert_Captain]

FunTwoDrv wrote:
OP, we tow about 4k lbs with our 28QB. It handles the weight okay. On a recent 6% grade, we were holding at 25mph for most of the 8 miles.
The 6.0 / 6sp trans seem to be adaquate for the job.
Gary

IMHO: Any 28' Class C that can only hold 25 mph on a 6 per cent grade is badly overloaded and very unsafe to drive. My 24' 2012 E-350 loaded to 11,000# on a GVWR of 11,500# can easily cruise up any 6 to 8 per cent grade at 55 and that includes towing my Harley - bike and trailer weigh 900#.

I suspect your rig has serious mechanical issues to perform so poorly. Good luck.

:E

[FunTwoDrv]

OP, we tow about 4k lbs with our 28QB. It handles the weight okay. On a recent 6% grade, we were holding at 25mph for most of the 8 miles.
The 6.0 / 6sp trans seem to be adaquate for the job.
Gary

[whizbang]

Ron,

I've driven Ford Trucks since 1996.

During our very first test drive of a 2002 Minnie on the F350 chassis, I go to put my foot on the brake... and end up hitting the gas pedal and reving the heck out of the engine.

I got use to the pedal positions but don't care for them.

[IAMICHABOD]

ron.dittmer wrote:

Harold Fairbanks II wrote:

IAMICHABOD wrote:


The real difference between the two is comfort and driveability that the Chevy Chassis has over the Ford.

I don't know about the Chevy because it has been a long time since I drove a Chevy Express, but there is really only one thing that bothers me about my Ford E350. The gas and brake pedal are skewed to the left so much that I have to sit a bit skewed to align my right foot to them. I studied my seat and it is mounted properly in the right place. It's the pedals being too far left because the engine housing is so big. They are not in proper position to the steering wheel either. I have never read any comments about it. Am I the only one who finds that uncomfortable? I get used to it after the first few days of every trip. But every time I get in after a few weeks, I feel it all over again.

I found that one built on a Chevy Chassis as Ron noted, was so much better than the ones built on a Ford Chassis.
Here is what I found.

Length The Chevy is 9 inches longer.

But the real story is the interior.

The area from the Dog House to the kick panel,the floor board where your feet are.

The Chevy is 18 inches wide and mostly flat.

The Ford is 15 inches wide but has a 2 inch rise that is 5 inches wide leaving only 10 inches of flat floor.

With the seat pushed back as far as it goes on both the Ford And Chevy. Both having Stock Factory seats
I found.
Foot well depth to front of seat. Chevy 31 inches Ford 27 inches

Seat back to steering wheel. Chevy 26 inches Ford 23 inches

Front of seat to Dash. Chevy 29 inches Ford 23 inches 6" More leg room!

Dog House width,measured at dash Chevy 15 inches Ford 23 inches 4 inches less knee room for passenger and driver.

Dog House depth into cab from dash Chevy 8 inches Ford 11 inches

For long time driving comfort the Chevy has a better cockpit,smoother ride and is quieter.

[ron_dittmer]

Harold Fairbanks II wrote:

IAMICHABOD wrote:


The real difference between the two is comfort and driveability that the Chevy Chassis has over the Ford.

I don't know about the Chevy because it has been a long time since I drove a Chevy Express, but there is really only one thing that bothers me about my Ford E350. The gas and brake pedal are skewed to the left so much that I have to sit a bit skewed to align my right foot to them. I studied my seat and it is mounted properly in the right place. It's the pedals being too far left because the engine housing is so big. They are not in proper position to the steering wheel either. I have never read any comments about it. Am I the only one who finds that uncomfortable? I get used to it after the first few days of every trip. But every time I get in after a few weeks, I feel it all over again.

[Harold_Fairbank]

IAMICHABOD wrote:


The real difference between the two is comfort and driveability that the Chevy Chassis has over the Ford.

[IAMICHABOD]

If you are talking about the new 4500 then yes they have made them a Lot Stronger than earlier years so there should be no problems there.

The real difference between the two is comfort and driveability that the Chevy Chassis has over the Ford.

[ron_dittmer]

Comparing the frame of the Chevy to the Ford, the beams on the Ford appear quite larger (taller), but keep in-mind that there are different strengths of metal. The Ford is 36,000 psi. I don't know what the Chevy uses. I also don't know if the 3500 and 4500 Chevy frames vary in over-all dimensions, but the E450 frame is the same as the E350, but the gauge of the metal is thicker to accommodate a heavier load.

If your thing is "Made In The USA", I can't say what a 2017 E350/E450 is, but our 2007 E350 cut-away chassis was 97% "Made In The USA". It wasn't an influence to me, but rather gave me peace of mind. The house on top of it might have been 99% Made In The USA. These days a lot of the appliances are imported, and who knows what else.

Back in 2007, our E350 cut-away chassis had extremely high quality ratings. I can say that ours has been flawless.

[Harold_Fairbank]

Ford V10...more power, more refined. Rev-happy, great pulling power, tranny works great.

The Chevy chassis and powertrain/tranny hasn't really advanced in eons.

I'm well experienced in both.