Looking for advice

[MChap7]

Hi everyone,

I'm in the market for a motorhome. First a little about me: I grew up in a family of gearheads and was a professional mechanic for several years. I've always performed my own maintenance on everything I own and have built several custom vehicles. I hope that doesn't sound like a flex or anything, just trying to be clear. Growing up, my family had several motorhomes, the one we spent most of our time in was a 1998 30ft Class-C Safari on a Ford V10 chassis (can't recall if it was a E350 or E450). We would haul a family of 5 and tow a twenty-something foot enclosed trailer with 4 ATVs and a sand rail about 400 miles south to the oregon coast, annually, for about 10 years straight with no major mechanical issues.

That tradition has continued and my wife and I are getting ready to start having kids of our own and are looking to upgrade from an air mattress in the back of a pickup bed and an SUV tent.

My concerns for a motorhome are 65% towing capacity and reliability, 20% price, and 5% floor plan. I really don't care much about whether it is Class A or C, what color it is, or any other cosmetic variables; it just has to take us camping with relative reliability. I will be towing a flat bed trailer with 2 ATVs and a Baja Bug (i'd guess ~5k lbs) which my current 08 Sierra 1500 (5.3) tows just fine. I'd like to find something for around $10k but I could spend as much as $20k for the right rig.

I'm seeing quite a few decent options in the '97-'02 year range which would be fine and I think I'd like to try to find one with the Ford V10 with the E450 chassis if possible but I also see quite a few that have the Ford 460 or GM 454 and I wonder if those would be too underpowered for my needs. Is anyone here, towing something similar to me with one of those engines/chassis? Also, I seem to be seeing mixed reviews on the Workhorse chassis of that vintage, but a lot of those threads are pretty old, so can anyone speak on that?

Sorry for the long post. Thanks for any help!

[R.Wold]

This has been a common theme lately so there’s a lot of threads you can read for more details.

My general thoughts are as follows:

A class C will ride/drive more like a van

A gas class A will drive like a delivery truck

Maint on either is about the same - oil changes on an F53 are a little more cumbersome.

Most of these will tow 5000lb but check specs in brochure archives - easily found on-line

Floor plan is probably more important than your 5%. It has to suit your family and there are a lot of variations

Your price point might have been realistic 6 - 8 months ago, but with the current RV craze, you are unlikely to find anything that is safe, road worthy, and that you’d put your family in for that price these days.

The V10 had a very run life in RVs and is probably a better choice than the 460. But the 460 is probably easier to work on and will have a lower price, so find a well preserved one and you might meet your goals.

I’m sure more folks will chime in but do a search on class A vs Class C, used RVs etc and you’ll find a wealth of current threads on this.

[twinboat]

The V10 is a smaller engine then both V8s you listed. It just ran cleaner.

Your not gaining power with the early V10s, they started with 245 HP in 1999 and climbed up to 310 by 2005.

In 2005, the Class A F53 chassis got the new higher HP 3 valve per cylinder V10.

That has never been offered in the Class C chassis, because it don't fit.

[.bucketlist]

With a similar background and budget and after looking at several class A and class C units with Ford 460s and V10s along with a couple of Workhorse (454)s we felt lucky to run across our 1999 Winnebago 35ft Diesel Pusher. With the Cummins Turbo 5.9 she has plenty of power. My first impression was a much stronger smoother choice than otherwise available.
Good luck finding anything for 20k or less and if you find one of these it may be a little more.

[MSHappyCampers]

Hi ! Welcome to IRV2! We're sure glad you joined us!

Get out there and start kicking some tires!

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

[Isaac-1]

Don't expect to find much of anything in that price range with the current Covid RV camping craze going on. Prior to Covid I would say that something that would do what you want to do could be found in the $20,000 range mainly it is a towing capacity limit, thought they would have flaws. These days it seems coaches that were selling for $20,000 a year ago are going for $30,000+ now.

[jacwjames]

We bought a new 1997 Class C on a Ford Chassis with the 460, here are the problems that I had with the Ford chassis. The house portion was pretty trouble free.



Passenger side exhaust manifold cracked ~8 months, covered under warranty but took +4 months to fix because this was a big problem for Ford back then, they did not have any manifolds in inventory anywhere. Would not even consider extending my warranty due to length of time it was in shop.


At about 17 months the drivers side exhaust manifold failed/cracked. Changed myself since it was out of warranty. Replaced with after market manifold.



At about 24 months the passenger side manifold warped, this is the one changed under warranty. I just took it off and had it machined flat. I actually took the rig to a Ford truck shop and had them run it on a dyno to check exhaust temps thinking it might be over fueling. Nope, shop manager said the exhaust manifold problem was common, his only suggestion was to mount some circulating fans under the engine to move more air. I opted to cut a couple of holes in the scoop under the frond bumper and plumb in some flexible ducting that would push air up across the engine and manifolds, this helped as the dog house was cooler. Before I did this I would burn my foot on the side of the dog house. The manifolds lasted until I sold the rig with ~70K miles on it in 2009.



At about 50K miles the transmission started to leak, luckily close to home and took it to my mechanic. Found the output shaft seal bad, replacement seal came with a note stating "Warning-original seal was not for heavy duty truck application". Duh, wonder what a motorhome is considered.


At about 60K miles I started noticing oil pressure was fluctuating, and getting worse, sometimes bumping to zero at idle when hot. I actually installed a 2nd gauge to confirm I had a problem. My mechanic & I thought oil pump. When he pulled the pump to change found the pick up tub flange that bolted to the pump had cracked at the pickup tube. Replaced both the pickup tube and pump lasted until we sold the rig with ~70K miles on it.


FWIW, I had reported all of the above to Ford for Warranty Consideration but was shot down by a customer service rep who insinuated that it was all due to a lack of maintenance. I explained the the above problems decimated the Ford's Six Sigma Quality Program. After setting him straight on this he still refused to provide any consideration. Said I waited too long. I swore I'd never buy another Ford and haven't to this date.


BTW, when I was selling the rig after upgrading to the one we own now my mechanic brought his parents over and looked at the rig, they wrote me a check on the spot and they still have the rig 11 years later.

[CamJam1]

I'm on my 4th motor home. Two class C (one Dodge 360, one Ford 460) and two class A (both GM... a 454 and an 8.1). I haven't had any major engine problems with any of my motor homes (knock on wood!!)

I prefer class A overall, but there are pros and cons to both. Generally, class A are more expensive to maintain (bigger tires etc), harder to maneuver in tight spaces and require more skill to keep between the lines. Then again, that view from the front seats can't be beat.

Class C are good for families with kids-- the kids usually love the bunk over the cab-- but once you get to be my age you don't want to have to climb a ladder to get in and out of bed, especially in the middle of the night. Get one with a rear bed too and everyone is happy.

Most class A gassers need some suspension aids (trac bars, steering stabilizers, sway bars etc) to keep them from being a handful in crosswinds or with passing trucks. Try to find one that already has some of these fixes or be prepared to spend a couple thousand $$ to buy them yourself. Both of my class C drove fine just the way they came from the factory.

Whatever type you decide on, the biggest concern to me is always the roof. Two of my mohos needed major roof repairs during the time I had them.

It's a seller's market on used class C right now. I sold my last class C the day I listed it on Craigslist and could have sold it five times over.

[MChap7]

thanks everyone!

I've increased my budget to about 15-25k. I test drove a 98 31ft Bounder class A and, while not a deal breaker, I did not care for the size and feel of it. Additionally, I do agree that a class C with a queen bed in the back would really be the better choice for future kids. (not that upgrading in a year or two wouldn't be an option, but it'd be nice to not have to)

So, I'm still open to class As but I would definitely prefer a C. As I push my budget, however, I'm going to be more picky on things like floor plan, features, and overall condition. I appreciate the feedback but it looks like, overall, I would still be better off with the Ford V10 E-450, if only for the beefier drivetrain. Diesels are almost certainly going to be out of my price range.

One more question: When I was a kid, our motorhome had an onboard inverter to run the AC appliances off the batteries (this was especially nice for us kids watching movies after the 10pm quiet hours). This is not something that I see mentioned anywhere on any for-sale posts that I've come across. Are inverters not very common? or are they so common that people just don't think to mention them?

[Isaac-1]

Inverters in lower end coaches are somewhat rare, particularly in class C's, the Safari was somewhat unique and rare, as Safari primarily built upper end diesel pushers, and only built a class C for about 2-3 years after they bought out an upper end class C manufacturer.


As to the rest my advice is to inspect, inspect, inspect, the primary killer of RV's is rot often caused by water penetration of the roof, or window seals. Class C's are notorious for this issue particularly around the overheat bunk area. Rot from water penetration is almost always far more extensive than it first appears, and often uneconomical to repair.