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JCV220's avatar
JCV220
Explorer
Dec 03, 2016

1st motorhome - 2000 Fourwinds 31z

Hi all!

We just bought our very first motorhome and had to share my excitement here! We've been camping all our lives and have owned many RV's. Since 2004 we've been camping in a Laredo fifth wheel which we still have (for sale) and it's been a great unit. It's time for a new tow vehicle and another big truck is no longer a good fit for us so a motorhome was the logical way to go for our next RV!

Buying new wasn't an option for us so we've been looking for a nice, used class C for several months now. We found this 2000 Fourwinds 31z for A LOT less than we thought we would have to spend and it's in nicer condition than any others we've looked at! I really think it's perfect for our family and I'm looking forward to some awesome trips in it.

Here's a couple pics taken on the lot where we bought it:

2016-12-03_07-56-32 by jcv

2016-12-03_07-56-54 by jcv

It was a fairly long ride home with it and it's very easy and relaxing to drive. It runs strong and smooth most of the time but at very low rpm it will lug and buck a little bit if I'm really easy on the gas. If I step on it just a bit it smoothes right out. It's like like if you're driving a manual transmission and you're in way too high of a gear and it bucks. I haven't tried turning the overdrive off. I've been browsing this forum the last few weeks and it seems most folks leave the OD on. I was going to take it for a ride today and try with the OD off but I wanted to mention it here to see what you folks thought.

I'm sure I'll have lots of questions but for now I'm just going to tinker around with it. It's too bad it will be covered up soon until spring :-( lol

Anyway, just wanted to say that I'm officially in the club!
Class C

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  • j-d's avatar
    j-d
    Explorer II
    Dec 03, 2016
    First, WELCOME!!!

    Just from the pictures, two observations as I think of our 2003 Jayco 31A:

    1. Interior pic is all but identical! Same floor plan, cabinets, dinette design, pretty much anything I could see.

    2. I like your exterior layout a little better. You have the upgrade mirrors. Ours are the tripod type like most rental trucks. We've had window leaks in the little cabover side windows that your FW doesn't have. And, looks like a deep compartment at the very rear. I'd rather have that, outside, than what not having it allows me to have inside.

    What Model Year is the Chassis? Might not be a "2000 Ford" because of the cycle the RV builders buy their chassis on. The "bucking" makes me think it's not flopping back to 3rd gear (direct/High) out of 4th gear (overdrive/OD) when it sees increased load. That's a full 180-degree opposite of what most of these do. They generally downshift when there's enough grunt left to torque over a rise in the road. I ask about Chassis Year because 2000 brought out a different iteration of the V10 than 1997-8-9 had. In any of those years the transmission should be the 4R100,all the way through 2004 or so.

    Although I covet your mirrors, that design, from Velvac, is known to break at the pivot on the body end where the arm swings. I figured out how to fix those, so if it happens, get back with us before you spend $200 or so. Some of us fold the mirrors back whenever we're parked someplace that a child might want to swing on them...

    Put a Big Red Bow on it under that cover. Then it'll be Christmas all over again when you unwrap it!

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