Class A Motorhome Engines
My husband and I are looking at buying a used motorhome (probably around 2004-2005) and were told by a mechanic friend of ours to stay away from the Ford Triton V10 engine. But it seems like everythi...
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Find a better informed mechanic. The V-10 is a workhorse. So is the 7.4 or 8.1 General Motors Vortec truck engine in the GM chassis that got branded Workhorse.
You can't go wrong with either one. Both are good for at least 200,000 miles, maybe 500,000 miles before overhaul if well cared for. The RVs they are put in don't last that long. Work trucks do.
The Vortec V-8 produces a moderately peaked torque at lower RPM, falls of at higher RPm but maintains enough torque at 4000 RPM to get a 325-340 HP rating, but most of the time you are at 1200 - 2000 and 20-30% max horsepower. The engine has a V-8 rumble, which I find pleasant, having grown up with the sound.
The Triton V-10 has no torque peak. It has intake runners tuned for two different RPM ranges, producing flat torque from 1800 RPM to 4000 RPM, a little bump about 10% higher where the intake tunings overlap gets called a peak. Torque curve looks like a turbodiesel, except the V-10 has it flat over a much larger RPM range. A torque curve like this doesn't need a lot of gears, it is always in a pulling range. Horsepower rises linearly with RPM to 4000, where it is flat at maximum rating until the the ECM cuts it off at redline. No peak, same horsepower, maximum rating, 4000 RPM to 6000 RPM.
Because it has 10 cylinders instead of 8, the V-10 sort of screams. Like a Formula One Renault V-10. Even at low RPM there is no pleasant rumble. At 4000-5800 RPM, when you are pulling max power, it really screams. Noises you will never hear from a big block V-8 that has already started shutting down just above 4000 RPM. This isn't a big block, it is a small block with extra cylinders.
A lot of people don't like the V-10 because it doesn't feel like, doesn't sound like, the four cylinder and V-6 engines in their cars. Or like the V-8s in there trucks. When it gets up to where it is doing its work, the V-10 sounds like it is tearing itself apart. It is not, it can run max power at 4000-5000 RPM all day long. The cooling system is sized for the job.
You can't go wrong with either one. Both are good for at least 200,000 miles, maybe 500,000 miles before overhaul if well cared for. The RVs they are put in don't last that long. Work trucks do.
The Vortec V-8 produces a moderately peaked torque at lower RPM, falls of at higher RPm but maintains enough torque at 4000 RPM to get a 325-340 HP rating, but most of the time you are at 1200 - 2000 and 20-30% max horsepower. The engine has a V-8 rumble, which I find pleasant, having grown up with the sound.
The Triton V-10 has no torque peak. It has intake runners tuned for two different RPM ranges, producing flat torque from 1800 RPM to 4000 RPM, a little bump about 10% higher where the intake tunings overlap gets called a peak. Torque curve looks like a turbodiesel, except the V-10 has it flat over a much larger RPM range. A torque curve like this doesn't need a lot of gears, it is always in a pulling range. Horsepower rises linearly with RPM to 4000, where it is flat at maximum rating until the the ECM cuts it off at redline. No peak, same horsepower, maximum rating, 4000 RPM to 6000 RPM.
Because it has 10 cylinders instead of 8, the V-10 sort of screams. Like a Formula One Renault V-10. Even at low RPM there is no pleasant rumble. At 4000-5800 RPM, when you are pulling max power, it really screams. Noises you will never hear from a big block V-8 that has already started shutting down just above 4000 RPM. This isn't a big block, it is a small block with extra cylinders.
A lot of people don't like the V-10 because it doesn't feel like, doesn't sound like, the four cylinder and V-6 engines in their cars. Or like the V-8s in there trucks. When it gets up to where it is doing its work, the V-10 sounds like it is tearing itself apart. It is not, it can run max power at 4000-5000 RPM all day long. The cooling system is sized for the job.
