In my research for a new motor home, I looked for comments on the E350 Chassis. I found some disturbing comments concerning the stability and handling of the Chassis.I contacted Pleasureway and was advised that the Excel was built on the E350 Van Chassis and indeed did have some handling issues. It was corrected by adding spacers and with other modifications. I previously owned an Excel and that appears to be true. The only problem I had with it was scuffing on the front tires. I replaced the tires but never did find out what caused it in the first place.Pleasureway also said the Pursuit was built on the E350 Chassis and did not have any handling issues. However, from what I read, some Class C motor homes on that chassis did experience problems.I would like to know if anyone has first hand knowledge of the handling performance of the E350 Chassis and, if the problems were restricted to earlier years. Information from late model year owners would be very helpful.

We have had our 2012 Nexus Phantom 23P (24'), Class C for nearly 2 years and 23,000 miles. I have experienced Zero, Zip, Nada handling/ride issues. It is always smooth and steady and passing trucks are no problem. Yes, I feel their bow wave but so do other trucks. Driving in anything up to 35 mph winds is easy one handed steering (over 35 I just get off the road). Keep in mind that this is probably the largest (tallest - 11'4", widest - 101"), 24' C on the road today).Our 2011 chassis has GVWR of 11,500# (Ford increased the E-350 to 12,500# with the 2012 chassis), and we travel fully loaded at around 11,000# (as we keep adding "stuff" and I carry lots of tools and toys). :SSome day I will replace the original shocks, probably in another 20,000 miles or so and Bilsteins are at the top of my shopping list. I run Michelin LTX M/S 2's at 60 psi on the front and 65 on the rears. This gives me about a 20 - 25% cushion over and above the weights they are carrying/rated for and as noted the handling and ride are both excellent.Watch the ccc/occc ratings for any rig you are contemplating as some are woefully short on payload and will be subject to overloading. Anything on a Mercedes Sprinter chassis will be suspect. Our Nexus has 3,363# of payload and yes, we use most of it (without any problems).IMHO: Any new motorhome that has handling issues off the showroom floor is the wrong coach, period. Properly loaded and with the right tires/psi a new coach should perform flawlessly without any additional (costly), modifications. As always.... Opinions and YMMV.:C.

I thought the big difference between the E350 and E450 was that the E450 had stronger frame and was superior for towing. My E350 handles fine and I have never had any tire issues ... I did find that handling became much better when I upgraded the mediocre OEM shocks and gave it a proper alignment but those issues aren't unique to E350.

Thanks to both of you. It will give me more confidence in my choice of purchase knowing that others have no problems and especially on newer models of chassis. Appreciate your information.

We have a 24 foot Class C on the E450 chassis. Like Desert Captain, we have had zero problems ... solid as a rock and I can drive down the highway with one hand on the wheel. However I feel that our rig's handling and stability is due to the fact that the chassis is so underloaded by the coach, the coach has a fairly small rear overhang, and the coach has a small enough wall area to keep wind pressure low.We had an alignment done after owning it for a few years, but for no reason other than you're "supposed to" ... and they did install the shims. We had no problems before or after the alignment. We have almost 50K miles on it with the OEM shocks. Tire pressure is 80 lbs. rear, and 65 lbs. front ... and the tires are non-stock size Michelin LT M&S2. For our chassis year Ford installed both front and rear sway bars on the E450, but only a front sway bar on the E350. Now, I believe that both the E350 and E450 have front and rear sway bars.

Can't say we have had any handling or tire issues in over 100K. When the shocks were do we changed to Konis and at the same time we added a rear sway bar. It handles like a sport SUV now but really there were no issues before then. Just handled more like a motorhome then. :)

E350 Ford Chassis | Good Sam Community

31 Replies

Desert_Captain
Explorer III
Jun 05, 2015
We have had our 2012 Nexus Phantom 23P (24'), Class C for nearly 2 years and 23,000 miles. I have experienced Zero, Zip, Nada handling/ride issues. It is always smooth and steady and passing trucks are no problem. Yes, I feel their bow wave but so do other trucks. Driving in anything up to 35 mph winds is easy one handed steering (over 35 I just get off the road). Keep in mind that this is probably the largest (tallest - 11'4", widest - 101"), 24' C on the road today).

Our 2011 chassis has GVWR of 11,500# (Ford increased the E-350 to 12,500# with the 2012 chassis), and we travel fully loaded at around 11,000# (as we keep adding "stuff" and I carry lots of tools and toys). :S

Some day I will replace the original shocks, probably in another 20,000 miles or so and Bilsteins are at the top of my shopping list. I run Michelin LTX M/S 2's at 60 psi on the front and 65 on the rears. This gives me about a 20 - 25% cushion over and above the weights they are carrying/rated for and as noted the handling and ride are both excellent.

Watch the ccc/occc ratings for any rig you are contemplating as some are woefully short on payload and will be subject to overloading. Anything on a Mercedes Sprinter chassis will be suspect. Our Nexus has 3,363# of payload and yes, we use most of it (without any problems).

IMHO: Any new motorhome that has handling issues off the showroom floor is the wrong coach, period. Properly loaded and with the right tires/psi a new coach should perform flawlessly without any additional (costly), modifications.

As always.... Opinions and YMMV.

:C

.

Forum Discussion

E350 Ford Chassis

31 Replies

About Motorhome Group

Related Content

Ford f150 Payload

Ford Chassis

Starflyte ford v10 e350 chassis

E350 Caster Ford TSB

Ford E350 Handling