Ford Class C with 6 speed transmission
I see that the newer Fords with a V 10 have a six speed auto transmission. When did they replace the old 5 speed (I had a '99 with only a 4 speed) Would one expect to get better gas mileage with the n...
Forum Discussion
Gjac wrote:
Don and Phil when you talk about taller tires are you talking about going to a higher aspect ratio tire or going to a larger rim size like from 16 in rims to 19.5 in to produce a larger dia tire?
As far as I know, the Ford E350 and E450 cutaway van chassis that Class C builders start with usually come from Ford fitted with 225/75R16 Load Range E tires.
A few years ago I changed the tires on my E450 based Class C to 215/85R16 Load Range E tires. These tires have the same load rating, are slightly narrower, and have a diameter 1.2 inches larger - which increases my Class C's ground clearance by 0.6 inches. This isn't much, but every little bit helps ... and I didn't want to raise by too much the distance that my DW has to climb up into the cab (she has a bad back).
The Ford E350 and E450 cutaway van chassis come with 16 inch steel rims. Using these same rims, I believe (but am not absolutely certain) that these two chassis can also be fitted with at least 235/75R16 or 245/75R16 tires to make for even taller overall gearing and greater ground clearance using the stock steel 16 inch rims. However, using these larger sizes should be thoroughly researched further by anyone thinking about doing it and should probably only be done on an E450 chassis with it's differential ratio of 4:56.
FWIW, on my 4X4 PU with 16 inch rims I've in the past had 265 tires on it using it's stock rims and gearing ... for great off-road ground clearance without any chassis lifting required.
