Is Class A smoother ride then Class C and MPG

kars wrote:



I would suggest you install Koni FSD shocks on both front and rear suspension, and as others suggested make sure your tires aren't over inflated.

Koni FSD shocks are rather expensive but well worth the expense. We installed them on our coach and realized a significant improvement in ride comfort over rough surfaces.

I believe you'll be pleasantly surprised with the ride improvement over rough road surfaces.

Best of luck and safe travels...:)

I installed Bilstein HD shocks on our 23D Winnebago E450 and really liked the performance and ride improvement. Cannot speak to the Koni FSD on the E450 chassis but I did put those on our DP but, no chassis comparison there. Regardless, I have found whether I used the Bilstein or Koni product, I have had significant improvements in both cases.

Search the wealth of info over on the Class C side. Here's a brief order of what I did to ours: Tire Pressure via proper weighing, alignment, shocks, larger sway bars, rear air bags. Each step of the way made our Class C Aspect handle and ride much, much better compared to the way it left Winnebago. We were pleased with the handling and ride in the end. Perhaps not SUV smooth but, very good for such a large box on a van chassis.

My '87 Mallard C and '96 Bounder A rode about the same, i.e., lousy.

kars wrote:
THank you all for your responses, for some reason I really thought an A gasser would be smoother
I will contact dealer to see what they have to say and maybe they can help with the tire pressure, we dont carry anything but 5 little doggies and 2 adults.
few crates
I will try to empty the water tank from now on if I know I am going to a place with water as I dont want to pay gas to move water slushing around.

thank you again , I have learned a few things and will ask on the class C too.

I will contact dealer to see what they have to say

That would be your first mistake. About 98% of dealer salesfolks are absolutely clueless about what they sell. Many folks on here and other RV forums have been mislead in many aspects of their RVs, how to use them, how to set them up, how things work etc. The folks that use them are the ones to ask.

I will try to empty the water tank from now on if I know I am going to a place with water as I dont want to pay gas to move water slushing around.

You're wasting water by dumping it out. There are many that think by running around with a 1/4 tank of water is going to reap big benefits in the mileage department. Well, I'd bet Trumps salary that you won't see one mpg difference. And, what happens if you need that water for ANYTHING? You could get stranded or a break-down of some sort could cause you to have to stay someplace 'till you get fixed and you'd need that water. This is all a matter of choice.

Our coach, an '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with the C-7 330HP CAT, get's 6-7 mpg, with an EMPTY WATER TANK and a full one. It gets that mileage with an EMPTY FUEL tank, as well as a full one. It is no faster in performance with an EMPTY WATER TANK than it is with a full one.

Now, as far as the ride is concerned, well, that's a matter of each individual coach, it's tires, it's suspension and more. We just got back a week ago, from a 6,400 mile trip, around the entire U.S. And, without a doubt, it wouldn't matter what kind of rig you drove, there was much of that trip that jarred out teeth out and we don't have DENTURES!! Michigan takes the First Place Trophy for the worst roads we hit, in 20 states. I run the tires at the prescribed PSI, based on the tire pressure chart of the MFG of the tires, size and weight of the coach.


And, about what, 95% of the Class A gas chassis coaches are on F-53 Ford Chassis. Those have been touted as one of the worst riding gas chassis's. Now, not all of them are that way. It depends on how they're loaded and other factors.


But, in all reality, the smart thing to do is, go to either an RV show where there's plenty of all types to choose from. You won't get a good feel for the ride as most of those will be empty but, you'll get the basics. Next, talk to folks at campgrounds. We've done that zillions of times. About 99.9% of people at most campgrounds are happy to talk about their rigs and experiences. And that includes admitting the bad stuff too.

We've had two Cs and two As. BAD ROADS affected them all. You could have the worst riding coach on the planet but, if you're on a smooth, well done road, then the ride is the same as a very high dollar diesel rig. Smooth is smooth. It's how well the ugly stuff is dampened that makes a difference. Good luck on your search.
Scott

THank you all for your responses, for some reason I really thought an A gasser would be smoother
I will contact dealer to see what they have to say and maybe they can help with the tire pressure, we dont carry anything but 5 little doggies and 2 adults.
few crates
I will try to empty the water tank from now on if I know I am going to a place with water as I dont want to pay gas to move water slushing around.

thank you again , I have learned a few things and will ask on the class C too.

kars wrote:
We bought a Class C, Forest RIver Forester Ford engine, 2 year old 10k miles 32 foot and just returned from a 2 week trip

THis is a first RV for us and boy is it a tough ride, every little bump in the road you feel like you have probably popped a tire.

Is a Class A a smoother ride?

We got <8 MPG NO toads pulled, only 2 adults and a few little doggies.
Do CLass A do any better on MPG?

I would suggest you install Koni FSD shocks on both front and rear suspension, and as others suggested make sure your tires aren't over inflated.

Koni FSD shocks are rather expensive but well worth the expense. We installed them on our coach and realized a significant improvement in ride comfort over rough surfaces.

I believe you'll be pleasantly surprised with the ride improvement over rough road surfaces.

Best of luck and safe travels...:)

I have 360k miles in my Foretravel coaches and the ride was smooth. Still felt the times the concrete rose up but the bumps were smooth. Drove a lot of miles and got about 7 to 7.5 mpg. I now have a class c. I feel the expansion cracks the ride is ok but you do feel the bigger bumps more mostly on the rear as we are springs. That said I get between 10.5 and 12 mpg. I fit many more places then I did before. I don't have to tow a car if I choose not too as well. Life is trade offs.

kars wrote:

We got <8 MPG NO toads pulled, only 2 adults and a few little doggies.
Do CLass A do any better on MPG?

In general, no.

But gas mileage is closely related to SPEED.
And ride quality can be adversely affected by high tire pressures......and SPEED.

What's your "cruising speed" out on the highway ??

kars wrote:
We bought a Class C, Forest RIver Forester Ford engine, 2 year old 10k miles 32 foot and just returned from a 2 week trip

THis is a first RV for us and boy is it a tough ride, every little bump in the road you feel like you have probably popped a tire.

Is a Class A a smoother ride?

We got <8 MPG NO toads pulled, only 2 adults and a few little doggies.
Do CLass A do any better on MPG?

Simple answer, no.

We've owned and drove a Class C on the E450 chassis for over 10 years and got that rig to drive and handle pretty good. Tire pressure, rear suspension air bag pressure, and a change in shocks resulted in a pretty good ride.

Nothing we've owned now compares to our DP for ride quality but this is a totally different animal with it's own set of issues. MPG is in the end about the same for us.

Spend some time over on the Class C forum and see what others have done to make their E450 handle and ride better. It's going to take work and a few $ but, it may be worth it to you.

We were bringing inventory back from a show to the store today and I drove an assortment of DP's, A gassers, and C's. The 43' Dutch Star was the smoothest of them all; love that cushy ride, easy steering, and the quiet engine (but that is the majority of the DP's). All of the Class A gassers seem to ride somewhat rougher than the Class C's; it might just be a matter adjusting air pressure plus these rigs are all empty. The Allegro Open Roads are the quietest of the A gassers. I'm completely spoiled by the DP's.

Sounds like you have too much air in your tires making it a very rough ride. You should get your "loaded" rig weighed and adjust tire pressure based on pressure chart from the appropriate manufacturer. As far as MPG. We have a Class A 36' 2 slide and when talking with C owners, seems we get about the same as they do. We get 8 - 10 mpg depending on terrain, wind and # of semi's pushing you around.