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norbon's avatar
norbon
Explorer
Jul 29, 2014

Itasca Spirit 24V on Ford 350 Chassis

I am considering buying a 2005 Itasca Spirit 24V on a Ford 350 chassis with a 6.8L V10 engine. Has anyone out there had any experience with this unit? Especially need fuel milage, power for mountian driving or any other thing that I should look out for. This unit has 30,000 miles and looks very good. I have owned 9 RV's but never a motorhome. Thanks

4 Replies

  • my previous r.v. had a front cab over window.

    the r.v. I have now does not...and most Class C's don't

    Getting rid of front windows A great advancement in the r.v. industry...front windows are nothing but grief..for me anyway..
  • norbon wrote:
    I am considering buying a 2005 Itasca Spirit 24V on a Ford 350 chassis with a 6.8L V10 engine. Has anyone out there had any experience with this unit? Especially need fuel milage, power for mountian driving or any other thing that I should look out for. This unit has 30,000 miles and looks very good. I have owned 9 RV's but never a motorhome. Thanks


    We have that same unit but an '02 on an '01 E-350, with 70,000 + miles. No complaints, except I wish it did not have the front over head window, I've covered the inside of it with insulation, and the out side with aluminum tape.

    I haul my antique Allis tractor with it.
  • We have a 2005 Itasca Spirit 24V ("324V" - officially) with a Ford V10, but it's on the E450 chassis.

    We don't keep gas usage data, but I several times have been in the ballpark of 9.5 to 10 MPG. However, I drive very conservatively ... cruizing in the 55 to 60 MPH range. It always has power to spare (we don't tow, but could) under all conditions and at all altitudes. It drives very well, with no ill manners ... but be reminded that the E450 chassis has some chassis design and feature differences from the E350 chassis that will make it handle different under the same coach.

    We love our 24 foot Itasca, and it came new with several great features. I'm not sure what of these are standard for that year/model or just what happened to be on it as ordered by the dealer for their lot inventory, or maybe a special order for another customer who never took delivery:

    - Automatic electric coach step.
    - Aluminum cab running board steps.
    - Chrome wheel covers.
    - Four unit set of walkie-talkies kept maintained in an automatic charging station.
    - Tank heaters for cold weather camping.
    - Plumbed for easy winterizing using the built-in water pump.
    - Dual coach batteries.
    - Exterior entertainment center with outside 120V outlet and 12V receptacle.
    - Exterior shower.
    - Two exterior storage cabinets run laterally all the way across coach and under it's floor storing long items.
    - Weather band radio in the cab.
    - Convenient battery disconnect switch right by the coach entry door.
    - Dash switch for engine start boosting using the coach batteries.
    - Dash switch for running the cab radio from either the engine battery or the coach batteries.
    - Automatic charging of the coach batteries by the engine alternator whenever traveling.
    - One piece fiberglass roof, deeply crowned, with rolled over edges.
    - Full size stock-rimmed spare tire mounted out of the way up underneath, including a large lug wrench for dealing with wheel nuts.
    - No slides (which for us was a "feature")
    - Exhaust shields underneath the cab flooring.
    - Wired internally for satelite systems (but not on the motorhome as delivered).
    - Wired for a backup camera (but not on the motorhome as delivered).
    - Driver's seat that can be tilted back even though the dinette is right behind it.
    - Dual flooring material -> hard surface for the kitchen/rear bed/bath areas, carpets for the dinnette and lounge chair areas.
    - Thick cab carpeting with padding under the carpet.
    - Digital furnace and air conditioning control.
    - Fully ducted air conditioning.
    - Fully ducted furnace.
    - Cab area and cabover bed privacy curtains.
    - Rear corner bed/shower/sink privacy curtain.
    - Thick and actually comfortable split cabover mattress.
    - Comfortable corner bed mattress.
    - Color matched mattress cover for the rear corner bed.
    - Double basin kitchen sink.
    - Single handle kitchen faucet.
    - Built-in water purifier for the kitchen sink faucet.
    - Several 120V AC outlets ... some of them GFI protected.
    - Several 12V DC receptacles ... one specifically for convenient high current laptop use.
    - Fully insulated floors, walls, and ceilings (about 3 inches of insulation in the ceiling areas).
    - Gravity locks on all interior drawers.
    - Steel slide rails for all interior drawers.
    - Piston assisted openers on upward-opening interior cabinet doors.
    - Overhead lighting with waist-level wall switches.
    - Interior night-light at floor level near the bathroom with waist-level wall switch.
    - Fantastic fan roof vent.
    - Day/night shades.
    - Tank level detectors not inside the tank -> they electronically sense the liquid level right through the tank walls.
    - Aluminum and steel wall framing -> not wood.
    - Well installed Onan generator that's not too loud or vibration-prone so as to be irritating. It can be run and tolerated for hours if necessary for full air conditioning comfort during warm weather camping.
    - The 24V is a basement model, so it's steel walled and fully carpeted exterior storage cabinets are taller and more usable than those of many small Class C motorhomes. This also means that the climb-up height into the cabover bed is not as tall and that you can almost sit up on the cabover bed.
    - The rear fender wells are steel lined, so a rear tire blowout may not be as catastrophic as it could be on some motorhomes.
    - I'm 6'2" and can stand up in the shower with room to spare.
    - The dash radio has two of it's speakers back in the coach for surround sound when camped.
    - The dash radio can be controlled from the coach by a remote.
    - The dash radio can be controlled by a fob on the steering wheel.
    - Both areas under the dinette seats are fully available for storage - no water tanks or furnace cabinets there to take up this space.
    - The cab doors have remote locking/unlocking.
    - The cabover bed has storage at the head of it and the foot of it.
    - The lounge chair slides and pivots.

    Here's on last "feature" of my Itasca you DON'T want to look for - a forward facing cabover bed window. Since the glass in it is tempered non-safety glass, a rock from another vehicle shattered ours suddenly in a million pieces 2500-3000 miles from home. The splintered glass went all over the front part of the interior and we had to limp back to CA with poorly installed replacement glass and it's frame seal leaked badly in rain storms. If I could have this window removed and replaced with a leakproof solid blank - I sure would. For ultimate reliability and freedom from surprises, never buy a Class C with this window in it.

    Good luck in your searching ... and keep us posted on what you decide!!
  • I have an '03 24V on the E-450 chassis. I tow a Jeep Cherokee all over the West and it has adequate power for this. The E-350 has a slightly taller rear axle ratio which will give it a little less pulling power and maybe a little better gas mileage. I've gotten an average of 8.5 mpg towing my Cherokee for about the last 30,000 miles. It's hard to get a better average mpg without driving 50 mph. It's easy to get lower mpg by driving 70 with a lead foot. Mine rides pretty rough in the rear because it's rather over-sprung for the load carried. An E-350 will be less harsh. One of the main things to look for is water damage. If the caulking has not been maintained and the unit is parked out in the weather all year, it's pretty easy to have water damage issues.