Forum Discussion

ocexpress's avatar
ocexpress
Explorer
Oct 22, 2017

Making the change from diesel back to gas 2014 Itasca

Been quite awhile since visiting here on the forum.
I am considering trading the 97 American tradition in for a 2014 35B' Itasca Sunland. Still has the heavier wheel base as opposed to the smaller coach. The smaller coaches seem too light to me.
My question is whether or not the Itasca will pull the grade up the California grapevine. It has the Ford v10.
I have never had much success getting over that grapevine any faster than 35mph in my diesel towing my small 12' trailer. That coupled with the coach carrying too many memories in the loss of my husband dieseldave. Time has came to move on.

I value your input and have not taken delivery of the 2014 Itasca yet. It is a beautiful coach but want to make sure it has the power needed to pull those 6% grades?
Input appreciated.
Class A
  • 4x4ord's avatar
    4x4ord
    Explorer III
    Oct 23, 2017
    The V10 makes more peak horse power than the diesel in your American Tradition. It really should pull that 22000 lb Itasca up a 6% grade at 45 mph. It needs to be screaming pretty good to do it though....the peak hp is at 4750 rpm.
  • ArchHoagland's avatar
    ArchHoagland
    Explorer
    Oct 23, 2017
    Went over the Grapevine twice this week. Guy in a 36 foot Class A gas passed me. Had to be a Ford as it was fairly new. I think you'll do fine.
  • time2roll's avatar
    time2roll
    Nomad
    Oct 23, 2017
    Check if you can test drive it to Bakersfield spend the night and return....
  • azdryheat's avatar
    azdryheat
    Explorer
    Oct 23, 2017
    If you can afford the extra $$$ for a newer Class A, the 2016 model year introduced the 6 speed transmission and pulling hills with that extra gear became easier.
  • fortytwo's avatar
    fortytwo
    Explorer
    Oct 23, 2017
    Pulled the Grapevine many times with my 2000 V-10 at 25,000 Combined Gross Wt. Newer V-10's are more powerful. If your trailer puts you near the CGW rating you should have a transmission temperature gauge. If the tranny temp gets too high you will need to use a lower gear and give up a bit of climbing speed. The V-10 absolutely will climb any hill - gear, speed, and engine noise will vary - well the engine rpm necessary to get horsepower will always produce lots of noise.
  • gutfelt's avatar
    gutfelt
    Explorer
    Oct 22, 2017
    ocexpress wrote:
    Ok thank you two! I will check out the radiator on the new coach.

    Theres about a 99% chance a 2014 A chassis ford motorhome has the proper rad for cooling and appropriate gear ratios
  • theoldwizard1's avatar
    theoldwizard1
    Explorer II
    Oct 22, 2017
    Those are pretty bulletproof engines and so are the transmissions.

    Are you still pulling that trailer ? 2 things to learn. What is the rear axle ratio and does it have the biggest radiator available ? (Smaller Ford trucks had 2 different size radiators; standard and heavy duty if equipped with the trailer tow option.)

    Bigger radiator is always better. If you are struggling on hills, you may need to change the rear axle ratio to a higher number.
  • DrewE's avatar
    DrewE
    Explorer II
    Oct 22, 2017
    You will certainly be able to get to the top of the grade without any question; the only real question is how fast you'll be going.

    I would guess (but I don't know for sure) that, with the pedal to the floorboards, you'd be going faster than 35 mph, perhaps closer to 45 or maybe even 50. The engine will be sounding like it's about to thrash itself to death, though it won't and in fact it would be fine running all day at those high rpms.

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