Non wide-body "C"s?

Our 2012 Nexus sits atop a 2011 E-350 chassis and is 101" wide. At 24' it is no problem to drive in the city, park in just about any lot or even parallel on the street. My wife noted that after three days of driving around Sun Valley Idaho that if I could get around that narrow/tight little town she could not imagine anyplace else ever being a problem.

After 10,000 miles over the last 6 months I have no plans to change anything in terms of the ride and or handling. It is rock solid, steady, smooth and quiet (the new Michelin LTX M/S 2's run at 55 psi help in that regard). Windy days and passing semi's hold no terror and frankly it is just plain fun to drive. Our wheelbase is 159" with a GVWR of 11,500. We scaled out at 10,050 normally loaded in the middle of a trip leaving me an additional 1,450# of available payload (from our original 3,368#). I think these numbers explain why it rolls so smoothly.

:C

pnichols wrote:


KONI is coming out very soon with a FSD (Frequency Selective Damping) shock model for the Ford cutaway van E-Series.

FSDs for E350/E450 were launched 1/10/2014 by Koni. Here is the launch info.

Part numbers are 8805-1042 for front and 8805-1043 for rear.

They are available on Koni's website konirv.com or from multiple other aftermarket vendors.

When the performance diminishes on my Bilsteins I may look into FSDs. Though from what I have read they have a softer ride like Bilstein comfort shocks. On the 'A' forums some have raved about them and others saw no difference.

Yeah the 05 TL is 100+. Re handling, my two Chevys have been quite good. As dazuki said about his sprinter, I can feel the winds but it's not a chore to stay on line. This sunseeker does rock a lot when turning out of parking lots and such. Didn't take long to learn to slow down. No tail drag so far.

Of course it is more of a chore to navigate through small lots and such than a B would be. But not bad at all. The sunseeker wheelbase is 159 iirc, and the tl was ~132. That one was very maneuverable.

burlmart wrote:
...I'm not sure Gene is right about all TLs, as I think ours may be a bit wider...

Your Trail-Lite is a 2005 that sits on a later model of the Chevy Express. RVision may have widened the unit on later years. As I stated the brochure we were given when we purchased our 2002 shows the model 210, 211, 211S, 212, 224, 225, 235S, 250, and 251 all at 94" width. :)

This is getting me curious about the Trend. I've read good things about how it handles (apparently the Ducato has very good road manners), and unlike the Travato, it is a lot more boondock/dry camping friendly with the on-demand LP gas water heater. However, at its price point (am guessing in the 70k range after all is said and done), I'm sure there are similar length E-450 models out there.

The funny thing is that when the rubber meets the road and I go and rent a "C", driving one is no problem, especially the shorter ones where overhang isn't much of an issue. It is just the fear while running toadless and trying to get into a crowded strip mall in some small town, or being able to park in a parking lot of an event.

My 24" 2000 Class C on an E450 is 100" wide.
It took no time to be use to the handling.

I try and drive it monthly even of it is only to
the grocery store if no trips are planned.
It really is not difficult to get used to at all.

You might consider renting one for a weekend and see
how quickly you adapt.

Back in 2006/2007 I pursued a Rialta with the rear corner double bed floor plan. Fortunately the one I would consider, a very rare find. 2003-2005 for the larger engine, were around $55k used. We spent $12k more and got much more and brand new made-to-order. I am glad that didn't work out. But still the Rialta was a very sweet little rig, especially for a single person.

mlts

I did not know Texas had any narrow roads - thought we had a monopoly on 'em over on this side of the Sabine.

I'm not sure Gene is right about all TLs, as I think ours may be a bit wider. I think Martha has had little issue w/ the width, in any case, which supports what's been said. I worried too much on this listening to B owners' back when looking, but all those transit and school busses, Fedex vans...many driven by ladies, convinced me not to be worried so much.

I have a feeling we would get a better ride with a longer wheelbase. It seems to bounce a lot, and for shorter rigs, whare street "joints" are typical 20' apart (by design or pavement cracking), it might be exascerbated. I recall talk back when about the optimal ratio of wheelbase to total length maybe being 2/3

The narrow, short Rialta met the wheelbase ratio well, and that was one sweet ride, like a Lincoln Towncar. I had hoped the US Ducato MHs would mimic the Rialta sizing, unlike what happened w/ the Winnebago Trend.

pnichols wrote:
Ron .... do KONI shocks come with a lifetime warranty?

Unfortunately my Koni-RV adjustable shocks do NOT have a lifetime warranty. That was influential, almost had me change my mind but decided anyway based on the valued input from the shop I trust.

Ron .... do KONI shocks come with a lifetime warranty?

FWIW, Rancho sent me outright - including paying all shipping costs - a new set of 10-way adjustable Rancho 9000s for our offroad 4X4 PU to replace a set of partially failed 5-way adjustable Rancho 9000s that had been on it for several years.

I wonder if KONI could/would match that kind of customer service if the need should ever arise on a set of KONI FSD shocks?