Phoenix Cruiser 4x4

Having 4x4 would be nice but I would think the real problem will be the shaking and twisting the motorhome part goes through as you travel down a rough and rutted road. I'm hesitant to take my not 4x4 LD on any rough and rutted roads that could shake it apart.
Heck we hit a road construction area north of Tatum, NM that we had to slow down to 30mph because it was so rough!

I'm gonna need some help here...."LD"?

I do see what you're saying about the twisting though. Would the shorter length of the 2351 not alleviate that? I believe it's built on an E-350 chassis. Does it flex that much?

If you want a good 4x4 conversion, skip the Phoenix-Cruiser-Quigley, and send a 2WD to QuadVan.

For a motorhome especially, QuadVan just has superior setup.

1) The QuadVan setup has more travel. The 2" QuadVan option has the same travel as the 4" Quigley conversion. QuadVan also has a 4" setup, which is recommended for off-road driving.

2) QuadVan uses matched 17" wheels, on the stock E-series bolt pattern, on all corner. Quigley uses the F-series SRW metric wheel up front, and leaves the rear wheels standard. Which means you have to carry 2 spares.

3) The QuadVan setup is all Ford SuperDuty, so all Ford dealers keep parts in stock. Quigley uses their own proprietary 5- link, like an older Dodge, which means parts have to come from Quigley.

The E-series is a great platform for converting to 4x4. I have not seen issues from excessive chassis twist. But for difficult trails, the sway bars should be disconnected to improve articulation. Quick-disconnects are optional. If you go with the QuadVan conversion, it'll ride better than 2WD. Of course, the biggest downside of a motorhome is the departure angle. The 23xx seems better than most at least.

If you aren't planning on towing a low (no more than 5,000 pound) I'd recommend 6.2L V8. It actually makes more HP than the V10, and should improve fuel economy a decent amount. And it sounds cool:)

I also agree with the twisting and shaking. Going over a speed bump in a parking lot sounds like me when I first get out of bed in the morning anything more and it makes me REALLY nervous.

I have the E-350 chassis and it is a rough one, great on flat roads but bouncy and bone rattling on rough stuff.

Going off-pavement is hard on an RV. I've been driving small 4x4 Class C's since 1991. About 150K miles so far, first one on a Toyota mini-truck chassis and the Tiger on a stock 2500 HD 4x4 chassis. At one time or another, in spite of slow speeds and careful packing, I've had every cupboard and the refrigerator eject its contents at one time or another, plus had everything fall off the cabover bed. Checking to see that cupboards and the awning are still securely attached is a regular part of trip prep. Note that I wasn't even trying to do Jeepy sorts of things when these ejections happened.

30 MPH on rough road? Hah! More like 5 PMH. I'd love to never have to drive on washboard again.

When choosing an off-pavement vehicle, consider its size and weight. My Tiger is under 9.5 feet tall, 87 inches wide, 20 feet long, regular cab Chevy so shortish wheelbase. Sometimes it can barely squeeze through or under the trees and brush along the roads, and it has the scratches to prove it. I ordered my Tiger with minimal stuff on the roof (no railing, no AC, no antennas) because of this. Still, I've had the various vent caps attacked by vegetation.

The fantasy is that you can go anywhere, do whatever you want. Give yourself a VERY serious reality check before you try this.

I find high clearance to be much more of a necessity than 4WD, although I do use the 4WD on nearly every trip for at least a short stretch. I even used it a few weeks ago to drive the Tiger up onto a welder's rack for some tailpipe repairs. It didn't want to go up the slippery metal ramp, but 4WD took it over the bump and up with ease.

OP is east coast (West Virginia) and I am sure that off-pavement there is probably different. I'm west coast and the Sierra Nevada range and deserts.

LOL Once again, I see everything is subjective.

My idea of "off road" is going to be a semi-maintained gravel road, typical of what's found around here (WV) in the National Forests or Wildlife Management Areas. Yeah, there'll probably be washboard surfaces here and there. Maybe some rutting, but nothing crazy. If I'm looking at a current gazetteer or map, the road will be there, and it won't be like a single dotted line. LOL

Rock crawling/trail blazing is not what I want to do. At least in my home-on-wheels. But I DO want my HoW to be able to get off pavement and away from RV parks/campgrounds when I need some alone time.

So about QuadVan.....you're suggesting getting the 2WD Phoenix, then going to QuadVan for conversion to 4x4?

We have a relatively small 2WD 24 foot Class C and take it on dirt/gravel/rough roads whenever we have to rockhounding. We also just plain like to explore and camp "out there".

We do it only in dry weather, and do so by driving very slowly and carefully - especially on heavily washboarded surfaces. Going fast "to smooth out the washboard jolting" doesn't work with a heavy vehicle that's full of stuff. Even given that driving style, we have done mods to our cabinet doors to insure that they stay closed and have a lot of rubber shelf cushioning material stuffed in between loose items in the cabinets. I believe that in our case Winnebago mounts it's cabinets directly onto the metal struts within the coach walls ... because we've never noticed any loosening of coach cabinets, furniture, or appliances.

I also use non-stock tires with a larger diameter in order to raise the entire rig just a bit for improved ground clearance. We especially looked for and purchased a small Class C on the Ford E450 chassis (see my comments below).

Here's some of my thoughts on a Class C to be taken off-highway:

1. 4WD is the "ultimate" addition to a Class C .... however, 4WD conversions raise the overall center of gravity of the Class C ... which is not the best for travel on tipped/canted road surfaces or when weaving through deep road ruts. Also, on any road, a higher Class C is more unstable in high cross winds and when big trucks pass. I wish they could install a 4X4 conversion on a Class C without having to lift it so much.

2. Assuming the 4X4 conversion was done with the minimum lift necessary only to make physical room for the additional drive components ... then use larger diameter tires to increase ground clearance for all the RV's critical under-coach and chassis components. Doing these two things together will get to the best compromise configuration of - a low as possible center of gravity 4WD Class C with greater than stock ground clearance everywhere for critical coach and chassis components.

3. Start with a small as you can tolerate Class C, but on the more rugged Ford E450 chassis instead of the usual E350 chassis. This chassis gives you a wider rear dually stance for added lateral stability on tipped road surfaces ... plus this wider stance may also allow for the rear duallies to more often ride on the top of the ruts instead of down in them. The E450 chassis has more swept area for it's brakes and has a larger diameter drive shaft. It also has a lower ratio rear differential to help counter-act larger diameter tires so as to maintain slow speed pulling power and provide less transmission slippage (which can result in higher transmission temperatures).

4. But here's the main reason for opting for the E450 chassis under a small Class C used off-highway: It's frame uses thicker steel to provide a stiffer flat platform under the coach. This can help to minimize or eliminate any twisting of the coach structure when traveling on rutted roads - especially if you take it real slow and pick your path very carefully ... as you should.

As the OP probably knows, there is no substitute for traveling out in the middle of nowhere and then being able to stay right there with all the comforts of home in any weather!

If you just want to travel dirt/gravel roads, you don't need 4WD. Motorhomes tend to have better traction than other 2WD vehicles because there is a very high percentage of weight on the drive wheels.

Yes, I absolutely recommend taking a 2wd to QuadVan. Taking them a completed coach also means the springs and and shocks can be tuned for actual loaded weight. The Quigley chassis is spec conversion, so they try to get it "close enough for most rigs".

QuadVan will give you a shop tour if you happen to ever be in Portland. See I how they do things vs others is pretty eye opening.

I wouldn't hesitate to take a Phoenix Cruiser Offroad. It's well built with a full steel body cage. They wouldn't offer 4x4 if their coaches couldn't take the abuse.

AllenTC2: Either option sounds good to me. I also do the WV roadtrip and on many 1 1/2 lane gravels roads (you know what that means!) and have a 28' with Quigley 4x4. Been going back home to the farm for 14 years and crossed many creeks and pastures and have only ONCE put it in 4x4 to get up a creek bank. I have gone up to Snowshoe Mountain skiing and had 10" of snow to deal with and then 4x4 was required. As for rolling/flexing, just hasn't been an issue since I'm not trying to go where I take my 4wheelers. Just feels much more confident that the 4x4 option is there. Lastly, I installed it for my beach fishing trips and not for WV....but, it works on land and sea! Good luck.