Phoenix Cruiser 4x4

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?

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.

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.

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'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?

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!