Thor v Nexus

Sites wrote:

JCTex wrote:


The Ford 550 comes with 22.5" wheels vs 19" on the Navstar; I like the extra road clearance. (This is incorrect)

Two things:

2. The Thor (F550 chassis) has 19.5" wheels, not 22.5" (This is correct regarding tire and wheel combo's.)

I have an F-550 and I can tell you as a fact, the Navistar chassis is a heavier, stronger chassis. It is considered a true Medium Duty truck chassis as where the F-550 is a light medium duty chassis.

Thor is using 110v refrigerators in some of their new Super C series RV's which requires running the inverter 100% of the time if you are not plugged in or using the genset. I boon dock so this is a deal breaker for me. I talked extensively to the people at Nexus about 1 year ago and they will accommodate any design change or idea you have, within reason. They were willing to build a Ghost for me on a 4x4 chassis. No one else will make those types of changes. however, DynaQuest has a 4x4 chassis available as well.

I bought a used Host 300 on the F-550 chassis and we are happy with our rig, even though I am not a Ford guy and with the issue we have had. Twasn't the RV's fault.

Also, PVC drainable storage compartment. This is another deal breaker. If you ever have a rear tire blowout you will damage your RV beyond anything you can imagine. Again, I speak from experience.

We had light weight sheet metal storage boxes, ie: typical household ductwork. When my rear tire blew out it broke all of the batteries,the battery slide base, the inverter, and the propane line and I had spaghetti for wiring. if damaged both storage compartments on either side of the rear tires beyond repair. We had to sawzall them out and off of the chassis. I had new storage boxes built and used much heavier gauge metal to try to minimize damage if this ever happens again. We have taken many design change precautions including sprayed in foam between the box and the inner fender well in front and behind the rear tires. The foam will act as a shock absorber during an impact. I also installed a tire pressure/temperature monitor system.

IF you have any serious repair issues with the F-550 the engine might have to be pulled since the cab will not be removable due to the coach being connected.

The Ford is a good unit but Ford notoriously has engine problems with their 6.0L and 6.4L diesels. But guess what, Navistar was making the diesel engines for Ford up until the new 6.7L.

No unit is perfect by any stretch of the imagination, some have features that meet your needs and requirements better than others. We are very happy with our decision and choice but we have learned that our manufacturer hasn't been as much help as we would like so we take care of our issues ourselves and we do better work than the builder anyway. Good luck and I hope this helps.