What happened to pickup truck based "C"s?

rjstractor wrote:
Ford F450/550 and Ram 4500/5500 cab and chassis are readily available. Like others have mentioned they make for a longer rig for the same size floor area. They do offer much higher GVWR and axle ratings than the E450.

Thanks for this update.

I rarely see the F450 anywhere on the roads. F550 yes ... F450 no.

What I like about the F450 PU chassis is it appears to have about the same physical cab size and height from the ground as the F350 on-down chassis ... not the bigger than life and taller-to-get-up-into huge cabs one sees on most Super Class Cs.

If I was to get a PU based 4X4 Class C, I'd definitely go for the F450 instead of the F350. This would not be for the extra weight carrying capacity, per se, but for the more generous design margins that come with the higher weight rating. I prefer the larger brakes, increased cooling, stronger frame for less frame twist when off-pavement, larger ring gear diameters, larger drive shaft diameters, maybe larger size universal joints, etc. that you wind up with from the heavier duty chassis that is under-loaded weight-wise.

A couple of things that mystify me though, are:

1) Why isn't the E450 rated identical to the F450 ... with the only difference being the front end/engine placement difference? It seems like an E450 should be indentical to an F450 in ruggedness, regardless of the front nose design! Perhaps Ford should not have abandoned the short-lived E550, which maybe would have been great for the longer Class C motorhomes.

2) For slightly more weight carrying capacity, whats the big deal with larger wheel sizes over 16 inches? You can easily increase tire weight ratings by going to larger 16 inch tires. For instance, check out the weight ratings for 235/85R16, 245/85R16, and 265/85R16 tires. Assuming the fender wells are large enough, these larger 16 inch tires also provide more ground clearance right along with their increased weight carrying capacity.