Why not gasser rear enging?
What is against rear engine gassers, and front engine diesels? Just wondering? Same goes for the common pickup truck diesels in the rear?
Forum Discussion
As an FMC owner, I feel I ought to reply to a couple of points. First is that FMC had some issues with heating in new coaches because of having received some bad radiators (tubes plugged with solder) from the radiator manufacturer. That was cured with corrected radiators.
Over time, ANY rear engine unit (gas or diesel) with a REAR radiator will have a heating issue UNLESS the owner keeps the radiator clean. Given the lack of ram air with the rear radiator, radiator clenliness is critical. All FMC owners that I know that have had a heating issue have historically cured it simply by cleaning the radiator. When a radiator is in the rear, more stuff is drawn into the radiator and reduces air flow which caurses the heating issues. Do a search on diesel engine heating and you will see what I am talking about.
A few people have replaced their old heavy radiators with modern, lightweight aluminum radiators with good results.
In general, the key is airflow design followed up by proper maintenance for any rear engined unit. It is NOT a gas vs diesel issue.
I absolutely love my rear engined coach which is small and historically gas powered. The sound is in the rear at all times and there is no engine hump up front. The FMC was built on its custom chassis as a low profile unit for traveling vs camping. With the rear engine design, the main floor of the coach is only 18 inches above the ground which makes for very easy entry/exit from both the passenger side and driver side doors. A front engine and rear drive would have prevented the low profile design. That ease of entry gets more important each year my knees get older!
With its custom chassis, four wheel independent suspention (trailing arm, torsion bar in the rear), and rear engine design the coach was not cost competitive with the standard frame/engine designs that had wide usage. Combine the cost of the coach, the 1974 gas crisis, and that FMC got the contract to build Bradley Fighting Vehicles, the motor home plant was gutted and converted to building Bradley's. That was an easy decision!
As some people know, in my case, after putting 60,000 miles on my coach with the original powertrain, I am in the process of replacing the 440 with an engine and transmission that was not available until fairly recently. I purchased a lightly rolled 2006 GMC pickup and am moving the 6.6LTD Duramax LBZ diesel and 6 speed Allison sideways into my coach. I don't have a justification for doing this as my coach has made multiple trips over the Rockies just fine with the 440 other than I just wanted to do it!
The demise of the UFO chassis was a very similar story 30+ years following the demise of FMC manufacturing.
The majority of FMC's are still on the road which is a tribute to the coach's original design. Storage - limited, slideouts - none, but a great traveling coach to this day.
Over time, ANY rear engine unit (gas or diesel) with a REAR radiator will have a heating issue UNLESS the owner keeps the radiator clean. Given the lack of ram air with the rear radiator, radiator clenliness is critical. All FMC owners that I know that have had a heating issue have historically cured it simply by cleaning the radiator. When a radiator is in the rear, more stuff is drawn into the radiator and reduces air flow which caurses the heating issues. Do a search on diesel engine heating and you will see what I am talking about.
A few people have replaced their old heavy radiators with modern, lightweight aluminum radiators with good results.
In general, the key is airflow design followed up by proper maintenance for any rear engined unit. It is NOT a gas vs diesel issue.
I absolutely love my rear engined coach which is small and historically gas powered. The sound is in the rear at all times and there is no engine hump up front. The FMC was built on its custom chassis as a low profile unit for traveling vs camping. With the rear engine design, the main floor of the coach is only 18 inches above the ground which makes for very easy entry/exit from both the passenger side and driver side doors. A front engine and rear drive would have prevented the low profile design. That ease of entry gets more important each year my knees get older!
With its custom chassis, four wheel independent suspention (trailing arm, torsion bar in the rear), and rear engine design the coach was not cost competitive with the standard frame/engine designs that had wide usage. Combine the cost of the coach, the 1974 gas crisis, and that FMC got the contract to build Bradley Fighting Vehicles, the motor home plant was gutted and converted to building Bradley's. That was an easy decision!
As some people know, in my case, after putting 60,000 miles on my coach with the original powertrain, I am in the process of replacing the 440 with an engine and transmission that was not available until fairly recently. I purchased a lightly rolled 2006 GMC pickup and am moving the 6.6LTD Duramax LBZ diesel and 6 speed Allison sideways into my coach. I don't have a justification for doing this as my coach has made multiple trips over the Rockies just fine with the 440 other than I just wanted to do it!
The demise of the UFO chassis was a very similar story 30+ years following the demise of FMC manufacturing.
The majority of FMC's are still on the road which is a tribute to the coach's original design. Storage - limited, slideouts - none, but a great traveling coach to this day.
