Workhorse vs Ford

Get the floorplan you like. You will use the floorplan whether driving or parked. My DW retired from Ford as an RN in the factories and we have the Workhorse chassis. We love it now that the brake recall has been done. GM quit making the 8.1L engine and that is why Workhorse quit building their chassis.

Thanks for all the responses. I am glad to hear positive comments about the Ford (since that may be what I end up with since there are no alternatives in gas!). I also appreciate the comments about the WH, confirms what I've heard from others...

Diesels are tempting, but all of the cautions about not leaving them set too long (plus maintenance cost) has convinced me that I should stick with gas.

I'm looking for something in the 2005-2009 range, 34-38' and 2-3 slides. Now, I will start paying more attention to layouts and other amenities.

Happy Mother's Day -

carringb wrote:
BTW - The 8.1L doesn't seem to come close in longevity compared to the V10. It's hard to find a 200K 8.1, and those that have made it that far are clearly worn out and down on power. At least that has been my experience.

BTW, any Ford from 1997 to 2003 had the spark plug blow out problem and then the 2004 to 2007 had the stripped spark plug thread problems. These resulted in a class action lawsuit against Ford to get them to step up and take care of the problem.
Many GM 8.1 L engines run well past 100K. I'm not sure where you got this information but it is clearly not from experience. I have my second one, in an RV, that is close to 100K right now and I don't even burn any oil in a typical 5000-7000 mile trip. Down on power, not hardly in my Class A. Some people maintain their engines as well as their tires, which is why some people will always have problems.
Since we are talking about engines in an RV, who cares how long a Ford engine will last in a pick-up truck, as a previous poster pointed out. How many engines in Class A RV's have gone past 100K?
The true facts are that very few RV's ever reach 100K miles and either the Ford or GM engine will still be ruining strong when/if they do get to that mileage.

BTW - The 8.1L doesn't seem to come close in longevity compared to the V10. It's hard to find a 200K 8.1, and those that have made it that far are clearly worn out and down on power. At least that has been my experience.

Bumpyroad wrote:

what years are you talking about? Ford had the first decent chassis with the 1999 one that I bought. at that time Chevy/workhorse was still cranking out the P-30/32 (yes relabeled workhorse) for a couple of years.
bumpy

Once Workhorse bought the line from GM, they started making some improvement. Seems like about '04-'08 Workhorse was a year ahead in chassis improvements. P-line never got much, but the W? series seemed the more comparable chassis to the F53.

I own Ford built cars but I prefer the Workhorse 8.1 and Allison transmission. For one thing mileage is better than Ford along with better towing. I have a 2004 Bounder and yes it did have the brake recall but you can not beat the engine and transmission match up. I find the 8.1 to be easy to access and the air intake did not need to be modified to keep rain water from soaking the filter when driving in heavy rain.

carringb wrote:
Workhorse *generally* was a year or two ahead in chassis improvements. Things like larger wheels, larger sway bars etc. came out on WH first, then Ford would eventually follow. So given the same coach on the same year chassis, a WH could handle and ride better. But eventually Ford stopped dragging their feet, and regained market share, to the point it GM could't make enough motors to justify the cost of the keeping the plant open. Workhorse (owned by Navistar) tried replacing the 8.1L with an underpowered 6.0 and also a problem prone 6.4L front-diesel. Neither really sold, so WH is pretty much out of the game now, especially since any resources Navistar has is being put into making a road-legal diesel (EPA has to pull their certification after the other diesel makers caught them cheating by using "credits" to pass emissions).

BTW - I honestly believe the V10 is one of the most reliable motors ever made. I have 350,000 miles on mine, and I've seen commercial vans with well over 500k. Ford believes in the V10 enough they offer it in the F650, but they don't offer their own diesel, it only comes with a Cummins.

what years are you talking about? Ford had the first decent chassis with the 1999 one that I bought. at that time Chevy/workhorse was still cranking out the P-30/32 (yes relabeled workhorse) for a couple of years.
bumpy

What year Ford you buy matters. In 2006 (I believe) Ford began the three valve heads, increased power to 362 HP and added the five speed tranny. I had a 2001 chassis for years and it ran fine but the shift points were frustrating. My 2006 Ford gets a bit less fuel economy, but the power and new tranny are big improvements.

And I'll vouch for the durability of Ford V-10. We put 100,000 miles on ours without a problem.

Workhorse *generally* was a year or two ahead in chassis improvements. Things like larger wheels, larger sway bars etc. came out on WH first, then Ford would eventually follow. So given the same coach on the same year chassis, a WH could handle and ride better. But eventually Ford stopped dragging their feet, and regained market share, to the point it GM could't make enough motors to justify the cost of the keeping the plant open. Workhorse (owned by Navistar) tried replacing the 8.1L with an underpowered 6.0 and also a problem prone 6.4L front-diesel. Neither really sold, so WH is pretty much out of the game now, especially since any resources Navistar has is being put into making a road-legal diesel (EPA has to pull their certification after the other diesel makers caught them cheating by using "credits" to pass emissions).

BTW - I honestly believe the V10 is one of the most reliable motors ever made. I have 350,000 miles on mine, and I've seen commercial vans with well over 500k. Ford believes in the V10 enough they offer it in the F650, but they don't offer their own diesel, it only comes with a Cummins.

We have owned both. Both are good, however for us the Workhorse, had a little more power.