1st motorhome - 2000 Fourwinds 31z

[JCV220]

Hi all!

We just bought our very first motorhome and had to share my excitement here! We've been camping all our lives and have owned many RV's. Since 2004 we've been camping in a Laredo fifth wheel which we still have (for sale) and it's been a great unit. It's time for a new tow vehicle and another big truck is no longer a good fit for us so a motorhome was the logical way to go for our next RV!

Buying new wasn't an option for us so we've been looking for a nice, used class C for several months now. We found this 2000 Fourwinds 31z for A LOT less than we thought we would have to spend and it's in nicer condition than any others we've looked at! I really think it's perfect for our family and I'm looking forward to some awesome trips in it.

Here's a couple pics taken on the lot where we bought it:

2016-12-03_07-56-32 by jcv

2016-12-03_07-56-54 by jcv

It was a fairly long ride home with it and it's very easy and relaxing to drive. It runs strong and smooth most of the time but at very low rpm it will lug and buck a little bit if I'm really easy on the gas. If I step on it just a bit it smoothes right out. It's like like if you're driving a manual transmission and you're in way too high of a gear and it bucks. I haven't tried turning the overdrive off. I've been browsing this forum the last few weeks and it seems most folks leave the OD on. I was going to take it for a ride today and try with the OD off but I wanted to mention it here to see what you folks thought.

I'm sure I'll have lots of questions but for now I'm just going to tinker around with it. It's too bad it will be covered up soon until spring 😞 lol

Anyway, just wanted to say that I'm officially in the club!

[BruceMc]

We had a 2000 Four Winds 26Q for 5 years, and put around 15K miles on it over that time. What a blast from the past:



Even though we sold it to a friend in October last year, it still sets in our barn. He and his family took one trip in it last summer, while we took 5 trips in our new Sunseeker:



There were several things I disliked about the Ford - and the 4 speed tranny was one of them. It needed a gear between 2nd and 3rd. The engine was noisy at higher RPMs, and the steering was horrible. I threw a lot of money and time at it and made a pretty decent rig, but desired something a lot better.
While Ford generally builds a solid product, given my experiences with this Ford and Ford dealers in general, I'll never own another Ford product. I'll have to say it never let us down on the road (save the front end disaster in Arches National Park):
E-350 alignment experiences... .

We had hard start issues occasionally, and it did die on us once but restarted w/o issue. These all went away after replacing the fuel pump: Fuel Pump Replacement.

Do an advanced search on "brucemc" (That's me!) on posts older than 12 months - enjoy the stories!

[OLYLEN]

Nice looking rig. Now is time to go through all the fluids. Trans service unless done, every 30,000. Fuel filter and maybe a fuel additive just to start thing clean. 5star Tune would be a nice add, I like mine. If it has not been driven much have the rear brakes checked, on mine the brake shoes were disintegrating, moisture and setting too much. Have the antifreeze checked changed and the oil changed if not done recently and while at it the rear end and air filter. A lot of this may have been done, I was able to get where the rig had been serviced and the data, some was up to data some not, it is all up to date now..

LEN

[fourthclassC]

Great looking rig. congrats... Suggest a couple items. Check the intersection of the wall and floor of the overhead. (above drivers and passenger side doors) for leakage. Also investigate firestone air bags if you don't have them already. Happy Camping

[crasster]

JCV220 wrote:
Thank you all for the replies! I will definitely look into the 5 star tuner, sounds like it will help a lot.

I can't wait til spring!

Why wait till Spring? Go South!!!!! 🙂
Congratulations, see you out there!

[JCV220]

Thank you all for the replies! I will definitely look into the 5 star tuner, sounds like it will help a lot.

I can't wait til spring!

[garyemunson]

Since you are not new to Rving, I'm sure you are hip to watching for leaks like a hawk. Class Cs can be problematic because of the cab overhang flexing but nothing a sharp eye and tube of Dicor can't stay on top of!

[gbopp]

Congrats.

I think it's a little late to welcome you since you've been a forum member since 2004. 🙂

Enjoy your travels, you're going to love your motor home.

[harley-dave]

Nice, our Itasca class C floor plan is the reverse of yours. Look nice go enjoy it. Definitely invest in the 5 Star tuner. I got one for our 2005 31' class C with V10 and it made a dramatic difference in engine performance, OD operation and gas mileage. Went from 6.5-7 up to 9-9.5 mpg when not towing and about .5 MPG less when towing 2500 lbs. Pulls the mountains much better. I don't run at more than 62-65 mph. Well worth the money for the 5 Star.

Dave

[lj2654]

we had a 1998 same model. It did the same thing you mention with the transmission. We thought it was super loud when going up hills and wound up and was loud. Other than that it was a great Class C for us. We lived in it full time for two years and hed to sell because of a family tragedy. Hope you get lots of use from it. We did have one issue under the warranty with warped brake rotors is all I remember as far as issues.

[Snowman9000]

Nice. I like that it has no bunk windows and no slide.

I don't have personal experience with it, but there are many RVers who installed a Banks or 5 Star tuning chip, and get the transmission to shift the way it should.

5 Star website

[j-d]

First, WELCOME!!!

Just from the pictures, two observations as I think of our 2003 Jayco 31A:

1. Interior pic is all but identical! Same floor plan, cabinets, dinette design, pretty much anything I could see.

2. I like your exterior layout a little better. You have the upgrade mirrors. Ours are the tripod type like most rental trucks. We've had window leaks in the little cabover side windows that your FW doesn't have. And, looks like a deep compartment at the very rear. I'd rather have that, outside, than what not having it allows me to have inside.

What Model Year is the Chassis? Might not be a "2000 Ford" because of the cycle the RV builders buy their chassis on. The "bucking" makes me think it's not flopping back to 3rd gear (direct/High) out of 4th gear (overdrive/OD) when it sees increased load. That's a full 180-degree opposite of what most of these do. They generally downshift when there's enough grunt left to torque over a rise in the road. I ask about Chassis Year because 2000 brought out a different iteration of the V10 than 1997-8-9 had. In any of those years the transmission should be the 4R100,all the way through 2004 or so.

Although I covet your mirrors, that design, from Velvac, is known to break at the pivot on the body end where the arm swings. I figured out how to fix those, so if it happens, get back with us before you spend $200 or so. Some of us fold the mirrors back whenever we're parked someplace that a child might want to swing on them...

Put a Big Red Bow on it under that cover. Then it'll be Christmas all over again when you unwrap it!