2016 E450

[Jopops]

For any interested or considering a new motorhome, the 2016 Ford E450 now comes standard w/ the 6 speed Torqshift transmission.

*snip*

Engineered for performance, durability and reliability.

Designed to handle high-torque demands of the available 6.8L V10
Features a selectable tow/haul mode that reduces gear hunting when towing and uses engine braking when descending steep grade

I think this is a HUGE upgrade. The 2016 Jayco I'm purchasing has the 2016 chassis on it. A pleasant surprise to be sure.

[pnichols]

Those "whimpy little" Ford Transit and Ram ProMaster are perfect examples of the type of motorhome chassis I'm afraid we're going to eventually get with a coach sardine-canned onto it. :E

And .... you can forget about the DW being able to climb up into one of those flat-nosed tip-up delivery truck cabs with the engine underneath. :S

[carringb]

tpi wrote:
I think it will be around longer than many expect. When it's completely phased out lots of people will have to go back to drawing board-an expensive proposition.

That said, I don't think they'll put a lot of development $ into it anymore. Just enough to get by.

I don't think its going away anytime soon. it's still the 3rd best selling van chassis in the US :

[tpi]

I think it will be around longer than many expect. When it's completely phased out lots of people will have to go back to drawing board-an expensive proposition.

That said, I don't think they'll put a lot of development $ into it anymore. Just enough to get by.

[pnichols]

tpi wrote:
Probably never happen due to the E450 on backside of it's career.

Do you see anything on the U.S horizon to replace it?

So far those "modern" cutaway van whole-world type chassis being slowly forced on us in the Class C world can't handle the approximately 14,500 lb./22,000 lb. ratings needed for the larger Class C rigs. I guess that's the point .... force us into smaller rigs. Truck chassis might even be able to be all-electric some day ... so future heavy weight chassis could still be easy on Mother Earth and her atmosphere.

However, my Class C motorhome approach will soon be impossible when the E450 and 4500 go away: We wanted a small Class C, but built on a big Class C chassis for more margin in some if it's design and construction areas. IMHO ... For optimum longevity and reliabiliy buy a heavy duty product but use it in a light duty way. A 24 foot Class C on an E450 chassis is just that.

[tpi]

Probably never happen due to the E450 on backside of it's career. But it would be very cool if they offered a motorhome spec E450 cutaway with spring, roll bar, shock, and alignment calibrations for a top/rear heavy vehicle in typical motorhome weight range.

On mine the offset bushings needed to be replaced off the bat.

Oh well, what an adventure it has been improving the handling. Interesting I guess, but so many of the issues were simply calibration-and not anything to do with cost of the factory parts.

[Vulcan_Rider]

Golden_HVAC wrote:
This allowed me to get 7 years of service out of every front set of tires,

I have a different objective.

I won't put on enough miles to come even close to wearing out a set of tires before they need to be replaced due to age alone.

MY problem is that my E450 wants to wander all over the road. It feels like there is too much play in the steering worm gear but two places now have assured me that "everything is tight" and there is no "adjustment" for steering free-play.

I've been driving high profile vehicles for about 40 years now so I can handle it but I suspect that it could be downright dangerous in the hands of a less experienced driver.

I'm glad you are happy with what was done but "standing straight up" is NOT the recommended setting for any vehicle that I am aware of.

[Golden_HVAC]

Jopopsy wrote:
Good point. Jayco is paying for the front end alignment on my soon to be purchased Greyhawk. But I had to ask - it certainly wasn't volunteered.

I took the Fleetwood tour in 1996, just prior to buying my 97 30' Bounder that they put each RV on the alignment rack before it leaves the factory.

They also recommended a front end alignment at about 6 months of service, with the 'normal' load on the chassis. I did that, and took my Ford to a shop that does trucks. They have been doing truck alignments since the 50's, and learned well from their dad.

They strap down the front axle, and use 20 ton jacks to 'adjust' or bend the solid front axle until the tires are standing up straight. This allowed me to get 7 years of service out of every front set of tires, they did not wear un-even, and even the tire places said it was the best looking set of tires they ever took off a motorhome. . .

So I would recommend another alignment after about 6 months to a year, when the springs have settled down a bit, and are used to the weight that YOU have in your motorhome.

GOod luck with your new purchase! I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed mine!

Fred.

[Vulcan_Rider]

Jopopsy wrote:
Good point. Jayco is paying for the front end alignment on my soon to be purchased Greyhawk. But I had to ask - it certainly wasn't volunteered.

And unless they really know what they are doing it still might not turn out right. In the case of the Fords parts need to be changed to get the range of adjustment that is needed.

[Jopops]

Good point. Jayco is paying for the front end alignment on my soon to be purchased Greyhawk. But I had to ask - it certainly wasn't volunteered.

[Vulcan_Rider]

Also anyone who has or is thinking about getting an E350 or 450 based C, might want to ask if the front end alignment has been changed from the Ford bare chassis supplied settings to something that actually works for a motorhome.

All the evidence I've seen so far indicates that Winnebago doesn't and probably no other manufacturer using the Fords does either. The shop I'm taking mine to for a "fix" indicated that similar problems occur with some Chevy chassis too.

[Jopops]

Yes, it is worded the same for the most part. I noticed a difference in the shift gauge on the dash when I test drove the 2016 unit I'm about to purchase. I didn't put it together until I read up on the chassis differences.

But hey, an extra gear is an extra gear. Nice to see it. They still offer the 5 speed on the V8.

[pnichols]

For what it's worth, a description of the 2005 TorqShift transmission behind our 2005 V10 would read almost the same.

The 2005 TorqShift computer controlled transmission also has 6 speeds - but the driver can directly invoke only 5 of them ... the transmission control module chooses between 2 ratios for one of the gears internally beyond driver control, depending upon certain conditions. The newer TorqShift may allow the driver to manually select among all 6 gears when appropriate - I'm not sure. Our Tow/Haul mode works the same as described above

That being said, the V10/Torqueshift combination is all around superb. You do have to get used to driving the combination to fully tap their capability, though - especially how to counter-intuitively use the V10 as a high RPM engine - which was rare in a truck prior to the V10 and different than the good old thumping V8's many of us were used to in our daily vehicles of old.