Desert Captain wrote:
Rock hill manor, Methinks you are confused about the E-350/450โs. The 350 has a superior ride as in smoother vs the stiff ride of the 450. It also has more power as the engine/trans are the same but the 450 is packing an addition 2,000 pounds everywhere it goes.
The 450 gets worse mileage with its 4:56 rear end vs the 350โs 4:10. The 450 is a great chassis but on any Class C 25โ or under it is overkill at the expense of comfort and economy. If you are going to tow heavy they are worth a look but have less available power due to the extra weight.
Also as noted E-350โs often come with the 55 gallon fuel tank. Mine does and after 5+ years and 52k+ miles I could not be more pleased with the ride and performance of my E-350.
Desert Captain said it very well.
You want the RV manufacture to select the appropriate chassis for the application. Have you ever rented a U-Haul truck? When empty, it rides horribly. When full, the ride smooths out. It's kind-of like that. You want to match the chassis to the load it will carry. When all loaded up for a good long trip, you want the over-all weight to be close to the chassis limit. Significant margin will yield a rougher ride. And as we all know, motor homes stay together better with a smoother ride. If using an E450 chassis on a smaller & lighter RV model, it will shake and bang down the road, rather than offer a smooth ride.
And like Desert Captain said, there is also a change in fuel economy. The E350 4.1 axle ratio yields roughly a 10% improvement in fuel economy. The reduced weight of a shorter motor home improves fuel economy further.
Our 2007 E350 motor home
HERE is less than 24 feet long, weighs near it's capacity of 11,500 pounds when on trips considering 2 adults, 55 gallons of gas, 10 gallons of propane, and 42 gallons of fresh water, and our rig is very aerodynamic. We average 10.5 MPG when not towing, and 9.2 when towing our Jeep Liberty. The quality of ride is quite nice.
