Ford F53 and V-10 Engine

Totally impressed, especially with the V-10 and even more with it in the new Thor Daybreak 34XD on the 2013, much improved F-53 Chassis. Far better ride and better handling than we had in the Vista 26P. The Thor makes the third RV with the V-10 with the first one of those being a Class C. Had one 8.1 Chevy/Allison in an '04 Allegro Bay, Loved the coach, disliked the drive train and traded it primarily based on dislike of the drive train. Just finished 1300 mile trip from dealership in Houston to Las Vegas on brand new engine and got 7.1 mpg with cruise set 62-63 mph. Oops, edited for extra info, the 7.1 mph was with a dragging a tow dolly and an '05 Focus.

Solid Chassis & powerful, yet, quiet engine. We have never had an issue with steep grades or towing our Jeep. Plenty of pep when you need it. It's a reliable and durable power train.

We have the earlier V10 (275hp originally). Other than several spark plug packs going bad and a leaky coolant fitting, it has performed pretty good. Early on the Banks exhaust/intake kit was put on. That gave us more "poop" on the hills without affecting mileage. Since our '99 chassis was built, Ford has made great improvements, such as the 5 spd transmission and track bars. Currently we have about 73,000 miles on the coach and the 3rd set of tires. Yes, due to medical problems (changed our bucket list) we have slowed down on the number of trips.

Swamp Man wrote:
What kind of experience have you had with mountains and the Ford V-10 F53 setup? Thinking of a new MH with this under it.

I think you'll be more than happy with the current generation F53 chassis. We had a 2001 Adventurer on the F53 chassis and put on over 100,000 miles with very few problems. It went to Alaska in 2007 and up the Canadian Maritime provences in 2009.

The Alaska trip included a visit to Skagway which has a 12% grade for 12 miles. Going down we put it in a lower gear and coasted the entire 12 miles using the brakes sparingly. Comming back up we drove the Jeep seperatly just to avoid working the engine and transmission too hard. It climbed the hill at a steady 35 mph without any problem.

Our 2013 Adventurer has the 362 hp 3 valve version with the tow/haul transmission (5R110). While we only have a few thousand miles on the odometer it runs circles around the 2001. We plan to leave for a couple months in Alaska next week. If all goes according to plan we'll have as much fun this time as we did last time.

I'm new to the F-53 and V10 but I got to say that i'm very impressed with it. I have been a Chevy man all of my life and lowed the 8.1 and Duramax with the Allison tranny and was a little worried about getting rid of my dually/Montana 5th to go back to a gas Ford chassis but this past weekend, our first trip, made a believer out of me. We went up to Grandfather Mountain in NC and went up/down an 8 degree 4 mile long road and it did very well, about 45 up and 30 down on way back and I did not even manually downshift and let the Torqshift tranny do its thing like I did with the tranny and it did an amazing job. I used very little brakes on way down and while it was running about 5000RPMs holding the coach and toad back, I never felt like it was going to get away from me. I have a 2011 Itasca Sunstar 36D with a Prius on a dolly and did not know it was even there except for looking at monitor. That V10 has brawn! From a diesel pusher and Duramax an that has to have all the power in the world in his vehicles, I say go for it. You will not be really disappointed. The F53 rides well and you can actually talk normally with the co-pilot even going up 8 degree steep roads. BTW, I towed on tow haul all the time even in the flat areas. I like the way the tranny shifts and you do not lose the overdrive while using it and still get the benefit of then grade-breaking, too. Love mine and I'm a Chevy man!

I've been up and down pretty steep (grades 6% or better) in CA, CO, UT, AZ with a TOAD (see sig), I could pass my friends DP's (Winnie Vectra & Fleetwood Discovery CAT 330) up those grades if I wanted to...

We have a 1999 southwind with v-10,have 37000 miles,thought i had a problem when climbing the mtn and the wat temp gauge never moved,to hot,pulling a 2008 saturn.at 40 to48mph.Found out that Ford put the biggest radiator in the v-10.I was told It will never get hot,I just go with the flo and enjoy my driving,climbed the grapevine at42mph,climbed the sisques 45mph I also use my cruse control as much as poss,and avg6.9 mpg,I sure love my v-10.Thought at one time we trade up to a diesel,NOPE keeping my 99.

Had a 1999 35 foot Bounder pulling a Honda Accord. Traveled all over the Western Rockies including a trip to Alaska. No problem going uphill or downhill. Sometimes going up was as low as 35 MPH, but never thought we wouldn't make it to the top.

Don't be worried about the V10. It has guts, is sometimes roaring, and gets the job done. Just don't be in a hurry and enjoy the trip.

Been through lots of mountains, both East and West, and never had a problem. Ours has the older 310 HP V10. We always pulled a car behind.

The only place we ever had trouble keeping up speed on a mountain was on Eastbound I-70 heading to Denver from Glenwood Springs. Long uphill and we slowed down to 30mph. Never had a problem before or since. That is one long steep haul. We were towing the Saturn Vue.