Holiday Rambler Atlantis

[John_Joey]

Looking at a 31ft HR Atlantis on a E450 V10. After doing a search on the forum, I found very few hit to read for this model.

Any of you have this rig? If so how do you like it? I did a few searches on the internet and came up with a few very low mile rigs for sale. Makes me wonder if they are a bear to drive creating the low miles.

Any input is appreciated.

[j-d]

Through the 1991 Chassis Year, Ford's Twin-I-Beam (their trademark for "swing axle") used King Pins. 1992-Present is still Twin-I-Beam, but they substituted Ball Joints. The only advantage I can see is that Caster/Camber were pretty much built into the King Pin Axle. Now they can be adjusted by choosing Upper Ball Joint BUSHINGS (made of Steel) with Offset Bushings. That's how you increase the CASTER. There are Fixed (where you select from an assortment of offsets) and Adjustable versions of the bushings.

[Capn_Dave]

I have the same rig as Holiday 27. The P/O had front and rear sway bars installed and the air bags were from the factory. I just replaced the air bags as they were getting old and one blew out. No biggie.
This thing drives great for something it's size.
When we were looking for a class C I found the Holiday Rambler Atlantis. The general consensus was they were a very built unit, Aluminum roof and body. They were an expensive unit for the time, probably why they stopped building them when the recession hit.

[John_Joey]

Nice to hear you enjoy your Atlantis. I assume that the handling is up to standards then.

King pins are still used on the F53 class A's. I guess on the E450's they must use ball joints then. I'll take a look under the rig to get familiar with it when I go see it.

I then assume that the E450 does not use leaf springs in the front like the Class A's?

[Holiday27]

We have a 2001 Atlantis and love it, quality rig. It's a 28 ft. vehicle though. It has ball joints. I think king pins were phased out in the 60's. You will need a quality front and rear sway bar/shocks, and probably airbags.

[John_Joey]

So does the V10 have ball joints or king pins?

Since Class C's normally don't have levelers the king pin might not be getting greased correctly, which could affect the handling.

[j-d]

Rear Track Bar is one. A Class A might use both Front and Rear Track Bars but a Class C doesn't need a Front Track Bar. Front AND Rear Sway Bars. Steering Stabilizer like Safe-T-Plus.
Class C tires carry an 80-PSI max pressure and many inflate all six to that. If you look at axle ratings, the front should never be above about 65.
Front End Alignment is critical! On Ford, the CASTER needs to be 5-deg or even a little more if it can be done (max is 7-deg) without getting Camber out of spec range. And Toe should be just slightly IN.
I've heard tell that adding a Stabilizer/Centering Device like Safe-T-Plus is equivalent to adding CASTER, but I personally would do the Alignment then consider an add-on device.
And, of course, before doing an Alignment, verify that all the Front End Components (ball joints, bushings, tie rods and steering linkages) are all in good shape. It seems odd, but both an alignment shop and the service manager for a large RV rental operation told me RV's are rougher on front ends than you'd think.
If the CHASSIS year under this Atlantis is 2000 or later, its V10 engine has "Performance Improved" cylinder heads. These upped the HP from 275 to 305 AND added adequate threads to the sparkplug holes. Ford had machining tolerance issues with some of the "PI" heads till around 2004 but 2000+ is a good bet. Bear in mind, that Ford Class A chassis got Three-Valve Heads sometime in the early 2000's. The E-Series for Class C NEVER DID. Somebody says the V10 for Class C is 362-HP that's wrong. That's F-Series pickups and the F53 Class A chassis.
The front axle capacity in the early 2000's was 4600-lbs. In 2008 they went to 5000-lbs AND upgraded the Brakes and Sway Bar. A few of us have swapped their early-model axle for the 5000.
I think by now you understand why I'd like to see you have this candidate coach weighed.

[John_Joey]

Thanks for the input. This is on a 208" chassis. When you say chassis upgrades, which ones are you talking about. I'm coming from the Class A world so I'm guessing they will be the same ones, but you never know.

The Atlantis is early 2000's.

[j-d]

Most E450 driving problems can be corrected with Tire Pressure, Alignment, and a few chassis upgrade parts that really aren't all that expensive.
But there IS an exception - IF the Wheelbase is not long enough, the weight distribution will be Tail-Heavy. Sometimes weight can be shifted but every once in awhile the imbalance is simply too great. If you can get the specs, a "31" (just in my opinion) needs WB well over 200-inches. Our 31 for example has 218" and the rear axle is below its max rating. The front axle is very close to rating. This weight on the front tires gives it something to steer with. I've heard two versions of weight balance. One is that the FRONT needs to be at least 1/3 of total scale weight. The other is that the FRONT needs to be at least 3/4 loaded at scale weight.
So, Specs and Scale Weights. If you can get those, you'll have a good idea what handling can be. Many here have done upgrades. Many have also been satisfied right out-of-the-box.
Holiday built bulletproof Class C's in the 1980s, we had one. They stopped building them awhile and then brought them back. Probably under the Holiday name but actually built by one of the many companies Monaco acquired (Holiday being only one). Some of those were well above average, with features like an aluminum roof, but I don't know about all of them.