If you had a do-over, which would you get?

[Damdifino]

Honestly, if you could do it again would you go for a Mercedes diesel or a Ford V10?

[Damdifino]

OP here. Thanks for all the thoughtful answers. I should have mentioned at the start that I'm not concerned about fuel mileage. My interest is more in serviceability, longevity, towing capacity, range, noise, cost (in extremis) of a total engine replacement--almost every aspect other than fuel consumption. Around here, diesel can cost 30-40% more than gas, so that pretty much cancels out the diesel mileage advantage.

[jeffcarp]

Comparing the gas mileage between the Sprinter in the Ford V10 is one thing but what's not mentioned here is that you are paying significantly more money for the chassis to begin with in your initial purchase. It's getting harder to identify what that premium is because there are not a lot of brands that offer the same coach in a Sprinter or a Ford V10. The premium seems to be about $15K before the upfitting even starts. That's a lot of gas to get $15K to pay back.

[Eddy_smith]

good one Grit Dog

[pnichols]

Great gas prices you have!

We filled up yesterday at $4.39 per gallon for regular coming back from Lake Davis or Northern CA. 😞

But .... CA does have a large cash surplus .... if I could only tap into it to offset.

However, Lake Davis is a spectacular place that reminds us of being somewhere remote up in, maybe, Canada.

[Desert_Captain]

Phil, the only thing I hate more than the gas prices in California are those awful pumps. Their vapor recovery {nozzle} equipment probably works but it is such a PITA to use. Every trip to California entails fueling up at the Arizona border and only buying enough gas in California to get back to Arizona.

It is even worse trying to fuel my motorcycle. I have to reach into the nozzle and pull the shroud back to even get fuel to flow...arrrg! As far as getting my E-350 full it takes extra time in California compared to Arizona but both allow for a full 55-gallon fill with very little topping off.

I religiously track my mileage as doing so keeps me dialed in as to how my V-10 is performing {andI'm retired and have nothing better to do}. Between my Scan Gauge and the odometer I always know exactly how many gallons I have at any given moment.

Regular right down the street is currently $2.78 {and has been for a while now}.

:C

[pnichols]

Desert Captain wrote:
"And a 2 gallon larger Fuel tank and a much better ride,handling and more room."

Not necessarily...

There are too many ways to modify {and hopefully improve} the ride and handling of a Class C to make a blanket statement that the Chevy has a better ride and handling. More room {a couple of inches} I will give you {but unless you are over 6' tall or the first number when you get on the scale is larger than one you really gain nothing} but it comes at a cost. The standard Chevy mechanically {limited} adjusted seat is a torture rack on a good day.

The Ford, electrically powered driver's seat found on many/most of the Ford Class C chassis' is infinitely adjustable making long days behind the wheel a piece of cake. Performance between the two is more alike than different with the Ford V-10 bringing more torque to the equation which is what gets you up and down the mountain. If towing or loading heavy get the V-10.

Mileage is such a subjective thing given all of the variables claiming an across the board improvement of 1 mpg... seriously? :h

Not sure about the allegedly larger fuel tank but with 55 gallons on my Ford I don't see much benefit in 2 more gallons. I always try and drive on the top half of the tank and never let it get below one-quarter of a tank to ensure I will always be able to run my generator.

Most of us love what we have or we would not have it, such is life. Want a fun on the road game? Try counting Chevy chassis' vs Fords {and don't forget all of the Paramedic ambulances, rental car shuttles, commercial trucks on a cutaway chassis' etc. } Give bonus points for spotting a Chevy {it only seems fair}.
LMAO!
:B

BTW regarding size of Ford's E350/E450 "55 gallon" fuel tank: We just got back from an RV trip and once again I proved that Ford's 55 gallon fuel tank capacity can be a myth if one doesn't fill it just right.

We fueled up once after leaving the lake to come home. It was at a major brand gas station (Shell) ... which probably had it's pumps "set up correctly" IAW with Federal and California requirements.

After the pump automatically stopped, I pulled the pump handle trigger very slightly and held it that way so as to get an additional 5 gallons into the tank. Getting those final 5 gallons into the tank probably took an extra 5 minutes, though, because of the slow rate of flow.

I then probably had an actual 55 gallons on board. I'm suspecting that the EVAP system has something to do with this and that maybe the Chevy chassis would with it's EVAP system might act the same way.

For what it's worth, I experience the same situation with my pickup and daily driver sedan - they both can hold more gallons of fuel if I trickle the last few gallons into their tanks slowly - by defeating the automatic shutoff mechanism at the pump.

I detest fueling up enough such that I like the driving distance between fill ups to be a long as possible - especially when traveling with the RV.

[AJR]

My previous class C was a South Wind 28A Chateau on a 2010 Ford E350 chassis. I did the alignment thing, tires and Safe-T-Plus. The unit only had 5k miles on it when I bought it.

My current class C has 40k+ miles on it and the chassis is stock. It handles cross wind & big rigs far better than the Ford did.

As far as details go. The 2014 29QB Leprechaun on a 2013 Chevy chassis is 6” longer overall and has one inch longer wheelbase than a Ford. It also has a 57gal gas tank
.
As far as mileage goes I should have said “better” and left it at that.

As far as gas verses diesel goes I will never get another diesel. Maintenance and repair cost is are too high for me now days.

[Desert_Captain]

"And a 2 gallon larger Fuel tank and a much better ride,handling and more room."

Not necessarily...

There are too many ways to modify {and hopefully improve} the ride and handling of a Class C to make a blanket statement that the Chevy has a better ride and handling. More room {a couple of inches} I will give you {but unless you are over 6' tall or the first number when you get on the scale is larger than one you really gain nothing} but it comes at a cost. The standard Chevy mechanically {limited} adjusted seat is a torture rack on a good day.

The Ford, electrically powered driver's seat found on many/most of the Ford Class C chassis' is infinitely adjustable making long days behind the wheel a piece of cake. Performance between the two is more alike than different with the Ford V-10 bringing more torque to the equation which is what gets you up and down the mountain. If towing or loading heavy get the V-10.

Mileage is such a subjective thing given all of the variables claiming an across the board improvement of 1 mpg... seriously? :h

Not sure about the allegedly larger fuel tank but with 55 gallons on my Ford I don't see much benefit in 2 more gallons. I always try and drive on the top half of the tank and never let it get below one-quarter of a tank to ensure I will always be able to run my generator.

Most of us love what we have or we would not have it, such is life. Want a fun on the road game? Try counting Chevy chassis' vs Fords {and don't forget all of the Paramedic ambulances, rental car shuttles, commercial trucks on a cutaway chassis' etc. } Give bonus points for spotting a Chevy {it only seems fair}.
LMAO!
:B

[pnichols]

That longer Chevy hood that places the engine further forward so as to give you that smaller doghouse intrusion into the cab also means that the front wheels are further ahead with regards to any given Class C coach length built on any given wheelbase equivalent to that of the Ford E-Series.

What the above means is that for any length of Class C motorhome, the ones based on the Chevy 3500/4500 chassis must have more rear overhang than the ones based on the Ford E350/E450 chassis. Minimun rear overhang is an important Class C aspect for best load distribution and consequent handling - with whatever suspension design is used on whatever chassis.

Also, the Ford design was centered around providing the shortest overall vehicle length possible for any given box truck cargo volume.

[IAMICHABOD]

AJR wrote:
Chevy 6.0

One mpg better than a Ford.

And a 2 gallon larger Fuel tank and a much better ride,handling and more room. :B

[AJR]

Chevy 6.0

One mpg better than a Ford.

[pnichols]

Grit dog wrote:
Remember gents, most men lie about 3 things....the size of the fish they caught, the size of their ____ and the fuel mileage of their truck......keep that in mind, lol.

Ha Ha ... I'm different.

I exaggerate about these 3 things ... the size of the fish that got away, how small my RV is, and how long my portable generator will run on a tank. :B

[Grit_dog]

Remember gents, most men lie about 3 things....the size of the fish they caught, the size of their ____ and the fuel mileage of their truck......keep that in mind, lol.

[pnichols]

blownstang01 wrote:

ernie1 wrote:
Just sold my Ford v10 based rv last year and bought a Mercedes based class c. Never in 89,000 miles did I ever do a thing to the engine other than oil and filter changes. Mostly I could do about any mechanical repair to this thing short of a transmission rebuild. I'm shocked that people call this engine a gas guzzler. I was getting anywhere from 12-14 mpg. My Mercedes 3500 class c averages about 14-15mpg. To be fair, the mercedes rv is about 3feet longer but still! Hands down, the Ford v10 is the best and this is the first and last Sprinter.

You need to share your secrets, you can't get 12-14 in regular cab 2wd pickup with the V-10.

As for the subject matter, Ford V-10 all the way.

Click on these discussion threads and additional links at the bottom involving V10 engines in pickups - you'll see many mentions of V10 highway MPG readings of 13,14,15 MPG and an occasional mentioin of 16 MPG on the highway. Of course many of the MPG readings are probably from lightly loaded pickups and most of the pickups don't have a 4:12 differential (E350) or a 4:56 differential (E450) in them: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/21591-v10-gas-mileage.html