No Workhorse Chassis for 2016

[J-Rooster]

I would like to Thank, Tropical36 and Dutch12078, who helped me find Dan Zitto! Dan is the media Rep. for Workhorse Chassis. I called Dan this afternoon and he returned my call and explained to me what's going on with Workhorse. Workhorse sent out a memo in 2015 saying they were going to reenter into the RV Chassis business due to demand. Dan, apologized to all people on RV.Net and those who are Workhorse owners about that memo, because Workhorse isn't going to build RV Chassis for 2016. Dan specifically told me that Workhorse is putting all there resources into a next generation truck that is all electric. Dan didn't go into detail but, mentioned these electric trucks are powered by a generator. And, Dan also mentioned to me that these electric trucks that Workhorse is manufacturing are being built for United Parcel Service and Fed Ex. So that's what is currently going on with Workhorse.

[J-Rooster]

moisheh wrote:
The engines could have been sold if Cat was willing to either develop their own emission system or simply buy the system from Cummins. That is what Navistar did after they failed at building their own! Most of the Class 8 truck mfrs. have their own engines so Cat lost a lot of that business. The few Cat engines that were produced with DPF's were a disaster.

Moisheh

Thanks for the info Moisheh!

[moisheh]

The engines could have been sold if Cat was willing to either develop their own emission system or simply buy the system from Cummins. That is what Navistar did after they failed at building their own! Most of the Class 8 truck mfrs. have their own engines so Cat lost a lot of that business. The few Cat engines that were produced with DPF's were a disaster.

Moisheh

[barmcd]

moisheh wrote:
pslocum: What do you mean by saying the EPA stopped Chevy and Cat?? The EPA did not stop Cat. Cat made a business decision. They had very low sales of on road engines and decided the cost to meet the new EPA standards were too high. Please provide any further info you may have.

Moisheh

I guess it's a matter of semantics since the EPA didn't actually say to CAT "Get out of the over the road engine business." What they did say was "You can't sell your current engines after this date."

[moisheh]

pslocum: What do you mean by saying the EPA stopped Chevy and Cat?? The EPA did not stop Cat. Cat made a business decision. They had very low sales of on road engines and decided the cost to meet the new EPA standards were too high. Please provide any further info you may have.

Moisheh

[-Gramps-]

Spartan would capture the lions share of the gas chassis market and part of the diesel pusher market from Freightliner as well, if they made a gas pusher chassis in the 30 to 36 ft range. There is a large block 8.8 liter gas engine available from Power Solutions International.

[pslocum]

BigRabbitMan wrote:

J-Rooster wrote:
Your correct the EPA stopped Chevy from from making engines in 2009. Likewise the EPA stopped CAT from making diesel engines. I smell a rat at the EPA

They sold the AG division to a foreign competitor

They "CAT" sold the ag business to AGCO based in Georga

[J-Rooster]

hipower wrote:
It is obvious that the motorhome market is considerably less attractive than the UPS/FedEx package car business. Not nearly enough unit sales potential in comparison so Workhorse is simply doing what they need to do from a good business perspective.

I always felt that the Workhorse UFO chassis was nearly ideal for a gas powered motorhome. Unfortunately it was somewhat cost prohibitive and sold in very low numbers. It would not be difficult for Freightliner or Spartan to offer a gas powered pusher chassis, assuming an appropriate engine could be sourced or built by them even, and should be more cost competetive with current offerings from Ford. The elimination of the long driveshaft and providing pass thru storage are worth a lot to me and I suspect to anyone who uses a coach for more than weekends and short vacations. They could also retain air brakes and air ride along with 22.5 rubber. That would be a winner for me, and I suspect could be for many others if the costs could be managed. The investment in engineering and design is already done any additional engineering should be minimal.

Very good post! Thank You

[BigRabbitMan]

J-Rooster wrote:
Your correct the EPA stopped Chevy from from making engines in 2009. Likewise the EPA stopped CAT from making diesel engines. I smell a rat at the EPA!

The EPA didn't stop anyone from making engines, diesel or gas. Cat made a business decision to not make the changes to meet the newest emission limits for on-highway vehicles as they decided the cost to do so was not worth it for the 2-3% of their business that it represented at that point in time. Cat's main engine business has always be off-road equipment and engines. Cat also decided to stop making agricultural equipment as well for similar reasons even though that is where the business began back in the 1920's. They sold the AG division to a foreign competitor.

GM made a similar decision with the 8.1 as they the market for the larger block had shrunk to the point that incurring the expense of upgrading to the newer EPA on-highway regs was just not worth it.

I liked both engines, but there wasn't enough of "me's" to justify the continuation of these engines in the on-highway realm.

So I upgraded my coach to the '06 Duramax!

[hipower]

It is obvious that the motorhome market is considerably less attractive than the UPS/FedEx package car business. Not nearly enough unit sales potential in comparison so Workhorse is simply doing what they need to do from a good business perspective.

I always felt that the Workhorse UFO chassis was nearly ideal for a gas powered motorhome. Unfortunately it was somewhat cost prohibitive and sold in very low numbers. It would not be difficult for Freightliner or Spartan to offer a gas powered pusher chassis, assuming an appropriate engine could be sourced or built by them even, and should be more cost competetive with current offerings from Ford. The elimination of the long driveshaft and providing pass thru storage are worth a lot to me and I suspect to anyone who uses a coach for more than weekends and short vacations. They could also retain air brakes and air ride along with 22.5 rubber. That would be a winner for me, and I suspect could be for many others if the costs could be managed. The investment in engineering and design is already done any additional engineering should be minimal.

[J-Rooster]

timmac wrote:
J-Rooster I did say 2006 and newer Ford motorhome chassis, Ford stepped up in 2006 and did major improvements to the motor, transmission and chassis, more HP/Torque than the 8.1.

Yea and GM stopped making the 8.1

Your correct the EPA stopped Chevy from from making engines in 2009. Likewise the EPA stopped CAT from making diesel engines. I smell a rat at the EPA!

[timmac]

J-Rooster I did say 2006 and newer Ford motorhome chassis, Ford stepped up in 2006 and did major improvements to the motor, transmission and chassis, more HP/Torque than the 8.1.

Yea and GM stopped making the 8.1

[J-Rooster]

timmac wrote:
Well than Ford will just rule the gas motorhome world for a while..

At least the newer F-53's 2006 and newer have no recall issues unlike the Workhorse had till the day they shut down.

Fords Rule..

I'm glad you like your Ford Timmac! Mine sucked 1999 Ford V-10 Triton, in my RV the spark plugs kept blowing out! It was my understanding that Ford didn't have enough threads to hold the spark plugs in. So I bought a Workhorse new in 2004 with a big block Chevy 496 CI 8.1 Vortex and never had any engine troubles in 12 years and still going. Workhorse does get a bad rap because of Bosch suppling them with bad calipers! Outside of the Bosch recall, I only had 2 Workhorse Chassis problems fuel filter clip and dash cluster recall which were both recall issues. My Chevy engine way out preformed the V-10 that I owned. And I'm not saying Chevy is better than Ford I don't want to go down that road! I'm judging Ford on my personal experience with RV engines! The bottom line is this, It's nice for consumers to have choices.

[J-Rooster]

-Gramps- wrote:
I think it will be up to someone else to compete with Ford, no sense holding our breath waiting for Workhorse.

I agree Gramps! Workhorse is catering to UPS & Fed Ex because, IMHO, Workhorse has no competition and UPS and Fed Ex are desperately trying to reduce fuel costs and emissions. It's my understanding these new trucks run off a battery and when the battery gets low the genset kicks on and recharges the batteries.

[timmac]

Well than Ford will just rule the gas motorhome world for a while..

At least the newer F-53's 2006 and newer have no recall issues unlike the Workhorse had till the day they shut down.

Fords Rule..