Will this rig get me thru the western mountains

[grampyjd]

Will I have enough power to travel in the western US?
My wife and I are thinking of buying a 2017 Georgetown, motor home, model 364TS by Forest River. This unit is 36 ft long and the GVWR is 22,00 lbs and the GCWR is 26,000 lbs. It has a Ford V10, 329 hp engine with a six speed transmission. We will be towing a 4,500 lb toad so I think all of our weights are in line with specifications. Has anyone had problems in the mountains with this size motor home, with the Ford V10, 329 hp engine and six speed transmission? What kind of actual mpg can I expect? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Grampy JD

[rgatijnet1]

6000 rpm's with a Ford V-10 is well past the max HP and max torque ranges.

[Hudsoner]

JumboJet wrote:

Hudsoner wrote:

old guy wrote:
I have a friends who had a gas MH and he had a heck of a time getting over the rockies. he had to disconnect the tow-able and have his wife drive it over. he got a diesel and never looked back

Your friends probably should have done some maintenance to their engine (new spark plugs help one in a while, so does a clean air filter). I am just back form a long trip through the Rockies and Cascade Mountains, and I never had any problem to get up and over them. In fact I mostly outran the diesel pushers and trucks. My gas mileage was around 8.5 mpg

I owned a 2000 Hurricane 29D. I don't remember passing any DPs (never drove in the Rockies with it), but I do remember the 6,000RPM screaming V-10 climbing the hills in the Ozarks. I never towed with it either.

I completed a 4,600 mile trip through the Rockies and Cascades in June in my DP and was passed by a few 400-500 HP DPs. Don't remember any V-10s passing me on the hills though. A few got me going downhill! 🙂 🙂 🙂

There you go, your engine was older than mine, and I bet you did not have a 5 Star tuning done to it, and I also bet that your son (if you have one) is a master mechanic with Ford, who keeps my engine in its top performance condition (and now he is thinking about to turbo charge it)

[JumboJet]

Hudsoner wrote:

old guy wrote:
I have a friends who had a gas MH and he had a heck of a time getting over the rockies. he had to disconnect the tow-able and have his wife drive it over. he got a diesel and never looked back

Your friends probably should have done some maintenance to their engine (new spark plugs help one in a while, so does a clean air filter). I am just back form a long trip through the Rockies and Cascade Mountains, and I never had any problem to get up and over them. In fact I mostly outran the diesel pushers and trucks. My gas mileage was around 8.5 mpg

I owned a 2000 Hurricane 29D. I don't remember passing any DPs (never drove in the Rockies with it), but I do remember the 6,000RPM screaming V-10 climbing the hills in the Ozarks. I never towed with it either.

I completed a 4,600 mile trip through the Rockies and Cascades in June in my DP and was passed by a few 400-500 HP DPs. Don't remember any V-10s passing me on the hills though. A few got me going downhill! 🙂 🙂 🙂

[Hudsoner]

old guy wrote:
I have a friends who had a gas MH and he had a heck of a time getting over the rockies. he had to disconnect the tow-able and have his wife drive it over. he got a diesel and never looked back

Your friends probably should have done some maintenance to their engine (new spark plugs help one in a while, so does a clean air filter). I am just back form a long trip through the Rockies and Cascade Mountains, and I never had any problem to get up and over them. In fact I mostly outran the diesel pushers and trucks. My gas mileage was around 8.5 mpg

[Busskipper]

grampyjd wrote:
Will I have enough power to travel in the western US?
My wife and I are thinking of buying a 2017 Georgetown, motor home, model 364TS by Forest River. This unit is 36 ft long and the GVWR is 22,00 lbs and the GCWR is 26,000 lbs. It has a Ford V10, 329 hp engine with a six speed transmission. We will be towing a 4,500 lb toad so I think all of our weights are in line with specifications. Has anyone had problems in the mountains with this size motor home, with the Ford V10, 329 hp engine and six speed transmission? What kind of actual mpg can I expect? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Grampy JD

Yes it will handle the Mountains, might not go up like a sports car but it will handle it. You will get something on both sides of 7 MPG's, depending on speed - grade - wind - and driving methods.

Enjoy the Coach it will be Great,

[AllegroD]

DrewE wrote:

AllegroD wrote:
I got 12 MPG once,going down hill. I could have gotten better but did not want to turn off the engine.

With modern gas engines with electronic fuel injection, you don't save gas by shutting the engine off when engine braking. They are programmed to cut off the gas supply when the throttle is closed and the engine speed is above idle. It's an easy way for them to gain a bit better mileage (which sells) with no downside, so it's as close to a univrrsal feature as you'll find.

Was supposed to be a joke.

[sdbounderdiesel]

As others have suggested, I think you will be fine with the V-10. To help you plan your routes and help avoid issues, consider getting yourself a copy of Mountain Directory West (www.mountaindirectory.com) which lists (and describes in detail) all the significant grades on commonly traveled roads and highways in the Western U.S. Last year, I used the directory to help plan out a Southern California to Pacific Northwest trip (pulling an enclosed car trailer behind MH). Great trip with no surprises. The publishers also make a similar directory for the Eastern states. Safe travels!

[Gjac]

grampyjd wrote:
Thanks again, everybody, for the great replies and information. I will definitely watch out for the peak----. I bought a Holiday Rambler Vacationer in 2002 which was a very comfortable coach, however, with its 8.1 350 hp engine, the semis were passing me in the slow lane. I had to spend $3,000.00 for a Banks system which made a big difference. I don't want to be buying add-ons again.

Grampy JD

Perforeance with a MH is very subjective I would have agreed with the other posters until your last post. If you had the 8.1 eng with the complete Banks system that would bring your HP rating to about 390 HP. You did not post the size or weight of your HR but if it was a similar size and weight I would think it would perform slightly better than your new Ford with 329 HP. Rear end gearing and transmission gearing also come into the equation. Your older workhorse probably had 5speeds were the newer Ford has 6 but I would say it is hard to beet 60 more HP.

[mabynack]

I drove a 238 HP Semi throughout the Rocky Mountains in the 70s. I frequently hauled loads of 30,000-40,000 lbs. I was able to do it - I just couldn't do it quickly. Some mountain roads had me down to walking speed.

[hipower]

grampyjd wrote:
Thanks again, everybody, for the great replies and information. I will definitely watch out for the peak----. I bought a Holiday Rambler Vacationer in 2002 which was a very comfortable coach, however, with its 8.1 350 hp engine, the semis were passing me in the slow lane. I had to spend $3,000.00 for a Banks system which made a big difference. I don't want to be buying add-ons again.

Grampy JD

Grampy JD, to answer your original post first, yes this rig will handle any highway in North America. Interstate or secondary, as far as climbing hills and navigating curves.

Performance expectations vary greatly between owners and expectations of handling like a sports car or acceleration like a drag racer are unrealistic. Judging motorhome climbing hills against today's OTR trucks is foolish at best. We can;t tell if that truck passing us is loaded or empty, or something in between. Many of them are running 500+ hp engines with torque curves that are beyond belief when it comes to maintaining speed while climbing. On our interstate it isn't uncommon to find trucks fully loaded climbing grades that would have slowed them to flasher speed not long ago and today they are barely below the speed limit. Any naturally aspirated engine, gas or diesel, will lose performance in higher altitudes and there is nothing to be done about thin air, so performance declines should be expected when climbing real mountains in the west.

Bottom line, the coach you describe will do everything it is needed to do. The question becomes will it do it in a manner you find acceptable?

[frankdamp]

Do a downshift with the transmission control lever at the top of the hill while at low speed, and the engine's higher RPM with your foot off the gas on the way down will give the brakes enough help to keep them cooler.

There was a fatal accident in Port Angeles a few years ago when an RV descending from Hurricane Ridge got its brakes very hot and reached over 60 mph as it came into town. It ran off the road and rolled over in the backyard of a home close to downtown, after running through several stop sign intersections. The driver was killed and his passenger injured, but no other vehicles were involved

[DrewE]

AllegroD wrote:
I got 12 MPG once,going down hill. I could have gotten better but did not want to turn off the engine.

With modern gas engines with electronic fuel injection, you don't save gas by shutting the engine off when engine braking. They are programmed to cut off the gas supply when the throttle is closed and the engine speed is above idle. It's an easy way for them to gain a bit better mileage (which sells) with no downside, so it's as close to a univrrsal feature as you'll find.

[grampyjd]

Thanks again, everybody, for the great replies and information. I will definitely watch out for the peak----. I bought a Holiday Rambler Vacationer in 2002 which was a very comfortable coach, however, with its 8.1 350 hp engine, the semis were passing me in the slow lane. I had to spend $3,000.00 for a Banks system which made a big difference. I don't want to be buying add-ons again.

Grampy JD

[old_guy]

I have a friends who had a gas MH and he had a heck of a time getting over the rockies. he had to disconnect the tow-able and have his wife drive it over. he got a diesel and never looked back

[AllegroD]

sorry. dupe!