I have never had any luck with a gas motorhome, but have heard good things about the v10. If you do what kind of trailer do you pull??
Probably gonna buy a pusher diesel, but found a good deal on a v10.

Hey Jim,
I picked up a 2001 Winnebago a few years ago with a V10. I tow a 28 foor trailer with roadster, junior dragster, golf car, tools and parts. It does fine here in Mich, I can run 65 easy. I would guess it would be down on power for the hills in your area.
Bob

 

I have no doubt a V10 would handle all that, but what is your fuel economy?

 

diesel pusher...only way to go!!

 

in tennesse ?? with those hills your gonna have a lot of people behind you on your way to bristol... but hey you'll save some money ..

 

Is it an A or C class, and how big?? The V-10's that I have had experience with got horrible mileage when towing any real weight, but I guess that is typical to most gas motor homes.. I towed with an E350 van w/ a V-10 from Florida to Norwalk Oh., in 07, we towed a 28ft. w/ very little in it, that bitch almost killed me on fuel, along with it almost stalling going over the little mountains we went over, I mean with the peddle to the floor we got over the top at about 40mph if we were lucky, it was bad! The motor homes tend to have a little better gearing, so they tow a little better, from my experience.

The diesel motor homes are priced outta site compared to a gas, I am considering getting an older gas motor home w/ a BB Chevy in it, and doing a 6.5 diesel conversion, those engines can be got for nothing, and they drop right in place of the big block. It might be a little work, but well worth it, especially if you pick one up with a shit motor in it.

 

Wanna talk about gutless, a 6.5? Ive never had any luck with those either. Hell, for the cost of a swap to 6.5 and giving it some power to compete, id rebuild a 454 all day long and suck it up at the pump.

 

I have a 2001 31ft class A w/v-10 and pull a classic 28 ft trailer with a full size musclecar or Funny car and all the support equipment. Pulls as good or better than my Chevy Dually did, stops much better, avg between 8-10 mpg so im happy.

 

I pull a 24 ft with car and 4-wheeler @ 80 mph but the gas mileage sucks....dont usually go too far though

 

The 6.5 is a good engine, if you get the 93 model with mech pump, you can up the boost and add an intercooler and they do very well.

 

I have a 2000 coachman mirada 28QB and tow a 28' trailer. My car weighs around 2990 w/o driver and ballest. I carry a small quad, 10 x 20 ez up, spare trans, 3 spare converters, 2 center sections, small air compressor, 5-gallon air tank, 300' of electric cord, 15-gallons of race gas, spare tire, 36" fan, 2 small tables, jack, 4 jack stands, 15-gallons of water, 10-gallon cooler, snap-on tool box on top of l-shaped bench, spare fuel pumps, gaskets, spare valve train parts and electronics, 20 qts of trans fluid, 5-gallons of oil blah blah blah. I tow at 67mph on cruise and get exactly 6.6 mpg with a k&n air cleaner. It tows better then my 2000 gmc crew cab dually (gas 454) did. Takes hills better and that got around 7.5 @ 70 mph.

 

I have a 2005 coachmen 30' class A with the ford V-10. I pull a 28' trailer thats 10,000 lbs loaded. I had a custom hitch made from DRC . http://www.drcraceproducts.com/motorhome.html

It tows fine. I do around 65 mph with no issues. So far it does 6.5 to 7 mpg towing. We pull allot of hills in NE PA.

 

Do you have a pic of the custom hitch?

 

Our 2005 Damon Daybreak Class A w/V-10 is 34 feet long and we pull our 28 foot cargo mate all over the Country with it. Get about 8 mpg running 65-70. No problem with power, and it pulls and gets way better milage than our old 95 with a 454.

 

I have a 99 34' Fleetwood bounder with a Triton v10. they have have good power and i get about 6.5mpg towing a heavy 30' foot trailer at 55mph. without the trailer i get about 9mpg

I would be more worried about how crappy the frames are on the RV's. Ive spent a lot of money getting mine reinforced and I'm still having issues. I finally spent the 3400 on a trailer toad. Ive only had one shore trip with it and so far its nice and makes a difference but its a pain to back up.

But once you get an RV you wont want anything else at the racetrack!

 

I have towed a 28 foot trailer loaded with my 2001 V-10 Coachman Mirada 31. The ride was much better with all that weight than unloaded. It towed fine and the gas milage was about 7-8 MPG @ 65 MPH. I have Gibson headers, exhaust and KN.

 

you can find a c class with a 7.3 they cost a lttle more but you save at the gas pump

 

Subscribed. We have a 32' Class C with a Ford V10 and have been wondering how it would do towing. Trailer is a 24' box with a 7000GVW. The V10 feels gutless compared to my Cummins Ram, but it would be nice to just hook the motorhome up and go instead of having one driver tow and another driver the motorhome.

 

I don't think a class C has enough frame. I wanted a GM but went with Ford because of the frame. A local guy, Jerry Lozon added metel to the frame and built the hitch..

 

I have a 31' Class C with a 32' triple axle trailer(not aluminum) and tow with the v10. I do not have any complaints. I do also have a trailer toad that I have had for a few years. One person said that it was a pain to back up. I do not agree with that, but am used to it. You just have to lock the toad so that the axle on it does not pivot, then it is just like backing up as normal. I might add that I also have an Ezgo cart(1100lbs) plus a 3200lb door car, plus other esentials. Not light by any means.Good luck on your decision.

 

Jim, I have a 32' class A with the 8.1 Vortech on a workhorse HD chassis. I pull a loaded 22' trailer and can see as much as 10mpg running between 65-70. I tried several before I purchased this (V10 and the Vortech), the vortech and workhorse chassis was a little bit more $$ but has plenty of power and a very stable chassis especially when pulling a load.

 

This guy is awesome with custom tuning on any vehicle with a v10. He is very resonably priced& his service is great. www.5startuning.com His name is Mike Butler.

 

Man I'm looking to do the same thing . I have been looking around you can buy a nice 90 to 96 v10 motor homes for under 10,000 . I found a couple very nice 95,96 's with under 50,000 miles for 8-9000 dollars .

 

I test drove an excursion with a V10 and it had shitty power and loved regular unleaded.

 

Remember there are 2 V-10 Ford engines. There is the older 2V motor with 310hp and 425ft/lbs and the newer 3V with 362hp and 457ft/lbs.

 

Keep in mind a deisel pusher dont get much more than 9mi a gal if your lucky.

 

I have a 2000 Southwind 36 footer and i tow a 24 foot enclosed, trailer loaded is about 9,000 lbs. Power is not really a problem. I was told that the motor home V-10 has a different tune and has a good amount more power then a V-10 in a pickup or excursion.

 

I love my set up I get 9 miles to the gallon loaded and hauling the trailer 11,600ilbs if I keep it at 68 mph or slower.....It normally sits level it's kinda in a hole right there..2000 34ft 30 ft trailer

 

36ft Damon pulling about an 8000lb trailer. Tows great and will pull hills with the company trucks as long as you're not afraid of the right hand side of the tach.

Oh and a trailor toad(or similar) is not an option, tows a 1000x better with it. not so much the sway, its the dips that get ya.

 

I have a 38 ft pusher and bought it just for the towing capacity. Its great and gets 10mpg.