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Hello IT - looking for some feedback. Buying a 2001 Four Winns Majestic Class C motorhome with the Ford E450 chassis and Triton V10 motor. Queen bed, no slides, dinette - everything is working.
100K miles for $8k - fairly mint condition with new tires, brakes, ball joints, tie rods.
Looks like a sweet deal - anybody have any experience with these rigs or similar? I'll be towing 4500-5000 lbs open trailer with ITR 968.
Any items to worry about?
Cheers,
Ben
First, contact the mfg. and get the towing limits, especially the tongue weight limit!! Class Cs are notorious for not having enough support aft of the rear axle to support the tongue weight. Also...load equalizing hitch....ONLY>
Ben..I may be wrong but it looks like a 2001 Four Winns Class C only has a 3500lb hitch. They upgraded the new ones after 2004 a bit. Just info I found when I googled it. Might be a stretch for your trailer/Porsche.
I'm not sure which transmission the '01 E450 uses, but on the 350s the later transmissions are a big improvement. Same for the V10 - the pre-03 motors tend to have the plugs that seize in the heads. IIRC, '06 and up have the extended reach plugs that just break in half. If the buyer can't prove that the plugs have been changed, prepare for the worst. They should have a 100K service interval. I think Ford gets around nine hours labor in the E series to change the plugs, they are that much of a nightmare to do.
Disclaimer - I tow a 28 enclosed with a '04 V10 E350.
The transmissions in the E450 got better in 04 or 05, and there are some vedors that offer programmers that improve shift patterns and lock up logic, such as 5 Star.
The tow rating from the RV mfr will be low, based on the receiver being attached to the lightweight extended frame that supports the house behind the Ford chassis. This is one of the reasons that I specifically looked for a Class C that had a smaller frame extension, and a longer wheel base - so there was less light duty frame to reinforce, and less lever arm for the trailer to push on the rear axle (vertically or side to side)
Dig up the GCVW data for that E450 cab and chassis to get an idea of what you could tow IF you set up a properly reinforced hitch. My 05 shows a 21,450 or 22,450 GCVW, while the RV company equipped it with a 3500 hitch. We reinforced the rear and towed a 26' enclosed over the rockies and back last summer no problem. Probably was about a 6000-7000 load on the return trip.
The plug issue in the V10 was corrected earlier than 03 - I think. But double check that to be sure.
There are some good threads on the subject over on the Brown Board as well.
Chris might be right on the first plug issue - it might be that '02 might be the cutoff. I just remember '03-'04 being the sweet spot for the issue when I was searching for mine in '05. This is for the problem that results in the plugs taking the threads out of the heads and needing the helicoil kit to reinstall. The reach issue is a separate problem entirely. http://www.ford-trucks.com/ was a good resource for such things.
You will have to reinforce the frame extension. Mine (E450, but not a Four Winns) is going into the shop for that next month. Previous owner towed motorcycles and broke both the factory 3500# hitch and the frame extension.
Thanks guys - I reinforced the frame on my last class A so based on your feedback I will visit the shop and get a fully reinforced frame and class of receiver - I will ask for a 7500 rating setup.
Ive also got a nice weight leveling hitch. Always used it - was some debate on using a equalizing hitch on class A but I was always glad to have it.
Hope for no plug spittage.....
Thanks!
7500# is marginal...go with the 10k.
Sounds like it might already be setup for a10k rating-shipper picks it up next week :-)