ford vs. chevy

[sentinel555]

I am retiring and going full time for a couple of years or so. I am looking at class c's in the 30 ft range. I am a chevy person -alwaws driven them and for the last few years have had tahoes with the vortec engine. I know some of the class c's have the 454 and a LOT of them have the ford triton which is maybe a 460 or so. I will be towing a saab 9-5 wagon and doing extended stays at assorted parks so not a ton of driving/towing time. certainly not daily driving. any opinions out there on the better power plant of the two? and any preferences on rv models? my budget, based on what I am seeing advertised is plenty for a fairly new low mileage model. I don't buy new because I live now in a state with excise tax and lots of it.besides I think new is overrated when there are a lot of kindly used vehicles out there to be had. looking forward to seeing what kind of opinions there are out there
thanks in advance
quoddy

 

[Grandview Trailer Sa]

Re: ford vs. chevy

You really opened up a can of worms on your first post, but WELCOME!!!

My vote is for GM

 

[utmtman]

Re: ford vs. chevy

GM as well and I at one time was a full blown dont dare look at anything else or god forbid even mention any other brand of vehicle around me ford man.

 

[C Nash]

Re: ford vs. chevy

Gay, Welcome to the forum. I have also always been a Chevy person but when I was searching for a low milage class A I said I would not let the make be a deciding factor. You might know I found a used 2002 HR with 1600k that we really liked but had the ford V10. I bought it anyway and it has never given any problems. I would not have bought the earlier V10s. Think you will find that all the newer models will have the 8.1 chevy or V10 fords. Either will be fine IMO. Just be sure and check the weight limit on a class C. I don't know the weight of the Saab.

 

[H2H1]

Re: ford vs. chevy

Well here we go again, Ford, GM, or Dodge let just say it's a personal thing. Some say FORD means " FOUND ON ROAD DEAD" or "FIRST ON RACE DAY" or even "FIX AND REPAIR DAILY". GM well short and sweet "GOD MADE" and then there the DODGE, THE WORD IS TELLING YOU WHAT TO DO!!!!!!. But that is just having fun. I am a GM man and never had a Ford product until a few years ago when I got me Lincoln Continental, nice but had problems with it , got rid of it and got me a Toyota truck. why A TOYOTA my brother told me I couldn't afford a good truck, proved him wrong. Dang I miss my 03 2500 HD Chevy, Now this was a truck. we used it to pull the TT. BUT now we have a Class A with a Chevy 8.1 gas hog. gotta love a Chevy. With all this other BS, I suggest you get something you will be happy with and to enjoy it fully.

 

[rjf7g]

Re: ford vs. chevy

I have owned Chevy, Ford, and Dodge trucks. They have all been good. My class C is on a Ford chassis. I have no preference, really, as other things like floor plan, towing capacity, and RV brand will play a more important role for my next purchase.

 

[utmtman]

Re: ford vs. chevy

After all I have learned about motor homes since getting into this newer one, its not the engine as much as the frame. Every tells me workhorse is the only frame to have. And workhorse only comes with diesels and the 8.1 ltr gm. So until I see anything to the contrary about these frames and quality and such I will aways recommend the workhorse/GM. A ps to my earlier post when it came to cars I was a full blood ford person when it came to trucks I used to buy nothing but dodge and had several of them over the years. So I guess I phrased that post wrong.

 

[H2H1]

Re: ford vs. chevy

Hey Lee it's ok to be honest we know you are a chevy man JK,,,,. BTW where are you and the wife spending Christmas? I may be back your way in the spring. TAKE CARE

 

[miket]

RE: ford vs. chevy

Workhorse has partnered with Chevy on the class C's -- they use the 6.0L V8 or the DuraMax and use the 4L80-E Hydra-matic in gas, and the 4L85-E with DuraMax.

The W16 & W18 do not use the Allison, while the W20 and up do.

 

[Bozak]

RE: ford vs. chevy

If you can find a Class C with a Diesel, I would recommend it, although there are not many around. Other than that, there is no substitute for cubic inches- be sure you don't get a Class C with a small engine.

 

[Kirk]

Re: ford vs. chevy

While I have always tended toward Ford, and even more away from GM products (have owned several Chrysler products), I have also owned one motorhome that was on the old GM, P-30 chassis. In general, both do a pretty good job and have a good track record. At the moment we live fulltime in a class A that rides on a Ford, with the Triton V-10 and have had great service from it for the past ten years.

As to the class C market, there are far more RV manufacturers building on the Ford than on the old GM or the newer Workhorse(company that bought the GM RV chassis division). There are any number of reasons, but if you prefer one from GM, why not. The fact is that both have done a pretty darned good job and both have also had a few problems from time to time. I suspect that you will likely be happiest with the one that you have the most faith in, since you have a strong preference.

I have no idea where statements such as "Every tells me workhorse is the only frame to have." come from. We have only been RV owners for 35 years and only ten of that as fulltime so may not have enough background to have heard that one, but it sure don't fit with our experience. I suggest that either one will serve and you will probably be happy with the GM, but if it isn't critical, then I would go with what gives you most for the price that you have to pay. The fact is that there really isn't a clear case of one better than the other.

 

[Gallopinggopher]

Re: ford vs. chevy

Currently have a new Forest River "GEORGETOWN" powered by the new 360 hp(3 valve) Ford V10. This engine has the "long shank" spark plugs. I've owned both the Chevy workhorse & vortec, one with the Banks Power Pack and one without.
Both were Class A's. I've also owned the old model Ford 460 and an early (05') 300hp Ford V10.
Both Chevy's had plenty of power. However the workhorse did not have the torque of the vortec when it came to mountain climbing with a dinghy in tow. Both were fuel hogs.

The Chevy w/powerpact had no problems breathing when in the mountains. The one w/o, choked. When climbing a grade with it, you had better plan on staying in the truck lane and forget about passing anyone. The Ford V10 had plenty of power and torque BUUUUTTTTTT........., it had one MAJOR problem, it liked to SPIT spark plugs. I did not know this was a big problem with the early v10 when I bought it. It had aluminum heads with the "short shank" spark plugs. When one of them blew out it was a major repair job. Ford will not cover this problem under warranty, because they believe it's a maintenance issue. I talked, threatened, cussed, wrote letters, kicked tires and even went the Ford Dealers had a spark plug repair kit. What a piece of junk........ 2000 miles down the road, WHAM!!!!! Newly installed plug (by ford dealer) came flying out, nearly through the right fender. Sooooooooooooo I tried their new and improved plug repair kit. After an all'niter under the hood, I had replaced, tightened and torqued to specs (theirs of course). Didn't last. Finally cost me $1200 for a new head to be installed. Sold that sucker 3 days later.

In 07' Ford redesigned the v10 with new heads and a little more HP. They are now building the v10 (both for Class A & Class C) with the "long shank" spark plug. For Class A's, the v10 is equipped with the 3 valve per cylinder heads. Man, what a difference. Put a Banks power system on it and it will pull the world around. p.s., a little better fuel mileage too, 20%+ if not overloaded.

Any how, both the chevy & ford have great engines, especially 07's to 010's. Stay away from 06' and earlier models.

Mac and Red
09' Georgetown 35', 2 slides, 08' Toyota Highlander Limited
Our "girls", Maggi, Molli and Quinn (soft coated wheaten terriers)