TV Advice for new Classic 30!

[Daquenzer]

Originally Posted by rgg123

A “test” is very different than my experiencing it firsthand. I know what I experienced and am convinced that an F250 gasser is not up to the mountains task. Safe and comfortable is very different than possible

Really. Why?

[Daquenzer]

Here is a good objective analysis without the bluster

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pdGmDC6U5oQ

[Andrew T]

One of our customers just traded in their 1992 34’. They have been full time traveling for 22 years. Several trips to Mexico, one to Central America, Alaska etc etc. Their Airstream has 270,000 miles on the the trailer. They have always towed with a half ton Suburban. I mention this just to point out that if you prefer the Expedition as a vehicle there is no reason not to use it with a 30 Classic.

Maybe 5% of the Airstreams on the road have their hitches setup properly, but that is likely generous. If you’re hooked wrong a 3/4 ton truck will feel better than a 1/2 ton or Expedition. In reality it is no more stable if pushed to its limits, it’s really a false sense of security. Connected properly the Expedition has shorter stopping distance. It is dramatically better at accident avoidance. This is due to front and rear independent suspension, lower centre of gravity and more precise steering. It also doesn’t beat the heck out of your Airstream. If you like send me an email and I can send you information on how to dial in an Expedition so it works very well. If you don’t need the cargo space in the Expedition there are even better handling SUV’s available. I hope this helps. Andy

[Daquenzer]

Originally Posted by Andrew T

One of our customers just traded in their 1992 34’. They have been full time traveling for 22 years. Several trips to Mexico, one to Central America, Alaska etc etc. Their Airstream has 270,000 miles on the the trailer. They have always towed with a half ton Suburban. I mention this just to point out that if you prefer the Expedition as a vehicle there is no reason not to use it with a 30 Classic.

Maybe 5% of the Airstreams on the road have their hitches setup properly, but that is likely generous. If you’re hooked wrong a 3/4 ton truck will feel better than a 1/2 ton or Expedition. In reality it is no more stable if pushed to its limits, it’s really a false sense of security. Connected properly the Expedition has shorter stopping distance. It is dramatically better at accident avoidance. This is due to front and rear independent suspension, lower centre of gravity and more precise steering. It also doesn’t beat the heck out of your Airstream. If you like send me an email and I can send you information on how to dial in an Expedition so it works very well. If you don’t need the cargo space in the Expedition there are even better handling SUV’s available. I hope this helps. Andy

Thank you Andy for your post. I actually have thought about the expedition for next towing vehicle. I have F150. My wife like to sleep in back seat and truck drives a bit too rough.

[Silvertwinkie]

It really depends on your use. If you plan on going in the mountains, a gasser with 4.10s would be fine and is what I have. Having just hauled a fully loaded 25er through East Yellowstone and the big horn mountains on rt 16 (which is suppose to be the mild mountain route- LOL!), 8-10% grades for miles on end with a gasser with 4.10s, it was no picnic, but the truck performed very well. It operated well into the 3000 rpm range to do it, sometimes as high as 4000.



If I were doing this regularly, I would get a diesel. As has been pointed out, in terms of power, both engines will achieve the numbers, the diesel however, reaches those numbers in the lower RPM band. A 30', fully loaded, is nearly 2 tons heavier than my 25er. That's not peanuts. It's also a pretty well known fact that diesels get at least 3-5 more MPG than their gasser counterparts. Doesn't sound like much until you amortize it by a full tank or a trip. It can literally add hundreds of miles per long trip or between 100-200 per tankful (lot of variables). Given these variables, ask yourself a question....how many commercial trucks that you see on the interstate run gas? Not a lot. It's the low end grunt and the better fuel econ IMHO why diesel is the engine of choice for truckers. You can easily plug that into an RVer hauling roughly 19,000lbs of truck and RV, particularly if you are going to use the rig and really go on some long haul trips and see the country.


If you are going to stick to weekend warrior type stuff a week here or there quasi locally, flatland mostly and not go very far from home, then stick with the gasser, it costs less upfront as you will find very little benefit to having a diesel in this scenario as the upcharge to go to a diesel will never fully be realized and you can buy a heck of a lot of gas for the diesel upgrade. Also keep in mind diesels can have fairly costly oil changes as they take a bit more oil capacity than their gasser counterparts which should also be taken into consideration as you figure out how you will use the rig.



Bed, cabin configuration is all a personal choice based on need. What has been pointed out here about a few of the configs is valid, so if you are a current econobox driver, a long large truck will take some getting use to.



One thing I would wholeheartedly suggest you look at, regardless of you get a 250 or 350 (but far more important if you get a 350) is a air hitch and centramatics. You can read about these here. Makes the ride very soft for the Airstream which is always a plus. 350s or 3500s are notorious for having a fairly stiff ride. One delta is that the air safe hitch does push out the connection a bit further from the axle, but then again, your not drag racing when you are towing.


http://www.airsafehitches.com/receiver-hitch/


http://www.centramatic.com/

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by rgg123

Bob: with all due respect you won’t be going 60 mph up an 8% grade with a gasser F250 pulling a 30 ft Classic. Been there done that. 30 mph maybe and the engine will be roaring with all it’s got. And you will get white knuckles on the way down the backside of the mountain. Enjoy your ride as best you can because I didn’t - and thus upgraded to a diesel. Now, maybe it will work with less cargo and a shorter trailer - but not anything equal to or greater than a 30 foot AS.

Hi

Well, all I can say is that I've done it on a *lot* of occasions. This is with a modern aluminum body F250. We certainly do not travel light. There's nothing really weird about the options on the truck other than the towing stuff and high payload springs.

How do I know it's an 8% grade (or more)? Well, the signs by the side of the road tell me that's what I'm on. The nifty tow mode screen on the truck confirms the grade when I'm on it. The GPS also (for who knows what reason) pops up with a grade readout as well.

Bob

[Daquenzer]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi



Well, all I can say is that I've done it on a *lot* of occasions. This is with a modern aluminum body F250. We certainly do not travel light. There's nothing really weird about the options on the truck other than the towing stuff and high payload springs.



How do I know it's an 8% grade (or more)? Well, the signs by the side of the road tell me that's what I'm on. The nifty tow mode screen on the truck confirms the grade when I'm on it. The GPS also (for who knows what reason) pops up with a grade readout as well.



Bob

Thanks Bob. Absolutely nothing wrong with F250 gas. Great towing vehicle.

[sbowman]

Originally Posted by forssd

looking at 2019 F250 for TV for new classic, what would be the best bed length with the super duty crew cab? Is the heavy duty front end needed? We had been looking at a new 2019 Ford Expedition for the job, but after viewing some comments and advice on this site, it doesn't look workable. Any comments?

In the past, a long bed will typically ride better from our experience. HD works best for us.



Best regards and safe travels.......

[Andrew T]

Originally Posted by Daquenzer

Thank you Andy for your post. I actually have thought about the expedition for next towing vehicle. I have F150. My wife like to sleep in back seat and truck drives a bit too rough.

What she is feeling in the back seat is a combination of the unsprung weight of the rear axle and the flex in the chassis. Most of the chassis flex happens at the back edge of the cab.

The Expedition has a rigid body so the chassis flex is eliminated and the independent suspension has much less unsprung weight. The ride is much smoother even though the springs are actually a little stiffer.

The handling improves because the suspension stance is 67” wide instead of 42” wide. Maneuverability is much better as well, especially with the short model. The short and extended Expeditions handle almost identical so it is just how much room you need.

Andy

[Thiss]

Trailer weights for diesels 22,800lb with the Ford having the lowest MPG at 2.6mpg.

Trailer weights for gas truck 11,400lb.

So twice the weight and the same MPG.

All the diesels got perfect scores on downhill with their exhaust brakes.

Diesel is a superior fuel and diesels are superior engines to gas. Now if someone doesn’t want to pay for the Diesel engine (like me when I buy my next Grand Cherokee) or their preferred platform doesn’t offer a Diesel engine (OP who wants an Expedition) those are credible arguments.

[Countryboy59]

Originally Posted by Thiss

Trailer weights for diesels 22,800lb with the Ford having the lowest MPG at 2.6mpg.

Trailer weights for gas truck 11,400lb.

So twice the weight and the same MPG.

All the diesels got perfect scores on downhill with their exhaust brakes.

Diesel is a superior fuel and diesels are superior engines to gas. Now if someone doesn’t want to pay for the Diesel engine (like me when I buy my next Grand Cherokee) or their preferred platform doesn’t offer a Diesel engine (OP who wants an Expedition) those are credible arguments.

Actually when you compare roughly similar trucks the 6.2 Ford F350 I just traded in was 14,500. I got a Ram 2500 6.7 CTD to replace it. It’s a 2500 with towing capacity of 12,500 if I’m reading the specs correctly. (I know, a 2500 is not exactly like a 3500; I’m talking relative power). The Ram has 36000 miles on it and, while twice the cost of a used gas truck I went for it. Got the 34 gallon tank so should improve on the Ford’s need to gas up every 200 miles when towing.

Got a surprising amount for the Ford, above book value but it’s still amazingly like new even with over 100,000 miles. Someone will get a nice tow vehicle for under $30k.

I passed on a couple real nice low mileage Superduty trucks on advice of the family diesel guy. The newer ones are 450+ horsepower ( vs 385 for the Cummins) and very impressive but he showed me some common failure modes and cost to repair, and also the cab off scenario, and I said no thanks. He recommended the Cummins but said to take meticulous care of it which I will. Maintenance on this ain’t gonna be cheap. He said even with 36,000 miles we need to check for loose suspension components which we will do next week.

Only thing I noticed right away is the CTD truck does everything at a much lower rpm. Of course redline is much lower too. And I’m sure the cylinder pressure is much higher. It has the exhaust brake which will be interesting to try. Roughly the same horsepower as the gas Ford which had no problems in the mountains I’ve been on so guessing the Ram will handle them OK too. This truck is only for towing the Airstream but I won’t be able to resist commuting in it once in awhile.

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by Thiss

Trailer weights for diesels 22,800lb with the Ford having the lowest MPG at 2.6mpg.

Trailer weights for gas truck 11,400lb.

So twice the weight and the same MPG.

All the diesels got perfect scores on downhill with their exhaust brakes.

Diesel is a superior fuel and diesels are superior engines to gas. Now if someone doesn’t want to pay for the Diesel engine (like me when I buy my next Grand Cherokee) or their preferred platform doesn’t offer a Diesel engine (OP who wants an Expedition) those are credible arguments.

Hi

So if gas at the pump is $2.54 and Diesel is $3.85, I'm saving a lot of money with the better mileage on the diesel right?

Bob

[sbowman]

A little humor from my observation, OP asked 2 questions, bed length and HD. Here we go again Gas vs. Diesel argument, go figure............


Best regards and safe travels............

[Stormiscomin]

The new Expedition is very capable as are many TV's. We tow our 1992 34ft with a 2008 Tundra SR5 Double cab 4x4 rated for 10,800 capacity ,with a airsafe hitch
With a fast-way 10,000 lbs -1,000 tongue weight trunion bars weight distrubtion system. And just love the way it goes down the road

[Overstreet]

Long beds are harder to park .

[loft47]

We have diesel F250 4x4 pulling 30’ Classic with a slide out. Standard bed, love it. Has all the power you will ever need and the diesel helps with long down hill braking.

[Presitla99]

I have a new Classic 30 that I pull with an F. 250 Super Duty diesel. Equalizer hitch. Tows beautifully. The short bed is perfectly fine

[Overstreet]

Just remember the bigger and longer the truck the harder it is to park at non-rv parking spots. Like when you go sight seeing.

[tjdonahoe]

Our 2500 ram with rear coil springs...short box, crew cab and 6.7... has pulled our 13 31’ Classic 27,000 miles in the past 2 years. Good ride and good fuel mileage

[tjdonahoe]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

So if gas at the pump is $2.54 and Diesel is $3.85, I'm saving a lot of money with the better mileage on the diesel right?

Bob

It isn’t that way..we just went to Nova Scotia and and down the East Coast...most fuel in the US was around 3.25... one fill was 2.99....