They order either a complete truck chassis that includes the engine and drive train, steering and suspension to build a class A, (the big long ones) or a complete cab & chassis for the Class C and B. The class B could be ordered as a complete extended van, I'm not sure about that one.
Nope, that Class B was a heavily custom motorhome. It's door tag said "B30" which was the 'model' for an incomplete "B300", which is what Dodge was calling the 1 ton vans in 1978. (B100=1/2 ton, B200=3/4 ton). The roof and rear end of the body was thick fiberglass. It left Dodge without a roof and tail end. You can see the seam where it changes from the steel side wall to the fiberglass near the rear.
They may have ordered the 350 series with the lowest weight rating and normally the RV designers and engineers of reputable manufacturers would be very competent to design and build in accordance with the Ford specifications for that unit.
The Ford Class C has an 11k GVWR chassis.
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Oddly enough, the GVWR on the conversion tag says 11,700. They are saying "you can put 700lbs more than Ford says you can!". 4200 front+7500 rear=11,700.
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In regards to the 7,500 rear end, that's 3,750lb per leaf spring! Sounds to me like 10 leaf, 4,000lb springs are what's called for. 7500lb is the max for the Dana 70U/70B of the 80s. Sure, 3500lb leaf springs might be enough, unless the rear end is at it's max weight wise under normal full time RV usage, which is possible I suppose. The fresh water tank is between the axles, waste tanks are behind the rear axle. The 60lb propane tank is closer to the front axle than the rear. (Just behind the cab)
HEY, I just noticed something important! I just looked at the full photo of Cubey's 27 ft. Class C, in his profile. It's obvious to me that the RV manufacturer ADDED at least 3 to 5 ft. to the back end of the frame, probably 4 or 5 feet to make it a 27 foot rig. You could probably crawl under it and see where they did that. I have seen that done on Class A motor-homes and probably some other classes to increase the length. THAT'S where the issue originates in my opinion. That's a lot of 'overhang' from the rear axle.
That's pretty normal for class c's. They typically slope upwards to avoid dragging on slopes more than this one does though. They knew it was an issue and put skids to protect the pipe. This is just before the rear bumper (on the right). I was redoing the pipes because if you look close, the valve has a scraped away section where it was dragging on the ground. I redid it so that it's not pointing towards the bumper, but rather out the side like it should.
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Here is a newer one from 1990s or early 2000s. It has a LOT of overhang behind it too. Completely different RV maker. Typically waste holding tanks aren't in that kind of position like mine are.
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They should have added a couple more leafs to the leaf springs or installed a different set of springs, OR ordered a longer cab and chassis or at least one with more appropriate springs for this RV design. My non-professional opinion.
That's my thought, they skimped on the leaf springs. The RV company should have beefed them up. However, they couldn't have gotten any longer of a cab & chassis. It has the 176" wheelbase as it is. That's as long as they made them, a least in E350.
In this case I would be temped to go with the 10 leaf BUT I would look for a higher weight capacity rating 'progressive style spring' first.
An advantage to old Fords like this is there are still LOTS of choices for leaf spring sizes. Dodge is lacking severely.
Have a look at this page, it lists a range of capacities. The largest "progressive" one is 6 leaf (5/1) and 2900lb. The smallest non is an 8 leaf, 3235lb. They have a 4 leaf that is strangely listed as 3300lb. Less leafs but thicker leafs?
https://www.generalspringkc.com/Leaf_Springs_Ford_Van_E250_E350_1975_1991_s/1890.htm
I don't think your dog would like long bumpy rides either but I really don't know how that particular 3500 lb. rated 10 leaf set up would perform in your specific RV.
She sleeps/lays on the passenger seat up front when I'm driving. She doesn't freak out or anything, she's very mellow. She just shivered all scared when the truck's passenger side window busted at 60mph right next to her. Dunno if a rock hit it or what.
What's the name of the RV manufacturer who made that one, Cubey? Im not suggesting at all that it was or is a bad company, nor a poorly made RV at all. It looks very nice and I would make an informed guess that it was made in Riverside, California by a big manufacturer that owns a number of different brand names. I forgot the name of the factory, 'National' or 'International' RV might have been the name but I've been there in their offices. Someone just made a slip-up and inadequate decision somewhere along the line. I could be wrong, maybe the springs were adequate for normal use.
ElDorado Motor Corp. They don't exist anymore, but neither does the company that made that nice ol Class B I had, Xplorer. RV makers get bought out/merge a lot. Shasta is a good example of one that did. I'm not sure of El Dorado got bought out or just closed up.
As far as "Cheap build quality" I think that nearly all of the low end and "affordable" range RVs are like that, and like most good quality companies that make high end products, now days it seems all of them have products for the budget and affordable range markets.
This thing had to have been expensive new. Okay, so it has the IDI engine obviously, so someone custom ordered it that way. Typically on diesel RVs, they put a LP powered generator since gas ones typically run from main engine's tank. The Xplorer Class B I had was that way, a single 36 gallon gas tank for both. Well nope, on this Class C they put a GAS generator and put a seperate gasoline tank, complete with a gas gauge for the generator. Plus it has a 60lb LP tank for the stove, fridge, water heater, and furnace. So yeah, it's built to carry gas, diesel and LP all at the same time. The fact that the RV company even had a seperate gas tank for the generator as an option tells me they must have had a big enough diesel market to do that. Unless all their Class Cs they made fed the gas generator from it's own gas tank, which is possible I suppose, just not the norm.
I really like the looks of your rig, Cubey. That was not a 'cheap' one. Keep it from ever leaking is most important.
It already has a lot of water damage unfortunately. It's usable but needs a lot of attention. I was too broke to give it any after I bought it. I plan to this late winter/early spring.