new Ford 7.3 in Class C

[Lt Keefer]

I always get a kick out of fuel cost/MPG discussions when it comes to pleasure vehicles.

[Chance]

I agree that for the average motorhome owner, differences in engine efficiency aren’t going to be very significant as it affects total cost of ownership.

Given the same size motorhome, it’s not likely that engine size would account for a difference even close to 8 versus 10 MPG, and even that exaggerated difference would only result in 125 gallons of fuel a year for the average motorhome driven around 5,000 miles annually.

Having said that, to me it doesn’t feel right to be wasteful, so I would definitely “prefer” engine size be optimized for whatever size RV I drive.

[Zeddy]

I saw a 7.3 hurricane last week. I went over to talk to the owner and it turns out he's renting. And it broke down on the way into the campground. The rental company came out with a replacement v10. They said all of their 7.3 are broken right now, this was the last one.

[harleyfltri]

Originally Posted by tugboat911

Hi, we are looking to buy a 2021 Class C with the 7.3 eng. any throughts? It will be in a 30 to 33 foot unit, rated to tow 7500 lbs, BUT i know not to tow that much, and what about your real MPGs, with and with out towing?
Thanks for your help, take care...

Looked good but don't like anything too new until it's tested and refined in a real world environment for awhile so I stayed content with the V10 that we had. All of a sudden the issues started coming out and I'm glad I have what I have.

[Bob Denman]

Originally Posted by Zeddy

I saw a 7.3 hurricane last week. I went over to talk to the owner and it turns out he's renting. And it broke down on the way into the campground. The rental company came out with a replacement v10. They said all of their 7.3 are broken right now, this was the last one.

that doesn't sound encouraging.

[Chance]

Originally Posted by Zeddy

I saw a 7.3 hurricane last week. I went over to talk to the owner and it turns out he's renting. And it broke down on the way into the campground. The rental company came out with a replacement v10. They said all of their 7.3 are broken right now, this was the last one.

Did you see it broken down on side of road or did it make it into campground?

I’m curious if you learned what went wrong with it? Was it spark plug wires mentioned above or was it something else? Was it even engine or chassis related?

Specifics really helps a lot. All 7.3 rigs are brand new, and we know how many defects new motorhomes have from RV manufacturers, so without more details it’s hard to say what was actually broken.

Sorry to question, but it’s one thing if these engines are cracking heads or throwing rods and another if they have bad wires (not that that is acceptable). To me “broken down” normally suggests it’s not drivable — as it has to be towed away.

[Pittsburgher]

Originally Posted by EA37TS

No problem is someone is willing to take the risk of a motor home sitting idle for weeks while waiting for wires.

That V10 may be old in design but it is a proven workhorse.

Put my down payment on the 2021 Vegas 2.1 on May 22nd. While doing my initial walkthrough the engine light came on. They took it to the Ford shop and temporarily fixed it. The light came on again. I have been waiting since then for a fuel injection sensor chip.

[Bob Denman]

I'm sorry that you're stuck waiting for parts.
I hope they get it back to you soon'
!

[FrankBarba]

I have a 2020 Windsport. Techs at factory are great. They still don't tell you everything just as those dealers don't that sell the equipment.
1. Nothing beats a Diesel with a Jake or Exhaust Break. (sound like my tranny is going to explode going down hills)
2. Water - Gravity Feed (Sucks in my opinion) Took over 1 year to figure out why I could not put water in my holding tank) Unit has to be turned off for water to fill. I want a standard hook up to fill tank.
Been waiting for over 1 year for a part to come in. Always ordered and wrong part sent.

Thor is big in the Motorhome Game as I have found out.

[Pittsburgher]

Originally Posted by Bob Denman

I'm sorry that you're stuck waiting for parts.
I hope they get it back to you soon'
!

Thanks for being understanding. 3 SOLID MONTHS is a very long time. Our dealer has been good. There is nothing they can do and I understand that. Thor has been responsive, but the bottom line is this is a FORD ISSUE!
This will be our first RV. From my observations, RV'er's seems to be a somewhat small fraternity. If my reputation is to proceed me, I would rather it be positive. I have seen customers really lay into the staff at the dealership. A waste of energy in my opinion.
The one lesson this has taught me is how to choose my battles wisely. The way I see it is, I will probably need them before they will need me.
Again, thanks for being understanding!

[RallphCPG]

Look into the Thor Magnitude. We have a SV34 with the 6.7 liter diesel. Performs much better than the V10 gas, is 4x4 and we average 11.5 mpg.

[thisoldman]

As a general rule, NEVER buy a vehicle *or* an engine *or* a transmission that is in its first year of production. Neither R&D nor quality control budgets are what they used to be. The bean counters exert tremendous pressure on the production folks to get new iron out the door as soon as possible. Early adopters often end up serving as beta (or even alpha) testers to their own consternation—and to the great benefit of those who wait a year or two to invest their hard-earned dollars in something that finally has the first year production and engineering kinks worked out of it.

[lrgomez1976]

Originally Posted by Chance

Based on Tugboat911 looking for 30~33 foot Class C, that would make it an E-450; and Ford specs show the same 6R140 transmission and same 4.56 final gears. Originally Ford claimed some fuel economy improvement, but I seriously doubt it’s significant enough to worry about.



The new 7.3L V8 engine does have higher compression ratio which should help, and it “may” be able to run a little leaner also (I don’t know but it’s possible), but other factors like driving speed will likely make a larger difference. I’d bet it remains in the +/- 8 MPG range like so many large Class As.



I have not heard of any issues with new engine.





P.S. — I assume Tugboat911 is looking at standard Class Cs and not Super Cs that are based on Ford F-550 (most of those are longer than 33-ft anyway). I haven’t seen any yet but expect manufacturers may build gasoline F-550 or F-600 at some point in time.

We have a Super C Thor Four Winds 36 footer and choose this because of the room (even for the driver) it provides all the way around. I have the 6.7 diesel and average 10.5 MPG pulling a full size F-150 at around 67 MPH on the open road. New listed for 170k but bought it used (2 yr old) with 12k miles, and now has over 40k and has not skipped a beat!!

[JamieGeek]

Originally Posted by thisoldman

As a general rule, NEVER buy a vehicle *or* an engine *or* a transmission that is in its first year of production. Neither R&D nor quality control budgets are what they used to be. The bean counters exert tremendous pressure on the production folks to get new iron out the door as soon as possible. Early adopters often end up serving as beta (or even alpha) testers to their own consternation—and to the great benefit of those who wait a year or two to invest their hard-earned dollars in something that finally has the first year production and engineering kinks worked out of it.

Oh shoot I should cancel my order for the brand new Mach-E: new "engine" new car new body...oh wait I'm not.

Also tell that to the 200k+ people that reserved the new Bronco.

[Bob Denman]

I bought a couple of first year motorcycles over the years: with mixed results.
The first Can Am Spyder I bought was the first year of the "throttle by wire" bikes. It was a nightmare! Between changing throttle bodies and throttle position sensors: I wore out the road to my Dealer!
My second Spyder RT was the first year of the 1330 triple engine. This one was a real jewel, and I sill miss that bike. It never quit on me!

[DavidEM]

It's a quiet Sunday afternoon so I did a bit of research into the new Ford V8. Turns out it was introduced in the 2020 model for super duty trucks which means it has about a year on it in public service. Not sure why those spark plug wires are just now being a problem on 2021 RVs (chassis model years lag behind coach model years since the coach builders buy them in batches in advance).

I read a couple of semi technical articles (Mechanics Illustrated and Road and Track) which didn't really identify any real efficiency improvements in the new 7.3 liter V8 vs the old 6.8 liter V10. Yes the new engine is designed specifically to operate at heavy loads at low rpms for good fuel economy, but the old one does as well. A few tiny tweeks like an oil pump whose speed is independent of engine speed so it can be cranked up when needed will save a little power at light load.

Then I watched an interesting video that compared the old 6.8 in a 2019 Bounder coach to a new prototype with the 7.3 liter engine. Apparently at least in E450 versions, the suspension is upgraded with a heavier sway bar among other tweaks. The road test clearly showed less leaning in a series of S curves through a cone test track with the new suspension/engine. Here is the link- https://www.tfltruck.com/2020/02/exc...ts-cool-video/

So for those of you who just bought a new RV with this engine, it seems to be better and is really a year old already.

David

[Chance]

Originally Posted by tugboat911

Hi, we are looking to buy a 2021 Class C with the 7.3 eng. any throughts? It will be in a 30 to 33 foot unit, rated to tow 7500 lbs, BUT i know not to tow that much, and what about your real MPGs, with and with out towing?
Thanks for your help, take care...

There are two very different choices being discussed. One is waiting for 7.3L V8 to have “bugs worked out”, but that may require waiting somewhat longer. Basically you’d be choosing between model year 2021 and 2022 E-450s — both having the larger and more powerful V8 compared to outgoing V10.

The second option being discussed is choosing an older-model motorhome with “proven” V10 in lieu of a “first-year” V8. To me these are very different and one of them may not even apply to a given buyer. Some may not be able to delay buying, and others may not want the old V10 no matter what.

Anyway, if waiting is an option for you, there are a couple of other differences that should be available on Model Year 2022 E-Series. I’m not suggesting potential engine issues are significant because I don’t know either way, but to me the reshaped engine cover/doghouse is of interest. After 20+ combined years of E-Series ownership, V10 NVH and limited foot-room are my main gripes.

If Ford remains on schedule, I could live with waiting since I’m not planning any camping or tailgating due to Covid causing crowded campgrounds and affecting college football.

.

[thisoldman]

Originally Posted by JamieGeek

Oh shoot I should cancel my order for the brand new Mach-E: new "engine" new car new body...oh wait I'm not.

Also tell that to the 200k+ people that reserved the new Bronco.

I wish you nothing but the best of luck with your purchase.

[Bob Denman]

https://www.thorforums.com/forums/at...1&d=1598875125

[Pittsburgher]

Originally Posted by thisoldman

As a general rule, NEVER buy a vehicle *or* an engine *or* a transmission that is in its first year of production. Neither R&D nor quality control budgets are what they used to be. The bean counters exert tremendous pressure on the production folks to get new iron out the door as soon as possible. Early adopters often end up serving as beta (or even alpha) testers to their own consternation—and to the great benefit of those who wait a year or two to invest their hard-earned dollars in something that finally has the first year production and engineering kinks worked out of it.

I feel that way too. We, like may others, got caught smack dab in the middle of this pandemic mess. All of the units we were interested in were snatched up very quickly. It will probably be mid-spring before they start rolling out any new Vegas', even then, they will be already spoken for. With retirement pending, and the grand kids a waiting, we decided to take our chances on this new one.
We are hiring a certified independent 3rd party to assist with the PDI. Hopefully this will give us a fighters chance with our first six months or so of RVing.
Any advice or suggestions are greatly appreciated!