Drill Report post Posted September 21, 2012 I'm still looking to buy a motor home. Diesel is out of my price range, so the ones available all seem to have a 454 GM, 460 Ford or 440 Dodge in them. Is one really any better or worse than the other? I would expect all to have good points and bad. I would like to hear opinions on them one way or the other. Thanks. Drill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wolfe10 Report post Posted September 21, 2012 Drill, A tough one to answer. Many will tell you THEIR favorite-- kind of like a Ford vs Chevy PU discussion. Not sure that will help with your decision. Actually, a good part of the answer will depend on the year model you are looking at. Example: a Chevy 454 Vortec is a big improvement over the one year older Chevy 454 (about 1996). And, since the engine also dictated the chassis, chassis choice comes into play. To make the decision even more confusing, two motorhomes built on the same chassis can handle very differently. One could be a short coach on a long wheelbase chassis with good weight distribution, the other a long coach with poor weight distribution. If you have specific coaches in mind or even a line on your budget, that may help get better feedback. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JerryPotter Report post Posted September 25, 2012 I think that the one in the coach you like will be the best. I would buy for coach layout and let the engine fall where it may. Jerry Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
desertdeals69 Report post Posted September 26, 2012 What is your price range? I've seen diesel pushers starting at $10k. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildebill308 Report post Posted September 30, 2012 Welcome to the forum. There are no bad engines out there any more. You won’t find a Doge in anything but an older RV. They stopped making RV chassis as part of the 1979 bail out. There may have been some 80”s made with left over chassis but I don’t know. 440 were great. I thing the 460 was a great workhorse. Early ones need new timing setup to get rid of power robbing retard of cam timing. They also need headers as they tend to crack exhaust headers (especially the right aft) Fuel injected was better. Ford V10 will do a good job they are a high rpm engine and that scares some people. They will run for 300,000 miles or longer with good maintenance. Don’t worry about rpm as they have a built in rev limiter, you can’t hurt it with rpm’s. The GM engines are good with few down sides. You didn’t say what your price range was or what you were trying to do. I think the biggest problem in finding a great used RV is the age. I have just been through all of this. You will find it hard to find someone to finance a RV older than 10 years and a lot of places only go 5 or 6 years old. Well this is my opinion and is worth what you paid for it. Bill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin510 Report post Posted October 2, 2012 I agree that there is no best engine. I have had Fords and Chevys and they both ran good and had about the same power and fuel economy. The transmissions on the different chassis may be something else to look at but I would not worry either way. Just find a coach that you and your family likes and the rest is secondary. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
