Thank you for the video! I have an '06 E-450 with a 29' coach. It drove poorly, even though we had it aligned and the front end looked at twice. We have an upcoming 2700 trip and I just wasn't looking foward to it because it had such a jarring ride, and handled like a pig. I found your video, and mostly followed your advice, with the exception of not doing it all at once. I paid for a shop to put in a caster kit, and then put in swaybars, air bags, and shocks myself in the course of 3 weekends. My wife and I just took it for a 15 mile drive on the freeway a couple days ago, and the difference is unbelievable. It's not quite a caddillac ride, but compared to what it was, the only word is amazing. Not sure about handling when a semi-passes us, because we never found one, but I'm certain it will be improved. Thank you so much! I might actually be looking forward to our road trip now!
The softness of the stock front spings that make the front end dip and sway makes me think that it would be better to put new coilovers to lift the front but it is not clear which ones to buy. The only ones that are available are ones for the standard F150 but that is much lighter than the Lightning so it is a bit confusing.
I have the same year with the v-10 31 ft motorhome. I chose the full Gale Banks kit it came with headers, 31/2 muffler exhaust pipe, trans module, ecm chip, and a k&n air filter. It runs like a stripped ass ape! My gas mileage on flat ground is in the high 8’s to low 9’s once I hit the hill or going into the wind it drops to mid 7’s to low 8’s. The other mod I did was fabricate a larger transmission fluid pan and a larger trans cooler to keep trans temperature cooler. The way the transmission shifted was just like you said constantly shifting in and out of OD. What the trans modular does it tells the ECM increase line pressure and it stays in OD. I even thought about installing a gear-vendor overdrive but never got around to it. IMO increasing your rpm’s by lowering your diff gears decreases your fuel mileage vs lowering your rpm’s increases your fuel mileage. My cost for the Banks kit was 2800.00 in 2004.
By adding that 20 amp fuse to the circuit that feeds your new aux fuse block didn't you exceed the protection of the 10 amp feed circuit? I don't believe you are supposed to exceed the original circuit amperage protection of 10 amps for your new circuit. All of the wiring that feeds your original spare fuse circuit is rated for 10 amps. It can be another 10 amp fuse or any fuse rated for less than 10 amps I believe?
I know its old but the main thing to take into account is how Ford tunes these, they run them to meet a certain emission criteria snd make them idiot proof, the common thread is to have torque limiting to protect the driveline and reduce combustion temperatures to reduce nox and keep pistons and exhaust valves alive under ALL driving conditions and idiots right foot, this is achieved by timing retarding and rich fuel mixtures both of which are the exact opposite to performance and economy requirements, so start with a custom retune and then try all your old school bits !
Just picked up a 03 e450 jayco escapade 31a. It weighs 14500 dry plus pulling a 3500lb trailer with a sxs on it. We drove it from NE Florida to Southern gap off-road park in Virginia. On flat ground couldn't ask for a anything better pulling that trailer. But in the mountains is a totally different story. They sucked the life out of that thing, so Im considering greatly on changing the gears so I won't burn up the transmission when trying to go up hill. Thanks for the info. ✌️
Great video! Super detailed information. I really like that you talked about what some people would consider a steep gear change, but it's perfect. I run a size smaller tire on my pickup with 4:10 gears and noticed a difference in performance. So im considering going to 4:56 because I don't think the Sterling rear axle will accept 4:88. But again great video, im looking into the tuner.
My 2003 class a v10 had a super restrictive airbox, so I got a k&n, but the air inlet snout was plugged by the end on the filter! I then cut a 4x4 inch hole in the bottom portion to expose the filter element. The result was that it no longer fell on its face at 4000, and would now ha e power to 4800rpm! Big improvement!
Have a 2016 Thor e450 v10 and added roadmaster front and rear sway bars long with the front stabilizer shock. Also installed sumo springs all around. Also installed the suppersteer rear trac bar. It ride so much better. However I still have issues with what feels like way to much play in the steering. You stated 2deg camber but then stated 4-7deg is ideal. Can you explain?
Where did you place those jack stands? It's hard to tell from the video. Also, did you jack it from the to place them, or from the side jack points? TIA
Having to replace my radiator on my bus, I did the transmission filters and the steering stabilizer. It was like $40 on Amazon. It's a tough call between RockAuto and Amazon for best price. They wanted double the price for most things at the dealership, but I needed one filter that day, and the crappy one from O'Reilly's that I returned was the same price.
Thanks, interesting! We just rented the large class C from cruise America for a 3500 mile trip. We averaged mileage of around 9 mpg. We found the handling indeed not so good. To conserve fuel we did 65 max interstates, slower on smaller highways. Deliberate slow acceleration and always on the tow mode. With no wind and no traffic at all we had a couple of 100 miles at 10 mpg even, with mountains. All countryside driving, California is worse…
My sister has a 2014 classy Ford motorhome and she was just complaining about an eight hour trip that about killed her . I think you’re very smart man and I appreciate your information.
I didn’t see much discussion pertaining to effects of increasing tire size over OEM? I’m discussing that now with my builder for a 4x4 conversion to my E450 V10 Class B+ RV. Considering the tires will be changed from OEM LT 225/75 R16 29.3” diameter to LT 285/70R 17 33” diameter fronts and LT 255/80R 17 33.1” on the dually rears, going from the current 4.56 to 5.13 might be warranted. Then too the 5 Star Tune is an excellent mod to add. I always pull a small toy hauler, every bit will help.
Usually, EVs have really high powered DC to DC converters (the thing that takes your main battery pack voltage and steps it down to 12 volts.) But I couldn't find any information anywhere on how powerful the Ford Lightnings is, I would imagine it's beefy considering they expect you to run a lot of 12-volt accessories in a pickup truck. Either way, as long as you turn the truck on first, you do have a second battery. I wanted to add an air compressor and four Channel 24/7 surveillance 5g system. Hopefully, I won't have to upgrade the battery. I know my Mustang had a bigger battery, and on a cold day, I would low battery warning with a brand new battery just trying to run 3 cameras.
