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weekends_at_mankatoOP
Dry Camper
Mankato, MN
12 posts · joined Sep 2025
Sep 13, 2025 · 7:48 PM#1
shopping for our first C and would like a sanity check. we want something 24 to 26 feet for weekends at state parks, Minneopa, Whitewater, Frontenac, that kind of radius from Mankato. my wife likes a Coachmen Freelander 26MB on the Ford and i keep drifting toward the Chevy 4500 versions because a buddy swears the Chevy drives more like a truck.
budget is 60 to 75k used, 2019 to 2022. we would put maybe 4,000 miles a year on it. does the chassis actually matter for what we do, or am i overthinking a coin flip?
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e450_brakes_joe
Long Hauler
Ames, IA
41 posts · joined Sep 2025
Sep 14, 2025 · 6:55 AM#2
i work on both at the shop in Ames, so here is the boring answer. the Ford E-450 is under most of the C's on the road, which means every shop and every parts counter in the midwest has seen yours. the 2021 and newer ones have the 7.3 gas V8, before that it was the 6.8 V10. both are fine motors. figure 8 to 9 mpg with a 26 footer on the V10, maybe a mile better on the 7.3 if you keep it under 65.
the Chevy 4500 rides a bit stiffer, the cab is roomier and some people like the dash a lot better. newer ones have the 6.6 gas V8. the trade is that a few coach builders only did a handful of Chevy units in a given year, so the next tech may never have seen your exact wiring behind the dash.
for 4,000 miles a year at state parks, buy the coach you like and make sure the chassis side has a service history. the chassis is the part you can get fixed in any town.
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went_super_c
State Parker
Fort Collins, CO
26 posts · joined Sep 2025
Sep 15, 2025 · 9:10 PM#3
for what it is worth i drove a Chevy 4500 Freelander for three seasons before we went bigger. on I-25 in a crosswind the Chevy felt more planted to me than my brother in law's Ford, but that is one guy with one set of tires. what changed the drive more than the badge was a set of Bilstein shocks and setting the tire pressures off a CAT scale ticket instead of the sidewall. weigh it loaded before you blame the chassis for how it drives.
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dog_and_a_minnie
Pull-Through
Duluth, MN
15 posts · joined Sep 2025
Sep 18, 2025 · 12:26 PM#4
we have a 2020 Minnie Winnie 22M on the Ford and here is the thing nobody warned me about: the engine cover between the seats gets HOT on long pulls. going up the hill out of Duluth on 35 in July you could keep coffee warm on it. we put a thick rubber mat over it. no idea if the Chevy does the same.
otherwise the Ford has been a tank. 38k miles, oil changes, one coil pack and a front end alignment.
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weekends_at_mankatoOP
Dry Camper
Mankato, MN
12 posts · joined Sep 2025
Sep 27, 2025 · 6:44 PM#5
update for anyone who finds this later. we drove both back to back at the dealer in Owatonna last saturday. the Chevy did ride firmer, and the step up into the cab was easier on my wife's knees, which honestly might decide it. the Ford felt softer and wandered a little on the county road, but that one had tires with a 2017 date code, so i am not blaming the chassis for that.
still have not bought. leaning Ford because the service manager at the shop we use in Mankato said he would rather see a Ford come through his door. the Ford site has the E-Series cutaway specs if anyone wants the GVWR, 14,500 lbs on the E-450.
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grandparents_on_tour
Pull-Through
Kearney, NE
18 posts · joined Sep 2025
Oct 9, 2025 · 8:31 AM#6
late to this, one thing to add. find the cargo carrying capacity sticker inside the entry door on whatever you look at and do the math before you fall in love. some 26 footers on either chassis have only 1,200 to 1,500 lbs left once the fresh tank is full and a family is aboard. ours has about 1,700 and we still feel it with two grandkids and a week of groceries.
