1987 and up class c

[Dick]

Hi I thought the best class c to rebuild is one with a fuel injected engine. Before 1987 the engines were not fuel injected.

Comment would be great

And thanks in advance for any advise

[Lakota Wolf]

To put my Buck three ninety five worth in,,, It all depends on the buyer. Each RV poses its own pro's and cons. Im very OLD SCHOOL per say,,, I trust Natural aspirated over fuel injection. Now fuel injections does have better fuel burn and economy, but pricey on the diagnosis and repair aspect. Technically speaking,, Air,Fuel,and Fire make an engine run. Carb,for fuel and air, Coil for spark. Distributor for spark delivery.

On fuel injection you have two delivery operations, one for spark,controlled by a coil pack and crank sensor and fuel delivery controlled by timing sensor.Air is controlled by numerous sensors,, to control the fuel delivery and burn. Computer controlled ignition systems have come a long way, even increasing H/P.

I have been in circumstances with both Carb and fuel injection,, and breaking down. The carb fix was 2 hours on the side of the road,,,tinkering and adjusting,, then back on the road.. the fuel injection was the case it had to be towed and diagnoses in a garage.   So its really up to the buyer and their knowledge of either or both... BTW..The older rigs with very little electronic gadgetry were always fun to tinker on,, especially when the whole electronics set up just involved an alternator/generator.

There is a couple blogs of members who have converted over to fuel injection and seem more then pleased with the outcome.

[Dick]

Thanks very informative --great help--Regards

[Rich Thomas]

Greetings Dick, modern fuel injection has all kinds of advantages over carburetors. Better fuel millage, cleaner burn of fuel and does not mind high altitudes and easier starting. But as Lakota mentioned there is more potential for brake downs to need more sophisticated equipment to trouble shoot than a carburetor and that equates to bigger money paid out to a shop. Another thing to consider is back in it's infancy fuel injection was mostly offered in the throttle body configurations and not the fuel rail direct injection systems of today. I don't think they had a huge impact on fuel mileage until they went to fuel rail direct injection where they could turn off cylinders or adjust spark and valve timing to achieve better fuel mileage and less emissions. Also like Lakota mentioned there are a few folks on here that have went after market fuel injection with stand alone computer controllers and like them just fine; I'm on the fence about a change over myself. Back in my day I could tune out most of the normal stuff that carburetors was known for and achieve good fuel millage. My 78 Travelcraft has the old Rochester Quadra Jet  4bbl  and it runs like a champ but it has a slight stall right off idle that sometimes happens just at the worst of times. My opinion is I would not make Injection over carb my defining reason to pass on a really great RV. There are so many other things to take into consideration; overall condition is much more important. And as the age gets newer the price goes up as well. My 78 only has 21,000 miles on it right now and only 19k when I bought it. I would have lost out on a great RV if I had turned away because it wasn't injected. and at only $2,900.00 it was a no brainer. Hope this helps a little.

[Dick]

Thanks for your input. The problem we had was- 4 mpg on our 1977 Class C. We had the Dodge and mileage was very poor.  But do the rebuilt older class c get better mileage?

 Hope I am not imposing on you

Dick

[Lakota Wolf]

Hiya Dick,,, 4 mpg is usually converted to 4 gallons per mile in a case like that. Wow,, that is way bad fuel mileage for a class C rig. Dodge was finicky from 76 through 79 with changes in engines and trans. They tried to keep up with Ford and Chevy and they totally clusterfudged the whole concept of a decent power train. The ONLY reliable, bullet proof Dodge engine during those years was the low end (priced) 318 w/ 2 barrel carb and 3 speed auto.

They would actually squeeze 12 to 18 mpg,,(seriously). Taking into consideration how much additional weight you loaded onboard..The real drawback to the 318 power plant was limited towing,, basically leaving your choices to a small ATV or fishing boat,, and maybe a small toad,(towed behind car). That engine had a good low end torque and a decent power band range between gears,,, could wind them up pretty tight like the ole Chevy 327's and 350's,(including the 305's). Then Dodge came along with the idea,, Lets pull old new stock, hence,, the 403's,and 440's and drop a 727 trans behind it,, drop the rear gear ratio to 4:10's and it will solve the H/P issue and reduce back stock of the dinosaur big blocks.A win win for the RV builder and Dodges back stock of shelved engines.

The best that the ole 400.C.I. engine series would get was around 9 Tops, unless you spent a buttload of benjamins on performance cams, super coils and headers,, then that would give you the possibility of 10 to 11 mpg. Or if you were real lucky,, be heading down an 8% slope with a steady tail wind,, you could squeeze 12 mpg. But there was hope over the horizon,,, Technology finally caught up,, and several companies now offer Fuel injection upgrade kits.70% of those are the Throttle body injection, (T.B.I.'s).. Then the cream del a cream of injection is the full rail system, Which is a bit pricey,, The kit includes a whole new intake manifold and exhaust manifold set up,,, and includes the basic sensors and wire harnesses to hook up, included with a *smart logic computer box. The premium fuel injection set up can set you back a couple grand... But there is a rainbow on the horizon for you... In your local Part yard,, a.k.a. pull a part, bring your own tools kinda place and pull it yourself,, You can find a nice Dodge power plant,, like the 5.7 Hemi,(which by the way is a platnium version of Chevys 350.), And after you pull the power plant, engine,trans, drive shaft and wire harness /with computer controll,, it will set you back around 2K. Maybe cheaper if the yard had a good deal going on. (take a look at the Newer Dodge chassis Class C's in your local RV land,, and there are quite a few that have that 5.7 in them,, But cover the idea of the Hemi trademark..).The RV manufactures are trying to get smarter by putting better drive trains in there Rigs, to maybe mask the truth about how cheap the rest of the RV is,,, They should advertise,, Runs like a champ will give you lots of miles going down the road,,, But the body,,,well,, that will eventually start falling apart as you fill out the title paper work, and progressivly get worse as you toodle down the road.

Trying to find exactly what you want can be daunting to say the least,, But use your imagination,,look outside of the box... You can actually fit a Ford or a Chevy engine in your Dodge,, heck, even a model T 4 popper if you want to be unique and stay in the shoulder lane while traveling,,, Your only limited to your imagination and elbow grease... Good luck on your venture,, and the most satisfying moment is standing back when your done,, and taking your road trip to create memories.

[Rich Thomas]

My Palace is a 78 Travel craft on a 77 Chevy 1 ton cut away Van  ( A C-Class) and is 23' with a GVWR of 10,500 lbs, It is powered by a cast iron 350 with a mild cam and 4 barrel q-jet.carburetor probably a 650 cfm. It is mated to a turbo 400 heavy truck tranny, a Dana 70 1 ton rear end that I don't have the spec's for but it likes to cruse around 65. I don't know how big the gas tank is but some where near 30 gallons. I mostly camp up near my boys places's in north east Ohio and I do Indian Lake, Alum Creek, Delaware dam, and Mid Ohio sports car property and a few others. The Palace does well on fuel but I have never really checked Milage. I can run from Athens Ohio to Indian Lake on a little less than 3/4 of a tank. I don't dwell on mileage,  I instead ask, is a week with my boys worth a tank and a half of gas? well yes so lets go. I do know that my fuel gauge is accurate and about what a fill up cost and go from there. This works well for me because of my location in the state; just about every where I go is nearly the same distance.  If I was to start venturing out farther or on the open road I would have to be more mileage conscious. At 4 miles to the gallon, I would burn it to the ground and find something else like maybe a skate board. I can see your reasoning for the fuel injection after living with that. good luck on your search and maybe find a nice one you can up grade like Lakota mentioned. here is a picture of the Palace.  

[Lakota Wolf]

I wouldnt really knock the skateboard thing,,, Heck, they have Tiny houses,, why not just built around a skateboard,, maybe widen it a couple inches and maybe add a few inches to the length,, Put up some side walls and a roof,, viola,, a really really tiny house,, and best of all,,, Foot powered,, What a concept.. Sorry, I had to add some humor,, it takes the edge off frustration,,, and dont mind my antics,, Im a born goof,,,(I know, my mother had me tested,,,,,twice).. But we are all here to help you the best we can.. Good luck.. L.W.

[Dick]

Thanks for your input, we live in the southwest with lots of mountains and high elevations. We currently live at 5600 ft. Again thanks for the input very worthwhile info.

[George]

Hi there,

I personally prefer just the opposite but I grew up working on carburated engines where you could sit under the hood with the engine and work on it.  Simpler in my opinion.  Although you can't sit under the hood with an engine in a class C RV lol the ease of engine maintenance is still there.  I also find working with suppressed technology that carburated is a good starting place.  I've already had my 82' 454 running on vapor with 90% + less pollution after I took all the anti pollution stuff off the engine.   Now had I grown up with fuel injection, I would probably be thinking that way :)

Have an awesome day

Geo