Arizona Mike

I'm also sad to see that there are no paddle shifters. They are great for towing, since you can upshift and downshift without taking your hands off the steering wheel. My Jeep GC has them, and they are really convenient.

I towed a 2010 Merc Mariner behind a motorhome from summer of '10 thru the spring of '16 and did about 25,000 miles towing in about 35 or 40 trips. It had the infamous 6F35 tranny that was so bad for this job. I was paranoid about overdoing the prescribed start up routine, going back and forth the gears 5 or 6 times. I also did the routine again after 3 to 4 hours of towing it. I glanced at my rear view camera probably about every 10 minutes. But the thing never failed. Still, I was glad to get rid if it and the motorhome. The pump listed above is from Remcotowing.com and sells for $1895. I've heard it is easy to install, and takes about 6 hours. I don't know if there is any other option.

I parked next to a White 50th Anniversary 5.0 yesterday. It is beautiful The front chrome pony in the corral really sets it off. Another guy and I stood there drowling for a couple minutes.

I got to sit in one yesterday for a bit. Ecoboost, one of the red colors, black interior. The setup is really nice inside, and it looks great all over. I'm not a fan of black wheels it had, and I don't care for black interiors, but in general, I am in absolute LUST.

"The Transit may force Daimler to be more agressive in pricing the Sprinter to hold onto their market share. Ford has a great reputation for durability and reasonable total cost of operation and that will help the Transit in the market." The Sprinter is a 10 or 12 year old design that has only had one key change over the years - a 5 to 6 cylinder engine. The driver ergonomics of a Sprinter are terrible. I'm sure they are OK for a work and delivery use, but mine is a Winnebago motorhome. 6 or 7 hours driving it a day is long. Odd instrument panel, climate and radio controls hard to find and reach, no controls on the steering wheel, cruise control lever that is awkward to use and too close to the turn signal lever. easy to hit the wrong one. But the worst are the brakes. They feel like marshmellows, and the Sprinter mechanics admit that everyone complains about them and they cannot improve them. Not a firm, solid feel like Ford brakes. I'm hoping the Ford gets some desing wins soon from Winnebago and the other RV builders. It won't ever be a big part of their sales, but sure would get me back into the RV shops to buy.

I got a recall notice for my '10 Mariner in the mail today. I'm calling the dealer in the morning to get it in, I hope.

Not too surprising. People who tow bigger trailers- in the 7000, 8000 + range, generally want the extra capacity of a 3/4 or 1 ton truck. In general, people only like to tow at about 75% of the rating. And most think know that the tow ratings are bogus marketing tools, not real tested numbers.

I can't wait to see the cutaway in a motorhome. I've owned a Sprinter based RV for 5 years, and the Sprinter hasn't been upgraded much in 10 years. The brakes, seats, and basic ergonomics of a Sprinter are terrible. I'm hoping that design wins with Winnebago, Jayco, Thor, and several other motorhome builders are announced really soon.

"I doubt it will happen with Transit cut-a-way already having that market..." The Transit cutaway and chassis cab are gettin the V6 non-turbo gasser or the diesel. No Ecoboost 3.5 for it.

I just noticed that the 50th Anniversary Model pictures I've seen has the Pony in the Corral on the front, where the others have the plain Pony. Am I right? Anyone else notice this.

The T350 dually looks like an ideal candidate for a class B+ motorhome. Take off the back doors and put a rear slide out with a queen bed in it. Put a side slide that holds a coach or sofa. I think I'm in lust already. I've owned a Sprinter based Winnie for 5 years. It's been good and fun, but the Sprinter cab design is really dated. The "vaulted German Engineering" is really pretty bad from an ergonomics and comfort point of view. What llittle I've seen of the Transit cab tells me it is already better. But it is 10 years newer, so should be.

Yes, I pull a 2010 Mariner. It has the rotten 6F35 tranny that so many have had trouble with, but I've been OK so far. I get almost 11 mpg towing my Mariner behind the View. It has a 3.5 gas engine, so I think the 3.5 Ecoboost in the Transit will be perfect. I agree that the Via/view floorplans are not optimal. I have the J, with the corner bed that is too small, and the corner bath which is too small. And the galley area does not have enough work space. But overall it is acceptable for us. I bought use, so am learning what I like and don't like. but some else paid the depreciation. In 2 of 3 years I'll get the perfect floo plan with a big Blue Oval on the front.

Of course the Transit is not a candidate for the big class c. But the Transit, as currently spec'd out cannot compete adequately with the Sprinter. The ccc of the Transit will be no where close to that of the Sprinter with the same size (24 or 25 ft) RV built into it. The ccc of the Winnie View is about 1300 lbs. With 350 lbs of people and 250 of water, that doesn't leave much for food and clothing and junk. My View, loaded for a trip, weighs in at 10,700. So I'm about 300 under the GVWR of 11,030. But I'd be almost 400 over the Transit could handle. Sure, I could cut out some junk that I carry, but I'd rather not. RV builders put their rig's almost exclusively on the E450 cutaway with the V10. Very few bother with the E350, even with the V10 and I don't think any bother with the old dog 2 valve 5.4 V8.. The Transit, given a GVWR of around 11500 and a GCWR of around 15000 could easily replace the E350's, could let the E450's stay in the bigger C's only, and kick Sprinter in the butt.The Sprinter has some good things going for it, but some are pretty bad. The ergonomics of the dash and controls are awful. And service is spotty or unavailable in many areas of the country, besides having to pay Mercedes prices just to drive it onto the service drive. So I'm all in favor of the Transit getting a little more beef and being able to take on Sprinter in the small RV space.

The biggest dealer here in Tucson gets $995 for "Desert Protection " package. A coat of wax put in by a minimum wag worker. They have it on every car when they back it off the truck. But I disagree with the $20 estimate of value. It might be worth almost $25

No, I don't think that is it. The Sprinter 3.0 diesel is 188 hp and about 380 fp of torque. It does a more than OK job in RV's of the 25ft size. All 3 engines in the Transit lineup are stronger than that. And while I don't know about the 6.0 diesel, I do know that the V10 in the E series is the old one with only 2 valves. Ford has got to be anxious to end of life that old dog, if only to free up manufacturing capacity.