I have a 37' 1999 Pace Arrow motorhome that we love but hate the fuel milage so I was thinking of doing a engine swap to a cummins or a power stroke has any one tried this? I thought I would buy a whole truck that way I would have all the wirring and any computers that I would need and the only reason I would consider a ford is because it has a ford v10 in it now and I was thinking that maybe the transmission would have the same bolt pattern , anyone know if that is true or not.

 

I doubt the trans is going to bolt up to any diesel,and I'm certain that if you manage to bolt it up it's going to break very quickly.
I'd go with a 12 valve and the auto that comes with em' if I were you.
(powerstrokes are allright,but you are on the cummins forum)

 

I think you'd be better off trading for a diffrent motor home.

 

Trade it!!

 

What you dont like a chanlenge? Besides I just bought it last October and I could not find one in the price and the layout that this one has without paying $30,000 more than what I did.Also I plan on retiring in ab out 10 more years and I dont want payments when that time comes.

 

You will spend more on the conversion than you will save in fuel for the life of this thing. You also can't keep the transmission, the ratios will be wrong for the slow revving diesel. Ignoring that, the transmission can't handle the torque so it won't last.

 

This thing is rated at 310 hp and 425flbs so it is priety close to the same and it is geared 533 with a overdrive.I also have conections for getting parts at wholesale and my buddy owns a auto machine shop I just built my cummins for$ 1200. bored and new pistons.I can do this for around $ 3000.

 

If you have the will, the knowledge, the time and the mechanical ability, I'd say do it. As for the tranny issue, I thought Ford used the same tranny for their V-10 as the do for the PowerStroke. The only thing you might consider is rebuilding the tranny for the diesel, i.e. valve body, torque converter, etc. Think about it, Dodge put the same 47re behind both their V-10 and Cummins. Hence the reason almost every single one of us CTD owners have upgraded our trannys.

 

That is true I rebuilt mine around 50,000 miles ago.I had much grather have the cummins but I figured it would be a little easyer to use the ford.

 

I have never seen and you will never see a powerstroke in a motorhome unless you put it there. You either get a CAT or a Cummins when you buy one. Won't find a D-max in a motor home either. That should tell you something about reliability and power of the in line 6.

Dave

 

I think someone posted a link on here about somebody that converted his A-class MH to a 12 valve. It showed a nice step-by-step writeup with lots of pics. Anyone remember it?

 

i'm putting a 12v in my 03 to replace that electric pos and its gonnarun about 2 grand and its already a desiel

 

I've seen MANY powerstrokes in class C motorhomes. And you see many duramax's in SuperC motorhomes on GM 4500 and 5500 chassis, which can be as big or bigger than your average Class A motorhome.

 

The 4R100 behind the V10 is the same as the one behind a powerstroke. The torque converter may be different though. You would just need the adapter plate that a couple different places sell to bolt the two together. A 12 valve would probably be the easiest, but a common rail cummins really isn't all that hard. I just converted from a V10 / 4R100 in my Excursion to a 04 common rail and a dodge 48RE. Click on the link in my sig to read all the details. I wouldn't hesitate at all with want you want to do.

FWIW, I've heard that a properly built 4R100 is actually stronger than a properly built 48RE and cheaper too.

 

Hey 5.9Ex- I see a business opportunity for you. I agree about the 4R100. From what I've seen of them, they're a decent unit. Same with the 5R110.