4WD Class A Conversion?

[Arloph]

Has anyone else done a 4 wheel drive conversion to a class A Winnebago ?

[JLUSoCal]

Mine's 4-wheel drive; pretty sure all of them are...

Now 6-wheel drive that's another story .

Pretty good ground clearance -now to just work on the break-over angles a bit.

[Eagle5]

To get technical, the basic F53 chassis is two wheel drive; i.e. just one set of the two dualies will spin in the slippery stuff. Before I would consider the cost and complexity of adding front drive, I would first get a Detroit Locker rear differential and make sure both sets of dualies keep paddling; no matter what.
Eagle5

[Arloph]

I was hoping to hear if anyone added front drive to a F53 chassis, and how that went.
Ours is a Workhorse with components from a GMC 5500.

[tim myers]

You are talking the swap from the ibeam front end to a differential, fitting a transmission/transfer case on the back of the V-10, shorter drive shaft for the rear wheels and installation of a drive shaft to the front wheels. Lot of work, might want to try this on an older coach first. Some of the driveline components from a truck or Excursion might work.

[Eagle5]

Here is a Class C conversion:
https://www.winnieowners.com/forums/...ns-363091.html

[FIRE UP]

Well Sir,
No, I haven't done it but, I helped build a Class A several years ago that was 4WD. The person who owned and built it had plenty of experience with this sort of thing. It's not rocket science. It's purely logic and understanding the mechanics of what needs to be done. The V-10 and subsequent trannies that have been coupled to it over the years have many types of transfer cases attached. Just look at any 4WD Ford F-250 through F-450.

Oh and by the way, unless you want some SERIOUSLY odd driving characteristics, do not, REPEAT, DO NOT add a Detroit locker to that system when you're done. There is a specific learning curve to driving a vehicle equipped with a Detroit locker so it acts like normal. But that's way down the road for you so, for now, just look at what needs to be done. Your transmission would most likely support a transfer case. All you need is to remove the tail cone and find out which T/C will bolt right up. From there, you'll need two new drive shafts.

As for the front end, well, yep it will be a bit of work but, a leaf sprung front axle would be quite easy to setup. You've got a couple of square acres to work in under there. The suspension is already there so, you just need to adapt a front differential. The steering system won't be all that hard either. Brakes, well that's a no-brainer. Just make sure your proportioning valve is working correctly.

By the way, if it were me doing it, with your style coach, I'd look for an electronically shifted transfer case. That way you'll only have a knob on the dash to shift to 4WD and not have some sort of gawdy lever sticking up through the floor to shift it. Anyway, have a ball. This would be a fun project.
Scott

[Eagle5]

I have installed two Detroit Lockers.
The first was in my 1988 F-350 Crew Cab. The F-350 has a larger rear differential, and it works wonderfully, with only a few degrees of backlash. My truck does indeed "drive like normal," but if you change throttle settings in the middle of a corner (from accelerate to decelerate,) you can get a clunk, but nothing too bad.
The second Detroit Locker I installed was in my 2008 Mustang GT. With the small 8.8" differential, it was a horrible mistake. I had about 30º of backlash, and it made the car miserable to drive. I removed it and replace it with a Detroit True-track. Jeeps with smaller differentials suffer in the same way.
I recommend the Detroit Locker for the large diameter differentials such as is found in a motorhome where the backlash is very low.
Another way to think of this is the small 9" differentials need to have large-enough teeth so that they do not break, but that necessitates large 30º backlashes.
Eagle5

[BarryLS]

Originally Posted by Arloph

Has anyone else done a 4 wheel drive conversion to a class A Winnebago ?

Unless you can do this yourself or have a good friend that can, prepare to spend $20-25k and probably more. There are a lot of labor hours, and $100+ it adds up very quickly. Getting parts from the junk yard helps.

[Ray,IN]

Originally Posted by BarryLS

Unless you can do this yourself or have a good friend that can, prepare to spend $20-25k and probably more. There are a lot of labor hours, and $100+ it adds up very quickly. Getting parts from the junk yard helps.

Yup! Anything is possible if you have enough money. Elon Musk comes to mind.

[BarryLS]

Originally Posted by Eagle5

I have installed two Detroit Lockers.
The first was in my 1988 F-350 Crew Cab. The F-350 has a larger rear differential, and it works wonderfully, with only a few degrees of backlash. My truck does indeed "drive like normal," but if you change throttle settings in the middle of a corner (from accelerate to decelerate,) you can get a clunk, but nothing too bad.
The second Detroit Locker I installed was in my 2008 Mustang GT. With the small 8.8" differential, it was a horrible mistake. I had about 30º of backlash, and it made the car miserable to drive. I removed it and replace it with a Detroit True-track. Jeeps with smaller differentials suffer in the same way.
I recommend the Detroit Locker for the large diameter differentials such as is found in a motorhome where the backlash is very low.
Another way to think of this is the small 9" differentials need to have large-enough teeth so that they do not break, but that necessitates large 30º backlashes.
Eagle5

That's good info Eagle5. I've never had a Detroit locker, so when rereading this thread I went to see how they work and I see what you mean.

I've had multiple vehicles with the GM (Eaton) locker, option code G80, and they are fantastic. I've had them on 4 Suburbans including the current one and my Avalanche. I drive in the sand on Hatteras Island (NC) which is really soft and deep. It makes a really big difference. Most importantly it never causes any driving problems. You never know it's there unless you need it.

I'll have to check my Winnebago differential but I'm pretty sure it's the large one (F450 chassis). I anticipate driving in wet, sometimes muddy, grassy area's and the locker would be a good addition.

[Eagle5]

Hi Barry,
Another reason to use a Detroit Locker (rather than a 4x4 upgrade) is that your vehicle height doesn't change. Motorhomes are tippy enough in an emergency avoidance maneuver without making them even higher.
Of course, with a Locker, you move from two wheel drive to four wheel drive (one duallie to both duallies,) but in a 4x4 upgrade, you only move from two wheel drive to three wheel drive (one duallie plus one front wheel.)
Thanks, Eagle5

[BarryLS]

Good point Eagle5.

I have and use 4 wd in the sand but I'm aware that it's two in the rear with the GM locker, and one in the front. The best sand vehicle I ever had was my 1978 Jeep Wagoneer with quadratrac drive and vacuum operated locking differentials front and rear. The quadratrac had a viscous clutch to lock the front and rear when any slippage occurred, and locking the differentials gave you true 4 wheel drive. That thing would go through nearly anything.

Hatteras Island beaches are known for the deep sand. In all the time I've been driving on them, 50+ years now, I've only been stuck once when we brought a friends farm truck with skinny tires with stiff sidewalls, rear drive which meant one wheel drive. That was when I was around 20 and much smarter than I am now, just ask my 20 year old self

The 4 wd works better than just a locker in the rear under many conditions because the front wheels are pulling. Without 4 wd the front wheels are getting pushed into the sand/mud/what have you, and cause the rears to start slipping as power is applied trying to push the fronts through the mess. A front wheel drive car is superior to rear wheel drive in slippery conditions like that.

But on a MH I like the locker only. Makes sense. Although you could have 4 wd without raising the height as far as I know.