Guest Derek Uzzell Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 2006 is likely to be the year when Ford gets off its axle and becomes a genuinely significant player in the coachbuilt motorcaravan market. A tentative beginning in 2004 with front-wheel drive platform-cab chassis being made available to a limited number of Continental converters has resulted in large sales, particularly in France, and the seal of approval has now been given to this chassis by Hymer releasing details of its forthcoming "Hymer-Van". At present, no UK converter makes coachbuilt 'vans on FWD Fords, but some of the Continental products have entered this country - Eura Mobil Profila models, the Kentucky Camp Camargue, Rimor Katamarano range and Hobby T-Class. (Brownhills have an early Hobby example that has received widespread press coverage, but probably the majority of Ford-based Hobbies will have been imported via Go European Ltd.) If a forum reader has purchased any of these vehicles I'd be very interested in their comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Clive Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 Good morning Derek, With Ford anouncing the new Transits with a live demo of how to change a rear wheel drive chassis cab into a front wheel drive chassis cab using the same engine and gearbox I assume that the the manufacturing costs are almost identical. ((Sump and gearbox castings swapped for a prop shaft and no front powered swivel joints to pay for) So apart from a possibility of a lower floor pan I cannot see why people will prefer front wheel drive, with all its disadvantages for a continuously fully loaded vehicle over a rear wheel drive settup where the load is over the drive axle. Unless of course they are chopping of the back and bolting on an Alco chassis to make it even lower? Rear wheel drive still wins for me! Over Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike C Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 Clive, "Sump and gearbox castings swapped for a prop shaft and no front powered swivel joints to pay for". But add a rear differential casing and gearwheels and pinions, a back axle and drive shafts, two part prop shaft (balanced) and the universal swivel joints and central carrier. Not really a great deal in it. I agree about the advantages of RWD and would add another advantage which is that of controlling skids more easily on a RWD set up. Experience tells me that the RWD Transit is still one of the best commercials around and hopefully with FWD now being available we may see more UK Coachbuilts using the Transit Chassis Cab. Regards, Mike C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Clive Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 Mike, Totally agree with you. what you get for your buck with a modern Transit takes some beating, especially with the new chain cam engines. Although they are great deal better they still have that transit rattle at tick over. Something that my 97 Merc 312 has never had. But I agree, If I were buying today the Transit would come a close third to the Sprinter or VW LT35 but would win on cost. And the Fiat Peugot stuff is still a long way behind in engineering excellance / quality of design and build. No sure about the Renault base though, how similar is it to the Sevel? C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike C Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 Hello Clive, As far as I know the Renault Traffic and Master are nothing to do with Sevel. My experience with Renault goes back 12 years and I remember constant problems with electrics, cooling and Auto boxes. The new Renaults are highly thought of by the trade but this may be due to the price to the trade, there certainly seem to be masses of Traffic's around. Can only share your view of Fiat. After the turbo pipe popped off on my 2.3JTD Ducato I looked at the similar installation on a Merc Sprinter. The pipe was held on by a circlip and looked very unlikely to come adrift. Generally the Fiat 2.3 JTD is a good engine but the usual Fiat cost cutting spoils what could be a reliable motor. Regards, Mike C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Brian Ramsden Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 Mercedes may still be able to claim engineering excellence (although many claim they are "overcomplicating" their vehicles, they can nolonger boast of product build quality, as the latesr surveys confirm. Even their own Chairman has admitted their failings. they are regretting having had to reduce their workforce to cut costs when they did not have the managerial expertise to maintain quality with the reduced numbers. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Brian Ramsden Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 Mercedes may still be able to claim engineering excellence (although many claim they are "overcomplicating" their vehicles, they can nolonger boast of product build quality, as the latest surveys confirm. Even their own Chairman has admitted their failings. They are regretting having had to reduce their workforce to cut costs when they did not have the managerial expertise to maintain quality with the reduced numbers. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Clive Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 I did say mine was a 97 vintage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Derek Uzzell Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 Please see my posting's lasr sentence! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Clive Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 Yes Derek, Has anybody got one yet? I had a good look round a FWD Ford Coachbuilt at Malvern. It was near the Brownhills ( Hymer UK) corner and i didn,t note its make of model but was prety impressed by the conversion but gutted when I looked underneath to find it was Front Wheel Drive. What a waste I thought! And it was on a Ford chassis so RWD would not have changed the floorpan! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Derek Uzzell Posted August 30, 2005 Share Posted August 30, 2005 I've got one (Hobby T600-FC) - hence the posting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mel E Posted August 30, 2005 Share Posted August 30, 2005 Yes, more European builders are using the Tranny as a base this year - but mostly for their less expensive models. The big news from the Continent is how the Renault Master is taking over. This may partly be due to the imminence of a replacement from Sevel, but it's also because it's a darn good product. Most of the historic build problems have been overcome, the new engine range is excellent and heavily Nissan influenced (the 3 litre is a Nissan engine) and the ride is excellent. One problem with the Ford is that the internal structure makes it very unsuited to van conversions - I know, I looked in detail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Derek Uzzell Posted August 30, 2005 Share Posted August 30, 2005 Mel: Yes, Ford must be offering Continental motorhome builders the Transit FWD platform-cab chassis at a knock-down price, considering how inexpensive the converted final products normally are. I've never looked at a Transit panel-van's insides, but I believe "Which Motorcaravan" has tested (or will soon be testing?) La Strada's Pronto Transit-based van conversion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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