New E450 and the Mothership October 18, 2019, 08:38:08 pm I went to the Mothership today to look at a 27MB and talk to Todd. The 27MB they had on display is a 2019 with the V10 engine and I spoke at some length with Todd about the new Ford 7.3 liter V8. I’ll try to remember all that he said. Sorry about the order, but it’s the way I’m remembering things.1. All of the 2019 Ford V10 E450 cutaways have been assigned to customers. Any customer placing a new order will be getting a 2021 Ford 7.3 liter V8 E450. So... if you haven’t put down any money yet, then you’ll be getting the new 7.3 liter V8.2. Ford skipped over 2020 and is calling the new E450 a 2021 model year.3. The first 2021 cutaways will be delivered to the Mothership in January 2020. Todd said that this was later than other years. Usually the new model year cutaways arrive in October.4. All new 2021’s will come with TPMS. Todd was excited about that. So am I 5. I asked Todd if other safety features like lane-assist could be added. He said not on the first round of 2021 cutaways but they were thinking about allowing for customer upgrade requests and then add on their cost. The details have not been worked out yet. I told him that I would pay for a lane-assist upgrade.6. Although Todd has placed the order with Ford... Ford has not yet given them a price per unit. I thought that was strange.7. Ford has not given out HP or Torque specs yet. This has been discussed here before.8. The new 2021’s will come with a 6-speed transmission and not the 10-speed.That’s all that Todd would say about the new model year. I am appreciative that he said as much as he did.As for the rest of the visit... I had a blast sitting in the 27MB, opening every cupboard and looking in every cranny. Another potential buyer came in while I was sitting there and he said he could not believe the quality. He said it put his SOB to shame. I showed him how the twin couches could be pulled together to make a king. He was really impressed on how it only took a minute to do. Maybe Todd should hire me as a sales rep I put my name on the list August 22... I can’t wait until it’s my turn to place the order.- John 14 Likes
Re: New E450 and the Mothership Reply #1 – October 18, 2019, 08:54:17 pm Thanks for the update, John. Much appreciated!The only point I’m not sure about is the chassis deliveries starting in January as that conflicts with what the Ford rep. told me a couple weeks ago at the California RV show. He said production would begin in January with deliveries to motorhome manufacturers starting in April. Hope you are right!
Re: New E450 and the Mothership Reply #2 – October 18, 2019, 09:37:20 pm Quote from: HiLola - October 18, 2019, 08:54:17 pmThanks for the update, John. Much appreciated!The only point I’m not sure about is the chassis deliveries starting in January as that conflicts with what the Ford rep. told me a couple weeks ago at the California RV show. He said production would begin in January with deliveries to motorhome manufacturers starting in April. Hope you are right!Early in the conversation, Todd told me that he wouldn’t be getting the first delivery until January. Later in the conversation he referred the first delivery as “early next year”. So he could have some doubt as to when the first delivery will be.FWIW - you may want to change your signature to “On the list for 2021!” since it appears we’re skipping 2020 - John 1 Likes
Re: New E450 and the Mothership Reply #3 – October 18, 2019, 09:52:30 pm Quote from: JohnR - October 18, 2019, 09:37:20 pmFWIW - you may want to change your signature to “On the list for 2021!” since it appears we’re skipping 2020 Made a signature change, John. 1 Likes
Re: New E450 and the Mothership Reply #4 – October 18, 2019, 10:44:58 pm Quote from: JohnR - October 18, 2019, 08:38:08 pmAs for the rest of the visit... I had a blast sitting in the 27MB, opening every cupboard and looking in every cranny. If you took any pictures, could you post them? It would a special treat to see a new 27MB on the floor at the Factory.
Re: New E450 and the Mothership Reply #5 – October 19, 2019, 12:01:52 am Quote from: Ed & Margee - October 18, 2019, 10:44:58 pmIf you took any pictures, could you post them? It would a special treat to see a new 27MB on the floor at the Factory.I didn't take many pictures and the ones I did take didn't come out very well. But here's one of the outside...- John
Re: New E450 and the Mothership Reply #6 – October 19, 2019, 08:09:09 am John, did Todd talk about lead times and if the switch over to the 21s may impact the current 12 - 18 month estimate?Great info!
Re: New E450 and the Mothership Reply #7 – October 19, 2019, 11:40:56 am Hmm. I would not be as thrilled about factory installed TPMS. Prime importance to me is knowing the tire pressure in my TOAD. The built-in system will not tell you about a TOAD.Ken F in NM
Re: New E450 and the Mothership Reply #8 – October 19, 2019, 11:42:01 am Quote from: dwebster11 - October 19, 2019, 08:09:09 amJohn, did Todd talk about lead times and if the switch over to the 21s may impact the current 12 - 18 month estimate?Great info!Don,Nothing about lead times other than the “later than usual” January/early 2020 delivery of new cutaways. Todd did say that there were changes to the new cab/dash but he didn’t expect any Ford changes behind the cab.I asked if the 12-18 month estimate was still good and he said it varies a lot because many on the list decide not to buy when their name comes up.- John
Re: New E450 and the Mothership Reply #9 – October 19, 2019, 11:47:29 am Quote from: Kenneth Fears - October 19, 2019, 11:40:56 amHmm. I would not be as thrilled about factory installed TPMS. Prime importance to me is knowing the tire pressure in my TOAD. The built-in system will not tell you about a TOAD.Ken F in NMKen,That is a concern to me since I will be towing a toad. My thought is to install a 4-tire TPMS for the toad that includes a repeater and can be upgraded to 10-tire if the factory system proves to be inadequate. Your thoughts?- John
Re: New E450 and the Mothership Reply #10 – October 19, 2019, 12:08:29 pm Hi John. I have factory TPMS on two of my cars, and it is great to have it built in. The sensors are inside the tires, and really no maintenance at all needed. I finally had to have the transmitters in the older car changed out because one quit at 11 years old. They didn't read out temperature, but the spare was included. Certainly an add-on TPMS just for the towed is doable. The advantage is you know immediately that the tire issue is with the towed vehicle and not the motorhome. The TPMS for the MH, may be able to accomodate a towed vehicle also, since many people do tow. Many more people don't tow though. RonB 1 Likes
Re: New E450 and the Mothership Reply #11 – October 19, 2019, 12:21:06 pm Quote from: RonB - October 19, 2019, 12:08:29 pmHi John. I have factory TPMS on two of my cars, and it is great to have it built in.Ron,I have factory TPMS on one of my cars but it’s 12 years old and definitely not new technology. Do newer factory TPMS monitor temperature as well as pressure? Does anyone know if Ford trucks have a TPMS monitor screen or just an idiot light on the dash?Thanks,John
Re: New E450 and the Mothership Reply #12 – October 19, 2019, 12:29:13 pm The utility of a TPMS, for RV usage, depends on if it displays the actual pressure of each tire vs. just an alarm that goes off when the tire pressure drops below a set pressure. My wife Subaru has the alarm type and provides no information unless the pressure is too low, it require periodic manual checking of the tire pressureI suspect that dash mounted aftermarket TPMS units twill continue to be used, as Ken mentioned, so the toad's tires can be monitored and possibly to show the RV's tires actual tire pressure.The OEMs have been adding towing specific features to their pickups, such as cameras and back up steering systems. A useful TPMS, that includes a toad or trailer tires maybe the next towing enhancement added. Stay tuned.It's a good indication of the E450's continuing production that modern safety features are now being included plus the updated drive line. All of this equipment is off-the-shelf gear and doesn't require a big development investment to include. The E450 will continue to be money maker for Ford.We will not know specifically what will be offered until Ford officially introduces the 2021 E450s.Larry 2 Likes
Re: New E450 and the Mothership Reply #13 – October 19, 2019, 12:34:53 pm Hi John. My 2007, I should have specified that I have a dash screen portion that shows the tire pressures real time. While driving I can watch pressures go up with speed, and decrease with lower speed, or cooler outside temperatures. Getting in the car after it's been parked will show which side has been sitting in the sun. Driving around corners too fast will show the front tires warming up. The tire below the trunk (spare) will gradually warm up during the day, so it is easy to make sure the spare is inflated daily. I doubt that the motorhome TPMS will show the temperatures, but it is a lot newer than my 2007, so it might have that capability. I'm hoping that it would also be capable of showing a spare tire also. I would bet that Ford would allow a towed vehicle (especially if it were a Ford) with it's own TPMS to show on the motorhome screen. RonB 2 Likes
Re: New E450 and the Mothership Reply #14 – October 19, 2019, 02:36:57 pm Quote from: RonB - October 19, 2019, 12:34:53 pmI would bet that Ford would allow a towed vehicle (especially if it were a Ford) with it's own TPMS to show on the motorhome screen. RonBIt would be good add-on business for Ford, especially if only available at a Ford dealership. At this point it’s just speculation. We’ll have to wait for the new units to come out... Aaugh!- John
Re: New E450 and the Mothership Reply #15 – October 19, 2019, 03:05:07 pm Quote from: RonB - October 19, 2019, 12:34:53 pmI'm hoping that it would also be capable of showing a spare tire also. I would bet that Ford would allow a towed vehicle (especially if it were a Ford) with it's own TPMS to show on the motorhome screen. With towing speciality features becoming more common from the OEMs, an onboard TPMS could be made upgradable to include toad or trailer tires by having dealer-only senders available . Cars today have a tremendous amount of programability built into them, with their large, fast computers, this feature could be done with a little software.It may already be available for all I know.Larry 1 Likes
Re: New E450 and the Mothership Reply #16 – October 19, 2019, 03:47:31 pm Quote from: JohnR - October 19, 2019, 12:21:06 pmDoes anyone know if Ford trucks have a TPMS monitor screen or just an idiot light on the dash?Our 2017 F150 has a screen that shows each of the 4 tire pressures, plus alerts you if there is an issue. 2 Likes
Re: New E450 and the Mothership Reply #17 – October 19, 2019, 05:36:06 pm John, my TOAD is a 2011 Subaru Forester. It has its own TPMS, which notifies you if a tire is low, but does not tell you which tire is bad. The sensors are located inside the wheel/tire space. My RV TPMS is now 11 years old. It uses 10 sensors that screw onto the tire valves and they report each tire pressure, as well as an alarm if the tire pressure goes outside specified ranges. They co-exist with the internal sensors on the Forester. I do not need a repeater to get the signal into the RV cab.Your plan to get a 4 wheel system at first, expanding to 10 wheels later if necessary, sounds reasonable. As Larry said, if the factory TPMS shows individual pressures, that should be ok for the rig. If it just supplies a warning of a low tire, without specifying which one or how low, supplement it with a ten tire system that shows, at minimum, individual tire pressures. Some will also show temperature but, to me, that is an extra, not an essential.Ken F in NM 1 Likes
Re: New E450 and the Mothership Reply #18 – October 19, 2019, 06:28:05 pm Thank you Ken, Michelle, Larry and Ron. I guess I’ll have to wait and see what kind of TPMS Ford provides.- John
Re: New E450 and the Mothership Reply #19 – October 19, 2019, 10:40:02 pm "Our 2017 F150 has a screen that shows each of the 4 tire pressures, plus alerts you if there is an issue."When I bought my 2019 F250, Ford offered an optional trailer TPMS kit that integrated with the truck's TPMS display. As I recall, it required installing a transceiver on the trailer and running wiring up to the truck via the 7-way trailer connector. It would be good if they offered a similar option with the new E450 chassis.
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