The Ford Transit RV Chassis Review | What We Think After 2000 Miles

the Ford Transit chassis is being used more and more these days to build the small RVs the B's and the C's and some say it might even rival the sprinters as the most used for the RV chassis after more than two thousand miles driving an RV on the Ford Transit chassis we're about to give you our no-holds-barred review of what it's like for the past three weeks we have been testing out the new leisure travel vans Wonder RTB Class B plus model now all of our previous RV experience has been on the Class B Sprinter chassis so we wanted to see first of all what it's like driving the slightly wider B+ van but we also wanted to see how the Ford Transit chassis performed as an RV so we're going to tell you now what we like and what we don't like about the Ford Transit chassis and then next week we're going to take you inside for a full review of the Wonder we picked up the van at leisure travel vans headquarters in Winkler Manitoba Canada and we sat out first a thousand miles to our Michigan home to pick up bowl and then to head another thousand miles south to Florida right off the bat we experienced something we hadn't bargained for a blizzard we're talking a full head-on blizzard that produced almost total whiteout conditions as we crossed back into the US through North Dakota even though we were being hit broadside by high winds from the Northwest the Ford Transit van kept the Wunder firmly on the road now to be sure there were some two-handed driving involved but I noticed no buffeting and there were no traction issues but we couldn't see to continue and ended up pulling off the freeway and waiting out the storm next morning dawned cold 30 below zero but clear and brisk we even saw snow rainbows where the Sun reflects off snow crystals suspended in the air the drive to Michigan went very well we enjoyed the scenery travel through Minnesota Wisconsin in the Michigan U P we crossed the Mackinac Bridge in heavy winds but the transit steered straight and true which is a good thing because it's a long way down we were very comfortable in the cab portion of the transit back at our home we picked up Bo and set off again so we're off with Bo to see how he handles this new rate what you know he's doing better than the other you really would like my feet the room barely form dillan room 4 in here and we really don't want him in here he kind of crowds everything so we've got to train him that it's okay to ride further back in the Motorhome now the Class B that we had before doors were always opening cabinets separates falling out what else scared him back there oh just noises funky the roads in Michigan are terrible I think we have the worst roads in the country yeah Michigan does like we travel everywhere Michigan roads are just parlor and they're worse than third-world countries actually I take that we've been in third-world countries where the roads are much better than this but anyway we're going to be out of Michigan in a while here and we are on good roads right now we just got off some that was terrible this is a part they repaid we thank them for that but meantime we got a puppy that we got a dream that it's okay to go further back in the Motorhome this one isn't going to have things falling out no I think it's imprinted in a dog's mind and be kind of crazy so there's more room for them he's not happy if he could talk in it tell you he was up on one of the twin beds but get tighter to that how you do involved you got thinking on sable let me order here what do you think of this thing it's extremely comfortable to drive and I actually think it's easier to drive don't know why see it is more comfortable the padding on the back like with my bath is resting on I'm comfortable you know it's the wheels are perfect alignment assembly it's amazing really because it's a it's bigger its considerable my copic lie that'll feel smaller here's something we both appreciate it the entertainment navigation system on the transit that leisure chose you can use either the standard Ford Sync controls or connect your smartphone like we do with apple carplay so we can use our favorite apps like Waze or Google Maps or podcasts player here's something that's nice this gearshift lever is built right into the dash there the other one kind of stuck out and that's what the dog was always bumping into remember oh yeah all we have to do is i sat down the instrument cluster in the dash is brightly lit well arranged easy to see up above our series of built-in cubby holes for storing things like sunglasses and the things you want to keep out of the way but in easy reach my experience in driving the wonder on the Ford Transit is one of comfort to me it handles more like an SUV than an RV I'm very confident driving it the transit model leisure travel van uses for the Wanderers the 350 HD 3.2 liter turbo diesel 185 horsepower with the 6-speed automatic transmission it has dual rear wheels I've been tracking the mileage ever since we picked it up but after 2000 miles loaded with all our gear gen me Bo and some fresh water after we D winterized I've been averaging 16.3 miles per gallon the large side mirrors give excellent views of what's behind and on the side it has Lane Keeping alerts if you get tired or stray out of your lane but it does not have blind spot warning lights and that is something that I miss a lot and the reason is the extra five inches of the cab on each side it triggers the warning system we're told there's a third party option that can be installed and if we were to get one of these units I would want it installed there is a rear-view mirror but here's the deal the back end of this thing is all closed off you really can't see anything back there so what they've done is that they display a rear-view camera in the rear view mirror here's something else I like about the floor in transit it's lower to the ground so it's easier to get in and out of easy no big step up there's something else that we don't particularly like about the transit it's very cramped in the cab it's a smaller cab and it's awkward to get up and then transition yourself from the cab to the rest of the motorhome we joke that you have to learn to become a contortionist but you get used to it there's no doubt though that it's much more awkward moving from the cab of the transit than it was for example moving from the cab of the Sprinter to the rest of the RV something else the driver's seat doesn't swivel around like it doesn't a sprinter the passenger seat does so you can use it as part of the Motorhome seating when stopping but it's considerably more difficult to get in position than in the other RVs we've had so what's our verdict on the Ford Transit as an RV chassis it's a definite thumbs up the things that we didn't like our far outweighed by the ease and driving and handling it's very comfortable now that you know we think about the Ford Transit as an RV what do we think about the leisure travel and so wonder our TV and you're gonna have to wait till next week to find out what we think we're Mike and Jennifer why don't we want to thank you guys for watching this video please give us a thumbs up on the video and also don't forget to please subscribe to the RV lifestyle Channel right here on YouTube happy trails [Music] you

Channel: RV Lifestyle

Views: 76,930

Rating: 4.9239907 out of 5

Keywords: ford transit chassis rv, ford transit chassis, ford transit, ford transit chassis review, driving the wonder rtb, ltv wonder rtb, rv review, class b rv 2019, the wendlands, rv life, rv lifestyle, rv models, transit chassis

Id: 2AuuVOnncos

Length: 10min 0sec (600 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 28 2019