1999 fleetwood southwind 34l chevy chassis

[brutherb]

hi all

i just got a 1999 fleetwood southwind 34l 454 chevy chassis i believe it is still the p30 chassis (correct me if i am wrong. I am guessing it has a 4l80e heavy duty in it can anyone confirm. I am looking to swap out the 454 for a 6.2 diesel I have putting a banks turbo kit on it. should be a direct swap except for the torque converter and possible the fuel tank and lines. but just wanted to confirm the transmission

 

[Isaac-1]

Technically a '99 would probably be a Workhorse P32 chassis, as Chevrolet sold its motorhome chassis division to Workhorse in 1998, that is unless your 1999 Fleetwood was built on a left over 1998 Chassis which happened fairly commonly as chassis year production did not line up with coach model years exactly, and there were always chassis in the production pipeline from previous years. The quickest way to tell is either decode the VIN or look at the Steering Wheel to see if it has a Chevy or Workhorse logo.

Now that that has been said I have seen numerous people talk about trying such a conversion, and none that have completed it. Transmission for at least 96-02 should be a 4L80E, 03+ P series got the nearly identical 4L85E. Though note there were early and late 4L80E I think the change over was around 1998, these were very different internally so much so that they should probably have been given different model numbers. In addition to what you listed, you would likely need to change the rear end ratio due to different torque curves and max rpm on the diesel. As to reason previous efforts have generally failed is the diesels they were trying to install tended to be too tall as they were trying to install modern duramax, cummins, etc. Also note the P32 motorhomes were offered with the 6.5L diesel in this era, which used a special motorhome only turbo manifold, in order to fit in the allowed space, which is now very expensive junk yard only item.

 

[Kirk]

The quickest way to tell is either decode the VIN or look at the Steering Wheel to see if it has a Chevy or Workhorse logo.

The VIN is the absolute answer, and Isaac gives good advice. If you do this it will be very difficult to get an insurance policy that will come close to what you spend on it.

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

Or, crawl under it and read the numbers off the housing.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Since that is at the transition point between Chevy & Workhorse, the VIN or physical inspection of the component is the only way to be sure. Workhorse will be 5B4 for a motorhome chassis.

However, the early Workhorse P-series were unchanged from Chevrolet designs and the 4L80E was continued thru 2002 And even into 2003 on models equipped with the 6.2L diesel. So if the tranny is your only question, the answer is YES.

Download this Workhorse Chassis Guide for a lot of really helpful info.

 

[Kirk]

Anything helpful posted yet?