Temp.guage on instrament panel is erradic

SOURCE: 1986 Ford Econoline 350 Temp Guage Problem

The gauge can very well be "lying" to you.

As a precaution, I would do a routine cooling system service on it. This includes completely flushing the coolant, replacing the thermostat and radiator cap (believe it or not, a bad cap can cause issues too).

On the few Fords I have owned, mine were always in the middle, or to the left of the middle.

Motor homes should run cooler actually, beings as they tend to have heavy duty large capacity cooling systems.

SOURCE: ford mondeo mk3, intermitent dumping of water from

You may have an air pocket in your system which some times happens.  One way to get rid of it is to take the upper hose off on the engine side,  fill your system with water until it runs out from your engine block, replace the hose, start your car turn you heater on and set to hi keep the radiator cap loose until the temp start to rise then close tight.  Once the air pocket had been remover you can drain some of the water from the radiator using the lower drain plug and add antifreeze.   

SOURCE: 2004 Chevy Venture overheats

check the make sure you have no air in your system if there is an air bubble trapped in behind the thermostat your thermostat wont open and your car will heat up and stay hot while letting a small amount of coolant through the bypass so it wont overheat