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Our Surprising Enjoyment of the RV Lifestyle

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Climbing Aboard, In Praise of the FMCA Forums

Two years ago, I responded to my wife's comments that having an RV might be a nice alternative to searching for pet-friendly hotels as we attended dog obedience rallies. I mean, nothing against La Quinta -- they have a universal pet-friendly stance -- but hotels located in the vicinity of such events are afflicted with noise, puddles, and lawns strewn with doggie bombs. To make a long story mercifully short, our initial rig candidates fell short of her requirements: the shower was too small, t
andyshane

andyshane

3
 

Jacked Around (Conveyed from a forum item involving HWH jacks. Mine are Power Gear.)

Source: HWH Front Left Jack Leaking Fluid Well, the jury is in, and the accused is already swinging in the wind... I'll post the film of removing the jack leg from the rig later; for now, we'll skip straight to the end. In the shop, I heated the top bolt on the leg -- it weighs about 45 lbs -- used the impact wrench to extract the 6" long bolt. After allowing the entire cylinder to drain, I manually pulled on the foot and out came the rod. About a foot or so... Then, it hung up. I pulled
andyshane

andyshane

2
 

Brustor Awnings

As a new Beaver owner, I'm stomping out gremlins as fast as I can, developing a maintenance and inspection program for the bus. Really, I cannot stress enough the importance of reviewing all manuals for the RV itself, the chassis, and its components; and then compiling all applicable checks into one simple list. In addition to that, I've created an airline-style maintenance tracking book, so that broken items are tracked and their repairs documented. Since our January 12th purchase, I'd logge
andyshane

andyshane

2
 

Manabloc From Heaven Okay, maybe the other place, when careless owners are involved...

I'd noticed that the plumbing manifold had some rusty hardware, and was dripping. Actually, the first impression was that the Aqua Hot on the opposite side of the coach was dripping; but, good detective work and a drop light led me back to the true source: the Manabloc manifold. I'll spare you all the trials of rebuilding the manifold, replacing connectors, etc. and skip to the end: someone had not properly winterized the rig, and there are tiny cracks from freezing in the top of the stack
andyshane

andyshane

2
 

Getting Up To Speed On Planet Roadmaster

We're at the end of our first thirty days' ownership of a new Beaver Patriot Thunder, and the learning curve remains steep. Compounding our problem is the dealership's failure to locate our manuals: they were removed from the rig when the Silverleaf system was installed, and somehow became misplaced. Were it not for online resources, I'd be lost. But, I'm chugging along, learning many lessons from the coach, online resources and fellow Monaco/Beaver/Navistar owners. The highlights: Levelin
andyshane

andyshane

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Slideout Topper Maintenance

We noticed the other day that our clamshell that covers the retracted topper on the full-length slideout was not fully closed. It appears that the massively long roller has a mid-section gutter in which it rests and freely rotates. Imagine a telephone pole, mounted to the corner of the rooftop, and you've got an accurate image, similar weight. Well, getting to a position where the dislodged roller can be remounted is not that easy. I'll array some photos later to show how it can be safely do
andyshane

andyshane

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It Really Make Scents When You Think About It

After our first trip in our 2007 Beaver, I noticed a foul odor coming from the toilet area. The floor around the toilet was dry and clean, there was no sign of leakage in the basement below. I cleaned the bowl and it still got stinky in the lavatory whenever the bus sat overnight with windows and doors closed. These toilets are easy to loosen, move: just remove the four hold down bolts, and it is a free-moving fixture tethered by hoses and wires. I looked in the wall space behind the unit, a
andyshane

andyshane

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Combustion Chamber of Horrors

Our Aqua Hot was a little smokey. Replacing the nozzle and filter, along with checking the output pressure, didn't do the trick. The exhaust can be tested, easily: hold a paper towel over the end for 10 seconds, note the pattern. What finally reduced the smoke was adjusting the air intake bypass, a slot cut in the intake pipes that overlap, has a set screw. I went from a solid black circle to light gray, on the towels. Visit www.aquahot.com for owners and service manuals. Below is the c
andyshane

andyshane

0
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