chp007kd40

My Itasca 40KD is still not on the road (since 6-12-15) and in fact the process with National General Insurance is going so slow that I am truly not happy. I just learned today that Camping World is not authorized to work on Magnum products, but of course they did and now my 2800 pure sine with auto start installed 2014 is now not covered under the two year warranty if I chose to go that route. It is my understanding that National General Insurance are required to recommend Camping World as their national repair center. REALLY. I have been told by my adjuster (somewhere in another state) that they (NGIC) will guarantee the work for two years and that's great if it actually happens, but I'm still without my motorhome. I feel like Camping World and NGIC have given me a "FULL TIME JOB" putting this all back together. David and Ruthann

Camping World in Anderson/Redding, Ca. replaced my $3300.00 (without installation) four camera system from Rearview Systems with a $497.00 (their cost) Voyager four camera system and the installation was horrible. The dash a/c problems (now over $3400.00) was so bad and unnecessary that I had to take it to an independent a/c shop to get it fixed. The camera system they installed is now coming out next week by an independent repair shop. What a hassle. I now have an attorney and an adjuster trying to sort all this out while my beautiful Itasca Horizon 40ft. DP sits in my driveway and have not been able to use it since May. Shame on them!!

What a great looking set-up. We think our Itasca is great (2005 40kd) but now it is being hauled off to Freightliner, Redding, Ca because when Camping World touched it, things went terribly bad. Today we are having it tested to find out why the trip meter reads 13 million miles and the odometer reads three different mileages. $3055.00 dollars on a/c repairs and it went out on the way home (8 miles). Five other issues and a missed 5 week trip. David

Carl, Tom and Erniee, Thank you for your reply, but Carl, your comment (Carl, they will ever touch my motorhome) really stood out, and I thank you. If I would take it back to Camping World now then no one should ever believe a word I am saying. What you said Carl made me want to be even more correct about explaining this situation because it was so easy for me to get trapped and I'll explain. Back in February I discovered that this Camping World had a technician that could install my new remote for my auto-start for the generator. Upon delivering my motorhome to C.W. I just happened to mention that my dash a/c had a slow leak around the fill valve (up front above the generator) so please charge the system and if possible solve the leak. This was a six day scheduled process and I got my motorhome back around mid March (already 3 days late for our 6 week trip) with a new a/c compressor and a promise we guarantee our work . Since they found no leak up front and now I have a new compressor (they forgot to save the part as I requested) I started to feel a little uneasy. What were they doing for 18 days? That feeling came alive going through Nevada when we lost cooling in the dash a/c on the second day out and the auto-start did not work properly that evening. All I could think about was $1978.00 dollars paid, 18 days in the shop and three days late on our trip, we needed to make up some time to meet our schedule which we never did and It cost us another $500.00 dollars or more by rerouting. We bought five large cans of a/c charge on the trip to have dash air. One can would last only hours, that's how bad of a leak we had. It was later discovered later (Freightliner shop) that the new compressor had an "O" ring installed loose or improperly. You mean is 16 days they never checked their work? Now here is where things started to go in a different direction. High in the Colorado Rockies someone backed a small trailer hauling a couple long pieces of lumber and just happened to hit the right front of our motorhome (2005 Horizon 40' DP) and tore the cap loose and was separated from the frame by 15 inches. What a sight to see at 8000 ft. in the Rockies and no town in sight and the right side mirror (large and heavy) was flopping around. Did not look good! Well, the nice man who saw this happen (didn't get lic.#) stayed to help me. WE took the horizontal trim off and saw where it had pulled loose from. Reattached and made it to, I think Canon City, where we actually glued it back together (I was surprised how these motorhomes are assembled) and it held for the next 6500 miles. Guess where our National General Ins. Co. has a national contract with? CW! I did not want to take it back to CW and I knew I didn't have to, except they had $1978.00 dollars of my money, they needed to do some explaining and besides, Mr Borden who runs the body shop has quite a nice following so I took it in with some hope of satisfaction. 104 days later you know some of the rest of the story. Pitiful. One day I waited about 40 minutes to be taken back to my motorhome, abiding by store policy. When a shop does a LOCK DOWN on your motor home, RUN to it and get it out of there. Another words, I'm assuming most CW shops are set up that way so watch OUT. Yes, I am pretty darn mad because this trip we are missing is something my wife has been looking forward to for along time. Going the Yellowstone this time of year an going out on adventure hikes, excursions and talks on animal movements, hibernation and just to see Winter coming also in Glacier. An ex employee of CW said it best from what I observed so far, "they take in more work than they could possibly repair correctly and this is a common result. Management at the level I talk to blame it on the Corporate push for profits. I have to say thank you again FMCA for this platform so as to help all of us. I know now that my last five motorhomes were not fragile until uncaring people made them that way. Mine is now fragile! All of you wonderful people, please send us some rain and snow. We are really hurting for snow and water in Northern Ca.. Last Winter we got 5% of our normal snow fall. David and Ruthann

I can't be the only experienced diesel pusher owner that has gotten their RV treated very poorly at Camping World. It is so bad it seems like a bad dream. 104 days of turmoil and it cannot even be driven on our last five week trip this year because it is being re-repaired in my driveway as I type. What have some of you successfully done to get help from upper management at Camping World. Who to contact? Marcus Lemonis any help? Trip meter reads 13 million miles, odometer went from 104,103 miles to 2346 to now 9765 miles. Norcold 1200 had to be hard reset 3 times before coming back on, dash a/c has had the compressor, evaporator/heater core and a hose replaced and went out again on the way home. Broken into twice by a criminal wearing an ankle brace who had my #19 key to my tool box in his pocket when searched by Police Officer for suspicious activity. $11,000.00 in damages by ripping my beautiful motorhome apart. $4000.00 in deductibles because it was broken into twice, GREAT!!! . Put the wrong 4 camera system in and you should see the install. Holes drilled in dash framing for no apparent reason with metal filings still in place, exposed blue wire that sparked while the dash was being removed because no air coming from passenger side vent. One a/c duct was smashed under another and the one on top was punctured by a metal tab that held the dash. Generator auto is still not operating properly, keeps reseting to a low amp restart that is not useable, radio not working so that kills the sirius radio until the new tech reset it. Keys to my motor home now in possession of criminals along with remotes to my entry gates and garages. I will never take my motor home to a repair shop where it is in "LOCK DOWN" and hidden from view. Any help would be appreciated

Had a new 2800 magnum pure sine installed but they did not have time to install the auto start component. Is it reliable enough to make it worth while to install? Itasca Horizon DP 40ft. with 7.5 Onan, not an all electric coach.

Hi Jack. Lots of us have the same issue in varying degrees, but the result is about the same. Our 40 ft Horizon was a pretty easy fix since we didn't want and or need the combo washer/dryer (to heavy compared to the good it did so we took it out) and in it's place I got a 12k btu a/c from Home Depot and put it that space. The unit is set up to where you can run a air intake from the unused dryer vent and exit the hot exhaust out a convenient sealed location and plug the electrical into the w/d receptacle. That way you can circulate the air within the bedroom with the sliding door closed or not. It is a little noisy, but sometimes it is a benefit to drown out outside noise. It works well with the other a/c unit also. Hope that helps. David

Well, I finished installing my Norcold 1201 according to the install manual from Norcold and it was not easy. My 4 door frig. w/ice maker was installed very poorly. I think I have a Friday built coach! I'm taking it out this weekend for a test run in 100 degree temperature I'll post my findings. So far it appears to be cooling down faster. David

Brett and Rich, thank you. I am now encouraged to do what the original install was suppose to do and that is to pay attention to the details which was not done. I'm encouraged because it is working so so out of specifications, then the revamp should make a big difference. It will be a lot more work than putting the fans on manual but it is the right thing to do and I am actually looking forward to this project now. My coach can't be the only one out there that is not installed correctly so I'll let you know what the results are in a week or so. David

Brett-----thank you. Getting back to the basics (read the manual carefully) is always a good start and it is paying off this time. The factory install barely met minimum requirements. Actually, I was quite surprised at the factory requirements, but I am going to follow them carefully and see what happens. What mostly I found was to much air space around the unit creating dead air, baffles installed poorly and lots of gaps for air to infiltrate. Soooo much silicone from the factory and some of it useless or not serving it's purpose. Still don't have a good handle on the cooling fan issue. Why do the fans cycle on and off so often and can I just have them on manual (constant run) when I'm traveling. If cooling the condenser is so important, why do they both turn off for minutes at a time? As always, thanks for your help. David

Thanks Ray and Rich. I live in Redding, Ca. and our very warm summers can be an issue, although the install was done poorly. The panel was clearly removed by someone and not put back that I'm now replacing. Is there such a thing as to much air flow in back of these units? That is why I'm considering improving the air flow with a continuous running fan and or installing a third. We dry camp throughout the year so I'm not too excited about going to a residential frig.. David

Had an Amish cooling unit installed last year and the cooling fans cycle on and off and I'm getting so so performance. Would it be OK to run cooling fans on manual switch to run constantly, maybe one fan at night and two or three during travel time, but constantly on. Only use electric when the generator is on. My roof vent is 4x24. Is that a normal size for the larger units. When I removed the unit I found out that the pocket door next to the frig. has 1/8 inch paneling with a large piece missing letting hot air into the coach. Appreciate any help, David

Rich, thank you. Didn't know that about 220 volts and two inverters. Our coach is set up with propane for frig., range, water heater and furnace along with heat pump so I'm going to go ahead and try the install a single new inverter myself. Nice to have you on board! Interesting on the cord reel. Just checked mine out and everything is tight and secure, but I could see where problems could lurk. David

Thanks all of you for the updates and very good advice, as always. The coach came with 50amp shore setup and the electrical bay has a hard wire surge plus a reel for the cord, but appears to have enough room for a larger unit. I briefly looked at one older request for information where the generator was always running when not needed, so I'm thinking I will leave well enough alone in that area since I don't need any more issues. I'm not intending to go to a residential frig. anytime soon Rich because we are off grid so much and that appears to be real need for auto start. Rich, I was a little confused about your comment about only installing "one". Am I missing something here? I was figuring on one compact unit showing up at my doorstep. David

DIY person here would like to replace a failed Dimension 2000 watt inverter/charger (original equip. on Itasca 40Kd, pusher) with a pure sine wave with auto start for 7.5 gen., which I do not have now. Four 6 volt and two 12 volt batteries with 2 panel solar. We travel mostly without rv park hookups 1. Are most of you happy with your auto starts? 2. Which mfg. is doing a good job and what model would you recommend? 3. Is this a project that can easily get a diy person in trouble quickly? Appreciate your comments

I have been using Mr Heater hooked directly to the gas range via a five foot hose for six years, can't live without it now and neither can the weenie dogs. We only use a slight ventilation and for safety added two carbon monoxide detectors and they have never alarmed. Hardly ever use the two factory propane heaters and we dry camp a lot.

Check the exhaust gaskets. Mine was the #5 cylinder on an 8.9 Cummins and the noise followed the rpm's like you described.

The reason you might want to do it yourself is because you can raise the cabinet 5 inches at the same time and really enjoy the whole experience. I did it, wasn't that bad. If you really plan it well, then you can put in the 95 inch windshield shades with all the extra room you gain with a flat tv. You will really enjoy those shades. I did it on my Itasca Horizon. Good luck, DC

There are RV owners that swear by the Monaco products, but we got rid of our 2000 Dynasty DP because the ride was so horrible on concrete slab roads and freeways, it shook us crazy! So, if you don't have the eight outside airbags and no concrete roads you might be satisfied with that. The other problem was the turning radius on the Monaco back in 2000. We met a nice sales person who directed us to the Freightliner chassis with just four air bags and 56 degree and 60 degree turning radius. We never turned back. Caution--- you are about to enter the maintenance and problem solving adventure of a lifetime and it usually isn't cheap. Good Luck, David

Had a very similar problem with the Itasca Horizon. Basically a poor job sealing from the factory and I actually had some leaks from some winter traveling because the sealant was actually separated in spots. It took a while but I lifted the curved part of the roof a few inches at a time, scraped some of the old adhesive away and applied with a caulking gun a 50 year sealant adhesive on both sides of the coach three years ago. It still looks good today and solved my leaking problem. David

lujohn1: When you realize how many systems are in these coaches and how often they change designs there is bound to be problems. That is why I just started doing the repairs myself. Granted this is not for everyone, my rv garage is 30x45 and well equipped and I was raised on a farm where we had to do most of everything, but that was 50 years ago. What really convinced me to get more involved was in Kent Washington two years ago I was told I needed a $5400.00 rebuilt turbo installed on my 8.9 Cummins after they replaced the serpentine belt and the whining noise was still there. Even I was convinced it needed it, but not at this facility. I limped into Northwest Cummins around Eugene, Oregon and the tech told me within 15 minutes it was the #5 exhaust gasket had failed and that was a common issue with that motor. $300.00 dollars later all the exhaust gaskets were replaced. I just modified the front TV cage to make room for the duo day/night shades and installed a flat screen tv and was able to raise TV up 5.5 inches. That's huge if you have a front TV that you hitting your head on. The new windshield shades are 95 inches long like the newer coaches have. Took some doing, but I made it without any mistakes. David

No, of course you're not alone, but not many people feel too sorry for us who can afford a nice motorhome. I could fill up four pages with my experiences and with five motorhomes, that is why a lot of us are figuring out the issues ourselves and doing most of the maintenance on our rigs. What you and I have in common is the tpms that the Winnebago factory installed for 789 dollars and quit working the next day. I fixed it myself when I got home. The mechanic had it installed incorrectly. I just got tires three months ago and now discovered a valve stem was installed at a bad angle, destroying the pressure sensing unit and rubbing off the threads on the valve stem. Hang in there. We are all in this together. I am always very happy for the support we get from our members, so thank you. David

Yes, quite a job, but it was worth it. Had to get rid of the factory installed bulky TV and install a flat screen (takes up less space), modify the metal cage that held it and I raised it 5.5 inches so now the TV is not a head knocker. The cage was not really that difficult to modify (all metal, no welding) but, it had to take off over 11 inches of depth and then I realized it could be raised up also. The day/night shades are a great improvement. This should be good info for the 05 and 06 Winnebago Vectra also.

Great explanation Brett!! Thank you, David

What is the most preferred oil for 07 cummins 8.9 and onan 7.5. I have been using Chevron Delo and didn't give synthetics much thought. Should I be considering it? David