medico

There are so many discussions on different brands of any type RV and which is best that getting into that in this thread would duplicating other threads. Just do some searches on motorhome brands in this forum. For TT and 5ers, go to another of the many RV Forums (Escapees, GS Club, iRV2, etc.)

So you've never lived in a MH! You are basing all your observations on the numbers of coaches in for work. Did you ever think that many of these coaches are in for maintenance, or upgrades, or remodeling, or owners mistakes that broke something? The few stories you seem to quote are all for lower end or entry level coaches, as some of the responses to those posts indicate. Lower end coaches are similar to lower end TT or 5ers or truck campers. The quality is lower, the fit and finish is lower and they tend to have many more cosmetic problems. We all know that the first year or 2 of any RV's life is where the bugs are worked out. Many of the problems that occur in the units you seem to love are repairable by their owners so these units don't go back to the shop. There are always exceptions to these facts, but because you seem to have something against those of us that do have nice coaches, you are raging against all nice coaches. I am not in "world class denial" at all. I am basing my responses on the coaches that have been "in the shop" when I was. We all know that the people who have problems are the most vocal. For every bad experience that gets talked about there are many happy owners that do not talk about their good experience. After all the "squeaky wheel gets oiled". In my case I had one problem with my coach that I had 2 dealers work on to solve. It was a problem with the hydro hot unit and was DIRECTLY related to lack of maintenance by the former owner. While I was in the shop having this problem fixed (paid for by my original dealer) there were many other coaches there. I took 2 days to get my coach into the lube shop to have my annual oil change done because so many others were there for that chore. There were several coaches who's owners had hit something with slides, which subsequently had to be repaired. There were at least 4 coaches that were going through upgrades and remodeling, and yes, there were a few coaches that were being repaired. Do not assume that all coaches in the shop are there due to repairs! Plus while we were there, the numbers of bays with TT or 5ers were equal to the numbers of bays with coaches. One other thing you have to realize, most TT or 5ers or truck campers such as yours are NOT lived in FT. These are PT units. Anything lived in FT (such as a nice coach) will ultimately require more maintenance and perhaps more repairs than a unit that is used PT. These FT units get a LOT more use that PT units that might go out a few weekends a year and perhaps a couple of weeks during vacation. Much different from living 24/7 in a coach! By the way, you say you own a Lance Truck Camper, correct? If so, how is it that you are a member of FMCA?

Unfortunately, finding this best floor plan might be more difficult or time consuming if shopping for new. They are out there, but might not be found close to your area. At times the expense to travel to check out a used coach might be quite expensive, especially if you do not find an acceptable coach. I believe the advantages of used do justify a certain amount of travel to find the right coach, but you might find that the exact coach is not available used when you are ready to purchase. You might need to settle on a floor plan that is somewhat different than what you believe is ideal for you. On the other hand, you might find a new coach that is ideal, but is more expensive than your budget, and will loose a large amount of it's value when you drive it off the lot. I know of a couple (fairly well off) that bought a new American Coach Eagle, spent one night in it at the dealer lot, then decided they liked the AC Heritage sitting on the lot better. That one night cost them $50K in trade for the Heritage according to this friend. That's how much they lost when trading the brand new Eagle on their brand new Heritage.

Yes, maintenance is the key. I would bet many of the rigs you see along the road with their hoods up (Class C) or their access doors open (Class A front engine) or their rear doors open (Class A DP) did not have maintenance done on a regular basis. I just had my engine oil and fuel filters replaced on my DP even though I only put 5000 miles on it in the last year as it has been a year since it was done previously. We are taking an extended trip this summer and I do not wish any unexpected problems. Please point out a few of these posts describing the "financial and emotional disaster". I do not actually see too many of these. I regularly participate in 4 different RV forums. Yes there are people that have problems. As already stated ALL RVs have problems. New RVs (no matter the class) have bugs to be worked out. Any RV without the appropriate maintenance will suffer unexpected problems. Older RVs have systems that are wearing out over time. I do not believe folks that have Class A RVs are any more prone to a disaster than any other. In fact, because we do have more expensive RVs, perhaps we take precautions to ensure regular maintenance is done.

I do not know where you are looking! I actually see more of the lower cost Class C's broken down along the highway, and not too many of those. If I stop along a highway, it's to stretch my back or releave myself, or both. When I rode in a Class C, I had to stop more often because the ride was terrible compared to my Class A. When you look at the numbers of RV's on the road, the numbers of those that break down along the road is pretty low. But that's why we get roadside assistance insurance. You cannot base your purchase on what you see along a highway. That would not be the best way to make this important decision IMO. Most of the waranty issues ALL new RV's have are not with the basic drive train, ability to move systems, but with the other systems added to that chassis.

I would also like to welcome you to our Forum. My DW and I jumped in with both feet. Our CC Magna is our first coach. We got it for just over half what the other coaches we were looking at were getting for new. And these new coaches were of a much lower quality compared to our CC. Yes there were some growing pains. We bought from a dealer that does not normally handle CC (They are Tiffin and Coachman dealers). The walk through during delivery is somewhat less than stellar because they do not really know our coach. So you have to spend the time to learn your coach. I suppose if buying used from a dealer that deals with that brand new would not have this problem. Make sure ALL the manuals are included in the coach.There are MANY manuals with our coach. It does take a while to work your way through them. The systems are complex so take the time. It did take us a while to figure out how to use the various systems most efficiently for us. Plus there were a couple of hidden problems that we ultimately figured out and corrected. Did we make a bad decision? Absolutely NOT!!! We love our coach and often get many nice comments from visitors. Since we sold our SB home and live FT in the coach, we love the extra space. We do not travel constantly (as others have said this would be very expensive) but instead spend several months at a time in one area. We have changed our domicile to Florida and recently bought a permanent lot where we will spend every winter with our major travel in the summer. We are planning a major trip every couple of years (Colorado then back to NY for visits this summer) with smaller regional trips in the off years. We also work camp or volunteer during the summer to help offset the travel expenses. Traveling with a large coach is not cheap (average of 6 to 7 mpg on level roads. At over $4 per gallon for diesel, you get the picture) so we like to park and visit scenic sites using day trips with our toad. We love this lifestyle. We have seen our kids and grandkids more since going FT than we ever did before. Our kids have lived Out Of State from us for many years and during our working life we did not have time to visit often. Plus when we did visit we felt as though we were putting them out when we visited. Now we take our home with us! What could be better? Enjoy yourself with this fantastic lifestyle.

Download the owner's manual here. Look at page 547 for your answer. The next few pages go through the procedures.

There is obviously a problem with the generator. You should have a full 120 volts (approx.) when the generator is running. I would check for circuit breakers on the generator. If that is not the problem, you might need to consult with a professional for that brand generator. There might also be a main power disconnect switch somewhere on your motor home. For the original OP, you should also be checking for open circuit breakers as Herman and Brett mentioned. Whenever I lose power to outlets, I have a circuit breaker tripped. For example, when I am running a small ceramic heater and the coffee maker, if I try to toast some bread I will trip the breaker to the front of the coach. This is a likely candidate for you as well. Electric heaters draw a lot of power.

Welcome to our FMCA Forum. Glad to meet you!

I use my GS GPS along with MS Streets and Trips and Google Maps to plot my routes. I do not want to be caught in a situation whereby I have to try to turn around a 45 foot coach on a 2 lane road. The GPS reminds me which road I have to turn onto or where I have to turn. I suppose a printed paper would do the same, but the GPS tells me so I can concentrate on the road and hazards around me. The GPS also provides other info, miles remaining, time remaining, speed limits and changes in speed limits, if I go too fast, etc. I can also program the GPS to route me around toll roads, dirt roads, etc. My GPS allows me to switch from RV to car when I place it in the car. This is a very nice feature because the car routing may be completely different from the RV routing. I guess my opinion is using several resources is much better for me than relying on a single resource.

What does the owners manual say? I would believe this over the person you talked to. Most of those people have no idea.

National General formerly was GMAC. I had them for almost a year, without any claims. I would have kept them, but in Florida (we recently changed our domicile to Florida), they were more expensive than Blue Sky so I switched. After all Price talks!

I do not know if this is true of BlueOx or not, but Roadmaster is 100% made in the USA. Nuff' said in my mind. Roadmaster from stem to stern including Brakemaster and wiring harness. Won't have it any other way.

I believe the AquaHot/HydroHot systems require routine use just as a generator does. In my 2006 coach, this had not been done prior to my acquiring the coach. Consequently the system got gummed up (plugged up) with a crystalline product (I guess the by product of the anti-freeze that is used, and the fact that someone had mixed the wrong type anti-freeze in, a serious No-No). The heat exchangers had to be unplugged with pressure and the system flushed several times with water then new anti-freeze added before it worked right. The system can be prone to air locking as well. FYI: The system should be run for a couple of hours each month per the techs. trained by Aqua Hot for these systems. The control systems on my unit seem to work reasonably well once the system was flushed properly, but they do seem to be a complex system. Mine can be heated with the diesel burner, an electric anode, and an engine preheater. They supply heat to 2 or 3 boiler zones and continuous hot water, so yes, they seem quite complex. Plus they are systems that do not lend themselves to DIY projects. Because of the complexity, the labor involved with repairs is high. Plus some systems are installed in coaches in such a way as to add to the difficulty in performing maintenance. For example my HydroHot burner faces outward whereas my neighbors system is parallel with the frame. My neighbors took almost 3 times as long just to service the burner.

If you believe you might lack space in a 43 foot DP, then the Class B or Class C will NOT suit you!

I think a lot would depend on how much room your need. Remember all your stuff has to be carried with you. Does the Class B or even Class C have enough room to hold ALL your stuff. If so then these might be good alternatives. If not, look bigger. How many are there of you? Souse or sig. other??? More than one person requires more space. Again, these are questions you will have to answer before actually getting down to narrowing down a rig.

Debra, Welcome to the forum. Glad to meet you. Personally, I decided that an extended warranty was just too expensive on my high end coach. The least expensive quote for my 2006 CC Magna was over $3400 for a 2 year policy. I can keep that amount in my account and take my chance. By the way the average quote was over $4000 for that coverage. Thanks but no thanks. The cost for coverage on a HR should be considerably less due to value of the coaches. For insurance purposes mine is considered a high value coach for the year. I have read good overall experiences from others on WW, although every company will have some distractors based on their experiences. The same can be said for Cornerstone. It seems many dealers use them for extended warranties. Be careful with the dealers however. They tried to sell us a policy that would last 4 years, but have to be paid through our monthly payment for the entire term of the payment. In that case we would be paying for a warranty after year 4 that we no longer had. Did not make sense to us.

This is such a subjective question there is no right or wrong answer. One person may have had a great experience with one brand of coach, whereas the next will have had a poor experience with the same brand/model of coach. Everyone will most likely give answers based upon their personal experience, which is what I would expect. I would recommend Country Coach. This high end coach can be had reasonably with a little shopping, but reasonably for me may be too high for you or vice versa. Do you want all the little do dads that come with quality or are you willing to settle for slightly less. Most of the major brands for like price point coaches are very similar in quality. If you look at a couple year older high end coach you will definitely get more bang for your buck!

I am also getting 6.3 mpg overall with my 45 foot tag axle with a 525 HP Cat C13 engine, and this is over both hills, mountains and plains. It's more important to watch the speed rather than the tag for mileage. For example I generally set my cruise at 62 mph or so. If I bump that up to 70 my mileage drops to 5 to 6 mpg and so forth. My mileage does not change much whether I'm towing my toad or not. Aerodynamics and speed are much more important. As already stated, the ride with a tag will be far superior. My sister-in-law with a 23 foot Class C only gets about 7 to 8 MPG.

IE 11 causes the S/W in this and the RVNetwork forums to not work properly. The S/W has NOT been updated to work with the latest browser from MS. If you are using Win 8.1 you do have IE 11. Win 7 and Win 8 may be using IE 11. Most of the icons in the Reply Taskbar also do not work properly.

The latest WiFi Ranger firmware update has just been released to the public. It may take a day or two for your device to see the update. Remember, if you have an indoor unit (Home/Pro/Go) controlling a Mobile or a Sky, be sure to update the Sky/Mobile first. Once it has completed its update you should be able to access its SSID (assuming you have it on). You can verify that it has updated and then you can update your Home/Pro/Go.

I have stayed at several Wal-Marts and several Camping Worlds. Also Gander Mountain and Cabelas allow at times.

Perhaps the use of the type of screws that are used in sheetrock, the types that have 2 wings that spring out when pushed through the whole. You then tighten the screw and the wings press against the back of the material. This might work for wood, even light wood. May not work for the cardboard type luan mentioned above.

The wiring harness we got from Roadmaster has a diode system that allows us to tow our Jeep without disconnecting anything. Mopar does NOT specialize in towing, hence they obviously do not have the correct system to set your toad properly. It would have been better to get the wiring harness from an actual towing company such as Roadmaster or Blue Ox. My aux. braking system uses power from the coach the same as the Jeep lights do. If your aux. braking system uses the Jeep power rather than the coach power, you might be up the proverbial creek. Check with whom ever wired your brake system and ask where they tapped into power for it.

Welcome to FMCA and the forum. Glad to meet you!