jleamont

I removed our Splendide combo, ours had a stuck water inlet valve that was discontinued. Plus it heated up the interior and took forever to wash anything. When the valve broke it was replaced with pull out drawers. If I had a stackable I would have probably replaced it with a newer version.

Ok, 4, 6 volt AGM's it is. I can't believe those house batteries are dated 2009 wow . Thanks Brett!

Brett, it must be a misprint. "Four 8D 6V deep cycle Coach Batteries" is exactly how its spelled out on the window sticker. Funny thing while my pull out trays are pretty large I don't believe they are big enough to house all of that along with the Chassis batteries which reside above the house batteries on a pull out. Perhaps two for the house, now that seems reasonable or 4 for the chassis and house combined would be possible (due to space) but not a total of 5. Kay, that is the plan so far, unless someone has a better idea. Bill, I believe there were 8D's originally based off of the battery hold down design, just not 4. No matter I position and sit the golf cart batteries the hold downs don't fit and they slide around, I cut wood and placed it between them so they stop moving and positioned the straps so they catch a little of each battery. My chassis batteries look lonely up on the top shelf, there is a significant amount of space around them, since there is only two the strap hold downs will catch both batteries. When I change out the house batteries this spring I am going to redo the hold downs so they secure the batteries better, I was thinking of welding a ratchet strap hook on the back and welding an eyelet on the front to keep them in place. At the moment there are straps with plastic clips that hold them down and they are worn out, most of the clips have disintegrated and they don't land on the center of the golf cart battery, especially since two are sideways. No benefit to 2, 12v 8D's over 4, 6v golf cart batteries?

Ok, after another post on slides and leveling I read my owners manual and spec sheet last night. Probably should have done that two years ago.....right? Anyway, our coach came from the factory with the following battery configuration and I was wondering if I should switch it back to the way it came if I would have any benefit from it. As I am replacing my house and chassis batteries in the spring since the house batteries are dated 2009 and they are rough. keep in mind we do not boondock unless its for a night while in route somewhere and the generator is usually on for A/C as its always hot where we travel. Factory set up; 4, 8D 6v house batteries and 1, 8D 12v chassis battery Current set up; 4, 6v golf cart batteries and 2, 12v group 31 chassis batteries. This is my the area where I do not have a lot of experience and could use some advice. Thank you

CharlieRV, Welcome to the FMCA forum! That set up is customizable when ordered. Give them a call 800-454-1801 Web site link; https://shop4seats.com/ Depending on the size and placement of the cabinet it might work. There is a bunch of space behind them down low.

Hmm, this topic prompted me to read the manual . let me start by saying there is No hydraulic leveling on our coach, just air. According to the manual the coach is to be on the air bags at its ride height when bringing them in or out. Which makes sense as when we bring out two slides on the same side the coach leans to that side (only have slides on the drivers side), then I press level and walk away, the coach will dump the bags and level. It also states if no air is in the suspension start the engine, when the air suspension is fully inflated, turn off the engine and retract the slides. Summary; read the manual for your coach, enough will break on its own, don't help it .

Herman, your welcome! It has always been a debate. I know I have done it both ways until a snake got into a fellow campers gray tank. I figured a newbie could benefit.

Rally attendance has been on my mind since we joined FMCA in 2010, trying to piece together a place to attend. I was looking at past rally locations trying to see if there was a pattern with a specific date range that I could preplan for. It appears that when you look back over the years the attendance has dropped a bit but so have a fair amount of past locations that did well with attendance with the exception of a few. That leaves me with a question, is there any plans in the future for NY, OH, NC, MA as in the past or venture out to new areas like PA, MD, NJ, CT, VA. I was trying to get a better understanding of what makes an area desirable for a rally? I realize space is the first concern, my guess would be where a concentration of membership resides would also play a part on the selection and access in and out would also be a concern.

YUP, I hit the gutter on my garage with the DP. Never had a problem with the gas coach, had the DP for a month at the time. Funny I never noticed the gutter stuck out 2' past the side of the garage where the coach parks, needless to say it doesn't anymore . One observation, my gas coach mirrors were larger than the DP mirrors, so visibility on the gasser was much better.

One thing I found with our last coach (gas Class C, Ford E-Series chassis) was the more I altered it to handle better the worse the ride got. So I traded the "White Knuckle's" for hold on.........this is gonna hurt...., that broke something! I saw this on your vintage chassis 12 + years ago and was impressed by it. I believe Ford does this to keep the chassis cost low. I agree the Motorhome company should off a package for better handling for the customer to choose, I'm certain most wouldn't realize they needed it on their first coach and pass on it, while experienced owners would opt for it. http://www.reycogranning.com/suspensions/model-rd1370f8-2/

Great, thanks

Howde, thank you for the information.

Keon, here's one for you in your back yard. Try and locate a campground with full hookups 50amp across the Chesapeake from Annapolis MD (Rock Hall, Kent Island area) I have a call into Bayshore and Duck Neck. In that entire area that is it!! FYI, Duck Neck is expanding and adding big rig sites over this winter, but both of these are primarily seasonal trailer parks. DW is from Maryland, last year she didn't get and trips where we got Blue Crabs, I'm still hearing about it in December. There are many great seafood restaurants in that area, I figured a couple of days down there would save me the earful next winter

Keon, I went with Red Coconut, Stage Coach (St Augustine) and of course Fort Wilderness. Red Coconut had me worried but after I found a YouTube video from a drone I felt much better. I can't recall ever struggling this much for a nice place. I would have never thought I would struggle like this in Florida. If we were just looking for a cheap place with hookups it would have been a cinch. what has baffled me since we started with the last RV is why so many places don't have websites to promote their business. If I can't peak at pictures and what they have to offer, pricing amenities etc... I look elsewhere, unless recommended by a friend.

Rich, very informative! Thank you

Brett is right, I've got my lines crossed. The replacement plugs do have longer threads to accommodate the redesigned head. Make sure they are torqued properly. The age old question was "were they loose i.e. improperly installed at the factory", I don't believe a determination was really ever made. Oddly when they were replaced at a low mileage and properly installed the failure rate dropped to almost nothing. The only time I can remember seeing them come out on their own after was when they were slopped up with anti seize. When installed per the ford service manual they stayed. FYI if you get in a bind I have the kit to install stainless steel inserts. Torque spec is below.

ke4jr, locating what came in it from the factory in nice condition might be a real task. I replaced a missing Jlounge with a double recliner I bought from this company. https://shop4seats.com/ Depending on where you reside search the web or ebay. I found that most of this stuff is available for pick up in the Indiana area (RV manufacture capitol).

My wood deteriorated last year, I am parked on Horse stall mats now which are made from a dense rubber. Thoughts?

tarheels293, I don't usually post stuff like this but in your case I feel it might be your only option to keep your sanity for the future. Depending on where you reside might have an impact on what you can have altered. http://www.dieselspec.ca/2-brand-caterpillar.html?cat=2

you have no idea how bad I want to go to a rally. I told my DW if you are that concerned I will go alone. I got that look....you know the look

Herman, doesn't look like we will be able to make it. Heck I tried to catch up with Puff since he is only 15 minutes from my house while he is in PA for the Holiday, couldn't get away from work then my daughters car ate a front wheel bearing. We did get to chat on the phone for a little, which was nice. I talked to my wife, She's on board with the idea, but concerned she or the kids will run out of stuff to do. Since the years alternate (East Coast-West Coast) we are going to shoot for next years, hoping another Springfield MA will be on the schedule or another place on the East Coast. I also want to attend the Diesel RV club outing, I found out about the one last year too late, but the location was perfect. My oldest is graduating this year (not planned, she skipped 11th grade) and she requested a family Florida vacation, so I caved in and booked it, otherwise Indy was on my list.

Keon, that was a common problem on the Triton engines in that era. The secret to it is replace all 10 plugs with the updated design from Ford (longer threads) DO NOT put anti seize on them, torque them properly. The original design didn't have enough threads on the spark plugs, but the cylinder head did. While in there its a good idea to replace the spark plug boots since they fail overtime and crack. When we bought our last coach I pulled a spark plug when I got it home, found it had the original design with only a few threads, swapped them all out then and never had a problem after. I had installed many repair kits and replaced too many cylinder heads at the dealer, I wasn't going to do it on my coach. I actually had a customer come in with a bumper sticker "Honk if you see my spark plugs fall out"

Most trips I wish mine failed.....it is so loud it will wake the dead

Ring Power is a reputable CAT dealer. If it were me I would let them fix it, take the bill to where you purchased it. If it derates while trying to get home you will really be upset, plus an RV dealer unless by some miracle (i.e. hired a CAT certified tech) would be lost with a concern like that. Good luck and I hope this works out for you.