jleamont

Wayne, I shut off the water when we leave. I also do not run down the road with the water pump on and I never leave gray or black valves open when I am not empting the tanks, they get shut immediately after. If someone needs to use the restroom in travel they turn it on the way in and off when they exit. I also lock the bay doors after draining the tanks, we have heard of kids pulling valves open then closed when the cap is on so when owner pops the cap off he gets soaked, its a game we have heard about, in a motorhome this is usually not a concern since your valves are inside a compartment. We were camping a few years ago and the CG backed up into a trailer's gray tank, it was running out the door. Another time a snake was in the CG sewer line and crawled up a sewer hose into a tank. No thanks! I can do enough dumb things on my own, I don't need an outside source contributing to my madness. When we all catch up we will have to exchange stories sometime. I.e the time I took the toilet out (week before waiting for parts) and decided to flush the antifreeze out of the water system. I realized it when I could hear water running in the hose and it didn't stop like usual, I shut the water off and walked inside Last coach, not this one. Our friends last year showed us how they flush their black tank on their TT last Easter in Gettysburg, (no black tank flush connection) after telling us Motorhome people how there is no need for a black tank flush connection they put a boot on the pedal and fill it up then pull the lever to release the water.....YUP you guessed it, put the boot on the pedal and walked outside and forgot about it, they opened the door a few minutes later and the tidal wave came out the door . We still laugh about that

Wow, he really did have it torn down! Yep, small world! That is fairly common on a C from what I have read over the years, I repaired our bunk also, I didn't tear it down that far, WOW. We had water pushing through the front lights that eventually took the wood out on the front and I had water push through the side trim at the front bunk wall that bulged the side out at the front wall. Ours was also a Coachmen but without the front window, I have heard those windows will also leak causing wood damage. I guess it makes sense at highway speed in the rain you can force a bunch of water through any weak seal. I have photos of it after many years of waxing, scrubbing and replacing decals on the "gallery tab" on FMCA and the coach that replaced it in 2014. Dicor will be your best friend soon, the stuff works great. It does require frequent inspections and touch ups that would make some think Silicone was a better option when its really not. I also used Eternabond tape which worked great on the bunk seam and the rear wall to roof seam rather than smearing Dicor all over the joint. Enjoy, if he was older you could have some real bonding time with him keeping up with an RV and its maintenance. Coachmen must love the green and red stripes, ours was the same when I bought it in 2008, just a bright white not a cream base color ours was a 1998 Santara. We camp with a friend that has a 6 yr old son also.

Sigmaz, Welcome to the Forum! Looking good, nice nostalgic look. We started out in 2008 with our two kids (8 and 6) at the time with a 10 year old class C we bought used, it didn't look that good. Glad you looked into RV'ing to keep him off of the computers and building family memories. It worked well for us. We are in Southeastern PA, just east of Lancaster PA, kids are now teens. Good luck, if you need any help with questions there is a bunch of knowledge and some humor on here to keep you on the road and entertained. Joe

Cinnabun, LOL, good one Tom! I could use a cover like that with a hard shell under it. Our dog has placed his paws on the air horn switch already while I was outside setting up. FYI, you will not make any friends that way either. What ever works as a reminder is a must! I only ever use the TV antenna on occasion, I will hang something from the handle as a reminder. I also have a habit of walking around the unit before driving off and we have a light on the dash "Antenna up". on occasion I will walk back and look over the unit from a distance just incase any tree branches are on the roof, I don't want the poor soul behind me on the road to find them.

My concern; if this is installed without getting creative you will loose the TPMS system unless your sensors are part of the valve stem rather than a screw on cap type. So if you have a leak you most likely not notice it until you stop or the tire comes apart if this cant keep up. You will have to do your due diligence and manually check your tires hooked up to this before you start off again. As often as I add air (which isn't often) no need in my application, but a neat concept none the less. Also Brett brought up a good point, we set our pressures based off of weight at each wheel end. I am not sure if this is that adjustable to maintain those specific pressures or do they make them that produce specific pressure and only that pressure? My guess on the steer axle is the mounting and the balance, the drive axle has two hoses so it would balance out, the steer axle only has one, so it would need to be counter balanced or it could cause a vibration in your steering wheel. I have never seen a road tractor with an independent steer axle, nor air bags on the steer axle either, although it is an option for air ride on the front (never saw one).

Ron, that's what I would do in this situation. I might consider calling them to see if they will send you a replacement fitting. When any of my hoses leak I get frustrated, I do not like spilling anything on to the ground, to me its just not good etiquette. I cant stand when I see fresh water spraying around a connection or a sewer hose leaking. I certainly wouldn't want to be the next guy to pull into a site where the previous persons hose leaked onto the ground. I saw a guy in a Newell with the entry level brown Camco hose with duct tape wrapped all over it leaking at a dump station one time. That memory still baffles me.

Carl, are you referring to the system you have with a computer under your drivers seat in the Jeep? If so the M&G system has no computer or electronics, that was my concern in a Jeep. I have had to pull the plugs in the floor a few times, nothing computerized would take to that to kindly. It just has an aluminum air block that mounts between the master cylinder and the power brake booster under the hood, one air line from that to the front bumper of the Jeep. I opted for the emergency breakaway kit which gets a little more involved, but not much (its a law up here). Very simple but genius design. Just to be clear, I have no cables, computers switches nothing inside the vehicle what so ever.

ObedB and Carl, thank you for the kind words. I considered replacing the cooling unit on our Norcold with the "Amish made" design. Our first coach had a Dometic Americana that was 16 years old and worked great. I was sold on the absorption design until August 11th 2014. Here is the events of that day and what stopped me. Ours ruptured I was plugged into electric sitting on my chair under the awning in Colonial Williamsburg VA at a CG reading about Robyn Williams, very sad. I caught a whiff of what smelled like ammonia and the fridge gas igniter started to click like it was switching to gas, I though this was odd so I got up to investigate (I thought my DW tripped a breaker inside) I heard a pop a flame hue came out of the side wall vent, I pulled the side wall cover off and at this point I really smelled the ammonia, very hot inside also it was still clicking like it was trying to ignite, I grabbed a hand full of wires and pulled while I was yelling for everyone to get out of the motorhome (DW and kids were inside). It happened so fast my heart was racing, I was sweating. It scorched the inside wall area and the back of the fridge but for some lucky reason it didn't go up in flames, or I was fortunate enough to catch it in time. I pulled the 12v fuse, shut off the breakers to it and turned off the gas main on the tank. I had to open all of the windows and roof vents on the coach, the interior stunk like burnt plastic and ammonia. I discharged a CO2 fire extinguisher up the back side of the unit just to make sure there were no hot spots that I couldn't see. After a few hours I calmed down, threw out all of our food. The following morning I jumped in the Jeep and went to Wal Mart, bought a small apartment size refrigerator, that was funny it didn't fit in the Jeep, I had to put the top down and seat belt it in the passenger seat. I placed it where the new sofa is now and plugged it in. It worked great, so good we were sold on the residential change over, plus the DW told me under no circumstances will she or our kids sleep in this coach with a gas refrigerator ever again (she told me "you better figure this out or this coach is out of here"). She nor I slept that night, every noise or smell we both jumped up. After reading Tom's post with the fantastic photos I was sold. I went on a quest to Home Depot when we returned to home to locate the most energy efficient model that would fit in the existing hole without serious modification of the hole in the wall. I also wanted a simple unit with as little to no electronics, as I was concerned about those bouncing down the road. The model we decided on is old school, just a knob you twist to set your temperature, no ice maker. I still run the 4 house batteries with the same 2000 watt Trace inverter that came with the coach, I just have the auto start generator set now just in case. That was a day I will never forget.

Photos are up in the gallery section.

F442485, call Monaco @ 1-877-466-6226 follow the prompts until you get to tech support. So far they have been good to me for questions like this. good luck, let us know what you find.

Nice coach! I gave up on posting on the forums, nothing would make them fit. I posted all of my coach photos on the Gallery tab.

According to an article I read these cost $299 per wheel end. Not available for steer axles yet.

Carl, no it was a daily gray tank empty, I saw soap bubbles and soapy water and I though "boy I'm glad I pulled that lever" lol http://www.homedepot.com/p/Camco-RhinoFLEX-15-ft-Sewer-Hose-Kit-with-Swivel-Fittings-39761/205518946?cm_mmc=Shopping%7CTHD%7CG%7C0%7CG-BASE-PLA%7C&gclid=CKGCotLdvssCFUg8gQodq4oK7w&gclsrc=aw.ds I have this one, and it's older version without the swivel ends where you have to partially unscrew the ends to align it up.

I really can't speak to this but....I payed under $1000 for the total. I did the labor so that is why I cannot really speak to this but I will say it only took me from start to finish 6 hours, and I had to remove a window to get the old one out. I couldn't sleep at night charging someone that much for such little work

Kay, lol. I was thinking the same scene in my mind when I started to read this. I also use the Rhino hose, I have a new Valtera (red one) and I hate it, used it once carry it just in case I have a really long reach and need to double up. Anyway....mine would leak where the hose meets the end couplers. They come with a grease type of lubricant, looks like Vaseline and the hose must be screwed as far into the couplers as possible, then the lock nut must be snug to seat the hose tight in the coupler. If it's leaking in that spot, take it apart, clean both ends, lube it up and thread it back together, sung the lock collar. Make sure the hose part is not frayed or folded over inside the coupler and partially closing the hole in the hose. I also use clear 45 degree swivel adapter right at the coach connection, only because the hole in the bottom of my compartment doesn't line up with the discharge tube on the coach and it is close to the floor, so close the Rhino hose will not bend to align.

Blake, on our coach it's located remotely (not mounted directly on the compressor) when I open the rear bay doors it's on the right side just next to the engine under my air filter mounted to the chassis not the engine. I actually carry a spare with me. The Monaco products seem to be similar with regards to their engine compartment layout.

Kay, good to know you like the Trager products coming from someone I trust means a lot. I have a 24" Smoke Vault at home that gets more than its fair share of use. My neighbor runs a local butcher shop "head butcher" that supplies some of the top end restaurants around Wilmington DE, to Philadelphia. I end up with premium cuts of beef and pork for low prices. We prefer smoked cooking over most more traditional methods. I miss smoking meats while traveling, the table top model looked like a good fit. I am considering purchasing a Yoder pellet smoker for the house since the smoke vault is propane and it's seen better days. http://www.yodersmokers.com

System installed yesterday, works great and easy to install.

Carl, sofa install is complete. When we bought the coach in May 2014 we were told the previous owner just had the Aqua Hot serviced, turns out....not likely. I exercise it monthly now. And that does work, my photo plate was clean. I'm a little late on the pm mostly since I was going to replace it with a propane unit this year but decided against it. I was shocked how easy it is to service, what I am happy about is I found the source of my raw fuel smell in that bay, the nozzle was so worn out it was dripping raw fuel into the burner tube and over fueling. I wil post photos of the sofa tomorrow.

Five, the guy that runs that forum Rodger B is the guy I buy my AH parts from. Thank you for the link. He's very helpful, if we were going to a rally I would pay someone to complete the service. Honestly it's pretty simple, the hardest part is where it's located and access to it. I took some pictures I will post them soon in the gallery section.

Trager?

Well, found out its supposed to be loose so it seals against the burner tube. And the burner tube had a hair line crack in it and the swirl chamber was warped and just worn out. Parts on order