jleamont

Thanks Rich, I will have him make the call.

Bill, to answer your question, Yes I have seen that before, where you go to a specific branded gas station expecting only their product line and one product will have a label stating that it is not their fuel. It has made me nervous before and a bit hesitant to purchase the product, here is why. I had a friend that owned a gas station back in the 80's and early 90's, he told me that he had to purchase so much fuel from the franchiser, at the time it was Exxon, and some fuel he could purchase from a brokerage company to save a few cents per gallon. Back then I do not believe he had to advertise this on the pump, It wouldn't surprise me that now they would have to affix a sticker to let the consumer know.

I have a friend that just purchased this coach in Louisiana on Friday. Upon picking it up the dealer informed him the unit has no lights on the rear what so ever, come to find out his brake and turn lights on the rear only work when the headlamp switch is in the off position, as soon as the headlamp switch is turned on, no lights in the rear. Either way none of the rear marker lights or tails lighting will illuminate. Seems like a two part problem to me, the first being a bad ground and the second being no power or a completely open ground for the parking lamp circuit to the rear. Anyone have any places to start chasing this electrical problem down, known common areas of concern? I am thinking there is a corroded connector somewhere at the rear where, where to start looking is the question. One thing, the dealer just had the Speedometer replaced, so the dash would have been apart during that repair. The chassis is a 2004 Freightliner Raised rail side radiator with a Cummins ISL400 32,000 GVWR. I have not seen it yet so I do not know what model the chassis is. My instinct tells me I will be at his house this weekend trying to figure this out. Any ideas?

One thing I found surprising is how many RV dealers will sell you a $500,000 unit and refuse to work on it. I have two local RV dealers one is a Monaco/HR/Tiffin dealer, I called them for a Chassis question, they explained to me that they do not perform any chassis work, not even an oil change or a light bulb replacement. If you have a problem with your furnace we will be glad to help I was told, I explained to them I have an Aqua Hot....yep you guessed it "we cannot help you if you have a problem with that, its to technologically advanced and I am not sure we could fit a 40' bus in the shop". Seriously you have no problem collecting some ones money during the sale but provide no service after? I cringe at the thought I may need service one day I cannot perform myself. The other one is not trustworthy and they are known for it so I am on my own out here.

I blow them off prior to leaving the campground with a leaf blower. If it's really bad when I get home or to our next destination I will do it again if there is less foliage coverage the campsite. I bought one of those little electric cheap ones from Sears for $19.95 a few years ago. I also use it for keeping the patio mat clean. When we get home I will put both slides out and the awning out get my step ladder and do it again if it was not so successful at the campground.[/size]

We have a Jacobs compression brake, when it’s in the ON position and the cruise is on it will activate on deceleration, as soon as the cruise control starts to apply throttle the engine brake shuts down and you accelerate on the cruise, works the same with the accelerator pedal. Honestly it's kind of annoying, when you want to coast on a highway with rolling hills and you have the cruise set it is too aggressive, the transmission will immediately down shift and you are slowing down rapidly. All I can think of is how much fuel that mistake just cost me . I have gotten use to this so I only turn it on when needed. My on/off and high/low switches are on the switch panel amongst all of the other 15 switches to the left of the driver, I relocated both to the positions closest to the left arm rest so when I need them I do not have to search in the panel for them and I can keep my eyes on the road. Another annoying feature is it cuts off at 15 mph, which when you are slowing down 35,000 lbs. and it disengages you lunge forward, if you are not looking at the speedometer it scares the heck out of you. One thing, it does sound good, when the engine brake is in operation that is the only time you can hear the exhaust, it sounds like thunder along side of you and it turns heads .

rlbarkleyii, I just changed my entire interior over to LED from incandescent and Fluorescent. I bought everything from www.cabinbright.com. I met the owner Joe at the Hershey RV show in 2014, nice guy and a fellow RV owner. I liked his products the most over all of the others, besides Joe is a really nice guy to talk to, he is an electrical engineer also, he designs all of his products and they are made in the USA. To make it even better the pricing was in line with the imported stuff. I had several bad light tubes and ballast units already, so the conversion was a no brainer. I had to replace the following inside; 18 halogen dimmable pods, yes with the LED they are still dimmable 6 wall sconce bulbs 26 Fluorescent light fixtures in the ceiling with two bulbs each, most only received one LED strip due to the brightness mentioned. 4 bulbs over the dinette in the fixture The neat part was the fluorescent tubes were two in each fixture and I could pick the color of light or lumens so the interior looks warm and cozy, not like a lab. I only installed one LED strip in their place and it's signaficially brighter inside (except over the kitchen counter I used two just to make it really bright). My fixtures are Thin lite with the frosted plastic lens. Here is how you perform the install; remove the fixture from the ceiling and gut it, the Ballast, bulbs and sockets, it all goes in the trash, wire the LED strips to the switch and the other wire from the coach (I think it was the ground) peel the 3M tape and stick it to the center of the fixture (I reinstalled the ballast cover inside and stuck the LED strip to that since it was closer to the lens and it was centered with no obstructions), reinstall the fixture and you’re done. If you cross the polarity the LED strip will not light, just reverse the wires and you have light. I don't believe you will ever have to open them again once converted. I do not work for this co and I am not endorsed by them in anyway, I just wanted to share my experience with anyone who is considering this, I had shopped around and changed our last coach over and had problems with imported LED lighting. Anyone that knows me personally knows I am a researcher, I will dig and dig until I am convinced then I will move on something. I was very happy to find Cabin Bright, I also try and purchase products made in the USA especially from a fellow RV owner.

Congratulations Dave, I'm 43 and I remember Sgt Shultz. As far as knowing nothing about your coach you will pick it up as you go, there are enough people on this forum that is willing to help with questions and guidance if you should need it. Good luck and enjoy your new adventure. I know nothing about accounting other than how to turn on my calculator and I own a small truck repair business for 10 years now and I still manage to balance out the numbers and make it work, you just pick it up as you go along and learn as you go.

The old coach I pulled the sensors for the winter while in storage the 1st and 2nd year, now I let them on. Like clock work every time I sit in the drivers seat I run through the positions and check pressures on the display. I am a firm believer its easier and cheaper to address any issue in a shop or at home rather than on the side of a highway. The Pressure pro saved me twice on the old coach, one valve stem extension leak and a tire that the tread came loose and was flapping on an inner dual. both times I was able to slow down and look for a safe place to pull over and address the concern. ObedB there are a bunch of systems out there and they range in price, I bought this wireless system for 1/2 the price of the Pressure Pro thinking I was doing myself a favor with the sensor design that I could replace the batteries myself. The old saying applies "you get what you pay for". The pressure pro is a wired system and when the batteries wear out in the sensors you have to send them back for the batteries to be replaced (they lasted me 6 years). On our old coach I had the remote antenna located behind the rear wheels of the coach so the toad signal would not be missed, other than that cable that was all of the wiring (of course there is a 12v lighter plug, which they all have). I bought the Pressure Pro since it was suited for tractor trailers (RV version similar just a different screen)I figured if it could handle that environment it must be good, other than the sensors battery replacement procedure and cost the system was flawless. You are so close if you want to stop out and look them over let me know, send me a PM. Before you purchase ask on here who has the system you are looking into and what they think.

We use the non skid rubber mats and the expandable rods, when the food count is low. My wife also stores items in reusable plastic containers and does the same as Brett mentioned, minimize the "wiggle room". Placement of everything is key, we keep heavier items low and she packs everything in there very well so we have nothing moving around. The rubber seems to work well, the rods are just for piece of mind.

ObedB, I have a Pressure Pro that I pulled from the last coach, My plan is to install it this winter into this unit. I currently operate a Tire Minder Wireless system. There are several that are identical with different writing, mine has "Tire Minder" written on it, I do not recommend this system, while I like that you can change the sensor batteries they system constantly throws false errors. I have called their tech support and they tell me its interference due to the frequency they operate on. Plus the toad is so far behind me it looses sight of it and the alarm goes off for that. With that being said I am switching back to Pressure Pro, I will send my old sensors back to have the batteries replaced and figure out what to do with this system.

Yea....Great post Tom.

Renewed with Coachnet, never used it, fingers crossed I never do.

Lyle, I had a similliar problem with my bed slide which is also a king size. Mine was slow then it wouldn't go all the way out. I flipped the bed up and discovered the bed frame broke (wood) and was shifted off of its rollers. On ours you can lift the bed up (storage under it) and I also lifted the base off the floor (just slightly with a pry bar and looked used it to see how it worked. We have 4 sets of rollers built into the floor that the bed base sits on and somehow it shifted off of those and the screws were broken near the wall. I was able to reposition the bed back into its place and repaired the broken wood; I also reinforced it with basic corner braces from the hardware store. Had I not looked I would have never guessed it was off its track or broken since the actual slide was not sitting crooked like I would have thought it would. I am still baffled how it broke.

Ditto. I would not run without it either. I even check the tire monitor while its parked for the winter, if a tire is low I want it addressed before it damages that tire or the one next to it from carrying all of the weight while its parked. I have never heard of "dont use that because of......." I have heard many dealers and people remove the valve stem extensions (hose type) since they are prone to leaks. Never a TPMS system. I agree...some systems work better than others but any system would be better than no system in my opinion.

David, If the business name is on the registration card be sure to obtain a US DOT number and put it on the coach, its now a Commercial Motor vehicle and must follow all of the federal regulations based off of the GVWR of your coach, if its over 26,001 lbs its going to be a huge pain. I was going to do this a few years ago when I owned a small business, after speaking to a Federal Agent (at work performing a US DOT inspection) he advised me I was going to open a big mess I wanted no parts of. If its used for personel use and registered as such its just a motorhome. If used for commercial and registered in a company name its a CVM and is required to follow all regulations, driver licensing (CDL over 26,001 lbs GVWR), US DOT number on the sides, co name, address, driver to carry medical card and it just goes on and on. What type of business do you own or were you thinking about purchasing..just curious?

I tow a 2003 Jeep Wrangler Sport. I run the Demco Commander bar and I was using the Blue OX Patriot removable brake box until it broke. I am going to change over to the MG Brake system for the Jeep, mainly because of its simplicity and pricing. My jeep is wired using diodes to the factory lighting. For towing I shift the transmission (Manual 5 speed) and 4x4 Transfer case into Neutral, unlock the steering and away we go. I bought the Demco bar due to the company I worked for at the time was a large customer of Demco and I got the bar at wholesale, I will say it has been great so far, built very well.

Without a photo of the front of your coach it’s hard to say but most coach manufactures use other automobile manufacture headlamp assemblies in their build. My unit has Ford Econoline headlamps and turn signal lenses from 1998-2005. I replaced them with lamp fixtures from CARID.com, instead of the fluted lens I went with a clear outer lens and a brighter bulb. The original lamps were cloudy and with the old design lens they were horrible in the dark.

David, congratulations and nice coach. I read through the blog and loved it, it just made me want to take some time off of work and travel the route you took, and the photos were breathtaking. Welcome, if you should have any questions thee is a lot of knowledgeable people on here that are always willing to help. If you are ever headed this way (PA Dutch Country) and need some recommendations send me a message. Good luck and safe travels from my family to yours. Joe

Herman, I am always a fan of your responses, this one was probably one of my favorites. thanks for the laugh.

Wayne77590, I use a fire pit poker, I cleaned off the burrs and coated it with rubber that you dip it into (like handles on plyers), when it hardened its not likly to scratch the surface. It works for me. I am probably going to replace the wiper seals in the spring, hopefully I can retire the tool then, I might try the silicone trick if the new seals do not flip on their own.

Great service interval recomendation Brett. Thanks, Joe

HAHA, it sure is working. I think we all know the answer, we just want closure.

ObedB, I believe it is lack of maintenance. In the world of RV's they do not get used as often as a road tractor, valves stick from the moisture and lack of use and they stop working. My old dryer I took apart just to see what the inside looked like after 12 years, it looked like you reeled it in on your fishing line, gummed up rust inside. On the road tractors at work we see heater failures and heater electrical connection failures, we replace the cartridge every year if the heater works. Any valve concerns, leaks or heater failures we swing the entire dryer. During our four PM's per year we test the heaters (ohm test), check the electrical connector for signs of high resistance (burning of the plastic melted wires etc.) Otherwise no concerns. As you often read on here if its an older unit with low miles you have more of a concern than a higher mileage unit. same applies to the air dryer....my guess.

Your welcome. good luck.