jleamont
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Posts posted by jleamont
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dadhanke, welcome and good luck with the "new to us home". hopefully you find a better place to park that for storage.
Good luck and safe travels!
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Just an observation, Fleetwood seems to be lacking quality. I have a good friend with a class C and he has had roof problems (improperly installed from the factory)screws that were broken off in the roof with just the head resting under the lap sealant, some had no heads under the lap sealant
. The sub flooring was not installed properly had to go to the dealer for them to gut the interior and reinstall the sub flooring correctly, the latest was the rear cap cracked from the roof membrane down the back wall, apparently this is common on their products I have noticed several Class A's with this concern on the front over the windshield and on the rear as well, oddly enough they were all DP's you would think the air ride would help this...guess not.The Coachmen Santara we had had some serious defects in the design, The cab was mounted on rubber, the coach body was welded to the chassis frame (31' long) when the cab would move the body wouldnt so the two fought each other eventually the front wall of the coach behind the cab sheared off the screws and it started to float with the cab, which started to leak water. When the chassis would try to flex it would tug on the exterior walls and the caulk would pop out. I must say as much as i like the class c I would never buy another one. Trying to get one manufacture to work with its own company internally is a task that most fail upon, trying to get two different manufactures to see eye to eye with cab mounting against a body and the two flex in perfect harmony...impossible wont happen.
When we were looking I really wanted a Newmar and a non-emission Cummins engine, all that we looked at (used) had roof problems, the outer skin (fiberglass product) was no longer attached one had mold oozing out above the cabinets inside and black mold through 3/4 of the interior celing, the rest of the coach was in "like new" condition, it was on consignment. The roadmaster chassis scared me so I was avoiding Monaco products....then I bought one since the floor plan and condition was so nice, still unsure of the chassis design but it rides and handles nice, im just not a fan of that much "out of the box" thinking.
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Doser modules and nozzle failures are very common. We swing both even if the nozzle passes the test, they always fail after the module was changed. Bad DEF will excelerate the failures, we have them either stuck open or closed, from what we were told Bosch makes the modules for Volvo, Freighliner, international, someday they will get it right, it's a shame the consumer has to put up with and pay for their experiments. DEF does have a shelf life, if you look on the web you will find a chart, depending on how it's stored the life can drastically change look on the containers and be careful not to get it on the paint when adding.
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Carl, good advice, thanks
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If it happens to me I will not remember this. Reboot the cell phone, darn electronic.
Murphys law...my luck, this will happen in the middle of the night when its 100 degrees outside.
Ray, I wrote it down and I am going to put it in the coach file for the heating system. I read that book front to back and I do not rememmber reading this.
Thank you for the good information Larry.
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Back to mpg. I may be wrong, but I think that none off us that have large used or new DP's are all that concerned about mpg. My reason for DP is towing, air ride, comfort and space. Others have their own reasons.
Back in 08', I was camped next to a lady that had a Liberty coach 06' and she told me that her mpg was 5 on a good day, but mostly around 4.6! I guess when you pay
$ 1.3 million for a coach, mpg is not on top off wish list!
Carl Agreed! When we switched from the class C to the DP last May I was curious but really did'nt care. Everyone asks me like its a big deal when I tell them 10mpg their response is always "thats horrible". I was more concerned when I am traveling that there is a place to purchase diesel fuel and if I can fit in the fuel island. It wasnt that long ago I owned a Ford F250 with a 351 and it was only getting 8mpg and you could park a few of them inside the coach, funny no one asked me then what my MPG was, that was really horrible. I am more comfortable now when we travel and with the diesel, I do not have to listen to a V10 at 6000 rpms on hills trying to build torque on a hill.
We take trips across country every other year plus the usual vacations that are in excess of 250 miles often towing a Jeep, the gasser was wound out pulling hills and I was maxed out on my pulling capacity. After those trips the Mobil one came out of the crankcase and it looked like a thin road tar, It was only a matter of time before I was going to duck a piston coming through the dog box inside
. Funny thing is the V10 would average 6.0-6.5 MPG towing, factor in the price of the diesel vs gas and I am still saving money. Round trip to California I estimated I will save $400.00 to $700.00 in fuel with the additional comfort from several angles I have no complaints on the decision we made last May. Can t wait for the next trip out west! -
Lucky, welcome! We have a 40' Holiday Rambler Imperial Cummins ISL 8.9L 400hp towing a 2 door Jeep Wrangler (3800lbs). The coach weighs 34000lbs the last trip I checked it we were at 10.05mpg and the generator was running 50% of the 8 hour trip. My average speed was 58mph running the hills of I-81 from TN to PA. As stated above in my experience also the higher the speed or Bio Diesel blend will affect your mpg, not sure about you but I have never had a tail wind to help me along
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Larry, seems like we all have the same or similar problems. maybe one of us will figure it out on here, keep checking in on this forum.
Thank you,
Joe
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Ray, here is what Monaco is telling me to use in its place. Is this what you have on your coach?
Joe
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Michael,
This story is a flashback to our first coach with an Atwood 6gal HW heater. Mine was dirty contacts, cleaned them up and it worked every time. The only problem was it sucked down the propane and you only had hot water for about 2 min then can warm...then cold. I was warned "the first cold shower I take this motorhome is gone....you may go with it"!
So after being married for 10 years at that point I thought about it and figured I better come up with a solution.... I replaced it with a tankless from Precision temp. It hardly used any propane and you could shower all day with very hot water, and was a direct replacement for the Atwood. Best investment, she was happy with her hot showers and I am still married 7 years later
.The system was more expensive but it had no annual maintenance and the huge savings on Propane was worth it.
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Rich, an engine with SCR (uses diesel exhaust fluid) require less parked regenerations. This was the regeneration cycle I mentioned above, being his coach is a 2009 he is right on the threshold from being SCR equipped or not. The engines with EGR only are dirty and do require more frequent parked regeneration cycles, especially if there is not a lot of highway traveling at which point both are designed go into a "passive regeneration" if the soot level warrants it. In my experience the non SCR engines require a regeneration on average 2-3 times more often....but again it will depend on the driving conditions more highway...less parked regenerations, but still necessary.
Every situation I have experienced when a chassis manufacture does not install a switch on the dash it has always baffled the engine manufactures, one time I was handed a bulletin where the engine manufacture warned the chassis manufacture that it was needed...but still produced without.
I would either have the switch installed or in my case I would not leave home without my scan tool.
I hope one day the Feds, engine manufacturers and chassis manufactures can figure all of this out and get on the same page. The amount of problems and out of pocket expenses the consumer has to contend with is crazy. I deal with this and all of the problems with the new technology every day. And I must admit some engine manufactures are better than others but they all have problems with this technology and in the end the consumer suffers, like in this situation.
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Ok, I called Monaco...no longer available. It is a wind deflector. I think I will remove it and see if there is a difference in the wind noise. If it is a problem I wil have to engineer something. good thing I do not sit over there!
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Don,
From my experience with this message, if you cannot force it through a Regen with the switch (since you are not equipped with one) I would take it to the dealer, while I was there I would ask them what it would cost to install a switch.
I ran into this with Caterpillar a few years ago..they felt driving should be enough, well it wasn't and the CAT dealer recommended we install a switch on all of the fleet with the C7S engines. I installed a force switch on the dash of each unit, just some pre planning, wire and a momentary on switch. Being this is an RV Diesel Pusher the distance from the engine to the dash is much greater than the trucks I was working on at the time. I would save a few $$ and ask them to put the switch in a suitable location in the engine bay or a side compartment close by would be better, so you can access it when needed.
The fleet I responsible for now we average a manual regeneration once every 6,000-8,000 miles and they usually take 45 minutes parked in a safe location (away from anything that can catch fire from the heat generated). If you let it go to long it can clog the Particulate filter to the point it will have to be removed and cleaned with a machine...and that gets costly.
Just my two cents but I hope it helps.
Joe
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Thanks Ray, I am going to call Monaco to see if it came this way or it was an aftermarket add on. The boss wants it replaced
. I guess this time I will listen...or dig deeper. -
Roy, I cannot speak to Progressive, we have Erie with full coverage, I remember my wife telling me it was more than Progressive (we looked at it before) but so was the coverage, we usually max out insurance coverage to be safe.
I am curious to see what posts follow from people with more experience with claims etc.
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Second photo.
It looks like a channel to help with wind noise off of the door.
Thanks,
Joe
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Ray, here are photos of what I have broken, any idea what this is called and do I need it?
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That would be the start of a day you wished you stayed in bed.
Brett, Herman, still smiling and laughing over the comments, love this forum!
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Wheel to hub runout could need to be corrected. When the front wheels were installed on a hub piloted design the wheel will never be at a true center, over time the tire will wear with a high and low spot on the tread causing a vibration in the steering.
To correct you will need to lift the tire from the ground, locate the hub flange tabs and place a feeler gauge between the flange tabs and the wheel (.060 is where I check them), on one of the tabs the gauge will slide in the easiest, mark the tire directly above this tab, spin the wheel 180 degrees and loosen the lugs, this will allow the wheel to reposition itself on the flange in the opposite position it was in, retorque the wheel. I would try this first since it will be the most cost effective with little to no out of pocket expense, especially if you can do this yourself.
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SKellyRV, Try www.nwrvsupply.com, I was looking through their website for odds and ends that were missing on our coach when we bought it and i was impressed with the inventory they have for those hard to find items. It might be worth a phone call to them, they were very pleasant to work with on the phone also.
Other than an internet search, Maybe Iowa80 truck stop's website will have something similar for the cap and Northwest will have the logo for the center.
Good luck with your search.
Joe
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Ray, I am determined to figure it out, one I do I will let you know.
Does your door have a piece of plastic protruding out that looks like a wind deflector on the hinge side of the door? I am trying to figure out what it's called, mine broke over the winter (cover slapping it) and I need to either remove it or replace it. It looks like its mounted under the hidge and comes out on a 90 degree from the hinge.
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Interesting, I have an HR 02 Imperial, and the door chirps when driving down the road depending on the position of the coach and condition of the road, which is very annoying, anyone have a fix?
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I run Demco commander tow bar and blue ox Apollo brake, Jeep Wrangler all 4 down.
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Mike, good to hear, new tires were your only option from the sounds of it.
As far as the weight goes, I do not know what to say, I lived with it on our old coach after some modifications, Bilstein shocks, Firestone ride rite air bag helpers, Roadmaster sway bars and a rear track bar addition, all masked the over weight feel on the rear and made the unit handle much better on the highway. I felt comfortable driving it after the modifications. Knowing it is over in the rear is good, you can tailor your driving habits based off of that.
Good luck
Joe
2009 CC Magna 630 w/Cummins ISX 650
in RV Photo Gallery
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Agreed! Cummins, Cummins dealer, selling dealer and coach manufacture would all be called onto the carpet, let the judge sort out who is going to make this right again.