uechiyondan

It is, thanks

Sorry, I did not want to make a bigger issue than it already is. We are in Decatur at REV, the coach is a 2016 American Dream. Thanks for all your responses.

The $450 is just for the chassis wheel alignment. The weight distribution adjustment can only be done by Freightliner, and I am not sure what, if any charge would be associated with that.

Has anyone heard about having your coach alignment checked/adjusted on a new coach after you load it with all your stuff? We are at the factory getting warranty work done and there is a problem with the ride height. They are saying that when you buy a new coach that after you load it, you should have an alignment, and this may be part of the cause of our problem. The charge is something like $450. I know about weighing, we did that, and found the tag is underweight, and the drive is overweight.

Temp sensors, you need them!

The directions into the Big E look pretty good. Google Map on Satellite before you drive in, then use your car to get around. If you are thinking of going to Boston, or Worcester I would recommend not taking the motor home. Even if you don't get stuck, you won't be able to park. As Tom said, many of the roads are narrow and you probably don't want to find yourself on one in a 40' motor home towing anything. Plan ahead, have patience, and remember, commercial trucks and buses navigate through these cities on a daily basis.

I assume that this is a flat screen TV. I had a problem with the TV on my last coach similar to what you describe. It was very frustrating having a good TV, with all kinds of connections on the back which i could not access. I found that the bracket has a "tab" which locks the TV to the bracket. I had one of those mirrors on a stick which I was able to work behind and see what was preventing the TV from lifting off the bracket. . I eventually was able to work a coat hanger in behind the TV, to release the tab. Then the TV lifted off no problem. Needless to say I bent the tab so it would not lock in, thus i was able to remove the TV, whenever I wanted, so as to make connections to the back of the TV. I think the lawyers are mandating that the TVs be anchored securely so as to avoid lawsuits if the TV moves while under way.

We took the Fantasy tour to Alaska last summer. We found Fantasy customer service to be a frustrating experience. Think of sucking dirty pond water through a straw would give you an idea of how we felt. The communications we did receive were confusing and contradictory. The tour itself did not offer anything we could not have done on our own at significant savings. One of the other participants actually ran the numbers based on what we paid and what we figured Fantasy was charged, and the mark up was significant. That would have been fine if Fantasy had actually added value, but other than the pre-trip route planning, we could see little added value. None of the places we went were exclusive, and in fact, many times anyone who showed up and paid the regular ticket price could and did join in with our group. Because we were in a group we were also subjected to perpetual "hurry up and wait" syndrome. For example, while visiting Jasper part of the package included a tram ride to the top of the mountain with a "breakfast" at the cafe on the summit. We were instructed to meet at 9:00 AM when the tram opened so as to get to the top early. We all rushed over to get there by nine only to have to wait around in the gift shop for over an hour before our tickets were distributed for the ride up, all the while watching other trams leave while we waited. This happened over and over again throughout the trip. Some of the group dinners were at regular restaurants, and venues. The promotion materiel talks about the group activities, but we were often as not, seated elsewhere in the restaurants so we were by ourselves anyway. As for the Canadian Maritimes, we have toured the area many times on our own, so I would say we are familiar with the area. It is a beautiful part of Canada and the locals are generally very welcoming. I attended the Fantasy presentation on the Canadian Maritimes tour at the FMCA rally in Florida this year. Based on the presentation, I was not impressed. The presenter ment well, and tried to do her best, but it was obvious that she had never been to the area. She made a big deal about walking on "the bottom of the ocean" at low tide in the Bay of Fundy. I suppose that if you are from the mid-west at had never seen a large tide, walking on the beach at low tide could be a big deal. Being from Maine, I guess the novelty was lost on me. The other featured highlights were some of the many other normal tourist attractions along the route. One of the problems you may face on a tour is that you will always be under a time constraint, so if you discover something interesting along the way there may not be time to stop and see it. Likewise if you want to spend more time a a particular stop, you may not be able to do so and still stay on schedule. You may also find yourself spending time at areas of little or no interest to you, further adding to your frustration, especially if you know you are missing something you really want to see because you are stuck waiting for the group. There were a lot of other problems with the tour as well, these are just a few examples. As a result of our experience, I can not in good conscience recommend Fantasy RV Tours.

We recently had to replace two tires on our coach. We were able to use the Michelin program and it saved us a considerable amount of money. We used the tire dealer recommended by the Monaco repair facility in Oregon, They do a lot of tire work on all types of motorhomes, thus they were familiar with the program, but more importantly, they had the tires in stock and the tires were new - recent date codes, if memory serves, I think they were only a month or two old. My recommendation is to find a dealer near you who is well versed in motorhome tires and then work with them to get the date codes you can live with. Hope this helps

We went on the Fantasy Premier tour to Alaska last summer. Big, big mistake! (there is another thread describing a similar experience to the one we had, except I think ours was worse - wish I had seen it before we booked our trip). We would have been better to buy the Milepost book and go on our own. We would have saved thousands of dollars, seen the same sights and had a much better experience. If you are considering taking the trip, by all means go, the Milepost gives excellent directions, and has several "pre-planned" routes. The scenery is unbelievable. If your coach is in good working order, and you take care of routine maintenance you should be fine. Be aware that driving in the far north is not like the lower 48. The main highways are more like secondary roads in the lower 48, lots of frost heaves, and often no lines painted on the roads. Most of the time, there is very little traffic, so as long as your watch your speed, you can maneuver around and through the heaves. Road construction is a given, a road that may be paved one week, may be dirt the next. As for speed, except for Anchorage I don't think we went over 50 mph for the entire trip. Word of advice, go slow, take your time, see the sights, watch the wildlife (there is a lot of it) and enjoy the experience. If you are in a small group or by your self there are lots of places to dry camp along the highways. Sometimes 100 miles is a full day of driving. Oh yes and did I say go slow? All the damages to motorhomes we saw were due to driving to fast. A moose makes a big mess of the front of your motorhome when you hit it. If you hit the frost heaves too fast, your suspension will regret it, not to mention your cabinets. I would agree with the above post about reservations, other than Denali and possible Homer, don't worry. And don't be afraid to dry camp along the road, some of the spots we passed were much nicer than many of the campgrounds we stayed at.

The porch light on our Monaco stopped working last week. I think I have checked the fuse, there is one in the overhead drivers compartment, and it is good. I also checked the relay in the electrical bay. All seem OK, the last time it quit, it was fixed under warranty in Decatur (last June). They replaced the led bulb. I have a copy of the schematic, but that doesn't seem to help much in tracing wires. Any suggestions on where to look or what to do?

I am not sure if I fully understand your question, but I will try and answer as best I can. I have been visiting the coast of Maine since childhood, and currently we own property on Mount Desert Island, or MDI as the island encompassing most of Acadia National Park is known. This part of Maine is particularly beautiful any time of the year (even in January), but especially so in the high season of August and September. There are many campgrounds on the island, the National Park service runs two, there are two KOA's and several other private campgrounds. I have never stayed in any of them, so I have no direct experience with any of them. You will be visiting during the "busy" season, so my recommendation would be to make reservations early. If you stay on island, you will be closer to the island activities, you can use your car, or use the free island shuttle to get around the island. The shuttle is particularly advantageous if you go to Barr Harbor, as parking can be tight at times. There is RV Parking just outside of Barr Harbor, space available, no overnight parking, and you will need to walk to the center of town. Staying on island has another advantage in that you would avoid the summer on/off traffic over the one bridge onto the island. In summer it can take over an hour to drive into Ellsworth, a drive with can be done in about thirty minutes during the calmer months. I don't know how physically active you are, but one of the highlights of Acadia are all the hiking trails. Trails on the island range from arduous (Cadilac Mountain, and the Beehive for example,) to gentle strolls through the gardens of Asticou. Make sure you get out and experience Acadia. A week is not enough, but will give you a taste of Down East Maine. You said you want to see towns and meet the people. A few of the villages on the island you should visit besides Barr Harbor are, Northeast Harbor, Southwest Harbor, Somesville, Seal Harbor, Seal Cove (for the auto museum), Bass Harbor, and Islesford. The last you will need to go by boat. Unless you rent one, you will need to take the mail boat from either Northeast Harbor, or Southwest Harbor, but it is well worth the effort to get there. After all these years, we are still finding new trails and new experiences. Your 28' Coachman should be small enough to get most of the places you would want to go outside of the park. Do not take the park loop road, as there are many low bridges which you may not fit under! I have seen 40'+ class A coaches on the main island roads, but these are usually limited to going to and from the various campgrounds. I hope you enjoy your time in Maine.

Here is what I did. My bumper is a Rock Hard full width bumper and the tow mounting plates were an option which bolt into the existing mounting spots using longer bolts. Rock Hard offers tow plates for both Roadmaster and Blue OX. With this set up, the tow plates are thru bolted to the frame ends, so there is little strain on the bumper itself, It may be possible you could retrofit the tow plates to an existing bumper, but you would need to do some drilling and I would be careful as to how and where they are attached. I have only had the set up for a few months, but have had no problems towing from Indiana to Pennsylvania and now down to Florida. I find that this option allows me to tow the Jeep, but not loose front ground clearance when off roading.

I had the same issue with my Rubicon. Camping World sells a height adjustment bar. By the way, it sounds like you are getting a nice Jeep, where do you plan on wheeling?

We drove 65 from Indianapolis to Louisville last month. I did not notice any bad pavement. As for difficult roads, The Appalachian chain from PA all the way down through North Carolina is full of tight twisty roads I would not necessarily want to drive a 40' + coach on. The mountains may not be as high, but the roads can be just as steep and sometimes the hairpin turns much tighter. If you look at the map, and it has lots of tight squiggles, it is probably a great road for the motorcycle, or the sports car, not so good in the coach.

My 2 cents worth.... We looked at a couple of units in Perry last spring, but didn't find anything we liked at a price we wanted to pay. We did find and buy a "dash cam" last summer at Sturgis for the Harley. It came with a box of just about every type of mount imaginable. It works pretty good on the engine guard but the vibration and the up and down movement on the bike makes for some "interesting" videos. It works much better in the coach or in the Jeep for recording scenery or as a record for when someone does something stupid just in front of us. It works well, gives good picture quality and runs off the cigarette outlet, One of the mounting brackets fits nicely on the dash up against the windshield, it doesn't move and gives a clear view out front, fits in the same place on the Jeep too. The biggest challenge it to remember to clear the memory card and plug it in before we start driving. Almost, if not all are made in China, so there is no way around that, unfortunately.

I hope you are enjoying your new Jeep. We just got a 2014 JK Unlimited which we are towing behind our motorhome. As stated above, the manual states that you should leave the ignition in the unlock accessory position, and disconnect the battery. We did a test this morning, with the key removed, my wife sat in the drivers seat while I turned th coach in the parking lot after hooking up. The wheel turned and the Jeep followed along just as it should. I do disconnect the battery when I tow, because I am using the Blue Ox light package which uses the existing bulbs. I don't want the two systems to interfear with each other. This should not happen because the unit has a relay isolator built in, but why take chances, Other than running the wires, it was an easy set up, maybe not the most elegant but it works well and is easy to connect to the coach. By the way if you do disconnect the battery, make sure the connections are secure when you reconnect. If not, you will get some interesting warning light displays on your dash while driving on the highway (ask me how I know this !!). Have fun and share the wave.

Being charged for "diagnostic" work on warranty items is not as uncommon as one would think. We were charges $120 for "diagnostic" work when our TV went after two months of ownership. It was determined that the TV needed to be replaced, which we knew, and as they could not replace it we had to pay in order to get our "home" back. We ended up going to Indiana where again it was diagnosed and determined that the TV needed to be replaced, As we were at the factory, they were able to replace it with a new one, which now works. While we were there getting work done, I got to talking with another customer who was having problems with his hydraulic jacks, we was charged as well for "diagnostic" work under a warranty item for his jacks which would not retract fully and they could not fix. He also got his jacks fixed, but only after going to Indiana.