augerdogger

We have been on 2 Fantasy Tours. The 1st was excellent, the 2nd was a bust. The 2nd tour had a very poor Wagonmaster and Fantasy failed miserably in getting reservations. I have a 45' bus conversion and was assigned a tent camping spot. It took us 45 minutes to park and several thousand in paint damage. Another tour member was also assigned a tent spot ans it took him 30 minutes to get parked. His wife said she had never seen him so upset and have so many problems getting parked.

I recently tried to make an RV reservation in Albany, OR. I told them I had a Class A Vantare. They told me they were not familiar with that RV and asked for more details. I responded that it was a bus conversion by Featherlite. The woman responded that bus conversions were NOT welcome, end of conversation. I have had bus conversions since 2001 and this is the 2nd time this has occurred. I chose this park because it was convenient to Marathon in Coburg and Silverleaf Electronics in Albany. What are others experience?

My RV is an '01 and I get from 1.5 to 12 mpg depending on driving conditions. The RV weighs in from 52 to 54,000 lbs and my towed is a Class B that weighs ~8,000 lbs. I currently have 133,000 miles on the RV and usually average 6 mpg pulling the towed and closer to 7 mpg without. My best fuel economy was 12 mpg from Albuquerque to OKC with a 30 - 40 mph tail wind, but payback was the 3.8 mpg driving home into the wind. The RV has a 500 HP DD with an Allison B500 transmission and I generally run at 1600 rpm. My previous RV was a '93 with a 500 HP DD and an an Allison 754 that averaged 6+ mpg. It generally was loaded to 48,000 lbs and it had 190,000 mile when I sold it. Towing cost about 0.5 mpg. My first Class A was a single slide that weighed 32,000 with a 300 HP Cummins and a Allison 3000 that averaged high 7's. I will update fuel economy when I have access to ECU. It stores total fuel used and miles. My fuel expenses don't discriminate between engine fuel, AquaHot, and 17.5kW generator.

I have a '01 Featherlite DS conversion. The shell is a 2000 Prevost H3-45 VIP. I wanted a coach with a 500hp DDEC III but settled for 500hp DDEC IV. The fuel economy and performance difference between III and IV is huge. I settled because we only drive 10-15,000 miles/year. Previous coach was a 500hp DDEC II that we drove 15-20,000 miles/year. AH uses both 0.35 and 0.40 gal/hr nozzles. I have used both and currently have a 0.35 installed. IMO I had more carbon buildup with the 0.40's.

There are many variables in fuel economy. I have a 45' RV with a 500hp DD and my towed vehicle is Class B Sprinter. The RV is usually loaded to 53,000+ lbs and the Sprinter weighs in at 8,000 lbs. This spring I took a 3 wk, 5000 mi round trip to Rhode Island and fuel economy varied from 6 to over 12 mpg, overall fuel economy was 7.2 mpg. This includes fuel used by the Aquahot and the 62 hours of generator use. I got 12 mpg on the leg from Albuquerque to OK City with a 40-50 mph tail wind.and lost that gain on the trip home with a 40-50 mph head wind from OKC to ABQ. Going home from ABQ is 30 mi with a 2000' elevation change and fuel economy is ~ 4 mpg. Going North from ABQ to Denver includes 1 mountain pass and I get 7 mpg without the towed and 6.5 mpg with the towed. I drive based on the brake specific fuel consumption curve, BSFC, for this engine which is flat from 1200 to 1550 rpm and above 1550 rpm fuel consumption increases, 1500-1550 rpm corresponds to 65-68 mph. The transmission is an Allison B500 that I keep in economy mode unless I lose too much speed and start obstructing the flow of traffic. I budget a fixed amount for fuel expenses and when it is spent the RV is parked. I had a Newmar DP with a Cummins 300hp C-series that averaged almost 7.5 mpg for the 70,000 miles I owned it. The next RV averaged 6.2 mpg for the 180,000 miles I put on it. The current RV has 120,000 miles on it and I am getting 6.6 mpg because I usually have my toad. Food for thought is the RV has two alternators, one for the chassis and one for the house. The house alternator is 6.5 kW and engine fuel consumption at idle is 0.5 to 0.6 gallons per hour. The 17 kW generator is 17 kW and uses 0.8 gallons per hour. The RV has two 50 amp 120 legs or 12 kW total. Is it better to run the DD to power the alternator or the house generator?

Are the slide operating mechanism's electric or hydraulic? Is there a locking mechanism? The slides in my previous Newmar coach were electric motors and I never had a problem. I have the same problems with the HWH hydraulic slides on my current RV. HWH thought it was a valve leaking that released the pressure allowing the slide to move. I bought a replacement valve and took the coach to a local RV dealer to have it installed and they said the valve doesn't fit. The slide creeps out when moving or stopped. I just watch it in the mirrors and stop when it needs to be retracted. Please post more info since many of us are not familiar with Thor slides.

I seriously considered a Montana LLC before handing over $16,000+ dollars in sales tax. My decision was swayed by the fact that I would be driving an RV owned by a corporation (LLC) and technically would be required to have a CDL to operate. This means I cannot by-pass weigh stations and must keep a log of hours, penalties would be huge for not stopping. In addition, I show dogs and would have an added inconvenience of having to stop. A second option would be to establish residency in a state such as Texas or South Dakota. This has it's own hassles but are easier to stomach than a CDL. SD residency requires that you are resident in the state for one day/year., TX has similar requirements. Neither state has an income tax. Hassles if you own a brick and mortar in another state, as well as income tax owed in state of brick and mortar. Put you brick and mortar in a trust and rent from the trust is a work around.

I recently purchased a used motorhome that was converted by an out of business company. The front TV is a motorized lift that pivots at the top. Pushing the rocker switch to lower/raise the TV results in whirring noises and no motion. I was told I need to release the latch to lower the TV. Any ideas on where the latch is? After I get the TV to raise and lower, the AMX controller needs to be programmed. Does anybody know how or where to take it to be programed.