mikev

Hello, my wife and I are new to the motorhome world and FMCA as well. We had a beautiful Coleman travel trailer for several years and took our sons all over Eastern Canada and the USA. Many great memories but I was always envious of the lovely coaches that would pull in to rv parks where we were staying and within minutes be all set up. We dreamed of the day we might be able to get into that lifestyle. For the last couple of years I have been looking at new and used Class A's and C's. After much research and agonizing I decided to look for a well kept A, preferably Diesel and preferably something not too long-under 36 feet. I can fix most anything, so used would save us a great deal of money. We also want to travel with our coach not just park it. We are around 5 years away from retirement and I figured that we would probably be buying a little later. However the economy went into it's downturn and I picked up my browsing a touch. I started to see several that might be in our price range and we decided to get serious. We found and purchased a 2003 Holiday Rambler 32PBD. It has 38k miles, was one owner-no pets, non smokers, the owner had a big garage where it was kept when not in use. Good service records and they were selling because they decided to devote their time to other pursuits. The owner had purchased a 39 footer back in 2001 but found the travelling somewhat awkward, campgrounds were a bit harder to find and get into, manoeuvring in traffic and in towns difficult. So he ordered this coach at 32 foot long with that in mind. He also had a bunch of options included like the larger Cummins engine and Allison transmission. Bigger diesel generator, awnings all round etc. We had seen several coaches and I was very impressed with the design and condition of this coach. The price was excellent I think mainly due to many prospective buyers having "footitis". They looked but told the owner that it was too small. I had this condition once many years ago after buying my first sailboat. As soon as I got it-it was too small! Fortunately for us we were looking for something in this size range and are very happy with our coach. We have most of the amenities and comforts of bigger units in a smaller package. It is great for travelling and we get reasonable fuel economy (average 9.5 to 11 mpg) -depends on my foot... Don't get me wrong big is beautiful when it comes to Class A's but it just doesn't fit our thoughts. Out of all of this I would suggest that you decide how long you intend to own a coach. We bought this one and think we are going to be very happy with it until we are done RVing. We spent enough to have what we feel we need to go where we intend to go. But buying one 6 years old allowed us to spend 1/4 of the price paid new. If you are not sure (if that is ever possible for anyone) get out and drive one, rent one -A or C, spend less if you think you will want something bigger/newer later but really look around. There is no shortage of great coaches out there. Find the right one for you-take your time. Although I bought a diesel there are many great power train possibilities. You said you have worked extensively on autos so you may be more comfortable with gas. Not sure if any of this helps, just thought I would give you some of what we went through this year in our decision making. We have spent 36 nights on-board so far this year, 5000 miles, 3 provinces and 10 states. My coach is in a dry cold hanger for the winter and I am anxious to get it on the road again. Best of Luck with your decision!

Hello all, in the interest of being thorough you may wish to check your differential as well. There can be 20 or so quarts of oil and it could be leaking as well. Low probability of getting that far back, but I would rather leave nothing to chance.

Yes, I have changed my own oils and filters this year. I'm in my early 50s so I'm still sort of flexible ... I have also twisted wrenches on helicopters since '75, so I'm interested and have some expertise. Money is an issue as well. 22 quarts of Shell Rotella T and a Fleetguard filter for my Cummings 315 ISC is a total of $105.. The last oil change was done by the previous owner during the safety inspection in June when we bought this coach and the truck repair centre charged $320 for parts and labour. My wife and I are doing ok financially, but I have many other things to spend $200 on. As many of you have written, an RV makes many demands on the wallet. Besides the money, I wanted to do at least this round of maintenance myself. First to see how and where, second to ensure it was done right before starting our adventures with this house on wheels. Sure enough, I discovered several issues while looking around. The worst of these was finding original filters on the coach that were only changed on paper by a service centre. The coolant filter/additive spin-on cartridge was original, 6 years old. I could tell because the undercoating was still covering the filter. The service documentation said it was changed three years ago. Fortunately the coolant itself was in pretty good shape, but I changed it out to the Cummins approved ELC coolant with the non-additive filter. Should be good for the rated 500,000 miles or three years before adding the coolant additive ... I found a grease fitting that was not greased in the spring, same truck depot that did the oil change. If I have someone do it for me in the future I intend to use Brett Wolfe's idea of giving a throw away copy of the service guide locations. I already printed some copies for this purpose. The truck depot in the spring did not tighten the engine oil filter properly. When I removed it, it took around 50 inch/pounds to spin off. To put it in perspective, my wife could have removed it with a twist of her wrist. I was startled. To put the new one on to the proper torque or one full turn after contact was a two handed affair by me. It was close to coming loose and leaking with the horror show that would entail on an interstate ... My fuel filters, both primary and secondary, were the same Wix part number. The service centre that changed them last must have run out of the proper type and stuck on anything that would fit. Fortunately they were both 10 micron filters and there had been no issue with the fuel system, so there was no damage to the injectors and such. There should have been a 30 micron primary and a 2 micron secondary. However, I also discovered that the water sensor wire connection to the one filter was not connected and was tucked up behind the starter. The filter they put on had a drain but no water sensor. I bought two sets of filters and got everything back to the proper setup. By the way, we went on our first trip before I discovered the fuel filters were incorrect and received my first indication something was wrong when the "water in fuel" light came on in a rain storm! Lastly the air dryer desiccant filter was also supposedly changed/inspected a few years ago; I found undercoating on it as well. The service centers where the errors were made are all over the map. This spring the depot was in Toronto; the other errors were made by centers in Florida and Tennessee a few years ago. The point I'm making is we need to verify when someone is doing work for us, at least as much as possible. Filters and oil are easy to check, or you could have someone do it for you. Get the depot to show you what they putting on your coach and read your literature for the proper part numbers or oil specifications. I will request the Fleetguard filters first(Cummins) or an appropriate alternative. Using the Internet, I found the Wix, Baldwin and Fleetguard cross referenced numbers. Better yet, buy the filters yourself and hand them over to the service center. That will eliminate them scrambling around trying to find a part when they have aready dumped your oil. I have also marked the oil filters in the past to ensure they were actually changed, after I discovered at a car dealership that I was charged but the filter had not been changed. Sorry to sound paranoid, but I have experienced the same sort of stories I have read here on the FMCA forums of poor work being done. By the way, one tip I have about spin on filters; after installing it properly and checking for leaks, take a permanent marker and draw an arrow on the bottom pointing to the front of the coach. You could scratch the paint the same way. This way you can look at it quick and see if for some odd reason it is coming loose. Another little identifying scratch somewhere on the paint of the filter will tell if it was replaced after service. Cheers

Thanks Brett. I did call Source Mfg and spoke to Jim Walls. (Very helpful gentleman). The trailing arms are approximately $1,800 for the pair plus shipping if necessary. I live north of Toronto, Ontario and there are no suppliers in Canada at the moment. Jim just sent me a reply to an email and he included a flyer and a list of locations for purchase and installation of the trailing arms. I will include them with this note. As well there is a note on the flyer talking about a "Ride Enhancement Kit" that will soon be available for the affected coaches. He described the kit as new trailing arms, air bags, shocks and a "Ping Tank." I googled Ping Tank and found this explanation. http://www.landlinemag.com/Archives/2001/F...retirement.html These kits are not ready yet, but Jim should be sending me the info later which I will add to this thread later, hopefully others find this useful. I read this item last night and went straight out and crawled around inspecting my trailing arms. Unfortunately I'm on the hook like I think so many others will be. I am struggling with the concept Monaco and Navistar may/will not assist all their prior customers when this is their own manufactured product which could be potentially dangerous. It seems to me the folks who had the failures so far were pretty lucky not to have had a serious accident-forget the expense and time .... I am new to the FMCA and my motorhome , my wife (Heather) and I purchased our 03 HR Ambassador in June, it is our first so I have been reading as much as possible to get up to speed on all aspects of our new hobby/lifestyle. A short time after our purchase we happened to meet Paul Du Bois, the FMCA Northeast Area vice president, at a park near Rochester, N.Y. Paul and his wife were very helpful and enthusiastic so we ended up joining the FMCA. These forums are terrific, I have been learning much over the last while. Enough for now. I hope this info helps. Thanks to you, Brett, and everyone who adds to these forums. Cheers, Mike Visentin Monaco_Trailing_arm_flyer_9_18_09.pdf

Brett, I have a 2003 Ambassador and sure enough it looks like I have the affected trailing arms. I'm just putting my coach away for the winter and will order new arms for the spring. In your research/discussions have you heard of any cost estimates for the two arms and installation? Cheers Mike Visentin

Hello, I have an Cummings 315 ISC in my 2003 HR Ambassador. Was this mod due to your coach being a 2005 model? Was the cost absorbed by Cummins?