jbrunson

http://www.technomadia.com/lithium/ These two have been doing lithium batteries for five years.... They are different beasts .... If I had the cash, I would do it.

http://kaperii.com/adtemplate.asp?invky=286 Awesome commercial grade - $7 a piece - maybe 10 minutes per light to swap out the power hog halogens- more light easier on AC unit and batteries. Did every single one in the coach a week after we got her home.

I have learned to drive many vehicles in my day~ everything from grain combines to tail dragger airplanes..... Best advise you have been given is to Slow down.... budget three times (yes three times) the amount of time to make the return trip. The front of the coach is pretty easy, its your behind (literally) you have to watch carefully. /john

Backyard/ Shade tree DIY mechanics here in Dixie have been conditioned for decades to avoid the OEM due to high prices. The part where they deliver and save me 90 miles of driving is added value also.

Just got off the phone with my local Cat dealer's parts desk... next morning delivery and prices cheaper than NAPA! What manner of foolishness is this??? Somebody pinch me so i will wake up!

Charlie, Brett is steering you in the right direction... your most valuable commodity is your time... be positive the coach is inadequate for your needs before you advance this situation.... you could end up wasting loads of money and time.... these things are supposed to empower us to enjoy our life more... don't let the dipsticks at Winnebago have enough power to stop the really important things in your life.

It almost seems that the OEM does not want to support their product ~ yes these things can usually be fixed as good as or better than new.... I also completely understand having an emotional investment in the coach... hope you begin a relationship with a shop that you can trust.... Good luck sir.

OK guys here's the deal with loads of Lazydays/ Campingworld type variants.... The used motor homes are usually there on consignment! This means there is absolutely zero motivation to negotiate on price and the sales guy often knows absolutely ZERO about what he is selling. The "run don't walk" advise is absolutely the best.... Begin to educate yourself about these machines and look for FSBOs (For sale by owner)..when you get a serious candidate, have the machine professionally inspected ... The secret to getting a good deal is NOT being in a hurry....it is possible to buy an absolutely awesome coach for $100K....I guarantee you will get a much better value for your hard earned cash!

Patch with Eternabond tape then drive home thru the coach's OEM facility and have them repair... the original creator of the coach will address any and all structural issues... also a "Factory Repair" will help to retain as much resale value as possible.

Two of my chairs are missing.... does anyone know who made the original chairs for Beaver?

I guess the best analysis I have read is the "High Volume" thing..... Be advised tho~ the prices are high also. This is on parts, service, and RV's. My dad bought a motorhome there, and I have purchased a Honda Generator there... but in both cases we went into the deal knowing that any recourse whatsoever on the purchase would not be with the retailer. You can get a much better value for your money elsewhere most of the time... Because of financial necessity, I am forced to choose other options; that is to say our budget simply does not allow for camping world type transactions. I simply do not possess the extra cash required to deal with their service or sales people. They go for the low hanging fruit. Recently in another post and another forum, the statement was made that if you were going to run a motorhome, you had to spend loads of cash to do it. My analysis is quite different- if you are willing to educate yourself on maintenance issues and shop carefully for your coach, you can get by for much less than 33% of what someone who hires everything done spends to operate and maintain a RV. But you have to stay away from camping world to pull it off.

Bought a 36' Beaver Monterey about 5 months ago. I understand Red Bay also has a parts store near Tiffin.... Eventually will get there to look at some new furniture... Tiffin is very popular here in the southeastern US-

When I was looking for another class A coach, Camping World in Calera, Al. Internet Listed one that interested me. I called and got the sales Guy's recording... He quoted his email addy so I sent him an email with three simple direct questions about his product. I then called back and told him (on his voicemail) that he had email and I was a seriously interested customer. I never got a reply... That store is no longer open.... I wonder why???

Ahhhh Camping World...they have good toilet paper and products such as that....consumables; it is doubtful that I would ever buy a motorhome there... the poor sales guys don't know anything about the product they sell...asked one of them once what chassis the coach was built on and just got a stupid smirk... most if not all RV's that are not new (For REAL problems, buy new) on their inventory is on consignment ~ this means they can afford to place their price ridiculously high because it costs them very little for the product to sit there.... no motivation to move product because they got little skin in the game... Service???? these things are incredibly complex and tech with the competence to repair usually commands too high a salary.... he can feed himself working on aerospace or marine products. Come to think of it Wal-Mart has great prices on RV stuff!

OK so I am still looking at these agendas.... after dealing with multiple issues and much more research, it appears that I will be much more "Hands on" than others... I am extremely thirsty for information from another diy er that maintains something very similar to my coach. I have questions about this magnum chassis and some of the exotic systems it employs ~ like hydraulic over hydraulic brakes--- I don't have any major issues identified at this time... just having trouble finding expierenced hands that are not in the exact opposite end of the continent...

Valuable technique lessons here..... tone tester a.k.a. "Fox and Hound" gets easier every time you identify one...

99% of the time, the answer is yes. Golf cart batteries are higher capacity usually. If you encounter a dead cell, it will be cheaper to replace one six volt battery as opposed to replacing a 12 volt battery of the same capacity. The simple way to evaluate your purchase is cost of battery per pound; forget about what label is on the battery, most are private label products with just a few manufacturing facilities making product for dozens of brands. Wal-Mart usually has best price.

DW and I are new to the motorhome game but we have spent many a night in camp WalMart! Our favorite one is in Marianna Fl. Where we park nearest to the Home Depot so we can get their free WiFi for Netflix. Just don't be a jerk and spend some money. Check out AllStays.com

Ok so brake now holds coach when transmission shifts into drive or reverse. I do not think that the electric boost pump will disengage the park brake. Next time I will need shoes I think... No more slack to take up.

I just got an awesome deal on a small truck with tow bar fittings on it. Does anyone recognize what brand I will need for these? (See pic)

Parking brake definitely will not hold coach against engine at idle with transmission in reverse. Parking brake will not hold coach on slight incline. Parking brake is ineffective. Going to re-check, but it appears that parking brake can be released with engine off and brake pedal depressed. This seems much different than air brakes. I am going to tighten the cable Clevis another tenth of an inch or so. There is plenty of lining material on the shoes. Also, much easier to deal with this if you slide out the battery tray and crawl under from that side... You can actually sit there and adjust as opposed to laying there...

Guys, I'm learning fast but need a little council here. Spent an afternoon under the belly of my new to me Beaver looking, locating, etc.. One objective was to adjust the parking brake on the tail shaft of the transmission. The thing is there is some sort of hydraulic device that actually engages the brake (I was expecting a simple purely mechanical system- yea). As best I can tell, the teleflex cable is routed to some valve that in turn operates a hydraulic dashpot that pulls the lever that engages the brake shoes that stops the hub that is integral to the driveline. Keep in mind this is not an air powered chassis and I am assuming that I am dealing with hydraulic over hydraulic braking. ( Magnum Blue Streak chassis) Please take a moment and answer some basic questions for a beginner: 1. Does the engine have to be running to engage the park brake? If so, does placing the transmission in gear release the brake? 2. At this time, I can see about 80 thousands of an inch clearance between the shoes and hub; also there is over 5/16" of lining on the shoes. Should I continue to take up slack in the cable between the dashpot and park brake? 3. Does anyone have a Bendix, etc. part number for the shoes and hub. We had a nice leisurely Sunday afternoon drive.... It would be nice not to have to have the dear wife chock wheels before I get up from driving.

I have checked my wiring diagrams and apparently my 1996 Monterey did not come with them; they are certainly not there now. Diodes to shunt the spike that occurs when the solenoid disengages... My Beaver has had multiple ignition switches... Here's why I think that is: http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/100134/why-is-there-a-diode-connected-in-parallel-to-a-relay-coil For less than $3, you can add protection for that extremely hard to find ignition switch.

Just choking on the price... I made my last 100' 30 amp extension from scraps I picked up on job sites and $25 at lowes.

$300 for two new ones. I imagine this happens often; the spring does not break, it just becomes detached from the housing. We managed to remove our compression clamp with a hand grinder and reattach the spring with a $5 clamp from our local Tractor Supply. Works fine now.