blakeloke

JRock, Correct. From everything I've read the problem is just with the Cherokee. We've never had a problem with our Grand Cherokee Blake

Roland, You pose a good question and will probably get some sage advice from others here. My take is that with constant care, maintenance and updating a coach in the class you are looking at should last a long time. We bought our coach new 12 years ago and it is actually in better condition now than it was the day we bought it. Of course, like our home, we are always working on it and fixing things when it breaks or needs minor maintenance. With a rolling home.....things just break more often than our stationary home. Most recently we have new engineered wood flooring to replace worn carpet and broken tiles, residential refrigerator and have had the seats and sofas reupholstered. We have a couple of windows that are fogged up. The replacement glass is waiting for us at RV Fog DR so the next time we are up in Searcy AR will have them replace those for us. Repairs and updates can be major or minor......just keep after them. I get caught up with the newer bigger coaches with features we don't currently have. But get a dose of reality when looking at $$$'s. So, I'm sure our coach would last us another 12 years if we keep it. Blake

emorypeggy, Before you purchase the Trailhawk, you might want to go through a few of the topics here (history) and get as familiar with the issue as possible. I wouldn't take the word of any salesman because they just don't have the technical know-how. For example: a few years back we looked at a small Nissan pick-up to use as a toad. Salesperson told us there wasn't a problem towing it behind our coach. We asked for the owners manual before purchasing - and with a lot of hemhawing around he produced the owner's manual - low and behold it was not towable. We reviewed the owner's manual on the Grand Cherokee we bought last year and went through the steps of putting it in tow mode before we purchased. Albeit, that would have not worked with the folks that bought a Cherokee because their issues didn't arise until they were hooked up and towing. We specifically didn't buy a Cherokee because of the wobble issue. Blake

Gosh....I hope not Carl. My Windsor & pick-em-up truck are pre-2007. Blake

You can see our outlet once the engine hatch is opened. It's right above tucked in close the inside rear of the coach. Blake

How did your coach handle the high winds with the way you set it up? Blake

Herman, I did same exact thing. My maintainer is plugged into the outlet in engine compartment (used an extension) and the Battery Tender is on the small shelf in the electrical panel (right rear behind wheels) then the cords to the tender go to battery compartment from there. Works perfectly and my chassis batteries haven't gone dead since. We're always plugged in at home. Blake

Cleaning up, adding hooks for bungee tie downs and coating our battery trays is still a project I need to complete. Am following what Herman does as his seems like a simple solution. Blake

mncbluford & Ian, We'll be at Bristol hoping for a Harvick win! Blake

RedandSilver, We have towed our 24' trailer from Houston area to California on two separate occasions. Once with a car in it delivering to our daughter in college and the other time with a partial load of red oak firewood to my brother. The top rails on the trailer stand about 7' above street level so I was unable to see behind the trailer at all (issue you raised). With that setup I never felt a need to have a camera on the back of the trailer. I always have my rear camera on but use it more to ensure my toad/trailer hook-up is still in proper order. Up until recently we've only had our truck as a toad. You'll see from our signature it is a 2007 Dodge Ram 3500. This truck is a 4 door Megacab that is lifted with 35" tires. Same issue with towing the trailer mentioned above.....I cannot see behind the truck and have never felt the need to have a camera behind the truck either. I'm guessing we have towed the trailer and truck over 40,000 miles without issue (we've put on over 50,000 miles since we bought the coach). I always keep my eyes moving when driving and am constantly scanning my side mirrors. So, when planning a lane change I know what's next to me and how quickly another vehicle may be coming up in the lane I want to move to. We also recently added side cameras that automatically default to a view of the side that our blinkers are indicating. The cameras work okay and I use them as a supplement to side mirror knowledge. As for tailgaters, I don't worry much about smaller vehicles following too closely. However, I get antsy if a big rig is too close but the truckers usually move into the next lane and move on past me. Back to earlier discussion about towing a partial load of red oak from Texas to California in the trailer. Funny story, my brother never got that firewood. I was stopped at California Agriculture check-point and was told I couldn't bring in the contraband firewood due to potential Texas beetle infestation. So, I was given two options, dump the load in the field next to the Ag Station, or back the trailer into a designated spot and pick it up on the way out. Now I split each piece of that firewood and I wasn't about to let anyone take it home other than me........so, I backed it into the spot without a problem. Then picked it up a couple of weeks later. Hope my note helps! Blake

Tim, Before you purchase lithium batteries check to see if your inverter will support them Owners manual on our inverter specifically says not to use lithium. Blake

I guess we missed pizza making! Sorry Herman....Carl made me do it!

Is it a single handle type faucet that mixes hot and cold water? If taking the strainer off and cleaning it doesn't work, like Bill suggests above, your mixer valve may be bad. Home Depot sells replacement valve cartridges for Moen, American Standard etc. You can take your faucet off - a little bit of work - and bring it to the store to find the right cartridge. Blake

Aye Aye......Newmar has a great reputation! Blake

Ooops.....looks like I missed a few posts where I should have defended my reputation! Our friends are down from Picksburgh PA and we've been out to the Houston Rodeo. Well.....yes, a cold beer after a day of driving is most awesome. Dennis, we just ordered a frozen drink machine and have several mixers we are going to test out. I think my favorite is going to be Orange Dreamsicle. Blake

Roland, Hopefully the coach you are looking at suits your family's needs. I'm also hoping it doesn't have the Firestone Intelliride leveling system. Ours does and it takes constant maintenance. The control box went out on it a year or so ago and we had to have a new one manufactured....in Sweden. Wasn't cheap...ours was one of only about 400 coaches this system was used on before they figured out is wasn't the greatest. Blake

Wow....pretty neat idea. Carl...Deb said there used to be a company down in Galveston (your hood) that sold something like that. Blake

Marc, Welcome to the Forum. You may consider converting to a macerator system. It takes longer to pump out (small hose vs bigger gravity hose) but it is much easier to handle. Our hose stays attached to pump discharge all the time then I just cap off the end and put the hose in the bay. Takes Arthur out of the equation. Blake

Dennis....we love that park! Best part is the café, cocktails and employees. Blake

Brett.....absolutely not! You've forgotten more than I'll ever know! Blake

Nice ride Dennis....and welcome to the Forum. What park was that picture taken in? Blake

Carl....I think about Brett all the time! In a good way of course! Reread my post..... Now go have some Blue Bell.....we have vanilla tonight! Blake

Hi Sharon, Welcome the Forum. Overcharging batteries could be as damaging to the batteries and under charging them. When overcharging the batteries they will produce a gas called hydrogen sulfide H2S. The smell is often referred to as rotten eggs. In higher concentration H2S is harmful and flammable. I'm surprised your batteries are in your stairwell unless the stairwell is open to atmosphere. My suspicion is you have one or more bad batteries. Are the terminals corroded? Are you able to get voltage readings with a meter (charger off/un hooked)? Many of us use battery maintainers that keeps the right voltage to the batteries when the coach is not being used and sitting (storage). I have one for our chassis batteries because my charger/inverter does not charge those. Hope this helps some and soon there'll be more answers (and battery replacement options) for you from experts like Brett, Rich, Joe, Herman and Carl. Blake

Roland, Check out this beautiful 2008 Beaver Contessa at Motorhomes of Texas. It's a 1.5 baths, 43" with a Cat C9. $139,500 list. http://motorhomesoftexas.com/coachrv/beaver/2008--contessa--42Milan--C1974 Blake

I'm kinda with Kay on this one. Especially with mobile apps such as Google Earth. We've only had to unhook once where we didn't expect to. That was early on and our travel companions said our coaches would fit fine on a river crossing ferry in Oregon. Ferry operator just shook his head and said something bad. For me, upsizing would be awesome. Blake