fagnaml

Drdgsanta -- My view of an extended service contract (ESC) is it is "insurance" for the really big, unplanned repair. Like you when I purchased a 2007 Damon Astoria 3774 five years ago it had sat unused for most of its first eight years of life. I was glad I had the ESC from Xtra Ride as repair costs exceeded the cost of the ESC. On that coach I had to replace the turbocharger, replaced sway and track bars, replaced dash A/C compressor, replaced slide out controllers and one slide out motor, replaced refrigerator, replaced one roof A/C to name the big dollar items even though those items passed the pre-purchase inspection (except the track/sway bars were not inspected). When the original ESC expired I purchased a new, much lower cost three year ESC from Wholesale Warranties when the Damon was eleven years old. When I purchased my current coach a year ago, the ESC from Wholesale Warranties had two years remaining so I rolled the ESC over to my Ventana LE. Since purchasing the ESC from Wholesale Warranties I had to replace the entry steps slide-out motor on both the Damon and the Ventana LE. Wholesale Warranties provided superb customer service for the entry steps repairs. But as Bill and Herman have said, you may want to self-insure if you have the cash to create a personal "ESC" account. I'm a bit conservative with finances so I don't like big unplanned expenditures thus why I like the comfort of ESC "insurance" to cover most of the cost of an surprise repair.

Definitely not a humorous photo, but this is my "new normal" in a grandkid's bedroom while working from home under the six weeks of Stay-At-Home orders in the greater Houston area. A proper home office would mean dismantling the wife's formal living room which won't happen.....

Herman -- If you don't mind me asking, what city / high school does your grandson attend? I grew up in Rawlins, WY, got my chemical engineering degree at the University of Wyoming and then for the last 35 years the energy business has kept me in Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana and the UK. I don't miss the winters in Wyoming, but I do miss the summers camping in the Snowy Range. My first exposure to RVs as a pre-teen was my parents' 26 foot Prowler travel trailer which spent many summer weekends in Ryan Park Campground with several family friends who also had travel trailers. Roland -- The Alsatian RV Resort is one of my wife's favorites! It has all the amenities to meet her "RV Park Connoisseur" standards (she gets testy if I call her an "RV Park Snob"). Enjoy your time there but stay safe and healthy!

My promise to provide a review of the new Heritage Oaks RV Park near Fredericksburg, TX has to be delayed to some point in the future. To no surprise, the Wine and Wildflowers Festival that was planned to start this week (March 27) has been post-poned to early summer. As such, I cancelled my reservation at Heritage Oaks RV Park for this coming weekend. I'll re-book a reservation with them when the Wine and Wildflowers Festival is rescheduled. In the meantime, if you know of someone needing a place to park their RV, Heritage Oaks RV Park has openings and they plan to remain open during this coronavirus time.

jbarringer -- First, welcome to the Forum! There are a many fantastic, very knowledgeable forum members willing to provide help anytime! When I purchased my new-to-me 2016 Ventana LE ten months ago, I too had "dim" headlights and reverted to using my fog lights to help illuminate roadways. My problem was the headlights were "aimed" much too high! While I had the Ventana at Houston Cummins Coach care for routine maintenance work, I told them about my dim headlights. Cummins technician is the one who found the headlights were aimed much too high. After he adjusted the headlights to the proper angles, the "dim-ness" went away. Additionally, I had Cummins replace the OEM bulbs with Sylvania SilverStar Ultra bulbs to somewhat increase brightness. Again, the primary improvement in headlight brightness / road illumination was getting the headlights "set" at the proper angles which should be the first, simple "fix" attempted.

Quick update about my fluctuating engine temperature experience. I haven't taken the coach out for a fun weekend journey since the last weekend of November but it has been out for its monthly 45 minute drive. With cooler ambient temps during December - February the temperature fluctuation between 187 F and 207 F continued but not as frequently. Since my last update, Justin McDonald at Houston Cummins Coach Care provided this simple narrative on my cooling system design and ECM control. As previously noted, the ECM "modulates" engine temperature between 187 F and 207 F. When the engine temp reaches 207 F, the fan control switches to high speed to cool the engine to 187 F at which time the fan returns to low speed mode. Per Houston Cummins, this fan speed modulation is one of several ways Cummins uses to achieve somewhat higher fuel mileage. The wife and I are taking the coach to the Texas Hill Country the weekend of March 27 - 31 to enjoy the Wine & Wildflowers Journey. Will let the forum know how the cooling system performs.

Carl -- We've stayed at Sunset Point twice for the Wine and Wildflowers Journey outing and agree it is a nice park. It's been four years since we stayed near Fredericksburg so the wife wants to stay there this time (happy wife means good things for me!). It's been three years since I took the Jeep to Hidden Falls Adventure Park to "get dirty & climb stuff" (NOT taking the motorhome to their RV park!!). I didn't need a reservation three years ago. Is a reservation now needed just to drive around Hidden Falls?

Very nice!! Congratulations!! Best wishes for many years of enjoyment!

Wayne -- The wife is a bit of an "RV Park Snob" so I have to exercise caution when looking at RV parks / resorts i.e. need wide spots with lots of room between spots, paved spots or non-dusty gravel spots (e.g. crushed granite) plus good amenities. Miller Creek RV Resort south of Johnson City and Peach Country RV Park at Stonewall meets the wife's needs but for this long weekend outing she wanted to be closer to Fredericksburg for dining and shopping. Which RV park near Johnson City have you used? Bill -- For our nearly annual spring time visit to the "Wine and Wildflower Journey", which is a fantastic "patio season" time of year, the Wild Seed Farm is always on our list of places to visit. Another "always" visit stop is the Becker Vineyards for their wine tasting and for the wife to re-stock from their "home made" lavender soaps and lotions. The other must stop vineyards are Perissos, Grape Creek, Torr Na Lochs and Fiesta. As we do on a wine trail outing, we'll explore wineries we haven't visited before. I also want to squeeze in time to visit the Texas Hill Country Olive Company north of Dripping Springs. And if time allows, I want to play with the Jeep in the Hidden Falls "Off Road Vehicles" Adventure Park east of Marble Falls.

Andy -- On my Freightliner dash display, my DEF tank level indicator has the same symbol as the DEF level gage on your display i.e. "blowing exhaust cloud with waves underneath". My DEF level gage only shows horizontal green bars for 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% full levels (not the solid 0-100% bar like yours). My dashboard DEF tank level indicator reading is generally consistent with the level gage on the DEF tank. Receiving a "Low DEF" warning message while your DEF Tank Level indicator show 100% full means a miscommunication in the electronics somewhere. A "Low DEF Warning" would have nothing to do with a coolant leak. I wonder if somehow the low level indicator in your coolant tank was incorrectly connected to the "Low DEF" warning "light" on your dash display? Alternatively, this short dissertation says that a yellow "DEF Low" warning light can also indicate that the DEF tank was erroneously filled with something other than DEF --> https://www.yourmechanic.com/article/is-it-safe-to-drive-with-the-def-light-on Also, the temperature indication in your photo is the engine temperature given the "icon" (i.e. thermometer in fluid "boat" icon) above the numerical the temperature reading. Correct? Let the forum know how your "DEF Low" warning message was resolved.

I will "take one for the team" the weekend of March 27 - 31. During lunch today I purchased a couple's passport for the annual "Wine and Wildflower Journey" on the Texas Wine Trail (couples passport cost $65 which pays for tastings at four wineries per day) AND made a reservation at the new Heritage Oaks RV Park near Fredericksburg. The daughter of the family owned RV park handled my reservation. She was very personable and professional in helping with the reservation (the cost is $60 per night). I will take photos of Heritage Oaks to include with my review.

I learned from local news early this morning while getting ready for work that today, February 18, is National Drink Wine Day --> http://nationaldrinkwineday.org/ Celebrate the day with a nice glass of Pinot Noir or Malbec or other favorite grape!

Spring time is just around the corner meaning it's time for the wife and me to enjoy the annual "Wine and Wildflowers Journey" event on the Texas Wine Trail for great wine tasting and to re-stock the cellar --> https://texaswinetrail.com/wine-wildflower-journey/ The last couple of years we've stayed at Sunset Point RV Park in Marble Falls and in prior years stayed at Buckhorn RV Resort in Kerrville and the Jellystone Wine Country RV Park near Fredericksburg. This year, the wife would like to stay near Fredericksburg to also do some shopping along with wine tasting. The Jellystone Wine Country RV Park looks to be getting run down and the Peach Country RV Park in Stonewall looks nice, but is small with few amenities. Using Google Earth to search for RV parks/resorts near Fredericksburg revealed a new RV park named Heritage Oaks RV Park which just opened this past October --> https://heritageoaksrvpark.com/ It's located a couple of miles away from US290 "in the oak trees" so it would have a feel of "camping" but with nice amenities. Have any forum members stayed at Heritage Oaks RV Park? If "yes", what are your reviews of Heritage Oaks? Thanks for the help!

FMCA Roadside Assistance (RSA) did increase to $160 per year on February 1 which is similar pricing to RSA from Good Sams and others. Knowing the price increase was coming, on January 30 I purchased two years of FMCA RSA for $74/year even though I have about one month remaining for my current Good Sam RSA coverage.

Winter returned to the Houston area this morning -- 35 F with 22 F wind chill plus some sleet during the night! The wife and I are anxiously awaiting "Wine and Wildflowers" season to arrive in late March for our annual Hill Country outing to refill the wine cellar and get a break from our career demands and Houston traffic --> https://texaswinetrail.com/wine-wildflower-journey/

Bill -- Congrats! Great looking coach! When are you taking all of us for a ride?

Bill -- A very nice "new to you" Mountain Aire! What year is it? I agree that NIRV in Lewisville provides superb customer service! I presume you will use their on-site RV park for a couple of nights when you take delivery of your new Mountain Aire. NIRV will park your new MA next to your old MA to make the process of moving "stuff" from old MA to new MA as simple as possible. While in their RV park, NIRV will have your "delivery / walk through technician" visit you and your new coach to see if any help is needed with new systems or if something needs repair. The technician I had when I purchased my Ventana LE ten months ago encouraged me to "use everything at least twice" on the Ventana LE while in their RV park to assure everything performed well. Moving ''stuff" from one coach to another for the wife and me was a bit frustrating as cabinet locations, number of cabinets, etc. in the Ventana LE were substantially different from our 2007 Damon Astoria. Additionally we went from a "booth dinette" in the Astoria to a "sliding table w/free standing chairs dinette" in the Ventana LE which meant losing the under the bench seats storage we had in the Astoria (which is where we kept small appliances like the Keurig, oscillating fan, space heater, InstaPot, etc.). We were surprised how much cabinet space those "things" would consume! Plus in the Astoria the "washer/dryer" cabinet was used as part pantry / storage for all of our disposable tailgating plates, bowls, aluminum pans, etc. The Ventana LE's washer / dryer cabinet came with washer /dryer in place which of course led to the "guilt trip" comment from the wife that she wished the Astoria had a washer / dryer but she didn't want to complain...….

C -- Welcome to the forum! Whether you decide on purchased a Super C motorhome or a fifth-wheel trailer the end result is you will be towing something -- the Super C towing the small vehicle you'll need to explore many areas while the motorhome is at the RV park or a big 3/4 or 1 ton truck pulling the fifth wheel. Prior to owning motorhomes, I owned a 32 foot long 'bunk house" travel trailer (bumper pull) that brought great fun for the wife and I, grandkids and was temporary living during my Project Manager assignments. Towing a big travel trailer in windy conditions or passing a semi-truck were for me high anxiety / white knuckles experiences even with anti-sway bars for the trailer. In those conditions, the trailer becomes a "sail" that whips the truck! In contrast, driving a 38 foot and now 41 foot long motorhome with a Jeep Wrangler in tow, I'm much more comfortable driving the motorhome in the same conditions. I'd recommend a 36-40 foot Class A motorhome with a "bunkhouse" beds/floor plan as Class A's offer more living space than a Super C. From a finances point of view, the total cost of a 3-5 year old pre-owned fifth wheel and 3/4 or 1 ton truck will easily approach $100,000. For that amount of money, a very nice gasoline engine Class A motorhome can be purchased such as this 2016 Georgetown that has lots of beds for three kids --> https://www.pplmotorhomes.com/used-rvs-for-sale/class-a/2016-forest-river-georgetown_rv-44130

Jim -- Let me the "Refining guy" opine. First off, biodiesel/renewable diesel, being mostly comprised of mostly paraffinic molecules, is a very good diesel fuel from a cetane index, BTU content, etc. perspective. However, being mostly paraffinic, biodiesel/renewable diesel has very high cloud point temperature (the temp at which wax crystals form) and is a very good solvent. Being a good solvent, fuel systems in older diesel engine vehicles may not have O-rings, gaskets, hoses, etc. made from a solvent resistance material. As such, engine manufacturers such as Cummins state biodiesel blends should not be used for older engines. The biodiesel will not hurt the engine itself, rather biodiesel can cause fuel system components to fail and leak. Across the country, the ULSD sold a pumps will contain 5% biodiesel / renewable diesel to meet EPA mandated renewable fuels use. The EPA allows and encourages the use of ULSD containing between 5% and 20% biodiesel / renewable diesel. However to sell the ULSD with the higher bio/renewable diesel content, the truck stop, service station, etc. must label all ULSD pumps stating the ULSD could contain 5-20% bio/renewable diesel. This labeling is required in response to engine manufacturers who said that higher biodiesel content ULSD is not compatible with components on older engines. The West Coast, especially California and Washington, are pushing growth in biodiesel / renewable diesel use in their campaign to kill fossil fuels. Additionally, my personal theory is by pushing the use of biodiesel / renewable diesel and the problems they cause for older engines that vehicle owners will purchase vehicles with new, biodiesel compatible fuel systems that, by the way, brings Selective Catalytic Reduction systems (and use of DEF) that reduce NOx, CO, etc. content in engine exhaust. On the West Coast it will become increasingly difficult to find ULSD that has 5% biodiesel/renewable diesel content.

Richard -- The image you provided is fantastic! Did you get it from Michelin? The 4-1/2 year old Michelin XZE2+ tires I replaced this past August 2019 had sidewall cracking looking like the two lower "acceptable" images. The engineer in me didn't like seeing that degradation which prompted me to purchase my new set of six Hankook AH37 tires through FMCA's Tire Discount program.

The "Fuller dust mop handle" from my childhood days 40 years ago would be a great tool to maneuver leveling pads. That image made me wonder if an awning pull rod / some other rod would work and by shear coincidence Google found this Camco awning pull rod at Walmart completed with a customer comment from 2016 that the rod was purchased to use with leveling pads --> https://www.walmart.com/ip/Camco-Easy-Reach-Awning-Opener/29764392?wmlspartner=wmtlabs&adid=22222222222000000000&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=e&wl1=o&wl2=c&wl3=10352200394&wl4=pla-1103028060075:aud-807615483&wl12=29764392_0&wl14=rv awning wand&veh=sem&msclkid=a6ac45a78e9f1f262b6b1b965096dc1b They "snap pads" are a great idea to pursue. Thanks!

Rattler -- Here is a "tool" to compare tires sizes that may be helpful in your search --> https://www.tacomaworld.com/tirecalc?tires=235-80r22.5-255-70r22.5 A very reputable, very knowledgeable tire dealer will need to provide advise on an alternate, more common tire size, if one is available. Otherwise it appears Michelin is your only choice. If you let the forum know where you are located there will likely be some members who can offer suggestions for a good tire dealer.

I'm jealous of the discussion on many fronts -- getting ready for happy hour at 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon, retired to "work when you want and be merry when ever possible", cruising the Caribbean, etc. Still have 3+ years until early retirement looks attractive (pension lump sum amount peaks at age 62). I'm not jealous of sub 50 F weather. It was a pleasant 55 F for my noon hour workout. Unfortunately my motorhome is sitting unused.

Rattler -- Welcome to the forum! There are many very good, very knowledgeable forum members will to provide help anytime. Also, welcome to the "club" of Michelin tire owners who have experienced premature aging / sidewall cracking of those tires. This past August I had to replace 4-1/2 year old OEM Michelin X2E+ tires that developed sidewall cracking. I purchased a set of Hankook AH37 Tires as a substantially lower price than Michelin tires using FMCA Tire Discount Program. With about 4,000 miles of use, I've been very please with the Hankook tires. A quick Google search of your tire size reveals that Michelin is the only (?) manufacturer your 235/80R22.5 tires per Tire Rack and Simple Tire websites --> https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=XRV&partnum=38R25XRV --> https://simpletire.com/catalog?width=235&ratio=80&rim=22.5&zip=77007 As Ray suggested, changing to a slightly different tire, might be an option for you.s To achieve better help from the forum, what is the model year, manufacturer, model type of your motorhome ?

For the last eleven years I've had Good Sam Roadside Assistance coverage. The cost for that coverage generally increased at about the rate of inflation from $60'ish to $80'ish per year. I was stunned with the annual renewal notice I received this past weekend that showed the annual cost has jumped to $160 per year!!! The cost for the FMCA Roadside Rescue plan is only $74 per year. For an insurance that I've yet to use, paying $160 for one year of Good Sam RA is unthinkable !! What is the forum's experience with the FMCA Roadside Rescue plan which is much more cost effective? Your thoughts are greatly appreciated!