ajshepherd

2009 County Coach 45ft; 50,000#; 500 ISM Cummins, pulling a GMC Arcadia 4 down. NOTE: Onan and Aqua Hot always in operation when we are going down the road, so that will also burn a bit more fuel. I never shut to motor down until we are at the end of the route or day. Average 6.5 MPG over the last 12 months of flat, headwind, tailwind, hilly and stop and go. They key is speed. We are capped at 65 miles per hour tops with the GMC, so we are at that speed or less. Your mileage may vary!!

Hi Guys: Excellent help in many ways! I guess I have a task ahead of me. Lots of scrubbing and painting. The help is greatly appreciated. Regarding the first owner, we do not know for sure what the MH was exposed to. I'm certain it was salt exposure while housed in Ontario, Canada or UNK, Florida where the MH split the year for 9 years of its life. It was taken in trade (Miami, FL) for a $1M coach, but no service records provided. CC did a great job resetting the service set point for us, but the prior history is a mystery. Over the last year we have had a trouble free experience and hope this will contune with ongoing good maintenance and preventative everything! I will do some before and after shots of the rust and repair. Thanks again everyone!

Hi Herman: Yes for sure, especially with the air bag suspension. I'm hoping to see if I can use a PIT to do the work, better on the back!! Haha. Best Tony.

Hi Herman: Wow, that sound like a winner. At least that will fix the hard to get spaces. For the others I could scrape then apply. Terrific! Thanks Tony.

Hi Folks: I have a question about surface rust. I'm the second owner of my 2009 CC motorhome. I live in the desert and not exposed to the winter salt issues like our East Coast members. That said, I have found some surface rust in areas as described below in the DynoMax article. We expect to keep this coach indefinitely and will not be looking to sell it until I cannot drive it any longer. Yes, it's that good! So, suggestions please on the following and thank you in advance for the good guidance and advice! 1. How do I remove the surface rust? 2. What should I coat it with once removed? 3. Some areas are easy to reach, others are complex as they are hidden a/or have wiring/other complex systems in the way. Maybe a no-harmful liquid I can spray for these areas? 4. Anything else you may suggest Please see the information below from the CC: DynoMax-The Proprietary Chassis of Country Coach Once the entire frame with axle assemblies was welded together, the chassis was taken to a special paint booth where rust inhibitive paint was applied around every bit of steel that makes up the structure. While the process is important to protecting the steel, Country Coach took this one step further. Most chassis manufacturers utilize an assembly line approach, with the paint application being the final step. At Country Coach, builders took the time to pull the frame out of its station, take it to the paint booth, and then move it into another short assembly line where the drive train was installed. Open up the engine access doors of a competitor’s product and you may see paint overspray on the engine, transmission or hose lines. By taking the time to paint the frame prior to installing drive train components, it’s unlikely you’d ever see this on a Country Coach. Note: As a special note regarding the special black rust inhibitor applied to the chassis, sheet metal and angled iron used at that time was not available from the suppliers with the zinc oxide process. So these areas are more susceptible to rust (wheel wells, battery bay, propane bay, service center). NOTE: A preventative care step is to give a good thorough power washing of the coach undercarriage after each trip to help prevent rusting in those susceptible areas. This is also a good idea simply to remove road grime/road surface treatments the chassis undercarriage may have picked up enroute (like salting chemicals used in winter months).

Thanks Fella's! We did have a blast. Indy is too far for us as we both still work for now, but full timing is around the corner. Safe travels to you all, see you soon!

We had the same issue in our 2009 MH. After cleaning everything, replacing the mixing valve, still nothing worked. We had good pressure from the pipes before the faucet, but it would not get through the mixing valve area. We replaced the entire unit. No issues since, but I think my filter is going to be replaced on the next trip out. Good luck..

Hi Carl: We were on C1 second street (South end). Sorry we did not connect! We found the FMCA schedule to be "very full" of excellent seminars and entertainment. We did not have a lot of downtime. We did make one get together with the County Coach International folks. The had over 80 attend by hunting down over 100 country coaches in attendance and placing a flyer on the windshield! How about that! See you at the next one!

We have returned unscathed and really enjoyed our first FMCA rally. While it was very dusty, everything was set up very well. We did volunteer for a few days on the carts, tanks Steve!! When we worked the outer lots, we could see some improvements were required for transportation in peak periods. All the volunteers did a terrific job!! I know the club is working on that for the future. If you have not participated in a rally, please do so - lots of good fun!!

We were contacted by the FMCA volunteer manager for the March Rally. I'm very excited that our assignment(s) for both Sheri and me are to be Golf Cart Drivers! I'm hoping that's means that we will see more of the attendees throughout the entire event. Hope you all can make it, and we get to meet a bunch of new friends along the way.

Nice work Bill, looks sharp! How is the water pressure? Improved, or the same as before?

Sorry I'm a little late here, but Happy New Year to you all! I was out of the US for a while, then Sheri's Mom got sick over the entire holidays and we are just now back online. Hope everyone had a great holiday and getting ready for an exciting New Year! Hope to see you all at the 95th in March this year. Safe motoring.

Nice coach and color!! Enjoy once you get past the CO winter.

Welcome!!

Hi Guys: Thanks for the great information. I could not get to the MH this weekend, but we are going on a rally Thursday and I plan to look then. If I'm still stumped, then I will call CC Friday. This effort is for a potential issue in the future. Better know now than in the dark at a campground! FWIW our four slides are as follows: x—Bedroom(PS): HWH single cylinder slide-out room extension mechanism. (45 ft. units only) x—Bedroom (DS): HWH lateral arm slide out room extension mechanism. (45 ft. units only) x—Drivers side: HWH X-slide out room extension mechanism. (45 ft. units only) x—Passenger side: Power Gear flush floor room extension mechanism. (45 ft. units only) x—Push button slide out activation panels. x—Slide out room cover awnings. x—Emergency hand operated winch for HWH slide out rooms

Hi Rich: The name on the black box is Bussmann. The two red lines going into the box are 12V cable wires from a relay above (I think). I will confirm this weekend as MH storage is about an hour R/T, but I will have more time to tinker Sunday. I can give an update then. I need to look under the MH and I have to raise it so I can get under. The location search question came up as we are purchasing a select amount of unique spares for the MH that I can change in an emergency. On the list for this MH are thee Bendix switches (Soi we can close the slides if they fail. Each switch controls a slide, we have four slides, three are hydraulic with the Bendix switches. The fourth is a different brand. Yes the bottom fitting is an air chuck. I will try to get more photos and do some more hunting to include removing the covers from the Bussmann box Sunday! Thanks!

OK, Country Coach Allure 470 Chassis experts: I have located one of three Bendix switches (See photo). The top switch is the one of three. The second lower switch is the brake light switch, so forget that one. All three switches look the same and are are located in the bay directly below the drivers area, but I can only find this one. Anyone know where the other two are located please?

Hi Carl: Thanks, I will reach out tomorrow and let them know we are interested in helping out. The Forum meet and greet will be perfect for us to meet everyone in one place. Hope that works out. Appreciate the help.

We are going, booked and paid for. As it's the 95th, it seems like an important one to attend. It will be our first FMCA rally, so we are looking forward to attending and meeting several new friends. I have requested and secured a 50 amp site, and considering volunteering while we are there (Time dependent). Both Sheri and I would also like to attend training sessions. Your advise on what sessions we should consider would be well received. Thanks, hope to meet you all there!

Thanks. Will check out the link.

Thanks Guys! If I wanted to purchase a reader, what could you suggest? I would need a cable from the MH port side to the laptop or reader? Software or just a dedicated device? I should get smart on this issue as we are risking a lot of $$ not understanding what is going on. I can also take it to Cummins, but a code reader should be a good investment. Thanks.

Greetings: I have had a periodic issue with my Cummins ISM 500 motor. I have the dash light (Stop Engine) come on during a cold start, or start after storage. If I stop the motor, then restart it immediately the light will go out and does not come back on. I'm sure I can get an answer if I go to a mechanic and download codes, but do you think I need to do that immediately? Can this wait until the next service? Thanks in advance for the good guidance!!!

Well we are still working on the remote communication issues. We have a two way radio system that is unsat. Working to replace that. Between too close to the motor (Loud) and talking before keying up the mike on the 2 way it a tough go of it.

Wow, now that does not make sense. For the skills portion in Nevada, I had three requirements. 1. Stop exactly on an 18 inch yellow line from an alley approach. 2. Back out of the same alley but stay between the lines and do not knock over the pylons. 3. Reverse (45%) alley dock both square and again not over the yellow line in reverse. Thank God for the rear camera. The inspector did not understand how I got so close to the yellow line and not over it! LOL!!! The road test was everything you would expect, L&R turning, freeways, streets, schools zones, bridge height after you passed under it, etc. But I did have to make on emergency parking maneuver as quickly as possible, parallel to the curb. He was check my parking, 4 ways, parking brake and I did tell him I would put out the reflecting triangles. That was the answer he was looking for. I have a 45 DP, not sure I could parallel park that! Best of luck, let us know how you did.

OK, I passed the Class B endorsement (26,001#s) DMV test yesterday! Our toad is under 10,000#s so no trailer endorsement required. I must tell you I feel a lot better that this stress is behind me now. Nevada is not a good location to get this done. A lot of grey area and no schools to help you out. But on my own, I got all of the correct answers, took both tests (General + Air Brake), then the pre-drive test/inspection, skills test (Backing), aced that and then the one hour on the road test!! Yes one hour!! Glad I filled up before we departed. I think the guy just wanted to drive around in the AC and plush ride. LOL. If you have not yet checked, the FMCA has a guide that will let you determine if you need to get an endorsement or not (Home state rule). If you think you do not, then at least check with your insurance provider, they may not cover you in an accident if you do not have the correct DL endorsement. We did not want to risk it, so I took the test. Good luck, it was a great experience!