wvujazzman

Thanks, Herman... now we can't wait to get it out on the road. PA winters aren't real conducive to that, so we have to wait another month or so... but we're definitely excited to get out and about with it.

We visited Newmar last August... and took delivery of our new Dutch Star 4081 in January. I should know better... LOL

Thanks, everyone! does Gas Buddy have settings for RV size, or is it just a cost app? Thanks again, Eric

Hi folks, We are heading to the Southern Florida Keys in April for a week, and I want to make sure I plan our fuel stops appropriately. Everything I can see on google maps, and everything I read, says I need to be full before heading out onto the Keys. For reference, we are driving a 41ft Newmar Dutch Star... so we don't fit into too many places. What are your thoughts on the best places to fuel up in the southern Florida area prior to hitting Route 1? We will be coming down I95 from PA. I have a 100 gallon tank and I'm assuming I'll be at about 8 mpg, so as long as I can fuel up somewhere around Miami, I should be fine to get down and back. I'm thinking the Snapper Creek Service Plaza on the FL Turnpike... but I've not been there before so I'm open to suggestions. Thanks in advance! Eric

Thanks, all... I'll try these suggestions in the morning and let you know how it goes.

Thanks Richard... I have about 3 feet of hose, but it would be pretty simple to install a longer siphon. I did have a faucet open, but I'll try raising the jug as well - didn't think about that.

Hi Folks, Went out to my coach to winterize it today, and the water pump isn't pulling the antifreeze through the siphon hose. I have the low point valves closed, the normal supply valve closed, and the siphon hose valve open. I've removed the whole house water filter and even filled that container with antifreeze. Hot water heater is drained in bypass mode. In short, I've followed all the Newmar directions and I think I've done everything correctly, but no AF in the system. About the only thing I can think of is that I've got a bad siphon valve, so I'll try to replace that tomorrow. Any other ideas? The water pump is brand new and was working with water 15 mins before trying with AF. I'm stumped... any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance! Eric

OK, Folks... looking for some thoughts on where to start with this one. The dash AC in my 2003 Dutch Star apparently has two settings: North Pole and Equator. If I turn it on and have the temp dial the whole way to the coldest setting, it works VERY well... but if I move it no more than 1/2 inch or so, within about 3 mins I'll have warm air blowing out of the vents. There appears to be no in-between. I know it's not the compressor because I do get cold air. I'm wondering if it's possibly a controller issue and I need to replace that dash controller... or maybe there's a board somewhere I'm not aware of? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Eric

Manholt... I was kinda thinking the same thing. Personally, it seems difficult to fathom that someone wouldn't notice a 41' DP backing into a spot... but maybe I'm naive. I'm not sure I really want to fix it... but I wouldn't mind knowing if it was intentional or not.

Hi folks, Our 2003 Newmar Dutch Star is supposed to have a backup beacon which beeps when in reverse. This is not happening. The reverse lights are fine, just no sound. We just purchased the unit last fall, so not sure if the previous owner intentionally disabled the sound or if we have a bad relay or fuse somewhere. The problem is... I'm not having any luck finding info on where to look to troubleshoot this. Any ideas? I'd rather not take it to the dealer if I can avoid that because they're $150 per hour, and if it's something simple like a fuse I'd be rather upset. I've checked the fuse panel on the driver side of the dashboard... nothing there that is bad. Any thoughts on what to check next would be much appreciated! Oh, btw... it's a Spartan chassis. Thanks, Eric

Update... spoke with Flexsteel customer service... and evidently there is SUPPOSED to be an integrated rock lock on this unit. They sent me pics, and it's missing, so there are parts en-route from the company. That should solve the issue once and for all. Thanks everyone for your ideas!

Thanks for the ideas. I'm out of town this weekend, but I'll head over when I get back and check out the mechanism... if I don't see anything obvious, i'll grab some pics.

Hi folks, last fall, we installed a new Flexsteel 283r-521 rocker/recliner (that's the permanent mount) in our '03 Dutch Star. It has a seat belt, so it can be used as a travel seat. Only one problem... there isn't a locking mechanism to prevent the recliner from rocking while going down the road. We have more than 2 people in the coach most times, and the person sitting in the recliner tends to get seasick from all the motion. Flexsteel apparently used to make some sort of locking mechanism, but they don't any longer, and my furniture dealer (Bradd and Hall) can't help. Does anyone have any ideas on how I might be able to build something to stop the rocking while traveling? The DW would like to retain rocking capability while stopped, if possible, so I'd rather not do anything permanent unless that's the only solution. Thanks in advance! Eric

Thanks, guys... Red, the concrete parking spot isn't permanent, unfortunately. The covenant restrictions in our development prevent permanent parking of RVs. We can park it here until we get it loaded for our trip in 3 weeks, but after that, it goes into long term storage, which is gravel.

She may be 14 years old, but I feel like we got a great first coach with this 2003 Dutch Star. The coach is in fantastic shape, the interior is near mint, and there's less than 31k miles on it. We had been looking and talking and thinking about the RV lifestyle for a couple years now, but needed some things to fall into place from a financial perspective. They finally did, and I'd been eyeing this coach at our local dealer for about 3 months. Didn't take long to pull the trigger once we had the funds available. We're going to take it out on a short "shakedown" trip in a couple weeks, and we're really looking forward to next spring when we can get it back out of storage and start planning some more complete vacations.

Thanks for all the info, guys!

Well, we've got multiple different Progressive quotes, and none of them quite match up. That's one of the things I'm noticing. My wife and I and our musical partner are buying this together... she has USAA, which outsources RV insurance to Progressive... that's one quote. We went directly to the website... that's a second quote... and we talked to an agent we met at the Hershey RV show this fall... that's a third quote. All for the same coach, with the same coverage... and all different numbers. I'm glad this is simple! LOL...

The don't offer a lot of stuff... like diminishing deductibles, Mexico coverage, combined limits... all the things that you're told during research are important to consider when researching rv insurance. I actually told my agent today that they really don't want to be in the rv insurance business, or they'd offer better coverage. I'm leaning pretty strongly towards Progressive and just paying the $30 per month surcharge on my umbrella policy, but I did want to check in with folks here first and get some varying opinions.

Hi everyone... newbies to both FMCA and MH in general... just getting ready to purchase our first MH and I'm doing some research on insurance. Progressive seems to be the leader in terms of service, but all my other stuff is with State Farm and I'll be forced to pay a premium on my umbrella liability policy if I don't use them for my RV insurance as well. The costs are pretty close to Progressive, and I have the added benefit of a local agent with whom I've had a relationship for 25+ years... but is the coverage any good? Does anyone have any experience with State Farm in terms of handling RV claims? I've not had problems in other areas, but this could be different. Thanks in advance! Eric