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Lest readers think I'm throwing rocks at Freightliner, let me tell you that my mechanical guru, FMCA member and pilot extraordinaire Captain Kenneth Marczak, steered me to Freightliner when I was pondering a new RV to replace my aging Patriot Thunder. I like the design of the XC chassis, love the factory support. But, I can visualize the chassis' experience, rolling along the assemblyline with you people dutifully slapping on their respective parts, layering on wires, tubes. No regard to how this tangle would age, interact, over the life of the vehicle. I dove into the front end initially to find the three air drain lanyards our friends at Freightliner suggest draining regularly. As a technique, I'd begun draining the air tanks daily: it was the only way to keep the tanks absolutely dry. To date, I've only found two: one behind and inboard of each front tire. So, along the way, I found wires that could be disconnected and routed more neatly and with less strain. One of the hood-release cables was drumming on the underside of the cockpit floor. The other was rubbing against the steering shaft dust boot. An air line was bent to accommodate a tank drain, crimping the nylon tube immediately outboard of the tank fitting and setting into motion material failure. One unclaimed electrical connector was dangling in the generator bay, and the control wiring for the generator was hanging loose. None of these affected the operation of the chassis systems today, tomorrow, next month. But, years from now, they all could lead to serious problems. Owners might want to equip themselves with some zip ties, dykes, a drop light. Take time and go over every inch of your chassis, securing and re-routing as you see fit. In the movie clip below, we address just one of these issues, easily securing two items that might over the years be damaged by normal steering wheel movement IMG_9089.MOV

We finally did it, and said goodbye to the Beaver Patriot Thunder my wife found and bought seven years ago. In its place is a DSDP 4018 on a Freightliner chassis. While a friend found the pigtail to connect a trailer brakes control on his 2018 Freightliner, I can't seem to locate mine. I can't call Freightliner or Newmar until Tuesday, and this is way too specific for Newgle's burgeoning database. Anyone deal with this, in their new rig? PS Newmar, if you're listening, a Class A with an MSRP of $460K should not have an array of loose modules dangling behind the dash, banging around and into one another. I'm not impressed.

I just took delivery of a new Newmar DSDP 4018 on the Freightliner XC chassis. So far, virtually no squawks for the house portion of the rig, believe it or not. Newmar fit and finish, in my humble opinion, transcends that of our hallowed Beaver Patriot Thunder! Several assemblyline glitches with the chassis are easily remedied but bear mentioning, so owners can watch for similar items on their own units. Two have surfaced during my initial crawl-under explorations. First, an air line was bent across a nearby drain valve between the front tires, crimping the line/tube. This would fairly quickly lead to an air loss and possible roadside stranding. The remedy: completely drain the system, remove the tube end and dress, reinstall properly routed tube, secure. The first image below shows the position, this defect. Second, the steering shaft below the floor line is pinched between a condensate drain -- I love the way Newmar engineered these -- and another tube, setting the stage for eating through the adjacent dust boot and possibly later claiming both tubes. Easily offset to protect the tubes and boot. Second image shows the defect.

I have a 2008 Itasca Meridian on a Frieghtliner Chassis. The other day I received a "Low Voltage" warning on the display as I was driving. I looked at the analog gage on the instrument cluster and all was normal where it usually is, about 14 V. Later in the trip as I was slowing on an exit ramp, all of the instrument lights started flashing, and the "Check Engine" warning came up in the display, as well as the symbol on the dash. I got the coach home, and since it had never had the chassis batteries changed, I changed both of them. I then took the coach to Cummins to check it out, and they could not find anything, other than to say that changing the batteries likely fixed the problem. I brought it home, and while parking it, another warning light came up. I got out to check if the garage door would close, and when I got back in, I noticed the warning "Auto Idle". And then underneath the warning was the system voltage displayed as 13.8V and then Theshold at 13.4V. After moving the coach forward, the warning went out. I called Cummins and they said this is an OEM issue. I called Freightliner and they said to check for loose connections at the alternator, starter, battery. I checked and all seemed good. I also started the unit and turned on all the lights, wiper, AC, et, and the digital voltage display was 13.8V. Is it possible that the voltage regulator in the alternator is working then not working? I would think it either works or it does not. And so if the alternator is fried, how in the world would I ever get this thing out? This coach is not easy to work on, and I am not even sure going in under the bed would allow access to remove the alternator. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

I live 38 miles from the Canadian border on the Alaska Hwy at Northway. My front tires are showing inner edge wear and I am seeking advice on who to take it to for a diagnosis. Alignment, balance, king pins etc. Have contacted Alignment Center in Anchorage, unfortunately their sole heavy duty RV guy is out hunting. There is a Freightliner outlet in Anchorage that I emailed and have yet to recieve a response from. Am wondering whether anyone has found a reliable RV repair alignment shop in Alaska, or whether I should plan on stopping in Canada on the way South later this month. Tok, 50 miles North has some repair facilities, has anyone used Willards RV Repair in Tok Alaska? Have hear horror stories of his prices, but have not yet asked if he can do the repair or not. I would appreciate any and all comments. Anchorage is over 400 miles away and Fairbanks is 250. Thanks