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Date Posted |
Forum
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RE: Dump stations
Many private RV parks will offer use of dump station, as well as many truck stops for a fee. There are several gas stations in our area that have free dump stations, we can also use sanicon installed on our class A motorcoach to dump at home if all else fails. Whatever cost or extra effort it takes to keep my dear wife happy is a small price and/or inconvenience in the long run, happy wife, happy life, makes for happy RVing.
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Sandia Man
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09/26/23 10:49pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Slide Out Issues
I hear you, I haven't had the best experiences from CW's service department, although we got some good deals from store side. Slide issues plague newer RVs as well, sometimes more so as they appear they are not as sturdily built, more than likely due to weight constraints from pressure for engineers to reduce overall weight on newer rigs.
Info on type of slide-out mechanism, manufacturer, and what were the symptoms, lots of knowledgeable folk on this forum with similar rigs that have faced the same issues. These rigs are complicated and many RV service centers just don't have enough experienced staff, still charging for a couple of hours is uncalled for, although not surprising these days.
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Sandia Man
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09/21/23 04:04pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: How do you decide how much to spend on an RV
Your money your choice, the first 2 of the RVs we purchased of the 4 we have had over 3 decades of RVing were new, the drop in value was significant not to mention the hassle of dealing with getting the bugs worked out under warranty. Last couple of RVs including our current class A were well cared for, lightly and gently used rigs that felt like new without taking such a drastic depreciation hit. We are also near retirement age and feel going used made for a remorse free buying experience, several years later our rig can still be sold for what we have invested in it although we have no intention of selling. Have fun shopping, hope you get the RV you want at a price you can live with.
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Sandia Man
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09/19/23 12:34pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: thinking of buying a Motorhome....looking for tips/hints
After 3 decades of RVing in TTs, 5ers, and toyhaulers, primarily with our children, we went on a mission to get a class A motorhome best suited for couples and extended stays. Although we have learned so much about our favorite pastime over the many years, treading into class A waters there was still so much more to consider than just floorplan.
We found choosing the right chassis/powertrain that works specifically for our needs to be the most vexing of all. Floorplans are important, but floorplans in towable RVs playout differently in class A rigs. We ended up with a layout on our class A coach that we have never considered having on any of the towable RVs we have owned.
Being on RV related forums for the many years we have enjoyed this pastime I read aplenty, but never really queried the forums as most answers were biased to what the responders currently owned. As we still had an RV when we were searching for a class A motorcoach, we took our time and viewed and drove as many coaches as we could, even going to neighboring states for more availability.
Similar to towable RVs, there are pros and cons to every version of class A coach on the market. Talking to friends, family, neighbors, and longtime mechanics will yield less biased answers. We did not want to rush to judgement, making the wrong call for your intended usage, along with future upkeep, maintenance, and needed repairs can cost tens of thousands on these rigs.
We ended up going the private seller route as dealers tended to exaggerate the capabilities of the coaches we were interested in. Private sellers were able to give more rig specific info and pride of ownership undoubtedly showed on many of the coaches we viewed. We finally purchased a coach in Texas where owners where getting out of the game due to old age, he was 84, his wife was 79.
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Sandia Man
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09/13/23 12:01pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Class A gas - fiberglass roof? Who uses them?
Watch AZ Expert on Youtube if you are looking at used Winnebago class A coaches, he was a Winnebago RV tech for a number of years and has dozens of videos detailing issues with their fiberglass roofs that he has had to rebuild. If buying new calling manufacturer directly should yield the best coach specific info making it easier to decide which manufacturer provides the roof material you desire. Our current class A coach has a metal (aluminum) roof, although it has well over a decade of heavy use and full exposure to the elements over its lifetime, it has never leaked and still looks pristine. We have had every type of roof material on the 4 RVs we have owned over 3+ decades of RVing, upkeep is paramount regardless of material used in roof construction. Have fun shopping, hope you have many great experiences RVing, although it can be challenging at times we just love getting on the road with our motorcoach.
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Sandia Man
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09/07/23 11:58am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: supersteer-ss401-rear-trac-bar-for-ford-f53-
We added a rear trac bar to our 40' class A that has some serious overhang, no doubt there was a dramatic difference after I installed it. It is the best improvement we made thus far, now my wife loves to drive our coach, better handling is definitely noticeable on longer rigs. Overall, it was an easy DIY project that took an hour or so to complete.
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Sandia Man
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08/29/23 10:40pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: what is best way to get TV stations in RV
We do most of our RVing in the four corner states where our batwing has difficulty picking up ota tv stations reliably unless we happen to be near a major city. We have been RVing 3+ decades and started with Directv and manually set up our satellite antenna. We then switched to Dish network and HD content, still setting up our satellite antenna ourselves, takes just a few minutes and a compass to lock in all 3 satellites. Last few years we use automated satellite antenna domes and by the time we have our coach set up after arriving, our HDTVs have already downloaded satellite channels.
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Sandia Man
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08/10/23 01:13pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: Need new water pump 12 Volt
I have been carrying an extra Sureflo water pump just in case, but all our Sureflos just keep going, my vote is Sureflo. As for quiet I imagine they have a quiet model in their lineup or a dampening kit of some type that can be installed. Ours have never been too loud across the 4 RVs we have owned, plus I like being able to hear if it is running, even for a second or two that may indicate a possible small leak somewhere in the water supply system.
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Sandia Man
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08/01/23 05:53pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Class A for sale
That I recall there is not for sale section on this forum, IRV2 has a section on their forum, RVtrader was one of our goto online sources when we were looking for class A coaches.
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Sandia Man
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08/01/23 05:40pm |
Forum Posting Help and Support
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RE: Our next themed roadtrips
Yeah, my DW and I thoroughly enjoyed Longmire series as well. We are less than an hour from his cabin in the Valles Caldera National Preserve and within a couple hours from many of the locations used during the length of the series. Luckily we don't have to go out of state as we have done plenty of RVing in Eagle nest, Santa Fe, Red River, and Las Vegas, NM where the series was primarily shot. Growing up in AZ and living in NM last couple decades we are thoroughly entrenched in all things Western, Native, and Spain's colonization of western USA. Have fun our your western excursion, the regional cuisine is delightful albeit a bit spicy for some.
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Sandia Man
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06/22/23 12:44pm |
RV Parks, Campgrounds and Attractions
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RE: Dometic Junk
Sorry to hear about that, we have had good luck with our Dometic products over 3 decades of RVing. I guess any manufacturer can put out a dud here or there, never heard a Dometic AC unit take a dump so soon, most last well over a decade, at least that has been our experience.
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Sandia Man
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06/16/23 09:15am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Class A Motorhome Gasser
Production of 8.1 liter GM motor continued until 2009 according to online sources, parts available at workhorseparts.com or ultrarvparts.com, actually same company that specializes in all things workhorse/8.1 liter engine.
Four years ago we purchased our current class A with 8.1 liter/Allison 2100 tranny, it has been bulletproof thus far. We live NW of Albuquerque at 6K' elevation and coach robustly handles mountain driving, easy to maintain powertrain.
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Sandia Man
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05/17/23 12:28pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Holiday Rambler anyone?
Back in the day Holiday Ramblers were well built and well received, can't speak for today's version but I would believe they compete well with other brands newest offerings, go for it as any issues should be taken care of under warranty.
As for the gas versus diesel debate looks like human nature and the need to feel superior strikes again. Don't let them fool you, we live at 6K' elevation and our 40' Monaco gasser handles the mountains fine, even my wife loves to drive it.
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Sandia Man
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05/15/23 09:27am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Durango to Angel Fire
Just as stated above, down 550 to 64, east across top part of NM to Taos. We have done it both directions in our 40' Monaco, beautiful drive and not any noteworthy issues if you are accustomed to driving in the mountains. We live at 6K'elevation NW of Albuquerque and nearly always travel at elevation and on winding mountains roads, we love RVing in Taos and travel frequently to the enchanted circle towns of Eagle Nest, Angel Fire, and Red River from Albuquerque area.
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Sandia Man
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05/04/23 08:43pm |
Roads and Routes
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RE: 2019 coleman 264RL tire pressure?
ST tires are not to be filled based on weight as you would on passenger and LT tires, they perform best at max psi and that is the way we filled our ST tires for 3 decades of towing fifth wheels and travel trailers. With all the issues online and on forums about ST tires, we NEVER had a blowout across 4 different RVs and roughly 100K mile across the 30 year span. Below excerpt is from Tire Track website.
Special Trailer (ST) Tire Maintenance
Allowing inflation pressure to drop can dangerously overload a trailer tire, resulting in excessive heat buildup and possibly a blowout. And while not always resulting in immediate tire failure, even a short period of operating a significantly under-inflated trailer tire can cause hidden internal structural damage that can result in tire failure. Tire load capacity is reduced while tread/sidewall deflection and heat buildup are increased anytime a tire is operated without enough inflation pressure to carry its load. The chance of failure greatly increases if trailer tires are underinflated or overloaded.
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Sandia Man
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05/03/23 05:10pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Typical price for Class A tire mounting and balance
I see you have a 2018 motorhome, are the Michelin tires worn out or exhibiting sidewall cracking. I mention this because the original owners of our class A said that after 5 years they had to change out factory mounted Michelin 22.5" tires for excessive sidewall cracking although tires had just 15K miles. They also put on Toyo M154 tires and no cracking visible after 8 years, they still rode smooth and quiet.
Just over a year ago we paid about the same as above poster Yankee Clipper, our 22.5 inch Toyo M154 tires were $360 each and $50 to mount and balance. I shopped around online and from motorhometires.com, they were all much higher than local offerings. I could not readily source tires for our 40' motorhome locally although many tire stores claimed to, finally asked a local mobile RV tech, I would imagine Tampa Bay or nearby regions will have a few.
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Sandia Man
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04/18/23 08:51pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Full Time Motorhome
Initially when we were looking for our current RV roughly 4 years ago, the search occurred after three plus decades of RVing in TTs, 5ers, and toyhaulers, we did not consider motorized RVs since we still had a stout truck to pull with. Many of the TTs and 5ers had stackable washer and dryers although they were not a priority for us. After a year or so it appeared my DW was losing interest in our quest for an RV for extended stays and couples living as our kids are grown and out on their own.
We still had our 36' toyhauler although we don't bring along the toys much since kids don't come often, we were not in any rush to buy. At RV shows, once in a blue moon we would walk through some class A rigs never considering them as a future purchase. Limited headroom and maintenance/upkeep of another powertrain were primary factors in avoiding them. For us 5ers provided the best interior space but my DW was growing tired of going up steps to access bathroom & bedroom.
We both are enamored with the RV lifestyle and wanted to continue enjoying our RV excursions, now with trips suited for our adult oriented interests. As we continued to look for a rig for our next phase of RVing, we went to an RV storage yard to look at another 5er but owner could not make it due to an emergency. While there at the storage lot we saw a man with a class A preparing for his next trip, in reality he was getting ready to sell his coach and asked if we wanted to take a look.
Well, we did look at his class A diesel although we did not purchase. What I did notice was my DW was all of a sudden heavily interested in getting our next RV, and that lead to researching all things class A. My advice is take your time and drive/view as many coaches as you can. We had to go to neighboring states to widen our prospects, we went open minded and looked at both diesel and gas class A rigs. Over 2 dozen rigs and 18 months later we acquired our 40' triple slide class A coach.
As with any class of RV, floorplan is a major deciding factor. With motorized RVs another major consideration is powertrain and chassis. Like everything in life, there are pros and cons to every powertrain and chassis regardless of cost. Go in open minded, do as much research as possible, the blanket statements made on RV forums are simply farcical at times, and certainly not 100% accurate. We did our due diligence when looking for our coach, 3 years and 25K miles later it has been a blast and issue free.
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Sandia Man
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04/05/23 03:00pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Deming New Mexico to Albuquerque on hwy 26?
They say 3 times the charm, no worries for any size RV as we have been through that route with our 5er, TTs, toyhauler, and currently our 40' class A with GMC SUV toad attached. Great time and mileage saver plus eliminates the hassle of going through often crowded Border patrol checkpoint north of Las Cruces.
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Sandia Man
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03/25/23 02:45pm |
Roads and Routes
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RE: DISH Network Issues
Yeah, happened to me last weekend. Normally just use MyDish app but had to call in to get one receiver of the 2 we have onboard pinged. Surprisingly it took about 15 minutes for them to wake up bedroom receiver, my DW had to go without her bedroom TV for a day as we thought our automated dome was just being finicky. They explained their app and online issues were due to their systems being hacked, they apologized profusely and thanked me for our patience. Wouldn't have noticed as Hopper and Joey receivers working fine at home, they indicated they did not know when app or online systems would return to normal.
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Sandia Man
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03/22/23 06:02pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: New from Texas
Welcome aboard, congrats on your new Grand Design TT, hope you have a great maiden voyage.
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Sandia Man
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02/28/23 02:32pm |
Travel Trailers
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