Maiden voyage

[lenp]

Our first trip in our new (to us) motorhome ended up with us
learning a few new things. To a newcomer to the RV'ing world
many of these "events" would have turned them against the RV'ing
lifestyle. For us, it was an adventure, plus, we really like the coach!

We were scheduled to pick up the motorhme the second week of
March. Unfortunately when we went to pick it up and do a walk
through they (the dealer's service techs) had found a problem
with the hydraulic system that operates the slide outs and the
stabilizing jacks. They had replaced the control board but
the problem remained. They had ordered a new hydraulic pump
motor that was due in the next day. They said go ahead and
take the unit and bring it back the next day. We thought that
was silly and decided to leave it with them.

Picked it up the next day and brought it home in the late
afternoon. Didn't put the slides out or jack down as I wanted
to fill the fuel and propane tanks and weigh the coach the next
morning before loading anything into it.

Following morning after weighing and fueling, I again parked in
the driveway. Put the slides out and jacks down. We commenced
loading the coach. The next day the bedroom slide would not come
in (retract). We really do like this coach! Back to the dealer
with the slide hanging out! Four hours later everything seems to
be working fine.

Bring it home and the bedroom slide would not go out (extend).
We really do like this coach! Back to the dealer AGAIN! Wouldn't
you know, it worked when we arrived at the dealer. Fortunately,
it quit after several successful attempts.

Most people would walk away after all this. But we do like the
coach! Again the tech spent about four hours cleaning all the
electrical connections around the hydraulic pump apparatus and
all seemed to be working fine.

Home we came again and (you guessed it) it failed to operate.
I crawled under it and isolated the problem to one single wire
coming from the switch that operates the bedroom slide. Then
figured a work-a-round by running the living room slide while
operating the bedroom and it works all the time. Need to replace
that one wire! We really do like this coach!

Anyway, we are now ready to hit the road for Spring Break with
family. First night out we stop at Lapine State Park about 75
miles from home. Figured we were close enough to the dealer
we could return if we found anything else dramatically wrong.

Woke up to three inches of snow the next morning and very cold.
Had two portable heaters going to keep the chill off. Turned
the microwave on to heat some coffee and after about a minute
everything went dead. I figured I had blown a breaker on the
campground pedestal but, no, it was fine. After an hour and
a half of searching I called the dealer and the tech tells me
I had blown a circuit breaker on the Heart Interface
(inverter/converter that charges batteries and/or makes 120 power)
Sure enough I had. We really do like this coach!

OK, all is well now. Let's hit the road. Push the button to
"store" the jacks and then head outside to disconnect power.
I then hear a loud "popping/cracking" sound but see nothing
out of the ordinary. Walk to the front of the coach and notice
one of the jack has partially retracted but the "foot" has
remained frozen to the ground. Apparently the loud noise I heard
earlier was a different jack's foot popping loose and reconnecting
with the jack.

I tapped the frozen foot with a shovel and it popped loose also.
Unfortunately, it did not re-seat itself on the jack. Instead
it lodged itself vertically alongside the jack! Now I have to
manually retract the jack so that it does not drag on the ground.
Fairly simple process if the weather is warm and the ground is
dry! When it is cold and three inches of snow - not a pleasant
task! Got it up enough to safely travel but the warning chime
keeps telling me it is not retracted. Rather annoying so after
about 50 miles I stopped and fully retracted the jack (on dry
pavement!). We really do like this coach! I should mention
that DW has been following in the pickup because we do not
yet have the tow bar setup installed. She would have just loved
the noise! As it were, the 2 cats made about as much noise as the
chime did!

We make it to Valley of the Rouge State Park (a very nice park
by the way). Spent the weekend with daughter, son-in-law and
grand daughters. Great time. Daughter and family went home on
Sunday.

Monday morning I meet daughter in Central Point and collect
grand daughters for a couple of days. When I arrived back at
the campground I decided to dump the black (poopy) tank. Low
behold - it would not drain! We really do like this coach!
Some kind of blockage in the outlet. I ran to the local RV
store and bought an adapter to back flush the tank and managed
to get it empty. Appears the previous owner did not properly
dump the tank before storing/selling the coach. We are still having
problems with large "flake like" deposits coming out of the
tank and occasionally blocking the flow. I am confident
continued use and plenty of water will solve (desolve) this
problem. Did I mention that we really do like this coach!

Fast forward two days. After taking the girls home we returned
to the campground and cannot get into the coach. Seems the door
latch mechanism is not connecting inside the door when the outside
handle is pulled. Called a locksmith (emergency roadside service).
Unfortunately, he could not get in either. I ended up fabricating
a slim-jim and got the emergency exit window in the bedroom open
(after two and a half hours). Did I mention we really do like
this coach!

We left Valley of the Rouge the following day and traveled north
to Sutherlin where we stayed at the Escapee park for a night.
Grand daughter from Eugene came down for the afternoon and had a
great visit.

Following morning it was on to Lebanon and two days of dry
camping (no hookups) in a friends driveway.
Wanted to check out all of the "other" stuff we hadn't used
yet. All seemed to work well.

Sunday (last) it was on over the mountains and back to Madras.
Really pleased with how the coach performs on the hills and we
got nearly nine miles to the gallon - not bad for a 30,000 pound
bus and some pretty hard hills to climb up I-5 and strong head
winds on 97.

Still have a few more thing I want to do to it like replace the
old TV with a flat screen (nearly done with that), install some
solar panels along with a few other minor things.

As I stated at the beginning of this, a newcomer would have
become very discouraged with all the problems. For us, it is
a little like "been there - done that" in many ways. We still
like the coach! Oh, but I forgot, DW has not been riding in
it with me yet - sure hope she likes it too!

Lenp

[Ron & Dee]

Hope you bought an extended warranty.

These kind of events always makes for a good conversation.

Hope you enjoy using it as we do ours

Ron

[Bug512]

It still sounds better then going to work !

You will get the bugs figured out, glad to see that you have a great attitude. This will help tremendously.

I'm guessing its a Winnebago but what year and model? Another member might be able to help you if you make a signature.

best of luck with everything and safe travels.

[Bruce C]

Very good, I'm glad you like the unit and I hope it was the end of your troubles so you can enjoy it to the fullest. Safe trouble free travels. Good luck.

[lenp]

Sorry, have not had time to set up a signature here - to busy working on the coach????

It is a 2002 Winnebago Ultimate Freedom. And, yes, we really to like the coach!

Lenp

[JohnRR]

Good story line, at least your still happy with it.