Community Forums

Audrey & John · 10-26-2004, 02:58 PM

John and I have read through many of the useful posts in this Alpine Users section. But I don't recall if there were any fulltimers posting on this forum. Are any of you fulltiming in an Alpine Coach?

What about at the Branson rally - were there any Alpine Coach fulltimers there?

Just wondering - we would love to have feedback from fulltimers.

Audrey

Audrey & John · 10-26-2004, 02:58 PM

John and I have read through many of the useful posts in this Alpine Users section. But I don't recall if there were any fulltimers posting on this forum. Are any of you fulltiming in an Alpine Coach?

What about at the Branson rally - were there any Alpine Coach fulltimers there?

Just wondering - we would love to have feedback from fulltimers.

Audrey

abclair77399 · 10-26-2004, 04:50 PM

Audrey,

I'm fulltiming in a 2005 Alpine Coach 40MDTS. What questions do you have?

Amy

Audrey & John · 10-26-2004, 07:19 PM

LOL! First I just wanted to make sure we weren't the only ones!

I guess - how do you find it for fulltiming? Does it handle a wide range of weather well? Is the storage working well for you? I guess you haven't had it that long since it's a 2005.

Thanks for responding!

Audrey

abclair77399 · 10-26-2004, 09:12 PM

Audrey,

I got my 2005 back in April and took a 10K mile trip this summer for 3 - 4 months.

The storage is adequate for me. This is my 3rd coach, but 1st diesel. I lived in a gas coach for 4 yrs so I had an idea of what I needed as far as a floorplan and storage.

I can't answer your weather questions since I don't do cold, snow or ice. I've been in winds and rain and it handled well. I even sat in St George UT in it while Javier passed over with 60 mph wind gusts. We rocked a little but nothing bad.

I'm very happy with this coach and wouldn't trade it for anything.

Amy

Wayne R · 10-27-2004, 10:12 AM

There is an ACA chapter for fulltimers. We just started fultimming in our 05 40fdqs in September. This is our 4th MH and 2nd Alpine. Other than the new coach bugs it has been working great. We are still in the Branson area, we fell in love with the Outdoor Resorts of the Ozarks and are in the process of buying a lot.

Audrey & John · 11-03-2004, 01:28 PM

Wayne and Amy:

Are there any options that you would consider essential for fulltiming in the Alpine Coach?

Thanks!

Audrey

Wayne R · 11-04-2004, 03:33 PM

Audrey and John:

The feature I like the most on my 05 is the Hydro Hot. It is so much quieter than the furnace in my 2000 Alpine. The next feature I like is the residential refer. I suspect I will never have to fill the propane tank on this rig. The only thing that uses propane is the 3 burner stove, which we rarely use. This is really nice since I don't have to mess with getting propane at the Flying J so I just go to the truck island.

A good mattress is essential we replaced ours with a Sleep number bed.

I have added an in dash Pioneer Nav system which is almost plug and play since the unit comes with a Pioneer head unit. I also installed a Smart Tire system, monitored through a Silverleaf CL400. For us a Nav sys is a requirement to staying married, the tire monitor is for my peace of mind. We also have a Datastorm so that we are connected via the Internet anywhere we can see the southern sky. Another feature we really enjoy is the HDTV entertainment center. The Kingdome does not receive HDTV. We just installed a Moto Sat MHDTV unit. If you order your unit you might consider having them not install the Kingdome. I met one couple that did just that at the rally in Branson. He installed the Motosat MHDTV unit, great pic and sound.

Good Luck
Wayne

PS: Although my punch list is long, the more we drive and live in this unit the more we like it.

Audrey & John · 11-10-2004, 01:02 PM

Hi Wayne!

We very much appreciate your detailed reply.

We had already planned to get the Hydro Hot, so we are delighted to know it is significantly quieter - definitely a priority with us.

We own a Garmin Streetpilot GPS system now (it sits on top of the dash), so we will probably stick with that. It has worked really well over several years of travel.

We are getting the 36', so we'll be getting the 14 cu ft. fridge (the 21 ft residential is not an option). In my experience fridges don't use that much propane, rather the furnace is the serious propane hog (& water heater?). Maybe I am wrong, but that is my impression. We hope to boondook pretty often, so I don't mind having a propane fridge, and I really like the design of that 14 cu ft. Dometic side-by-side. I am hoping that by only having the fridge and stovetop running off propane, we will only need to fill up annually.

John has already identified the Silverleaf system with tire monitoring to be a priority for him.

We are going to take your advice and not get the Kingdome, and install an HDTV solution later. We plan to get the HDTV entertainment center because we shoot wildlife video and do digital photography, so this system gives us a great theater in which to show off our work!

I'm not sure if we are going to spring for DataStorm yet - we'll see.

Going up to Motorhome Specialist to test drive an Alpine Coach tomorrow....

Audrey

abclair77399 · 11-10-2004, 02:37 PM

Wayne, I've got a 2005 Alpine which came with the Kingdome and a Hughes HDTV Sat receiver. So I've got HDTV in the rig.

Audrey & John, I agree with Wayne's list for the most part. I love the home theater system that WRV provided. I also got a satellite internet connection which I wouldn't do without.

I too have the residential frig and love it. But I understand why that's not an option for you. My last coach had a propane frig and you're correct, if you don't use the furnace you should only need to fill the propane tank about once a year.

Audrey & John · 11-10-2004, 07:55 PM

So if you get the Hughes satellite receiver and the Kingdome you do get HDTV reception? If you order the larger LCD TV, the HDTV receiver comes with it.

Audrey

abclair77399 · 11-10-2004, 08:25 PM

I didn't custom order my coach so I'm not sure if you'd have to ask for anything special. But the one I bought off the dealer's lot has the Kingdome, LCD TV, and HDTV receiver.

When a show is transmitted in HD all the various speakers of the surround sound system are used. Non-HD shows ... only the front speakers are used.

Wayne R · 11-11-2004, 05:56 AM

The propane was never an issue with me, I find it silly to be packing around 40 gallons that will probably last me 10 years. I was just looking for something positive about carrying 300 plus pounds unnecessarily.

The reason I wanted the residential fridg is, that it has been my experience in hot weather the propane fridg has a hard time staying cold enough for me. Making ice and keeping my Nutty Buddies hard (Ice Cream).