A new,anticipatory, nervous owner!

[bigmichael]

Hello all,

My wife and I are due to pick up our new Excel "08" 36 TKE on Wed. We retired last fall, spent 6 months on the road during the winter in our Cedar Creek fifth wheel, to be sure we wanted to take the plunge, and decided to become full timers. So we returned, sold the house, and our now buying the unit we plan to FT in.

And of course, we felt we needed bigger than our F350 which was rated at 13300 towing, so went with the new F450 pickup with the low gear ratio, rated at 24500 towing capacity. We picked up the truck last week, and love it so far. Of course, mileage is the trade off with the gear ratio, but we knew that going into it. This truck is the Lariat, loaded with nearly everything they could put on it, and we love it so far. Can't wait to try towing with it.

We are currently living at our seasonal site, and will go out and swap out trailers at the dealer. He has a small "campground" on site, so will have us move our stuff and spend the night for orientation and "bug" removal in the new unit.

I spent so much time researching and looking at fifth wheels, I felt I was nearing paralysis So we finally went with Excel.

My biggest anxiety after reading this forum is all you "handi men and women" who come up with fixes for everything. I'm so envious! My fix is calling "1-800-please fix this" and of course, that gets to real money real fast on a fixed income. But waaaaaaay back in my high school days, my shop teacher and I made a deal. If I promised not to take shop the next year, he would pass me for the current year with a D. I promised--he passed me, and that's been my story ever since. If I can't tighten it with a screw driver, pound it with a hammer, or tape it up--I got problems!

So here I come---I'll look forward to visiting with all of you, and hope I don't need tons of visits to the fixit shops.

[bigmichael]

Hello all,

My wife and I are due to pick up our new Excel "08" 36 TKE on Wed. We retired last fall, spent 6 months on the road during the winter in our Cedar Creek fifth wheel, to be sure we wanted to take the plunge, and decided to become full timers. So we returned, sold the house, and our now buying the unit we plan to FT in.

And of course, we felt we needed bigger than our F350 which was rated at 13300 towing, so went with the new F450 pickup with the low gear ratio, rated at 24500 towing capacity. We picked up the truck last week, and love it so far. Of course, mileage is the trade off with the gear ratio, but we knew that going into it. This truck is the Lariat, loaded with nearly everything they could put on it, and we love it so far. Can't wait to try towing with it.

We are currently living at our seasonal site, and will go out and swap out trailers at the dealer. He has a small "campground" on site, so will have us move our stuff and spend the night for orientation and "bug" removal in the new unit.

I spent so much time researching and looking at fifth wheels, I felt I was nearing paralysis So we finally went with Excel.

My biggest anxiety after reading this forum is all you "handi men and women" who come up with fixes for everything. I'm so envious! My fix is calling "1-800-please fix this" and of course, that gets to real money real fast on a fixed income. But waaaaaaay back in my high school days, my shop teacher and I made a deal. If I promised not to take shop the next year, he would pass me for the current year with a D. I promised--he passed me, and that's been my story ever since. If I can't tighten it with a screw driver, pound it with a hammer, or tape it up--I got problems!

So here I come---I'll look forward to visiting with all of you, and hope I don't need tons of visits to the fixit shops.

[Endeavor2BnC]

Bigmichael & DW,

Congratulations on your new Excel and welcome to the Excel family! We have an '07 35' TKE and love FT'ng in it. I'm sure you will too.

Now just sit back, realx and enjoy. Your new Excel comes with a 2 yr warranty for everything. If it breaks, they fix it. The best part for us is that we haven't had that much happen to our rig. There have been some minor things but nothing that Excel didn't take care of right away. The biggest tool I've used is a small hammer and screw driver.

Stick to a good preventative maintainence system (PMS) and you'll prevent a lot of problems.

Drive carefully and enjoy the country's sights & sounds in comfort.

Tim & Roseann

[ChiefJohn]

Michael,
Welcome to iRV2.com and the Excel Owner's Forum! We're somewhat biased , but you've purchased an outstanding fifth-wheel backed by an equally outstanding company.

Watch out for a couple of our members as they tend to misbehave at times and do not reflect on the rest of the family. !

[WldKargo]

Welcome to the group! We purchased our Excel TKE39 at the end of January and we have started full timing in August.

For your shakedown, try to get a few weeks living in the unit near the dealer facility so the any bugs can be corrected quickly. Don't be shy, ask your dealer to show you everything and try using everything. Especially the everyday stuff like running the blinds up and down, using the appliances, etc. Take a few short road trips to make sure the refrigerator works on propane, the slides and jacks are reliable, etc. Periodically look into the various recesses to check for any leaking or mechanical problems. If something doesn't look right, have it looked at. Once things are shaken down, you should have a reliable rig and be ready to head on out.

If you still have questions, float them on this board and somebody is bound to have some relevant information or know of useful resources.

So far, we are happy with our choice of rig and it is working well. The few problems that we have had have been addressed.

Happy trails!

[LarryGodby]

Michael,

Welcome to the forum. You have probably read some of the posts here and you will be educated as you read more. Don't forget to look at Restoration 101: Life of a 2001. I know you say you might have trouble with anything more than a screwdriver, but it helps to be well informed.

That is an excellent source of information, some of us old dogs that can do most of the repairs ourselves have learned a great deal from that section. WorkShop is so talented it makes you green with envy.

Also, Chief might be wrong about some of the members on the forum.

[Bruce and Jenna]

Just remember the old saying
When you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

[rockintom]

Welcome Michael,

Congrats on the new rig...as we say back home "you done good" Don't worry about not being so handy, we have several of regulars here in the same boat! In fact, a couple here that don't know "come here from sick 'em".

As you can see, we have alot of fun and enjoy chattin' up about our Excels. Come in anytime and tell us about you adventures. rockin' aka ThinksHeKnowsItAll!

[maverik/gypsy]

Bigmicheal, You have made the most important decision and step to fulltiming. I am pulling a 36clo with an 08 f450 amd find it to be a great combination, Just tested mountain driving with steep grades this past spring and summer and really was impreassed with Ford's Auto-Haul, used brakes very sparingly. Inclines---piece of cake. Don't let fixing things worry you because if I can learn how to do it, then there is no worry. We even have a member on this site who fixes things and claims to onlky have an IQ of 14, Congratualtion on your Journey. Maverik

[Steve,N,Jan]

I just read on another web site that towing a 5er around is like haveing a house in a earthquake of 3.5 magnatude and the issues WILL occur but they are things that are accually minor and can be dealt with with a little help.Congrads and good luck We love ours and would not trade a few minor inprefections for anything.Its less upkeep than a home.

[rockintom]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by maverik/gypsy:
We even have a member on this site who fixes things and claims to onlky have an IQ of 14, Congratualtion on your Journey. Maverik </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Mav,

You are embarrassing me! Bragging on my IQ...you know how modest I am. Even with a IQ 14 I know how to use my spell check!

[Still Working "NOT"]

bigmichael,

Congrats on the new rig. You'll love it. As others have said, someone here will talk you through any problems you might have. Lok ar workshop post and he'll have mos of the answers.

As for Sit KnowItAll, IQ of 14 says it all. The rest of us are pretty nice guys. no matter what Chief says.

[bigmichael]

I'm already feeling very welcome with all the great responses to my post. Tomorrow night, we'll be sleeping in our new unit--YEA!

Looks like a friendly group of folks,so hang on,
as I think I will have a ton of questions.

And by the way--how does everybody get all that info regarding their rig,their TV, their cats, their dogs etc, to go on the end of their post?

[LarryGodby]

Go to the profile page for you by clicking on your name over on the right hand side.

Select public profile and when that page opens select edit in the top right hand corner.

Then you have to use the inside scroll bar, you have one for the whole page but there is also one to the left of the whole page scroll bar.

Go near the bottom and it is in the signature block.