Is there a group of Astoria Owners?

[Jim Estes]

Cant remember who makes the rim....call Freightliner and they will tell you...might even be able to get it for you...

[SteveOGilroy]

Originally Posted by SteveOGilroy

Hi,

Recently the center pop out round section of my 2008 Damon Astoria’s rear simulation disappeared.


Hole diameter is 4.983 inches.

Outside diameter of cap is 5.080 inches

Inside lip is ~4.933 inches.

The outside of the cap has an indentation which has no logo.

The cap is about 1/2 inch high.

The cap appears to be stainless steel.

Does anyone know a replacement source? Thor’s parts site and Totalvalue RV have not been helpful so far.

Steve

Attachment 195834

I checked with several suppliers. rvwheel.com told me it looked like a cap from wheelmaster.com. Checked with Wheelmaster and Kelsye Anderson replied to my email quickly and identified the part as 245PC-large. She sent in a photo of the part. I purchased it and two days later the wheel simulator is complete again. Wheelmaster’s customer service was excellent.

[Tankd]

Looking to get our tires replaced this spring. I've placed a Michelin order, but they had to order them. Called a couple of weeks ago and said warehouse had some year old manufacture dates and he knew I didn't want those. How long does it normally take for Michelin to a production run?
--John--

[Britcanuck]

Hi Astoria owners. I haven't posted for a long time now. Is everyone enjoying their rigs and cruising the highways and byways to new destinations. I guess everyone who has a 2010 and earlier has this wonderful seat fabric called Natures Alternative. I have spoken with a few owners in parks and we all seem to have the same problem that it wears terribly. I spoke with Flexsteel and they said don't blame us! Thor bought acres of the stuff and told Flex Steel to use it in the Damon furniture. I have seen some chesterfields worse than mine where the top layer of phoney leather grain has gone and just the base layer is remaining. I think mine is still savable but I'm at a loss as to know where to start. On the top of the arms of the front seats it looks like we wear heavy watches and bracelet but we don't. I have spoken with vinyl repairers and they don't seem optimistic with a repair so it looks like recovering. Trouble is that means doing all the seats and that could be expensive. Has anyone else had this problem and found an acceptable fix?
Love to hear from you

[DBenson]

MY 2008 Damon Astoria has the same issues (2 captains chairs and the Sofa) with all the material pealing and wearing off. For now we use a nice blanket over the sofa and some nice sheep skin covers over the captain chairs. The Chairs remain to be very comfortable but are very soon due for replacement. Bradd and Hall (BraddandHall.com) out of Elkhart Indiana is very familiar with this issue on all these coaches and can give a lot of good insight and options for a quality flexsteel replacement. Also - not sure of the date but will try to find it, the Family Motorcoaching Magazine (fmca) also had a detailed article of this issue in the a recent publication a couple months ago.
dtb

[gsf35099]

Hey gang. Been some time since I've been out here and thought I'd share something my Astoria Freightliner chassis did this past trip.

Coming out of Laughlin, NV this past weekend climbing HWY 68 (long climb), my low coolant light came on. I knew it wasn't that low as I replaced the turbo last summer and replaced the coolant, but apparently needed another 24 ounces so on steep hills the sensor still has fluid sensed. (Amount I added later to stop the issue.
Anyway, since Columbus (bus name ) temp was running normal at ~198 degrees while climbing and there was really nowhere to stop, I kept climbing. After ~ 5 min the stop engine light & buzzer went off as well. Still nowhere to stop, I kept going looking for a place to stop. Couple minutes after the Stop engine alarmed and I hadn't stopped, the coach went into limp mode and wouldn't allow the RPM's to climb above ~2k. I finally reached a point where the road leveled out enough to get fluid back on the sensor and that light went out, then couple minutes later the stop eng light went out and limp mode went away.
Columbus never overheated and actually stayed ~190 in limp mode. I was able to stop, let RV cool, add the 24 ounces of coolant (knew it didn't need much and had DW watch resivour while I added) and then took off after the next steep hill.
No issues on the next big hill as I knew that sensor would stay covered.

Not sure if others have seen this, but I was impressed how the coach seemed to monitor the issue and temp and allow the rig to keep climbing as long as the temp stayed below 195. I say this because it felt like I would get some power back when the temp went below 195 and then back into a limp mode once it hit 195. Engine never got hotter then 199 the entire trip (101 degrees outside temp climbing) so I was very happy with the performance. Also learned my resivour full line is off by ~1".

[Britcanuck]

I had a vinyl repair expert examine the armrests on the two front seats of my 2010 Astoria where holes had developed on the topside. He said he had seen it lots of times and was because the internal frame does not extend the whole length of the armrest the continual pressure on the end causes the fabric (Ultra Leather) to crack and break. He went on to explain that Ultra Leather is not made like regular vinyl but is a fabric covered with a polyester film that has been printed with the grain look. He said a repair wouldn't last and would be a self colour with no grain and he didn't want to do it because he knew I wouldn't be happy with the result. He suggested contacting Thor to get replacement armrest cover which I am in the process of trying to do. Another niggling problem I have is that the 10 am fuse in the battery distribution box in the outside compartment below the drivers seat keeps blowing. It controls the courtesy lights, map lights and antenna boost. I have replaced it with a 15 amp but it still keeps blowing and I am hesitant to move up to a 20 amp. I can't find a short anywhere and haven't done any modifications to the electrics other than to remove the map light on the drivers side and cap off the wires. The light would foul the seat belt and I didnt use it anyhow. Anybody else have this problem and maybe found a fix for it.

[gsf35099]

Hi Brit, fortunately my captain chairs are doing great even with my rear in the driver seat for more than 45k miles. Good luck on that replacement.
As for the fuse, I highly recommend to go back to a 10 amp fuse and try and use a volt meter to find the short. If you continue to install larger fuses, you could do serious damage in that circuit and most likely will. Wish I could tell you where to look, but somewhere in that fused circuit is a short that is causing to much current which is why the fuse is burning out. The fuse is protecting the circuit including the wiring. Too high a fuse and potentially the wiring will burn instead of the fuse. Good luck.

[Britcanuck]

Originally Posted by gsf35099

Hi Brit, fortunately my captain chairs are doing great even with my rear in the driver seat for more than 45k miles. Good luck on that replacement.
As for the fuse, I highly recommend to go back to a 10 amp fuse and try and use a volt meter to find the short. If you continue to install larger fuses, you could do serious damage in that circuit and most likely will. Wish I could tell you where to look, but somewhere in that fused circuit is a short that is causing to much current which is why the fuse is burning out. The fuse is protecting the circuit including the wiring. Too high a fuse and potentially the wiring will burn instead of the fuse. Good luck.

You're right of course, increasing the fuse rating is not the best solution but I just cannot find any evidence of a short anywhere. I have a suspicion that it may be something to do with the AV distribution unit that contains the antenna boost feature. As I have a rooftop dish and rarely use the boost I will try it and see if that's what causes the blow. You are lucky if your Ultra Leather seat coverings aren't deteriorating. There is a lot of chatter about this on various forums. I saw a coach in SoCal a couple of winters ago and the top surface of their chesterfields had worn right down to the base fabric. No pets , no kids. Our travel buddies have an Alpha 'See Ya' with white real leather upholstery - I'm so jealous

[SteveOGilroy]

Originally Posted by Britcanuck

Hi Astoria owners. I haven't posted for a long time now. Is everyone enjoying their rigs and cruising the highways and byways to new destinations. I guess everyone who has a 2010 and earlier has this wonderful seat fabric called Natures Alternative. I have spoken with a few owners in parks and we all seem to have the same problem that it wears terribly. I spoke with Flexsteel and they said don't blame us! Thor bought acres of the stuff and told Flex Steel to use it in the Damon furniture. I have seen some chesterfields worse than mine where the top layer of phoney leather grain has gone and just the base layer is remaining. I think mine is still savable but I'm at a loss as to know where to start. On the top of the arms of the front seats it looks like we wear heavy watches and bracelet but we don't. I have spoken with vinyl repairers and they don't seem optimistic with a repair so it looks like recovering. Trouble is that means doing all the seats and that could be expensive. Has anyone else had this problem and found an acceptable fix?

Love to hear from you

We didn’t like the seats so when the material went bad in just a few years we replaced them with new ones. “Leather” is still in good shape. Approaching 70K miles on the 2008 Astoria 3786 and full timing in it now.

Steve

[SteveOGilroy]

Originally Posted by Tankd

Looking to get our tires replaced this spring. I've placed a Michelin order, but they had to order them. Called a couple of weeks ago and said warehouse had some year old manufacture dates and he knew I didn't want those. How long does it normally take for Michelin to a production run?
--John--

We got tired of waiting for Michelins and bought TOYO instead. 4 years on them and happy for a lot less money.

[Tankd]

Originally Posted by SteveOGilroy

We got tired of waiting for Michelins and bought TOYO instead. 4 years on them and happy for a lot less money.

After a 3 month wait, they finally came in (4-2018 dates). At the same time, I installed the Centramatic balancers on both steer and drive. We just got back from a Georgia run and they rode excellent. For the price, they better. LOL.

[Britcanuck]

Originally Posted by SteveOGilroy

We got tired of waiting for Michelins and bought TOYO instead. 4 years on them and happy for a lot less money.

I have to agree with Steve regarding Toyo tires. My rig was equipped with Bad Years that only lasted about 30k miles. I replaced mine with Toyo's based partly on an earlier post by Steve. The only size available is the M122 and I think they're great. I got them in Las Vegas and according to the date code they were all about 6 weeks old. How good is that! The first ride was south on I-15 to Barstow and down to Palm Springs. They rode quiet and comfortable and now 15K later show no signs of wear and I am very pleased.
Next issue is the in-dash Jensen VR 209 TP camera display and radio/cd player.
The touchscreen has lost all sensitivity and the screen resolution is...in a word horrible. There is some chatter in other forums about the failure of these units but I would like to hear if anyone has found a suitable plug and play replacement. I wasn't planning on replacing the B&W cameras but was hoping I could find a unit that had a navigation function included.

[Britcanuck]

Hi all
Since becoming somewhat limited in mobility I'm looking for anything I can do to make life easier during hook up and disconnect. Main focus right now is a reeling device for the 50 amp cord and the fresh water hose. Those of us that have DA's 2010 and prior know the space limitations in the power bay and the wet bay. There are dozens of retractable reels available but I can't find one that would fit in either bay without serious modification or compromising existing layouts. Have any of you talented DIY experts found product that would serve as a reeling device for water and power that would fit in our coaches. In my coach the back of the power bay is removable to access the air filter and in the wet back the tanks take up a lot of available room. I'm hoping that someone has solved this problem and will share it with us.
Cheers.