New Owner to Be!!

[Sumar]

Hi everyone, my husband and I who have never had a TT,pop-up or any kind of RV, no less a Class A MH, have decided to get one and will pick it up in Georgia next week. We live on Long Island.
The plan is for the dealership to give us a "lesson", where he will make sure we are comfortable driving it. My husband did test drive it and drove a truck in the army years(many) ago.
Do you think we are completely crazy??
We will spend 2 nights at Stone Mountain campground to try everything out and make sure it works before we start for home Monday am.
If you reply quickly you might catch me before the "straight jacket" is put on.

[Sumar]

Hi everyone, my husband and I who have never had a TT,pop-up or any kind of RV, no less a Class A MH, have decided to get one and will pick it up in Georgia next week. We live on Long Island.
The plan is for the dealership to give us a "lesson", where he will make sure we are comfortable driving it. My husband did test drive it and drove a truck in the army years(many) ago.
Do you think we are completely crazy??
We will spend 2 nights at Stone Mountain campground to try everything out and make sure it works before we start for home Monday am.
If you reply quickly you might catch me before the "straight jacket" is put on.

[John-D]

In another place I often start a welcome message with "Welcome to the club nobody wants to join"

Thanks for giving me a chance to change that line to "Welcome to the club we all love to join" Glad you found us and have a couple of other URL's for you to check out

http://www.rvforum.com
http://www.rv.net

Both sites require free registration

I think when you first pull that thing off the dealer's lot you are going to be a bit scared. I mean a class A is B!I!G!!!! When I go down the road I'm 12.5' High, 8.5 wide and 59 long, THAT IS BIG it is wider than a semi truck (only 8'wide) and it took me a while to get used to it. Suggestion, Get a "Dot" This can be as simple as one of those peal and stick dots that Publisher's clearing house sends out all the time, any peal and stick dot will work.

ON a lonely stretch of road, or a vacant parking lot, center the rig in the lane then have your spouse put a dot at the bottom of the windshield (In your field of vision, just) right where the white line is.. Makes finding the center of your lane easier.

Beyond that,,, Enjoy

[Sumar]

Thanks John-D...will take dots with me!

[turbo6gto]

Welcome Sumar, You and your husband give the rig a very good going over befor you sign the bottom line,including another test drive,at highway speeds,I went up on the roof,under the rig,took a flashlight and shined inside where the plumbing and wires are,have them prove everything works as it should.I only say this cause you live so far away.Long as you don't sign,you have control over how fast they jump over backards.We are on our 5th season with our Challenger,no problem on the Damom end of things.Only Workhorse recalls and the Frigerator recall.Give us a follow up of your shakedown at Stone Mountain.

[Chandler]

Welcome sumar! I agree with turbo6gto. Pretend you're camping. Try everything. Water, A/C both coach and chassis, everything electrical both 12 volt and 120 volt. Flush the toilet, have them turn the refrigerator on well before you get there and make sure it's cold. Start the generator and make sure it can and will run the roof A/C units. Try the lights, wipers, horn and all the switches.
On the test drive check the brakes, steering and how it handles over bumps. Mkae sure the transmission shifts well and downshifts just as well. Check the cruise control.
This will probably be the only time you can find something wrong and have it fixed immediately. Once you sign, youll be just another customer and will probably have to wait your turn.
What kind of coach are you buying? How big ect?

Good luck. We'll be here if you have any questions.

Chandler

[hamdave]

The advice you have been given is good!!, I am curious however, have you already 'signed' the papers?
I bought a 'used' rig back in November, and it took me a lot more than one day to 'understand' it and I consider it a simple coach.

Good luck

[Sumar]

Thanks John D,tubo6gto and Chandler for things to check out.
We are purchasing a 2007 Damon Astoria PE new.
There is only one RV dealer out on LI, and he did not have what we wanted, so we had to do alittle searching. We did not start out looking for Damons, but when we saw one liked it (on trip to dealer in NJ), and it fit into our price-range.
We found on the web-site a place in Fla., where it had aN RV we were intersted in.
However when we called about it, it was really in their dealership in Missouri. So they had it delivered to dealership in Georgia for us to go see. (we thought it would be easier for us to get there than Missouri).
Saw it, went over it fairly good, husband took it for test drive, and we liked it.
So we did not sign yet, but plans are to fly there next friday to do so.
I spoke with dealership. they are overnighting manuals to us, and asked them to make sure refer is running for 24 hours when I get there.
Hope everything goes well, as we just got a new extension put on our driveway for it!!

[Sumar]

Meant to ask.....what system do you use for towing a toad?
I was interested in 4 wheels down. Blue-Ox????

[John-D]

I use a blue-ox tow bar, The competition (Roadmaster?) is, near as I can tell just as good, but my dealer sells Blue-Ox and I'm very happy with it. I'm very happy with Blue-Ox customer service too... I broke one (NOT a defect, my fault, no question) and they still replaced it free of charge, including pre-paid shipping on the return. They analyzed it and called to tell me they did not feel it was their fault, I had to laugh, as I told them that when I called them to get the new one. (I do have some knowledge of metal things and it was very clear there was no defect to my trained eyes)

The car I tow can not be towed 4-down as delivered so I added a REMCO axel lock. If you plan on towing 4-down, which I consider the best way, you need to visit their web site
http://www.remcotowing.com and follow the links to the vehicle application chart.

Download the Excell spreadsheet for your make of car, scroll to your model and it will tell you what you need to do

Options include: Nothing
Pull a fuse
Lube Pump (NOTE: Pumps can fail)
Axel lock or drive shaft disconnect (In theory they can fail, in practice... I've yet to hear of one failing, technology is over 50 years old and I've never heard of one failing)

But they are the experts on 4-down towing

NOTE: The Remco "mods" are independent of the tow bar, I really like my blue-Ox Tow bar.

[Sumar]

Thanks John D...think we go with blue-ox.
Just bought a new Saturn (had to trade in my 4 year old Passat because it could not be towed 4 wheels down, as was not happy about it).
My husband did check and all we need to do is pull a fuse. Now if we could find out where it is we'd be in good shape!!

[ear-doc2]

I highly reccomend that you purchase a switch that will allow you to turn the fuse off and on. Much easier than trying to pull the fuse each time. You can find them on line. I have one on my HHR and it's very easy to use as opposed to dropping the fuse, when you find it, while you are in a contorted position

[Sumar]

Thanks ear-doc2...do you happen to know what web-site I would find it in?
Thanks, sounds like a good idea

[Kennyjb]

Sumar...I also tow a HHR and I just went to my Chevy dealer and told him I wanted to be abel to flip a switch to cut out fuse NO. 8. Works like a charm.