Community Forums

rrthor · 06-27-2015, 09:59 AM

My wife Mary Jo and I are the new owners of a 2006 Alpine 34 FDDS and I wanted to introduce ourselves before asking a lot of questions. We live in Camas WA. We are the third owners of this motorhome and it is our first. We have been rv’ing in a truck camper for the last four years, which we have logged 208 nights in.

We were searching for a motorhome for over a year. We wanted an upper end motorhome with a powerful heavy duty chassis but shorter in length. This combination is a little hard to find but this Alpine fit nicely. We looked at new but nothing really sparked our interest. We really like that when the slides are closed on this Alpine the coach is still livable.

I have not posted on the forum until now. I have been lurking however trying to learn more about Alpines. We did join the Alpine Owners Association and the FMCA. I want to thank Engineer Mike for talking with me on the phone a few months ago regarding what to look for when buying a used Alpine. His help is greatly appreciated.

I did not get a lot of “how to” information from the last owner but I did get a large stack of manuals. I am currently going through the coach chassis trying to get a baseline for maintenance. I hope in the coming weeks I might get a little help from the group. If anyone lives close to Camas, WA it would be great to hear from you.

Best Regards
Rick and Mary Jo

plasma800 · 06-27-2015, 10:36 AM

Jim A · 06-27-2015, 12:00 PM

Quite a jump from a truck camper! Please consider joining NorthWest Alpine Coach Association (NoWACA) and ACA. Both have websites, as does Alpine SoCal down south. That way you will meet more fellow Alpine Coach owners, and can get help in learning more about your new coach.

Enjoy it!

rrthor · 06-27-2015, 12:56 PM

Thanks to both of you. Jim I was unaware that the NoWACA was a separate membership. I have printed out and will get it in the mail.

Rick

Jim A · 06-27-2015, 04:54 PM

The regional chapters started as sub-chapters of ACA, but due to some FMCA changes, we became chapters of FMCA directly. The regional chapters tend to have more smaller rallies, more central to their geographical area. We typically have 4-5 weekend rallies a year in Alpine SoCal, with one week-long rally each year.

We do have members of our club from outside of our area, but who frequent our area. You are not limited to one regional club. We also allow members of other regions to join our rallies when space is available. Our schedule is available online, as well as in the ACA newsletter and website.

Rich and Cork · 06-28-2015, 07:45 AM

Welcome. Another 34er.

Renipladlo · 06-30-2015, 11:22 AM

Hello, welcome to the club, I live in Vancouver, WA when not working at the farm. Send me a pm with some contact information, you can ask questions then.
However, I would go back two/three years on this form's posts and just read all of them that might apply to your coach. Some model differences starting late 04 and into present models from there.

If you have movable brake pedal, you might have some of the newer stuff, so the following are something you want to check.

Steering gear bracket chance-New Master Cylinder-electrical things/issues. The owners manuals can give you the recommended service intervals on most of the stuff, but just change the oil in the main engine once a year w/filter unless you drive more than 15K miles in a year, then it needs change then. The genset needs oil/filter annually or at 120/150 hours, again once a year works for us. The fuel filters on both need to be changed every other year, the air filter every other year as well. But then the big thing is to have the brake fluid flushed every year or at least every other year, and the wheels need to come off for that. Detroit/Allison dealer at exit 14 on I-5 in Ridgefield can do this cheap.