Discovery: Discovery 40M?

[Nomadic23]

Anyone have a Fleetwood Discovery? I've mainly been looking at used Tiffin and Newmar in the 37-40' range, but saw that the Discovery is pretty much the same floorplan that I'm looking at and a little cheaper. We'd be using it for full time and trading up from our current 5th wheel. Looking for something that does well in mountains as we travel out west a lot and is pretty dependable.

[alank]

I had a new 2017 40D that never went back to the dealer for anything. Traded it for a 2119 40M and had two issues that needed dealer/factory attention. All the little stuff, like a bad relay ($5 item) for power to the slide controllers, I replace myself. If you're buying used, look in the dash to see if it has an AURORA HVAC unit. If it does, it won't work well at all for A/C. The manufacturer put them together wrong. After talking to AURORA LLC, Grand Rapids, MG, and pointing out their errors, my names not very popular with them. They are no longer used in Discovery coaches, but I don't know when they quit using AURORA. I ended up fixing mine, (factory didn't know) wasn't terribly expensive ($150) or hard, but finding someone that knows what to do, that's another story.
The other major item is the rollers under the full wall slide breaking off. They just aren't heavy enough to hold the weight of the slide while pounding down the road. There are 7 rollers, four of mine were broken when I repaired them. Factory said they would just replace them with new ones just like the ones that broke.
Now, after the two year repair time that every one talks about on new coaches, we're very happy with it.

[Nomadic23]

Originally Posted by alank

I had a new 2017 40D that never went back to the dealer for anything. Traded it for a 2119 40M and had two issues that needed dealer/factory attention. All the little stuff, like a bad relay ($5 item) for power to the slide controllers, I replace myself. If you're buying used, look in the dash to see if it has an AURORA HVAC unit. If it does, it won't work well at all for A/C. The manufacturer put them together wrong. After talking to AURORA LLC, Grand Rapids, MG, and pointing out their errors, my names not very popular with them. They are no longer used in Discovery coaches, but I don't know when they quit using AURORA. I ended up fixing mine, (factory didn't know) wasn't terribly expensive ($150) or hard, but finding someone that knows what to do, that's another story.
The other major item is the rollers under the full wall slide breaking off. They just aren't heavy enough to hold the weight of the slide while pounding down the road. There are 7 rollers, four of mine were broken when I repaired them. Factory said they would just replace them with new ones just like the ones that broke.
Now, after the two year repair time that every one talks about on new coaches, we're very happy with it.

Thanks, that's great info. I'm looking at 2016-2019 coaches so hopefully some of the repairs would have been worked out.

[DerekF]

Feb 21 bought new D LXE40M. Biggest issue was 6 week wait for DEF particulate sensor. Went to Decatur for warranty work, mostly minor. Meet a guy while having fuel rail recall done. He bought his a month before and he said he has had some big issues.
There is also a D owners group where lots of good information available also.

[rv rick]

I have a 2020 40M that we have had for 16 months and have used extensively (17,000 miles). We had a few issues (dealer replaced a tile and broke the heated floors) that were taken care of by the Decatur Service Center (they do great work). Our last trip, ending a couple weeks ago covered 6,000 miles in 8 weeks. The coach performed great and we had no issues of any kind. We are very pleased with it.

[chindog]

I've owned my Discovery for almost 7 years now, and would be very reluctant to go to another brand. I've had great luck as far as reliability of the coach, with no major repairs needed. But the best thing about the brand is the Discovery Owners club. It's not just a social club (although it very much is a social club), but the brain trust is there if you do have any issues. Someone with your same model and year has already dealt whatever issue you may have, and they share their experiences and solutions to just about any issue you can imagine. And, the D owners get together for a big national rally each year, and regional rallies as well. Local chapters also have frequent get togethers, so when you join in the activities, you tend to make a lot of good friends that you get to know face to face. And when those glitches on your coach happen, and you reach out to the D community, the folks who are helping you are people you know and trust.

[Fiesta48]

2015 Discovery 40E. 50k miles. Chassis no problem. But the upper portion is fix many things every trip. But can't find anything like it for utility, eminities and storage. New one like it is now $50-75k more. Get 8.8 mpg.

[zumo]

Originally Posted by alank

I had a new 2017 40D that never went back to the dealer for anything. Traded it for a 2119 40M and had two issues that needed dealer/factory attention. All the little stuff, like a bad relay ($5 item) for power to the slide controllers, I replace myself. If you're buying used, look in the dash to see if it has an AURORA HVAC unit. If it does, it won't work well at all for A/C. The manufacturer put them together wrong. After talking to AURORA LLC, Grand Rapids, MG, and pointing out their errors, my names not very popular with them. They are no longer used in Discovery coaches, but I don't know when they quit using AURORA. I ended up fixing mine, (factory didn't know) wasn't terribly expensive ($150) or hard, but finding someone that knows what to do, that's another story.
The other major item is the rollers under the full wall slide breaking off. They just aren't heavy enough to hold the weight of the slide while pounding down the road. There are 7 rollers, four of mine were broken when I repaired them. Factory said they would just replace them with new ones just like the ones that broke.
Now, after the two year repair time that every one talks about on new coaches, we're very happy with it.

Hi, I follow everything you write because we have the same coach and your knowledge about it has helped me a great deal. Regarding those rollers, how did you have them repaired? And, how did you discover they were broken?

[SueRVEd]

I have a 2015 Discovery 37R that we love but are looking to sell. It will do awesome in the mountains since Cummins updated it to 450hp. It still has a 20 month warranty I can transfer over if you’d like too. It is very well maintained an people always say when they step in, it still smells new. Very few issues over the years and has been a great time every use it gets. I think it has 25K miles.

[kwahl1]

Check out discoveryownersdotcom. All Discovery all the time. Pose this question to them (us). Generally our 2017 is a workhorse. Tow vehicles are few. A few visits to Freightliner. DEF and a coolant expansion plug. A couple recalls taken care of. We’re happy campers, living in ours 4-5 months a year in AZ.

[alank]

Originally Posted by zumo

Hi, I follow everything you write because we have the same coach and your knowledge about it has helped me a great deal. Regarding those rollers, how did you have them repaired? And, how did you discover they were broken?

Zumo, look into joining lmdisco@groups.io , it's for late model Discoveries and has a lot of information you can benefit from. My roller repair (2 pages) is on page 6 of the messages and titled FWS Roller Repair.

https://groups.io/g/lmdisco/topic/fw...16777584378826

If you run your fingers along the carpeted edge of the slide floor, you may feel some bulges in the carpet. It's almost certain that is a broken roller pushing the 1/4" tack strip out that the carpet is stapled to. Another way is to put your fingers under the slide floor and the tile. Start at the front of the slide, then work your way back to see if the clearance between the bottom of the slide floor and tile decreases any. The floor of the slide will sag, especially in the area of the kitchen counter and frig., if the clearance decreases, the rollers are breaking.

I raised the interior side of the slide, removed all the broken rollers and welded them, adding some extra strength in the process. I realize not all Discovery owners are capable of doing this, so you'll just have to do the best you can. The factory will only put the same inadequate rollers back in.

[zumo]

Alank, oh my goodness, I hope my rollers hold up. You are obviously technically and mechanically proficient. I looked at your post on the repair, very nice work. Thanks for the tip on the Discovery owner's group, joined it today.

[alank]

Glad to have you join up, hope it helps with some of the questions you come up with.

[Roamer37]

I will echo what others have said about the Discovery owners group. It is a Godsend. If we ever upgrade we’ll look for another Disco for that reason alone.