New RV owner with older Bounder 28T

[Bounder94]

Introduction time....Hello, everyone, my name is Kelly. I am 46 years old. My parents have RV'ed since I think I was born.....starting in PopUp Starcraft, moving to a 5th Wheel, and now they own a 36' National Tropi-Cal Motorhome with 454....

I recently (July 2007) rented a Class C and my wife (45 yrs YOUNG) and my 16 year old son and his 16 year old cousin (my nephew) had a 10 day vacation to Yellowstone......it was AWESOME and the wife said that we needed to get us an RV...so the search was on....after looking at LOTS of TRASHED Motorhomes, I came across a 1994 Fleetwood Bounder 28T Class A that was in immaculate condition with 50,000 miles....the older gentleman that owned was really OCD and he had recorded of everything from when it was bought...all service records...he had just installed 2 new 6v golf cart batteries, and had the generator serviced...and with me being a Quaality Inspector at Boeing of Wichita, I went over it with flashlight and mirror....I found ONE, that right, ONE loose hinge and ONE burnt out light bulb in a storage compartment....and the price was 17,000, under the 21,600 NADA price for this RV....and, he left EVERYTHING in it, except his clothes....pots and pans, sheets, blankets, a wide array of hoses, cords, plug adapter, black water flushing tools, tools in general, charcoal grill and charcoal, etc, etc....it was amazing....

The story was that they had used it to go to Waco Texas to see their kids and grandkids, then both of his kids moved, one to Seatlle, and one to South Carolina....and his wife says, sell the RV because she wasn't going from one side of the US to the other....I was the first person to come see the unit and I told him within 5 minutes that I was BUYING IT....I could just tell that this was one sweet RV

So, that's my story...and I 'm sticking to it.....I have been lurking here since our Yellowstone trip and as you would think, I have learned a LOT from this website....

I will post some photos of the RV at a later date, but I think everyone knows what one looks like...LOL...but I would like to know of any other 28T owners out there...to swap ideas on modifications and such....I am a first time "owner" of an RV, but I have been around them for most of my life....

Thanks and later,

Kelly

[Bounder94]

Introduction time....Hello, everyone, my name is Kelly. I am 46 years old. My parents have RV'ed since I think I was born.....starting in PopUp Starcraft, moving to a 5th Wheel, and now they own a 36' National Tropi-Cal Motorhome with 454....

I recently (July 2007) rented a Class C and my wife (45 yrs YOUNG) and my 16 year old son and his 16 year old cousin (my nephew) had a 10 day vacation to Yellowstone......it was AWESOME and the wife said that we needed to get us an RV...so the search was on....after looking at LOTS of TRASHED Motorhomes, I came across a 1994 Fleetwood Bounder 28T Class A that was in immaculate condition with 50,000 miles....the older gentleman that owned was really OCD and he had recorded of everything from when it was bought...all service records...he had just installed 2 new 6v golf cart batteries, and had the generator serviced...and with me being a Quaality Inspector at Boeing of Wichita, I went over it with flashlight and mirror....I found ONE, that right, ONE loose hinge and ONE burnt out light bulb in a storage compartment....and the price was 17,000, under the 21,600 NADA price for this RV....and, he left EVERYTHING in it, except his clothes....pots and pans, sheets, blankets, a wide array of hoses, cords, plug adapter, black water flushing tools, tools in general, charcoal grill and charcoal, etc, etc....it was amazing....

The story was that they had used it to go to Waco Texas to see their kids and grandkids, then both of his kids moved, one to Seatlle, and one to South Carolina....and his wife says, sell the RV because she wasn't going from one side of the US to the other....I was the first person to come see the unit and I told him within 5 minutes that I was BUYING IT....I could just tell that this was one sweet RV

So, that's my story...and I 'm sticking to it.....I have been lurking here since our Yellowstone trip and as you would think, I have learned a LOT from this website....

I will post some photos of the RV at a later date, but I think everyone knows what one looks like...LOL...but I would like to know of any other 28T owners out there...to swap ideas on modifications and such....I am a first time "owner" of an RV, but I have been around them for most of my life....

Thanks and later,

Kelly

[tmar10]

Welcome you back into world of RVing and may I be one of the first to say welcome to the Fleetwood/Bounder family.

I too went the way of aviation maintenance during my hiatus from RVing. I guess after you go so fast for so long, it is time to slow down and see more than dots on the ground.

If you have not been over to the Yahoo Bounder forum, they also have a wealth of knowledge for new/old Bounders.

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/bounder/

[GerryB54]

Welcome to IRV2 & our Fleetwood family here!

[Loren]

Kelly,
Welcome to both irv2 amd the Bounder family
We bought ours used in Dec.'98 and now have 112k miles on it, and still have not found another we would trade for. Hope you enjoy it and this site,
Loren

[Teach]

Hey Kelly,

Welcome to iRV2 and the Fleetwood Forum. Wow, what a deal! Enjoy it and post your travels and experiences often.

[jdoc]

Bounder94, also check out www.bounder.org
Jerry

[Steve N Sal]

Hello Bounder94 and welcome aboard. We have a 94 32H with 111K miles. It's a great rig and we have taken some great trips in it. Funny we were just at Yellowstone last September along with a few other places.
Sounds like you got a heck of a deal on yours and hope you and the family enjoy it. Give me a yell if there is anything you need to discuss about your rig. Maybe I can help.
Happy Motoring!!!

[george henry]

Bounder94 , Welcome to iRv2.com

[FRDMFTR]

Good find. I just became a 'Bounder Owner' this past weekend myself. And I too work for the 'Bomber Factory' (Boeing). I'm up in Spokane and manage a contract site.

I just purchased (traded for actually) a cherry 94 32' Bounder with only 38k. One owner, he used it as a single until he passed away last year. Kept incredible records. Other than being stored for past year by his family (dusty), it's in great shape. I bought it in Seattle area and drove it home 300 miles to Spokane. What a machine. I will have a few questions, thanks again for hosting this site. I will need it.

[JOMARFL (FMCA 401058)]

Welcome and it sounds like a great unit!

[FRDMFTR]

It is a great rig and already today I was able to solve a couple of my problems. Yes, the generator works better when the breaker is reset (power output) and following the directions for the leveling jacks as written in the manual actually allows you to turn them on.

[Bounder94]

Hi everyone, just thought I would check in and report that the ol' 94 Bounder is doing great...this last July (2008) we drove her from Wichita, Kansas to the Canadian border, up the North Shore of Lake Superior...with a side trip (a wedding) we logged well over 2000 miles, with ZERO problems...earlier in May 2008 I took the RV to a Ford Heavy Truck Service Dept and had a list of items that I wanted them to service, you know the usual, change diferential fluid, tranny fluid and filter, engine oil and filter, brake fluid drain and refill, front bearing repack, check all brake pads and rotors and engine radiator flush and had them install new rear sway bar bushing....everything was less than 400 dollars...the local RV dealers could even come close to that price, they are soooo overpriced and most ship the work out anyway....everything else minor like air filter and various other "inspections" I did myself...I ended up changing the hot water heater circuit board (to a Dinosaur board) so that it would work perfectly everytime. The trip was wonderful, averaged around 8.5 mpg ( I didn't know that Minnesota was so hilly!!)

Here is a link to our vacation and a few photos of the Bounder at various campsites along the way

http://www.pbase.com/ytailhtr/minnesota

Anyway, a BIG HUGE THANKS to all here on IRV2, as this site has proved to be a great source of information and support...

Kelly

[Bounder94]

Oh I did forget on minor problem I had with the RV, no fault of Fleetwood's or Onan....the generator muffler bracket broke (see actual details below), putting the weight of most of the muffler on the motor's exhaust header, which broke it's weld at the "Y" connection...I was running generator after changing oil and filter (getting ready for the Minnesota trip)and suddenly it got REALLY LOUD...like open headers on a car...LOL....a quick check while it was still running and I deduced that the exhaust header had cracked or broke clean off...shut down the generator, let it cool off, removed the top engine shroud and WHAA-LAA, that was the problem...called Onan Service Center, which just so happens to be in WICHITA KANSAS...WOW..how lucky is THAT...the kind lady ordered the part (like 75 dollars, not bad) and while on the phone I asked about putting on an additional "resonator", she said no problem, that was another 24 dollars....so, after a brief two day wait, and about 1.5 hours of work, I had a new Onan exhaust header installed, with resonator installed after the muffler, just before the tailpipe rubber mount...now she's quieter than before and ready for a lot more run time....found out that the mounting bracket bolt where the exhaust header bolts to the muffler had worked loose and fallen out, putting about 90% of the weight of the muffler on the exhaust header, thus causing it to snap the weld where the header pipes join into one tube....the tailpipe rubber mount was holding the 10% of the rest of the weight...but I don't fault Fleetwood or Onan, it just one of those things that happens...now I have put that on my list of things to check periodically...

Just thought I would include this infor just in case anyone else wants to check theirs out...to possibly catch something that could cause a problem "down the road"

PS...also found out that Coleman RVP (which makes those Coleman Air Conditioners found atop most RV's) is in WICHITA KANSAS...and I met the President of that company at a WSU Shocker baseball game and we are now friends...we regularly drive the motorhome to the home games to tailgate and they come visit...when WSU made it to the Super Regional in Stillwater OK, they drove their motorhome down with us and while we stayed in the parking lot of the stadium for two nights, we did go stay one night with them at the nearby lake campgrounds...now there's a good person to know, huh?!....LOL

Happy RV'n, Kelly