2003 Dynasty

[RS505]

There is a strong likelihood that I'm going to buy a 2003 Dynasty tomorrow.

It's in good shape from what I can tell, I gave it a visual inspection on Sunday. No delamination or water damage. Used a lot, in the desert, but covered storage when not in use. Clear coat damage. No collision or hail damage. Owned by someone who was a CDL big rig driver.

400 HP ISL, 3-year old tires, maintenance done per the owners manual (with records) looks ready to hit the road. One-owner

Is there anything I should be aware of for my road test and mechanical inspection tomorrow? I have a friend who is a retired Cat mechanic and current Cummins/Onan shop manager who's going to run an oil sample and plug his scan tool into it so I think the engine is taken care of, but I'd like and pointers as to what to look for with the rest of it.

I'm a former mechanic, and now I'm an instrumentation and controls engineer so I'm not scared at all of fixing things. Having said that auto body work isn't my thing, so if there's areas where leaks tend to start, etc. I want to look at those closely.

Thanks!

[Ivylog]

Might want to read the current post about a 05 Dynasty. Clear coat issues at the roof line is fairly common. Great handling rig and any play/slop in the steering is easily adjusted out...TRW box. The trouble free 04 Dynasty below is still in the family.

[f365gt4]

Bought an 03 two years ago and love it. Saw a post on fires and checked my transfer switch. Wires were burnt with melted insulation because the connections probably loosen over time. I prevented a major problem by upgrading to dynamics switch with spike protection. Use electrical paste on all connections.
https://www.progressivedyn.com/rv/au...sfer-switches/
Make sure aqua hot is in good order. What I like, great smooth ride, 10 airbags, no extra pollution controls, tag ads straight tracking, fits in my driveway, 400 hp produces plenty of power.

[vito.a]

They are great coaches. The Roadmaster chassis is tough to beat.
Check the outside underneath the slideouts for water damage.
Check the Norcold fridge for ammonia smell. Be prepared to replace it as they have caused several RV fires.
Check the A/C systems. If not already replaced, they will need it soon.
Check the generator under load. Running both A/Cs is a good method.
Depending on what part of the country you are in check for excessive rust underneath.
Check the slide out cover and awning material. The threads tend to deteriorate.
Check the inside for any evidence of water damage.
Check the roof carefully.

Be prepared to repair and update many of the systems. It really helps if you do the labor yourself.
Best of luck!

[RS505]

Originally Posted by f365gt4

Bought an 03 two years ago and love it. Saw a post on fires and checked my transfer switch. Wires were burnt with melted insulation because the connections probably loosen over time. I prevented a major problem by upgrading to dynamics switch with spike protection. Use electrical paste on all connections.
https://www.progressivedyn.com/rv/au...sfer-switches/
Make sure aqua hot is in good order. What I like, great smooth ride, 10 airbags, no extra pollution controls, tag ads straight tracking, fits in my driveway, 400 hp produces plenty of power.

I'm familiar with that particular transfer switch. It's what is in my Itasca.

I'm. making a list of Items to go over during my final inspection tomorrow. We went for a test drive, the Monaco drives and handles like a dream

[RS505]

Originally Posted by vito.a

They are great coaches. The Roadmaster chassis is tough to beat.
Check the outside underneath the slideouts for water damage.
Check the Norcold fridge for ammonia smell. Be prepared to replace it as they have caused several RV fires.
Check the A/C systems. If not already replaced, they will need it soon.
Check the generator under load. Running both A/Cs is a good method.
Depending on what part of the country you are in check for excessive rust underneath.
Check the slide out cover and awning material. The threads tend to deteriorate.
Check the inside for any evidence of water damage.
Check the roof carefully.

Be prepared to repair and update many of the systems. It really helps if you do the labor yourself.
Best of luck!

I'm doing the final inspection tomorrow. I replaced the Norcold in my Itasca about 6 months ago, and we love the Haier that replaced it. I'm planning on doing this to the new Monaco. The old one went right out the door of the Itasca, really easy. I did it myself without damaging or hurting anything.

This rig spent almost all of it's life in Quartzite, Death Valley, various other deserts, and in covered storage. There isn't any water damage anywhere on it that I've been able to find, but it hasn't seen a lot of water. There is fried clear coat in places, and I'm assuming that a complete resealing needs to be done before long.

There is some sandblasting on the undercoating, and very minor rust in the battery tray area. About what I would expect for a NM/AZ vehicle.

It's looking pretty good at the moment. My Cummins shop guy is going to pull an oil sample for me, and we might load bank the generator. We use these Onan generators at work, so I'm pretty familiar with them. The good news it the guys I work with are HARD on equipment, and the generators go for 20,000+ hours with a regimented system of abuse and neglect.

I know it sounds crazy, but I'm considering taking it home tomorrow, then embarking on a 21-day 450 mile round trip to Denver as a shakeout run.

[ncsteve]

I say go for the road trip if you get it. We flew out to Colorado Springs in August, on a Thursday inspected our 04 Knight, test drove it, paid the folks and left the next morning for home....in North Çarolina, 1500 miles. Got home Sunday evening. Heck of a shakedown run! What was even better was coach ran flawlessly!. Hope yours does the same

[rpasetto]

+1 on everything Vito said. I should add that we used to have an 03 Dynasty with a Notcold. When it stopped working, replaced it with a Samsung RF197. There should be plenty of room as long as you have no furnace under the fridge. The newer RF18 should also fit fine. I put ours on the floor like a house refrig; there was enough room to build a cabinet on top. Others made the drawer case underneath smaller. There are many threads on replacing these Norcolds in Monacos here and in other forums.

Sounds like you are knowledgeable in coaches and in doing mechanical stuff; having maintenance records to go thru is a definite plus. I see you're getting an oil analysis and already have a pretty thorough check list, so if everything proves out you'll be enjoying it soon. We enjoyed 160k++ miles in our 03 Dynasty; sold it and the guy who bought it is enjoying many more.

The worst thing which ever happened to our 03 Dyn was a fuel injector line which leaked and actually came loose; spilled lots of Diesel but that's another story. Shortly before that we'd had a problem with the engine harness which a Cummins Distributor replaced. They told us the original harness was damaged by fuel and when I asked them to check for fuel leaks the Cummins Dist. told us there were none and all was OK... a few hundred miles later the fuel-inj. line let go. I had a temporary repair done at a local shop where I was traveling at the time; eventually had all fuel lines replaced by a competent shop. But that's another story too.