Looking for owners of Damon Intruders

[Damon1998]

Having problems with my intelltec battery disconect on my 1998 damon intruder. My diconect wont conect need help im not am electrician any help is appreciated

[Campbell5]

Originally Posted by Damon1998

Having problems with my intelltec battery disconect on my 1998 damon intruder. My diconect wont conect need help im not am electrician any help is appreciated

My first thought is to check the battery control box (usually in the engine compartment) for any blown fuses for tripped circuit breakers.

also you might want to post additional details and post them in the broader Damon forum since it's a bigger audience and many of the electrical components are the same.

[Jon Mopar]

Intruder owner here (2001), love ours!

[Mr Plymouth]

Hi We bought a 1997 35ft Intruder with a large slide, last FEb,in Florida with 13,500 miles on it,We live in Canada so we decided to leave it in Florida at a nice park in Zephyrhills and just travel back and forth,we love it also ,460 ford engine and f53 chassis

[litlgeezer]

New anxious 2004 Intruder owner, purchased in April. Dealer was pleasant to transact business with and later expedited sales documents as requested.

Drove the unit home (300 miles) with only two concerns: 1. An exhaust noise that sounded like a minor leak. It was apparent to me, only when I accelerated from a cruising speed. 2. An annoying squeak that seemed to come from the stairwell area. I have since replaced the top step hinges in hopes that this will solve the issue.

After I equip our newly acquired 2012 Equinox with the necessary towing items, my wife and I intend to begin one of our Bucket List trips, hopefully late this summer. We are both recently retired.

This website is a blessing to have discovered, but raises my anxiety levels as I am reminded of the costly troubles RVers can encounter. I have owned many RVs in the past and had declared that those days were over, after rebuilding two 1970s Airstream trailers. But, the dogs won out. My wife won't go on any trip without them

[mauricedorri]

Originally Posted by litlgeezer

New anxious 2004 Intruder owner, purchased in April. Dealer was pleasant to transact business with and later expedited sales documents as requested.

Drove the unit home (300 miles) with only two concerns: 1. An exhaust noise that sounded like a minor leak. It was apparent to me, only when I accelerated from a cruising speed. 2. An annoying squeak that seemed to come from the stairwell area. I have since replaced the top step hinges in hopes that this will solve the issue.

After I equip our newly acquired 2012 Equinox with the necessary towing items, my wife and I intend to begin one of our Bucket List trips, hopefully late this summer. We are both recently retired.

This website is a blessing to have discovered, but raises my anxiety levels as I am reminded of the costly troubles RVers can encounter. I have owned many RVs in the past and had declared that those days were over, after rebuilding two 1970s Airstream trailers. But, the dogs won out. My wife won't go on any trip without them

Congrats. I too have a 2004 Intruder.

I've never heard an exhaust leak on mine. I have the Workhorse chassis. Good luck with that. I hope you have a warranty to help with the costs.


The squeek near my stair wells is usually the screen door. the plastic piece on my screen door vibrates and is annoyingly loud. One stategically placed piece of duct-tape holds it still so it doesn't move and squeek.

Good luck

Maurice

[litlgeezer]

Hello Maurice!
Thank you for your response. I glanced through a few of your posts that were interesting. There doesn't seem to be many posts relating specifically to the Damon Intruder model. Maybe I'm just not finding them, since I am new to this forum.
Your MH appears to be almost a replica of the one we purchased. Our's too, was very clean and smells like a new one. My wife fell in love with the bedroom nook and I was impressed by the condition after 11 years. It has 49,000 miles and 165 hrs on the genset.
Since getting it home (West Monroe, LA), I've spent a great deal of my spare time looking it over prior to our Bucket List Road Trip beginning in August. I will check out the door for a squeak as I am going to replace the foam door seal soon. I did remove the upper step and replaced the hinges. These appeared to have been redone (poorly) before. I think the step is just tight against some new carpet and the vibration of the chassis causes the rub. Will see, next time on the road.
A more pressing issue is the power jacks. They worked fine at the dealership. Even after buying a new chassis battery, they will not come down. I follow the instructions from the mfg. I do hear a slight 'click' sound near the jack solenoid under the hood, so I suspect the cause may be a bad connection somewhere. I have already removed the battery cable and brushed it. Later, I will remove and clean ALL the other connections. I know the jacks do work, bc once I moved the MH out from the RV shed and just by happen chance tried the jacks, and they worked!!
Ok, I've typed enough of MY problems. I do have some other questions about the interior equipment, but I'll save that for later, if you don't mind.
My wife (Joyce) and I both retired within the past year. We are presently visiting our son in Nashville for the week (without the MH).
Again, thanks so much for letting me know that there is at least one more 2004 Intruder still on the road

[mauricedorri]

Good thought on the stairs. My noises are more about plastic parts rubbing together or things that tend to wobble or flex when in motion. That screen door... its annoying. I do need to also put a new seal around it to hold it better.

My power jacks work. I do not have the self leveling ones though. On occasion I do have a problem with one of the jacks not fully retracting. I put some dry lube on the shaft and it normally retracts all the way. Other times, I use the handle of my shovel to pry the jacks up.

Have you checked the fluid in the jack system? Is there some sort of safety switch that disables it if the level is low?

For the most part, I find that when I am using the motorhome twice a month, even for short trips, everything tends to work. When I don't drive it for three months , little stuff always happens.

The key is to keep using it!

Good Luck.

Maurice

[Robbie65]

I am a new here and was told to come to this page and someone could help me. I just bought a 95 Intruder and on the way home the turn signals and brake lights quit. Check all 4 fuse panels and found no blown fuses. Traced the wires and no breaks.... HELP!!!

[Jon Mopar]

I'm going to chime back in on the subject. While I am a BIG fan of the Intruder (which was the top-of-the-line gas coach in the Damon lineup), having finally had the chance to completely go over newer model, I can say that there's a considerable drop in quality/construction material from 2002 on ward. Gone was the smooth sided "glass" like sidewalls in favor of traditional fiberglass, the interior furnishings and draperies were also not to the quality level they once were. The 2005 I looked at lacked the solid wood cupboard doors and drawers that older models featured. Night and day difference.

With that said, they still offer impressive floorplans and very generous storage. So compared to other models, the Intruder is still a nice RV, but keep in mind...not all Intruders are built alike. My .2cents

[wa8yxm]

No comment on your the problems above.

Mine is a 2005 377W

[bamagal]

Originally Posted by litlgeezer

Drove the unit home (300 miles) with only two concerns: 1. An exhaust noise that sounded like a minor leak. It was apparent to me, only when I accelerated from a cruising speed.

We had the same issue on our 2003 Intruder with W22 WH Chassis/8.1L GM Engine. Leak was from cracked exhaust manifold on the right cylinder bank. (A common problem when gas engines are used in heavy duty applications. Can and has occured on GM or Ford products. About 12 years ago we had a 1995 Winnebago Vectra with the big block Ford V8 which had the same problem, and applied the same "fix" as outlined below).

For a permanent solution we replaced the stock exhaust manifolds with "BANKS TORQUE-TUBE HEADERS", all stainless steel. Cost approx $1250 plus $500 for installation. Cost of just one OEM header ranges from $900 to $1200. Banks headers will not ever leak or crack. Gives you about 50 to 60 more foot/pounds of low-end torque as an added benefit!

[mauricedorri]

Originally Posted by bamagal

We had the same issue on our 2003 Intruder with W22 WH Chassis/8.1L GM Engine. Leak was from cracked exhaust manifold on the right cylinder bank. (A common problem when gas engines are used in heavy duty applications. Can and has occured on GM or Ford products. About 12 years ago we had a 1995 Winnebago Vectra with the big block Ford V8 which had the same problem, and applied the same "fix" as outlined below).

For a permanent solution we replaced the stock exhaust manifolds with "BANKS TORQUE-TUBE HEADERS", all stainless steel. Cost approx $1250 plus $500 for installation. Cost of just one OEM header ranges from $900 to $1200. Banks headers will not ever leak or crack. Gives you about 50 to 60 more foot/pounds of low-end torque as an added benefit!

Question: When I first got my Intruder almost two years ago, I was also considering a DP mainly because of the additional torque when driving up and over mountain ranges (necessary in SoCal). But Intruder was a significant better layout and value/price than the used DP's I was looking at considering my 5-7K per year driving.

I always figured I could upgrade to a banks system if I needed more grunt from my workhorse engine. There are times when it chugs slowly up hills, but never stops or overheats doing so.

So here is my question: Is the banks worth it considering the power of the stock engine? Or is it best to do it if or when the stock manifolds crack?

FWIW, I had a 89 class C with the 460 engine and the manifold bolts would snap off all the time. When I put headers on it, it ran very cool and smooth. So cool in fact, that I had to put in a warmer thermostat to keep the engine temp up on the cold days. Controlling engine temps is great for preserving the gas engines.

[bamagal]

Originally Posted by mauricedorri

So here is my question: Is the banks worth it considering the power of the stock engine? Or is it best to do it if or when the stock manifolds crack?

In consideration of the fact that you "tow a trailer full of toys", it would be a good idea to replace the headers, sooner, rather than later..IMHO.

In our '95 Ford 460 Vectra, I installed the complete Banks System as you did, but on the '03 Intruder, only the HEADERS and Exhaust extensions were installed. The extensions bolted directly onto the catalytic inlet tubes with NO additional modification required.