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Thor Challenger - Coast to Coast 8500 miles
Just got back from an 8,500 mile coast to coast road trip in our Thor Challenger 37TB. We had a couple of smaller issues and one fairly large one. Had a water pump start leaking, slide froze but was easily fixed and then the large one - drivers window shattered at about 65 mph on I-90 in Wyoming. Contacted Thor folks with pictures and they are replacing the driver side windows with a new unit under the warranty.
I bought a 1/4" piece of plexiglass, used four 2" screws with washers, braces and sealant. Got back in my Challenger and drove on for another 5,000 miles. DW and grandkids never missed a beat - neither did I. So we're back home, Thor is shipping the new window assembly to my servicing dealer. Done.
Total trip we averaged 6.8 MPG with a Ford Explorer toad running about 65 MPH.
Couple of notes - the V10 Challenger handles freeway speeds of 65-70 easily. I used the cruise a lot!. Best speed to maintain without slamming into a ear splitting noisy shift is about 67. Handles all but the larger hills easily. In the mountains - we went to Yellowstone via TenSleep (thats a grade) - expect to average about 35 on the long grades at about 4000 rpm. After descending that long, steep grade - we went from a Blue Ox AutoStop (should be named AutoChunk) to a BrakeBuddy Classic. Great investment.
I don't want to start a protracted DP vs Gasser, just my observation, the V10 was NOISY in the mountains but played well on standard, reasonably level highways. Pulled the toad easily and is very dependable. We now have almost 11,000 miles in 4 months and are very satisfied with our Thor Challenger and the V10.
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US Army Retired - loving it in our Challenger 37TB.
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