Looking at a 27' '03 Sightseer, have a few questions

[daveshan]

My wife and I are looking at the above vehicle, vin# 5B4KP57G133356907

I have a few questions and we're so on the fence on this rig it hurts. Plan is to use it for mostly short local trips, longest might be from SW Colorado over to Champaign IL to visit our Aunt, other trips will be 200 miles max, staying in FS campgrounds and boondocking mostly in CO/NM/UT, lots of steep grades/summits/downhill and wind.

1. Brake recall, why isn't my P32 recalled, the WH site says since my 6th place in my VIN isn't 6 I'm not included in the recall. Do I have the same calipers only not enough complaints on this chassis yet? Or do I have some other caliper?

2. Toad towing, we'll be dragging a Jeep Cherokee most everywhere and occasionally a Jeep/trailer which will push the limits of GCVWR, how do these handle a toad? I've read the most posted review by the guy who wasn't really happy with his 27' Sightseer, (don't have link handy) it seems his expectations were a little high for a base class A and I'm not sure it's really an accurate statement on the MH.

3. The 8.1/GM 4 speed, not real sure I like the combo' would much rather have 5 or 6 speeds and the hill descent (love the Torqueshift in my F-250 brakes still good after 46k miles most of which is towing) how do these things handle hills using manual downshift. I'm in CO and most of my driving will be mountain roads.


We love the floorplan and can get this now (cash) as opposed to waiting a few years for a DP in the 34-38' range. We're looking at this as a starter with the assumption it may meet our long term needs.

BTW I did post a similar question over on the fourm I'm active on with my truck camper, if anyone chimed in over there thanks, I'm just trying to gather as much feedback as I can before I jump into a $25k+ purchase.
Thanks everyone
Dave

EDIT: Tires are 9+ years old, will replace immediately, figuring on replacing all fluids/belts anything else I'm forgetting?

Thanks again
d

[DriVer]

Originally Posted by daveshan

My wife and I are looking at the above vehicle, vin# 5B4KP57G133356907

I have a few questions and we're so on the fence on this rig it hurts. Plan is to use it for mostly short local trips, longest might be from SW Colorado over to Champaign IL to visit our Aunt, other trips will be 200 miles max, staying in FS campgrounds and boondocking mostly in CO/NM/UT, lots of steep grades/summits/downhill and wind.

It should meet your needs for restricted space while boondocking since it is a small rig. This vehicle may not be the best suited vehilce to go up and down grades and summits however I expect that it will handle it. The 8.1L engine will have a lot of power for such a short vehilce. Take it out for a ride to see if the whellbase is going to be an issue for you. Some short rigs have a tendencey to bounce around and go off in weird directions if the front end is not dialied in correctly.

1. Brake recall, why isn't my P32 recalled, the WH site says since my 6th place in my VIN isn't 6 I'm not included in the recall. Do I have the same calipers only not enough complaints on this chassis yet? Or do I have some other caliper?

You do not have the Bosch calipers in this vehilce therefore it is not subject to the recall.

2. Toad towing, we'll be dragging a Jeep Cherokee most everywhere and occasionally a Jeep/trailer which will push the limits of GCVWR, how do these handle a toad? I've read the most posted review by the guy who wasn't really happy with his 27' Sightseer, (don't have link handy) it seems his expectations were a little high for a base class A and I'm not sure it's really an accurate statement on the MH.

I do not expect that you will have a lot of reserve capacity with the vehilce since it has a GVWR of 15,000 and a GCWR of 19,000. This would give you a 4,000 tow rating.

3. The 8.1/GM 4 speed, not real sure I like the combo' would much rather have 5 or 6 speeds and the hill descent (love the Torqueshift in my F-250 brakes still good after 46k miles most of which is towing) how do these things handle hills using manual downshift. I'm in CO and most of my driving will be mountain roads.

Select shifting can help quite a bit however leaving the transmission in drive for the majority of the time should work well.

[daveshan]

Thanks DriVer

The brakes were my biggest question, next was the GVWR.

If I'm towing the heavier Jeep&trailer it would be for a week long stay in Moab staying in a full hookup campground so I'll be empty as far as water and supplies goes so the RV won't be anywhere close to its GVWR which leaves me with the 5000lb capacity given in the owner's manual .pdf I dowloaded. I have an email in to Workhorse to see if a WD hitch can be used to increase the limits on tongue weight, I guess that will be the deciding factor.

[DriVer]

Originally Posted by daveshan

I have an email in to Workhorse to see if a WD hitch can be used to increase the limits on tongue weight, I guess that will be the deciding factor.

Please allow me to share this with you ... When you do get an answer I expect that Workhorse will respond that they are not going to want you to use a weight distributing hitch on your motorhome chassis.

In your case, I expect that your vehicle has a 35,000 psi tensile strength frame rail. In my case, the W series has a 50,000 psi tensile strength frame rail. The W series is not rated to use a WD hitch setup. On a 27 foot Sightseer with the short wheelbase of 158.8", using a WD may create more problems than it might solve.

Remember, you are towing a load with a house and not so much a truck although your vehicle is essentially a truck.

If you can get that question resolved, I guess you can move forward with your decision. Towing 4 down or on a tow dolly are the 2 most popular methods.

[daveshan]

Thanks again DriVer!

I've read enough of your posts to realize you know your Workhorse chassis and if you say it's not a good idea I can count on it not being wise.

I can always pull the driveshafts (8 bolts each end ~15 minutes total) on the rock crawler when I need to drag it over to Moab. The only reason I trailer it is due to the potential of breakage which may make it un-drivable and the cots of the rubber it rides on which makes new tires for the Sightseer look reasonable.

Time to go give it a thorough checkout.
Dave

[kevenis]

Was wondering how it checked out for you yesterday and if you've decided to buy it. I live in Montrose and saw the Craigslist for it and have called the owner and received photos. If you have decided not to buy would you mind if I called you to see what your impressions were of a test drive? My email is: kevenis@aol.com.
Thanks so much,
Keven Isgar

[daveshan]

went and crawled around it a bit more, is this an average example of frame extensions on these things? I could have done a better job of welding drunk in my sleep.






If so I can see why they rate the towing so low.

Keven, did not test drive it.
Dave

[Jeff H]

Talk to us.
chaltom514@yahoo.com

[DriVer]

Originally Posted by daveshan

went and crawled around it a bit more, is this an average example of frame extensions on these things? I could have done a better job of welding drunk in my sleep.

Dave, The weld in pic #1 is scary!

[JohnRR]

This is why no knowledgeable tow truck operator would tow most Class A or C units from the rear unless it was absolutely necessary

[daveshan]

I have to admit I did put an offer in directly to the owner however it was based on the expired tires, quite a few things I found inside which needed repair, and overall condition. It was also contingent on a solid test drive and proving the things I couldn't test (jacks/refrigerator) at the dealer he has it under consignment at were proven to work. He's thinking about it.

If we don't get this one we'll head to Phoenix or Denver and spend a week or so searching a larger market. One of the downsides to a small town (just about the only one) is having to head to the big city once in a while for things like this.

Anyway thanks for all the input, a small workhorse is on the short list.