Community Forums

Gallion · 04-29-2007, 06:45 PM

Probably going to buy this M.H. Does anyone out there have pro's or con's on this rig? I'm in another state and will be going down to look at it. Do you know what the roof is made of? best tires? miles per gal? etc. etc. This is a great site and only made so because so many of you guys are willing to take the time to share info. you may have had to learn the hard way. Any info on this rig, Holiday Rambler 36' Endevor LE 1995 would be greatly welcomed.
thank you for any reply.
Thank you for helping us that are still rookies.
Jim Gallion

Gallion · 04-29-2007, 06:45 PM

Probably going to buy this M.H. Does anyone out there have pro's or con's on this rig? I'm in another state and will be going down to look at it. Do you know what the roof is made of? best tires? miles per gal? etc. etc. This is a great site and only made so because so many of you guys are willing to take the time to share info. you may have had to learn the hard way. Any info on this rig, Holiday Rambler 36' Endevor LE 1995 would be greatly welcomed.
thank you for any reply.
Thank you for helping us that are still rookies.
Jim Gallion

RV Wizard · 04-29-2007, 11:43 PM

Jim, welcome to iRV2.com. I am going to put in some shortcuts to try to help you get the answers on this coach. Good luck and keep us posted as to the outcome.

Hemi · 04-30-2007, 01:36 PM

Jim, I have two Holiday Ramblers, an 86 class A 31-foot Presidential we bought in OR in 2005, and a 2002 nearly new 36-foot Vacationer.

Both have a solid roof (non rubber); if I recall Holiday Rambler never went with the rubber roof. The 86 has an aluminum roof, the 2002 has a fiberglass roof. Neither leak.

Very likely the 95 will have the 454 big block Chevy engine that is a real workhorse. We have the 454 in the 86...it never fails to start. In the 86 we have 3-speed tranny with no overdrive. In the 2002 it is a 5 speed Allison, which is a terrific--the engine is an 8.1-liter vortec, a lot of power.

You will need to check:

1. The generator; it will be Onan; it should start both from the inside on the dash and also on the outside from the gen compartment.

2. After the generator is running turn on the AC....you should have cold air in about 1-2 minutes.

3. Turn on the fridge.... however it will take about 2 hours before you will feel the cold in the freezer part.

4. Turn on the water pump, check toilet, and all faucets.

5. Check that tank indicators work (they don't or never did in our 86).

6. Check if the unit has an inverter--this will give you 110volt ac (converted from 12volt dc).

7. The seller should provide you with a packet of manuals...this is very important as you can trouble shoot various systems from these manuals.

8. Check engine/dashboard AC....it should work; in the summer it can get very hot in an RV....you can use every bit of AC you can find.

9. The Holiday Rambler is noted for its very fine workmanship especially in the older units. Our 86 inside looks like it was put together by a master craftsman.

10. Tires...if you look closely you will see the date of tire code...thus you can determine the date the tires were manufactured; the general rule is to swap out RV tires every 5 years regardless of the amount of tread.

11. Exhaust manifold. The 454 (and Ford engines too) are notorious for having warped manifolds...the heat is so great that they warp or the gaskets burn out. In any case if the engine is loud, like a dragster, your manifolds are warped.... it is a major job to remove and fix the problem. If the previous owner installed banks or similar aftermarket headers you may not have a problem. In a few weeks I will attempt to remove the manifolds from our 86...I've ordered some very special fluid to spray on the bolts...hopefully they are not permanently rusted into the block.

12. The quality of a used RV is highly dependent on the previous owner or owners; if your previous owner was careful, you will probably get a very good unit.

I hope that I have covered the major items.... based on our experiences of buying to Holiday Ramblers within the last 2.5 years.

Good luck, HEMI

Oops, the bad news: mileage

The 86 gets about 7 miles per gallon.

The 2002 gets about 8-8.5 miles per gallon.

HarveyP · 05-01-2007, 08:56 PM

Ours is a 94 HR Endeavor LE 35 foot with a Cummins diesel. We've had it 17 months and spent a lot of time in it. Love the construction and attention to detail in the build. I have good things to say about HR and the job they did on ours. 10 mpg is expected in most situations, have had 8 in mountains and/or in a hurry, did get 12 several times by driving conservativly and once or twice hit 13. Love the diesel generator, uses approx one-third gallon per hour with light to medium load. Gets closer to one half gallon per hour with one or two ac's running. My roof is aluminum, it came to me with Michelin's mounted. Make sure the floorplan is right for you, and I predict you will love it, HarveyP

MCDDY · 05-09-2007, 03:56 AM

Jim
The Endeavor LE 36' is a nice coach. We had a 94 for 6yrs. Very comfortable for a non-slide, non-wide body coach. If it's on a Chevy chassis you will have a serious weight problem. On a Ford it's still a problem on the front but it has a higher GVW.
Couple of things to be aware of. The coach has an aluminum skin. Check for any bubbles in the paint. They aren't just bubbles but a sort of corrosion coming from the inside. Seems that any water leak around a window, etc. creates a reaction with the coating on the inside of the skin causing an electrolysis type action. Had to have sections of the skin replaced twice. Also check out the ducted air conditioning. On ours, it was 2 separate systems, front and rear. You couldn't cool the whole coach with just one AC although they were both 15000BTU units. Also there were no roof AC vents in the drivers area. Other that that it's a nice coach.

Dave

HarveyP · 05-15-2007, 06:23 PM

Hi Jim, did you buy it? Harvey

Gallion · 07-17-2007, 05:38 PM

dIDN'T BUY THE HOLIDAY. THEY WERE WAY OVER BOOK AND HAD LIED ON THE MILAGE. STILL LOOKING. FOUND A COACHMAN (GREAT REG EXCEPT) LAMATION IS COMING LOSE IN SPOTS. IS THIS A MAJOR PROBLEM.
EVERTHING ELSE IS EXCELLENT. EXPECT TO KEEP RIG A 1 OR 2 THEN BUMP TO A FULL SIZE RIG. IT IS A 93 TWIN BEDS AND LOW MILES. EVERTHING WORKS. ANY THOUGHTS?
THANK FOR ALL YOU HELP
JIM

Route 66 · 07-18-2007, 06:29 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">LAMATION IS COMING LOSE IN SPOTS. IS THIS A MAJOR PROBLEM. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Delamination usually is a major problem and very expensive to repair.

It's the result of water leaking into the sidewalls which can result in more problems than delamination.

IMHO, I would pass on any coach with delamination problems.