Community Forums

sanda · 11-25-2019, 04:54 PM

Regardless of the type of RV you have you will work on them from the time you drive off the dealer lot.

NXR · 11-25-2019, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by timjet

I bought my 10 yo motor home knowing it was going to need up keep and maintaining but geese. Maintaining it is going from a hobby to a full time job. My maintenance spread sheet is approaching 2 pages, and that's just what I've done in the 3 years I've owned it.

As long as the spreadsheet doesn't have 65,535 rows you're doing great!

Ray

sibe · 11-25-2019, 05:34 PM

Thinking about my short bus conversion to RV.. I bid cheap on Ebay , but did not meet reserve.. It was a 1994 E350 shuttle/limo bus with around 137K, garaged and maintained by a retired nascar driver in FL. It was resprayed in 2004/converted to a personal RV, not alot of goodies, sink toilet, outside shower, fridge, bed, dinette,AC.... I grabbed it in 2008, a relative knew the owners daughter, it i was maintained perfectly, in fact they had 3 new batteries in it when I flew down, it charged slow and one of Hendricks Team mangers cane over put on a new 230 Amp init, checked it out, gave ne his personal cell number and said, call me if anything happens on the way home to PA, I will come get you all...

SO MY RV adventure start, We have always camped in a travel trailer or tent..
I run race scoring equipment for a local series in the TriState NY,PA,NY. I had a HiTOp Van and trailer prior. was Ok for me and Junior as he raced and I had room from Equipment, Mama was hired on and we needed a bed and potty, It was just overnites or 2 niters at most.

The short bus got a new inverter some lighting and a going over but mechanically it was sweet, took off the bus doors got a real RV door mounted in perfect. Other than the typical 460 exhast leak, it had manifolds done but my hammering it did not help. did some tires and shocks...

after a couple years Junior landed a gig wrenching for a Pro MX Team and we followed a season on the east coast, no trailer just the RV/Bus,, It was nice for the 2 of us, 8-9 MPG was cool..

Well it is now 2014 and really just brakes and shocks, some tires. I did spend some good money getting the Front aligned and some new ball joints.. also rear wheel cylinder and brakes all around.. Close to 165K on it and doing well...

2015 had a hose go, super heated it.. did the short fix of hoses , belts etc.. 2016, Tore the complete cooling system out, custom alum rad, water pump, and cover, timing chain, motor was clean and chain was like new .. new clucth fan, trans cooler from jasper, always did ALL fluids atleast once a year.. New 3" exhaust another tune up..

2017, Did a complete Remodel, gutted it, rearragned, more space,function, worked well . Also complete front brakes, It is sweet now, well she died during summer break would start and chug, was a bad, temp sendor and ECU was bad, fixed them at 176K now..
June 2019 Ran it alot, did a couple vacations in remote areas.. Well it hit the 190K, another set of front brakes, it needs rear brakes, did 6 tires..
Figured it time to Clean her p and let this be another persons starter unit.. I still have to clean becasue..

I got a 1996 Minniewinnie 29 WQ 31K on it, VERY clean, had a skylight leak at one point, reparied and minor interior issues and minimal delam , I was willing to for go. 6 new Michelins , 2 New Batteries.. all gear , mostly new in boxes not opened, the unit was 54K new.. I paid 1/10 after it was all said and done..

So 12 miles down the road the speedo goes all over the place bouncing,, drops to limp mode trans, been here done this prior, Nursed it 137 miles to home.. old bus the issue was the rear conector wire off frame.. nope not this time, replaced entire wire from rear all the way to cluster in dash.. Bad splce above steering column... I have more grey hair..
Did all fluids, some belts and a re seal, new TV, it was ready..
Ran awesome on 2 trips with a almost 5K loaded trailer, dont judge GVCW etc..

during 3rd Trip on some climbs it seemed sluggish ran HOT like between the A and L on Normal..

Well I did the same cooling system job as on the short buss, about $850 and a days work of me..

Next 2 Trips in 80-90 ambient temps, It was better but got more sluggish, 5 MPG , still ran in the M to A range most of the time, could not use AC in dash..

OK, Did a full tune up, fuel filter again, K&N intake, Still the same..

I dropped the Exhasut off at the rear of the CAT,, the motor was quiet sounded like a vacum.. Pooped off the Cat and VAROOM the 460 roared..
Jumped on the throttle around house on drive way, lost it into the grass, wife not happy with noise or me putting the sod back in place,,

So a Non Cat 3" exhaust . hi flow muffler that dumps out in front of the rear wheel, One 90 dergree bend to exit.. She honks and since it is 12400 GVW no emission inspection..

Sorry for a boring read but YES it never ends, I dont count my money or time even on my budget RV's it is the quest of Rving that keeps us going.....

pics are of the short bus a few months back..

**Spdracr39** · 11-25-2019, 06:14 PM

Isn't it a grand lifestyle

Roadmiester · 11-25-2019, 06:49 PM

Like someone said, it's only just a beginning. After buying ours in Texas we then had to drive home to Washington state near Canada. 2,000 miles of that was listening to the ValidPowerGear system beep at us every second. Then the power window wouldn't work. Turns out we have a multiplex system that is no longer made. Result, every repair shop said it could never be fixed. 6 months later we found a shop that could fix it and did for cheap. Wouldn't change a thing, we love our motorhome. Have fun.

Roadmiester
09 Dynasty Regal IV

V3600 · 11-25-2019, 07:42 PM

I've noticed that the people who sell RV's don't own RV's.

marjoa · 11-25-2019, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by timjet

I bought my 10 yo motor home knowing it was going to need up keep and maintaining but geese. Maintaining it is going from a hobby to a full time job. My maintenance spread sheet is approaching 2 pages, and that's just what I've done in the 3 years I've owned it.

2 pages in three years...that's it? Wow consider yourself VERY, VERY lucky.

We are FTers, we bought our MH when she was 4 yrs. old and I keep track of everything that we do to the MH and toad... including, various repairs, routine maintenance, upgrades, odd ball fixes and even minor repairs, purchasing and carrying vital spare parts, washing waxing both vehicles, regular PM items, tires etc, etc and I'm at 29 pages in 4 years. I document every little thing. However—in retrospect—this 29 page list would be the same length or longer when we had our SB if I kept these kind of meticulous records. And yes I perform 95% of this all myself. It's a labor of love. We take pride in our MH and our FT lifestyle.

So I ask all of you honestly...if you look back to when you owned your house (SB)....and if you kept a comprehensive list and itemized all the things you constantly had to do to that house and property—all the time, every year—would it be any different?

NO! NO...it would not.

BTW...we love our MH, our FT life style and always exploring new places. We would not have it any other way and we both wish we have done it earlier in life.

Oh boy now I've done it!

TheWoodBoss · 11-26-2019, 06:50 AM

Yeah, if you are not a handy DIYer & mechanic, RVs are not for you unless you can pay to have everything done at super high hourly rates. We bought ours a few months ago and have used it every other weekend, I have put quite a bit of time into it just with general maintenance items, all batteries, bulbs, rebuilding faucets, cleaning, fixing hydraulic jacks and hydraulic leaks, testing and retesting everything. At first I asked the DW "When is the Fun Part of RVing coming"...LOL !!!

Radacravitz · 11-26-2019, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by USMCRET

Ha! I’ve taken to wearing a bicycle helmet when I crawl under the coach.

like dgreen1069, I laughed out loud @ this and am now giving thought to doing the same ;-)

on topic, back in ‘91 we bought a new, gas bounder - went everywhere and did everything with it until we sold it in ‘08. so when we bought our ‘95 dynasty 2 1/2 years ago I thought I was reasonably educated and prepared for diy maintenance.

not.even.close!

it’s a quality coach with good bones so as old as it is and as steep / stressful as the learning curve has been I **love** working on it and using it for our regional getaways.

i can’t imagine maintaining it without social media such as these forums.

Cloud Dancer · 11-26-2019, 08:33 AM

I've got MY work cut out for me alright. If i'm on the roof, I try to stay in the center (in case I trip). If I need to work near the edge, I crawl over there.
Actually, it hasn't gotten quite THAT bad, I'm just getting ready with the plan. I'm still working underneath, and inside. It'll never end. It's always something. I complain, but nobody listens. It seems like everyone is busy with their own problems. I'm just glad I still have the memories of all the fun I've had, in the last 70 years. Gloom and doom,...then everything goes downhill from there....LOL
What if we could stop complaining, and just help each other. Like, how in the heck do you fix the ceiling in a 2003 Dutch Star?

GypsyR · 11-26-2019, 08:36 AM

Though new to me my coach is a '93. A good one but...
I keep a "to-do" or "get" list on my phone via Google Docs. It helps when I happen to be in Home Depot or someplace then I can pull it up and recall I need to look at some washers for a faucet or whatever. The list is pretty long. I take great pleasure in erasing something that's been on the list for a while. Problem is that while it was on there it had two children so the list never really gets any smaller.

Crasher · 11-26-2019, 09:19 AM

WOW, I feel out of place here. We ordered and bought our coach new in 2013. The dealer and Tiffin covered a few minor issues in the first year and it has been just annual service of the chassis and a half day at the dealer for minor incidental things that I don't want to bother with. 65,000 enjoyable miles and counting. As it gets older with more miles, the repairs will increase, but having owned and serviced it since new will prevent many of the problems others, who purchased used, are having. Yes, I know it all came at a price, but I considered the purchase money gone, so what's left when we are done is a bonus.

Bobbafett · 11-26-2019, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sanda

Regardless of the type of RV you have you will work on them from the time you drive off the dealer lot.

Agreed. I don't understand why there would be complaints about maintenance. There aren't car blogs or forums out there that people complain about maintenance.(well they probably do.) Also the idea that RV has more issues then a home. New or used.
I find it ridiculous. I have read people bringing up the issues of full timing and the maintenance problem pops up. I don't know about you but my house is not maintenance free. New septic..40k. New well $$$$, roof $$$ etc.

Jubilee 45 · 11-26-2019, 11:11 AM

Sissies? Nah! We are victims either. We are adventurers. Tell me about the anticipation of turning the ignition key on a 13 year old coach, hoping it fires. Or when you turn the key and hit the rocker switch and hope the slide retracts. Life would be boring without a little tension or intrigue! For me, I just don’t want too much of it.