Palazzo Owners

[Gingerela]

Originally Posted by Redridge

the water tank is a sideways "L" shaped tank. as you fill the tank more water will fill the passenger side of the tank and will weigh more on that side. Even with this shape... I cant see the 700lb difference though, thats 84 gallons of water difference. The gray and black tanks are rectangular, the weight will be evenly distributed across the width of the tank. So It doesnt matter if they are full or not... the weight will not lean toward the passenger side.

Im with Tom, the airbags needs adjustment. Does the coach lean when it is empty?

Yes, it definitely leans when empty. By empty, I'm assuming you mean when the suspension is down.

[Gingerela]

Originally Posted by Elcorbs

My wife and I are looking to move up to a DP from a Coachmen Mirada that is only 1 year old. We will be retiring in another 3 years and need to work out all the bugs that may come with the purchase of a new MH. We both love the layout of the 36.1 that has the 1/2 bath and full bath in the rear of the coach. The problems I am seeing with the slide don't make me happy. Do any of the members have a 2014 Palazzo that does not have slide issues? It seems as though all of them have issues. Does Thor has a fix for the 2014. When I mentioned the slide issue to the salesman he said he had never heard of the problem. I hate to pay this much money and have that many problems. Maybe I should start looking at another brand with a better reputation or wait for another year and hope they have the bugs worked out of the slide issues. I just don't want the frustration. So far with the Mirada we have only had to have 1 coach A/C unit replaced and the chassis A/C compressor replaced. It only has 2500 miles on it. We never travel more that 100 mile from home. That will change when we retire.

My new 36.1 doesn't have any slide issues. Thankfully.

[Gingerela]

Originally Posted by jimbo2013

I thought most had 95/100 psi anyway after the 4 corners weight.

It might be a good idea to post your 4 weights and PSI so there is some comparison.

Here are our weights:

Driver Front: 3940
Pass Front: 3860
Driver Rear: 7900
Pass Rear: 8460

Freightliner adjusted the psi to 90 in the front and 100 in the rear. An hour before I was given these results, we had just learned in Camp that there should not be more than a 300lb. difference from side to side. When I asked the technician at Gaffney about the difference in weight he said 'Don't believe everything Mike [Cody] tells you. You know how many people are driving around with a difference in weight?' If this is what the tech at Freightliner told me, I don't have much hope that I can get it fixed locally in MD. BTW, Mike Cody is the Camp Freightliner instructor.

[Gingerela]

Anyone with a 2014 have a couch with removable back cushions? When I pulled mine off to turn the couch into a bed, I discovered that the velcro strips that hold the cushions onto the backrest are sewn onto a black mesh fabric. The mesh tore when I pulled two of the three cushions off. This black mesh fabric is the same that is used underneath couches to hide the underside. If you've ever turned a couch over, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Here's a picture of one of the two cushions that are now torn. Don't know who thought that heavy duty velcro would not do damage to a flimsy mesh fabric! This confirms that I definitely have a different sofa than most of you. It's hard as a rock, too, and very uncomfortable to sit in.

[TheArnolds]

Originally Posted by Elcorbs

My wife and I are looking to move up to a DP from a Coachmen Mirada that is only 1 year old. We will be retiring in another 3 years and need to work out all the bugs that may come with the purchase of a new MH. We both love the layout of the 36.1 that has the 1/2 bath and full bath in the rear of the coach. The problems I am seeing with the slide don't make me happy. Do any of the members have a 2014 Palazzo that does not have slide issues? It seems as though all of them have issues. Does Thor has a fix for the 2014. When I mentioned the slide issue to the salesman he said he had never heard of the problem. I hate to pay this much money and have that many problems. Maybe I should start looking at another brand with a better reputation or wait for another year and hope they have the bugs worked out of the slide issues. I just don't want the frustration. So far with the Mirada we have only had to have 1 coach A/C unit replaced and the chassis A/C compressor replaced. It only has 2500 miles on it. We never travel more that 100 mile from home. That will change when we retire.

It appears you have read some of the posts regarding the slide problems but these are generally on coaches with the longer slide. The fix that Thor has incorporated is more powerful motors and steel connecting shafts. There has been some success when these two parts are used. There has been some issues with rollers and I do not know what Thor is doing other then replacing the rollers.

Currently I am at a Great Lakes Regional FMCA rally and there are 4 Palazzos with the longer slide. I had the opportunity to speak to the owners and only one has had any slide problems. This owner took it back to the dealership and it was repaired with no other problems. All of these owners were very pleased with their purchase.

If the dealership you are dealing with has no idea about slide problems then he is not too informed about the Palazzo in general. These are the dealerships that will extend the slide without extending the jacks and leveling the rig...this is a no-no!

I can't advise you to buy a Palazzo or any other class A and I can't assure you that you will not have any slide issues but I do know that Thor and Lippert are very much aware of the problem and are taking positive steps to correct the problem. There are several other manufacturers that are going head to head with the Palazzo therefore Thor doesn't need this bad PR for too long or they will loose sales to these other competitors.

We love our Palazzo and we will be headed to Texas day after tomorrow. I know that my Palazzo will get me there in style!

Good luck with your decision!

[Gingerela]

Originally Posted by tcopeland

Have you had the ride height checked? It is adjustable. Ours was off to the left. We also had an air line leak on an air bag (coach would drop down over night) that was fixed in Gaffney. All of which can make the coach lean.

Where would I go to have the ride height and air bags checked? Is that something Freightliner does or would a local dealership service center do?

[ChallengerRN]

Originally Posted by Gingerela

Where would I go to have the ride height and air bags checked? Is that something Freightliner does or would a local dealership service center do?

I guess my question would be is if all 36.1 coaches are heavy on the RR. ??

[TheArnolds]

Originally Posted by Gingerela

Here are our weights:

Driver Front: 3940
Pass Front: 3860
Driver Rear: 7900
Pass Rear: 8460

Freightliner adjusted the psi to 90 in the front and 100 in the rear. An hour before I was given these results, we had just learned in Camp that there should not be more than a 300lb. difference from side to side. When I asked the technician at Gaffney about the difference in weight he said 'Don't believe everything Mike [Cody] tells you. You know how many people are driving around with a difference in weight?' If this is what the tech at Freightliner told me, I don't have much hope that I can get it fixed locally in MD. BTW, Mike Cody is the Camp Freightliner instructor.

So the tech tells you that you can run any amount of imbalance? Mike Cody is not only an instructor but a long time class A owner therefore I would believe Mike over some wrench turner who's experience with class A MH's may be limited to driving it in and out of the service bay. The tech may know the chassis but he may not know MH's to the depth of Mike Cody and I am disappointed that the tech would openly critique Mike's technical ability...bad form for any company.

The chassis is out of balance if you are heavy by 500 lbs on the right rear. This is not a lot to move 250 lbs to the other side or as close to 250 lbs as you can get. In my case that is one of my DW's suitcases.

As for tire pressure, I run 90 front and 100 rear which is about average for others reporting their tire pressure on this forum.

[TheArnolds]

Originally Posted by Gingerela

Where would I go to have the ride height and air bags checked? Is that something Freightliner does or would a local dealership service center do?

When I had my coach serviced at Freightliner in Gaffney they did an alignment and adjusted the ride height at the same time. I was told that they needed to check/adjust the ride height prior to alignment.

Some shops outsource the alignment to speciality shops so I would call your local authorized Freightliner shop and ask if they can do this or recommend a shop in your area.

[ChallengerRN]

Originally Posted by TheArnolds

When I had my coach serviced at Freightliner in Gaffney they did an alignment and adjusted the ride height at the same time. I was told that they needed to check/adjust the ride height prior to alignment. Some shops outsource the alignment to speciality shops so I would call your local authorized Freightliner shop and ask if they can do this or recommend a shop in your area.

As to moving a DW suitcase to the other side. Could be as simple as moving the DW 's diamond ring?? Just thinking.

[RVRandy]

Originally Posted by Butte64

Is the engine running?
Is it continuous?
Have you tried high idle and if so is it still an issue then?

The Cummins 6.7 has a built in engine intake air heater (like glow plugs) to make cold weather starting easier. But, even if the weather isn't "cold" the grid heater cycles on and off for a minute or so after starting the engine after sitting overnight. It draws a massive amount of current and if you watch closely you can see your headlights dim down when it cycles on. Even if you have the high idle on, it will still draw a lot of current when the heater is cycled on.

If you turn your jack control panel on right after starting the engine, you will see the "low voltage" light come on anytime the grid heater is on. It usually goes off when the heater kicks off but will come back on again if the heater is still cycling.

Except in the winter, the engine heater only cycles on-off for a minute or so until there is a little heat in the engine.

Try shutting your engine off after you have left it running long enough to get up to normal operating temp. Start it up and turn your jack control panel on. The grid heater should not operate with the engine that warm and you should get no low voltage light.

Also, I read in another thread that someone said the alternator does not engage until 1 minute after the engine starts. I work on these things and that is the first time I have heard of that. I suspect what that reader is seeing is the voltage being very low until the grid heater shuts off after the initial start up period.

[RVRandy]

Our 33.2 shimmied and shook bad at anything over 40 mph. I had freightliner check the toe-in and overall wheel alignment and it was OK. The wheels were balanced again with no big improvement. I installed a steering stabilizer which made the steering solid and reduced bump steer, but it did not fix the shimmy and vibration.

Finally went to a commercial truck tire place and they checked the tires to see if they were out of round. They were OK. BUT they did find that BOTH front wheel were out of round. Not bent, but out of round when manufactured. THOR paid to have 2 new wheels installed and it is now smooth as silk.

They also checked the rear wheels and 1 of those 4 was also out of round. I didn't bother having them replace it since you cant feel it on the rear. But keep this in mind when investigating front end vibration issues as I suspect freightliner is getting bad batches of wheels.

[RVRandy]

There are some questions regarding ride height. Mine was way off (4") from the factory and leaned bad to the left. It is easy to check.

Park in a relatively level place like a parking lot. Ideally, do this with empty water and grey/black tanks. Lower your air suspension all the way down. Measure from a reference point on the body, like the top center of the wheel well to the top of the tire. Measure all 4 corners. The left to right measurements should be plus or minus 1/4" - 1/2" of each other. Don't worry about comparing front to back.

Then, air your suspension up fully and perform the same measurements. Obviously the measurements will be longer but do the same left to right side comparison. Even if you have stuff loaded heavy inside the coach, the air suspension leveler should adjust for it. If you have a significant difference side to side, both front and rear, your air suspension needs adjustment. If, for example, you are seeing approximately a 2" difference between the left and right measurement on both the front and rear measurements (this is the most common issue) then its a basic adjustment. If there is a big difference left to right on the rear bit not on the front, then it could be an issue with a specific air bag on one corner of the suspension.

If the place that services your coach knows what they are doing, adjusting the basic left to right air suspension can be done with a couple of 1/2 wrenches and about 15 minutes of time.

If you ride height is off by much from side to side, it will make the coach handle bad when cornering and will increase your front tire wear.

[photoguy1313]

Originally Posted by RVRandy

Also, I read in another thread that someone said the alternator does not engage until 1 minute after the engine starts. I work on these things and that is the first time I have heard of that. I suspect what that reader is seeing is the voltage being very low until the grid heater shuts off after the initial start up period.

My 33.2 when first started will ALWAYS show low voltage for EXACTLY 30 seconds regardless of the ambient temperature. Then the voltmeter on the dash will show charging (also reflected by the voltage displayed on the inverter control panel), and all is normal from there on.
BTW, when I say low voltage, I don't mean the warning message on the display, but rather my observation of the voltage indicated by the voltmeter.