Thor Palazzo - anyone drive/ride in one yet?

[gmadams]

Originally Posted by anotherone

Hopefully the air bed leak on yours is as simple as mine was. I took it out and did the hose trick on it. On the cap that unscrews at the base of the bed there is a round keeper that keeps it from getting lost. This actually is too thick which keeps the cap from sealing. Slip the keeper off the inlet and tadaa ; leak be gone! Worked for us , go figure.

Thanks. I'll give that a try. If that doesn't work, I'll let the warranty folks figure out the problem.

[TheArnolds]

Originally Posted by gmadams

We just returned from a weekend trip to the NC mountains with our Palazzo. First time we had to use the air bed. It leaked! It had to be filled up at least six times the second night it was used. We tried to find the leak but weren't able to do so. Not sure where it is leaking. Other than that no major problems. We still love it and do not regret the purchase. We got about 9.8 mpg going and about 10.7 coming back pulling the toad and going about 65 mph.

We have used our sofa (air) bed twice without any problems! Good to read about your fuel mileage, we only have 850+ miles on our MH and we are getting about 10.1 MPG but we liveq in rolling hills and have done little interstate driving. I expect this will improve on longer trips.

[Butte64]

We have started looking for our first RV and the Palazzo looks like a good fit.
Any suggestions on the decision making process?
My wife likes the 33.2 bathroom arrangement but I see an advantage to the separate shower. Comments?

Jerry

[TheArnolds]

Originally Posted by Butte64

We have started looking for our first RV and the Palazzo looks like a good fit.
Any suggestions on the decision making process?
My wife likes the 33.2 bathroom arrangement but I see an advantage to the separate shower. Comments?

Jerry

The 33.2 is a nice floor plan and I understand that your wife perfers to have the shower in the same room with the toilet but I would like to point out that on the 33.1 the door to the toilet opens and secures to close off the shower and toilet area making for a nice large shower/toilet/changing area...my DW loves it

[suzettenc]

Originally Posted by Butte64

We have started looking for our first RV and the Palazzo looks like a good fit.
Any suggestions on the decision making process?
My wife likes the 33.2 bathroom arrangement but I see an advantage to the separate shower. Comments?

Jerry

We have the seperate shower and this is nice. I would like to point out some things you really need to check before you buy or before you accept delivery. We bought a Palazzo and had it for two weeks and the dealer has had it for three weeks fixing various problems on the coach. We picked it up yesterday and found at that afternoon it has another problem and we can't use it until that is repaired. So the dealer has enjoyed our coach half the summer while we are sitting here with no motorhome. Please go over the coach extremely careful before you accept delivery and I do mean everything. Make sure you are working with a dealer who will fix anything quickly and efficiently before you purchase. By the way, it drives great.

[TheArnolds]

Originally Posted by suzettenc

We have the seperate shower and this is nice. I would like to point out some things you really need to check before you buy or before you accept delivery. We bought a Palazzo and had it for two weeks and the dealer has had it for three weeks fixing various problems on the coach. We picked it up yesterday and found at that afternoon it has another problem and we can't use it until that is repaired. So the dealer has enjoyed our coach half the summer while we are sitting here with no motorhome. Please go over the coach extremely careful before you accept delivery and I do mean everything. Make sure you are working with a dealer who will fix anything quickly and efficiently before you purchase. By the way, it drives great.

It would be interested to know what kind off problems you had to take it back to the dealer to fix? Up to this point our Palazzo has been trouble free.

I am very handy, advanced degrees in mechanical engineering, licensed professional engineer and FAA airframe & power plant mechanic so I spend a lot of time reading about our coach and if I find something broken, lose, etc. I fix it unless it is big and should be handled through the warranty. That being said my punch list of items that need to be fixed by the dealer/Thor has zero items at this point. I am pleased with the quality of our coach inside and out but it was looked over closely buy the dealer, maybe because it was going to be shown at the Good Sam Rally? None the less I have not found too many things that needed to be fixed, a dash a/c vent that someone tried to push in the wrong direction and dislocated one of the louvers. It was easy to fix, 5 minutes.

[George Lewis]

I would be interested in the name and location of the dealer who has had your Palazzo in the shop several weeks and what problems take that long to fix. More information please. FYI There have been reports on the New Braunfels, TX and Katy, TX Camping World service dept. being less that great.

I am not very handy and expect a dealer to fix anything wrong with a coach I pay 150K or more for and "we have not had a chance to look at it" does not fly with me. There is little excuse to keep a coach several weeks.

[TheArnolds]

Originally Posted by George Lewis

There is little excuse to keep a coach several weeks.

Agreed!!!

[Butte64]

Thanks for the responses and additional information.
We spent three hours at the Charleston Camping World, most of it with the Palazzo.

This is my first time ever driving an RV so I do not have a good point of comparison.

We liked the layout and features. The driving was interesting and in some ways not as difficult as I thought it might be. The 3 camera system with automatic switching with the turn signal is a great feature.

Most of the driving was on highway or multi-lane large roads. As expected, acceleration is not great but good enough. On the highway it seemed to wander a bit. The salesman said it was windy. I don't have a good point of comparison so I don't know if this is any different, better, or worse than other DPs. I did not notice any issue with getting pushed around by semis when they whizzed past. Maybe I am just spoiled with my Lexus RX400h

The visibility was great, the seating very comfortable. It was a very hot day and the A/C worked great. It was great not having the engine noise under our feet although the wind noise was a bit more than expected.

The salesman was exceptionally nice but lacked some in-depth technical knowledge. I know, I ask too many questions!

The only major disappointment was the owners manual. While loaded with information, it is also significantly lacking for someone like me. For example, there are two air pressure gauges on the left side of the panel marked 1 and 2. Salesman says they are for tire pressure. OK, which tires? Absolutely no mention in manual. Nothing I saw in the manual about the air bag system operation, for example is it best to dump the system when parking for an overnight? Several other how-to kinds of things would help, especially for a newbie like me.

It was priced at $169K and they say they are sold as fast as they get them. Translation - you are not going to get a huge discount.


One big surprise was the notice in manual to "Under no circumstance run the generator while sleeping" I thought the ability to run the A/C with the generator for dry camping was one of the great features of Class As.

My brother has an Itasca gasser and insists it is essential to get a spare, hydraulic jacks, and appropriate tools to change tires. His wife thought it unnecessary but on their cross-country trip, guess what? They used it. Don't see how with the Palazzo.

So overall very pleased with it but wish there was more operational information.

Jerry

[TheArnolds]

Originally Posted by Butte64

Thanks for the responses and additional information.
We spent three hours at the Charleston Camping World, most of it with the Palazzo.

This is my first time ever driving an RV so I do not have a good point of comparison.

We liked the layout and features. The driving was interesting and in some ways not as difficult as I thought it might be. The 3 camera system with automatic switching with the turn signal is a great feature.

Most of the driving was on highway or multi-lane large roads. As expected, acceleration is not great but good enough. On the highway it seemed to wander a bit. The salesman said it was windy. I don't have a good point of comparison so I don't know if this is any different, better, or worse than other DPs. I did not notice any issue with getting pushed around by semis when they whizzed past. Maybe I am just spoiled with my Lexus RX400h

The visibility was great, the seating very comfortable. It was a very hot day and the A/C worked great. It was great not having the engine noise under our feet although the wind noise was a bit more than expected.

The salesman was exceptionally nice but lacked some in-depth technical knowledge. I know, I ask too many questions!

The only major disappointment was the owners manual. While loaded with information, it is also significantly lacking for someone like me. For example, there are two air pressure gauges on the left side of the panel marked 1 and 2. Salesman says they are for tire pressure. OK, which tires? Absolutely no mention in manual. Nothing I saw in the manual about the air bag system operation, for example is it best to dump the system when parking for an overnight? Several other how-to kinds of things would help, especially for a newbie like me.

It was priced at $169K and they say they are sold as fast as they get them. Translation - you are not going to get a huge discount.


One big surprise was the notice in manual to "Under no circumstance run the generator while sleeping" I thought the ability to run the A/C with the generator for dry camping was one of the great features of Class As.

My brother has an Itasca gasser and insists it is essential to get a spare, hydraulic jacks, and appropriate tools to change tires. His wife thought it unnecessary but on their cross-country trip, guess what? They used it. Don't see how with the Palazzo.

So overall very pleased with it but wish there was more operational information.

Jerry

Jerry,

First off the Thor manual is general information and will mention items on the chassis like the air system but more specific information will be in the Freightliner chassis manual. Same goes for the Cummings engine manual, the Allison transmission and so on. When I took delivery I got a canvas briefcase full of manuals for everything. In October I am going to a two day course “Camp Freightliner” at the Thor factory (Elkhart, IN) and we will get into the weeds on all of the systems for the Chassis, engine, transmission, etc.

It sounds like the salesman you had was not too knowledgeable on the Palazzo. If they truly sell as many Palazzo’s as they say then they should have someone more knowledgeable to give you the brief. Example, the 2 air pressure gages is because there are two air tanks and they are specific to the air brakes and leveling (air bags) systems, not the tires! There is a manifold to connect other accessories like an air horn or an air hose to service your tires. Information can be found in the chassis manual.

The wondering could be as a result of load and tire pressure. Once you get loaded the way you would travel under normal circumstances and weighted you would need to adjust the tire pressure accordingly (you will have Goodyear information in that briefcase to explain how). With proper tire pressure I think that some of this wondering will go away. Wind will have some impact as well.

Running the generator overnight is not recommended in its current configuration because the risk of carbon monoxide getting in the coach. There are exhaust extensions that can be attached to get the exhaust out and away from the coach. I attended a Cummings generator lecture and the instructor spent a lot of time explaining this and many pictures of the right and wrong way (poorly designed home make extensions) to install an extension. In cooler weather you have a 2000W inverter that will run all the necessary items overnight, frig, lights, microwave, TV and entertainment center, etc. No need for the generator except for A/C in the hot weather then you would install the exhaust extension.

I do not carry a separate jack to change a tire for two reasons.
1. The jacking system can be operated manually and I can extend one jack to raise the tire off the ground if a wanted to change the tire.
2. These are 22.5 inch tires and they are heavy and if I had a flat that is what I pay road service (Coach-Net) to do. They have the equipment, BIG wrenches to remove the lug nuts and to re-torque, and a big jack to raise the tire off the road for changing.

It will be a journey to understanding everything on a class “A” and I enjoy studying about all of the features and systems on my Palazzo. The information is available in the manuals provided or on the WEB; i.e., Freightliner, Allison, Cummings, and of course iRV2.Com

[George Lewis]

These two posts have been very informative. Thanks to both of you. The exhaust extension is an easy fix for running the gen all night. It was 91 at 10 pm last night here so a gen for a/c would be desirable...ha ha

Changing a tire would be a real chore, even with proper tools. I would also call a road service....not sure I could life a tire and put in on the axel...

When I had a extension on my inner rear tire cut the tire and it and my outside tire blew, I watched the road service man change them out...I needed two tires. I also used the rear jack to lift the wheels off the ground as I was parked on the side of the road of the Interstate and he could not get his jack under the axel to lift it.

I, too, have talked to sales folks about gas and diesel coaches and am disappointed in their lack of knowledge about the product....as noted, they just make up an answer they think you will believe....

[suzettenc]

Originally Posted by Butte64

Thanks for the responses and additional information.
We spent three hours at the Charleston Camping World, most of it with the Palazzo.

This is my first time ever driving an RV so I do not have a good point of comparison.

We liked the layout and features. The driving was interesting and in some ways not as difficult as I thought it might be. The 3 camera system with automatic switching with the turn signal is a great feature.

Most of the driving was on highway or multi-lane large roads. As expected, acceleration is not great but good enough. On the highway it seemed to wander a bit. The salesman said it was windy. I don't have a good point of comparison so I don't know if this is any different, better, or worse than other DPs. I did not notice any issue with getting pushed around by semis when they whizzed past. Maybe I am just spoiled with my Lexus RX400h

The visibility was great, the seating very comfortable. It was a very hot day and the A/C worked great. It was great not having the engine noise under our feet although the wind noise was a bit more than expected.

The salesman was exceptionally nice but lacked some in-depth technical knowledge. I know, I ask too many questions!

The only major disappointment was the owners manual. While loaded with information, it is also significantly lacking for someone like me. For example, there are two air pressure gauges on the left side of the panel marked 1 and 2. Salesman says they are for tire pressure. OK, which tires? Absolutely no mention in manual. Nothing I saw in the manual about the air bag system operation, for example is it best to dump the system when parking for an overnight? Several other how-to kinds of things would help, especially for a newbie like me.

It was priced at $169K and they say they are sold as fast as they get them. Translation - you are not going to get a huge discount.


One big surprise was the notice in manual to "Under no circumstance run the generator while sleeping" I thought the ability to run the A/C with the generator for dry camping was one of the great features of Class As.

My brother has an Itasca gasser and insists it is essential to get a spare, hydraulic jacks, and appropriate tools to change tires. His wife thought it unnecessary but on their cross-country trip, guess what? They used it. Don't see how with the Palazzo.

So overall very pleased with it but wish there was more operational information.

Jerry

Hello Jerry,

My husband says the gauges 1 and 2 are for the two brake systems front and rear. One problem we had was the back tires have valve extensions, but the front tires do not have valve extensions so could not check the air pressure on the front without taking the hub caps off. We paid to have extensions put on.

Check the shelves in the fridge. The door has to be taken off to adjust the shelves. They had two of our shelves three inches apart. It took 3 weeks for our dealership to fix the problems we had. We now realize the dealership did not do the job they should have done on preparing coach for deliver. However, it was over the 4th of July, so maybe that was part of the problem.
We had it back one day and notice fluid leaking from the coolant for the hydrolic lifts. So now we are waiting to get a new coolant before we can use it again. That will be four of the six weeks we have had the coach that we could not use it. Thor has been wonderful in helping with all the problems.

The dealership technicians have been less than knowledgable on what to do and how to do it in a timely manner. I would rather not say who the dealership is; however, if we have to wait three weeks this time for repairs, I will certainly let you know.

There is no manual for the Palazzo per se. It is a generic manual for all Thor coaches. I called Thor and that is what they told me.

[Butte64]

Originally Posted by TheArnolds

Jerry,

First off the Thor manual is general information and will mention items on the chassis like the air system but more specific information will be in the Freightliner chassis manual. Same goes for the Cummings engine manual, the Allison transmission and so on. When I took delivery I got a canvas briefcase full of manuals for everything. In October I am going to a two day course “Camp Freightliner” at the Thor factory (Elkhart, IN) and we will get into the weeds on all of the systems for the Chassis, engine, transmission, etc.

It sounds like the salesman you had was not too knowledgeable on the Palazzo. If they truly sell as many Palazzo’s as they say then they should have someone more knowledgeable to give you the brief. Example, the 2 air pressure gages is because there are two air tanks and they are specific to the air brakes and leveling (air bags) systems, not the tires! There is a manifold to connect other accessories like an air horn or an air hose to service your tires. Information can be found in the chassis manual.

The wondering could be as a result of load and tire pressure. Once you get loaded the way you would travel under normal circumstances and weighted you would need to adjust the tire pressure accordingly (you will have Goodyear information in that briefcase to explain how). With proper tire pressure I think that some of this wondering will go away. Wind will have some impact as well.

Running the generator overnight is not recommended in its current configuration because the risk of carbon monoxide getting in the coach. There are exhaust extensions that can be attached to get the exhaust out and away from the coach. I attended a Cummings generator lecture and the instructor spent a lot of time explaining this and many pictures of the right and wrong way (poorly designed home make extensions) to install an extension. In cooler weather you have a 2000W inverter that will run all the necessary items overnight, frig, lights, microwave, TV and entertainment center, etc. No need for the generator except for A/C in the hot weather then you would install the exhaust extension.

I do not carry a separate jack to change a tire for two reasons.
1. The jacking system can be operated manually and I can extend one jack to raise the tire off the ground if a wanted to change the tire.
2. These are 22.5 inch tires and they are heavy and if I had a flat that is what I pay road service (Coach-Net) to do. They have the equipment, BIG wrenches to remove the lug nuts and to re-torque, and a big jack to raise the tire off the road for changing.

It will be a journey to understanding everything on a class “A” and I enjoy studying about all of the features and systems on my Palazzo. The information is available in the manuals provided or on the WEB; i.e., Freightliner, Allison, Cummings, and of course iRV2.Com

Jack,
Thanks for the great and thorough information.
My wife was astonished at that big bag of manuals for all the different systems!
You are absolutely correct that there is a lot more in the other manuals. I found the Palazzo manual online and was reading it on my iPad last night for more thorough understanding. On the Freightliner website I found an information brochure and some other excellent information but still don't see the complete manual. I looked at the Freightliner manual yesterday and was impressed with the level of detail on some things and the number of options available on the main display panel. Please let me know if you have a link to the complete Chassis manual.

Thanks for the info on the air pressure gauges. I figured it must be something like that.

Another thing I noticed on the Freightliner site is they have a class available in Gaffney, SC, which is much closer than Elkhart. If I go with the Palazzo I will be looking further into that.

I saw what looked like an air hose connector in the generator compartment. Unfortunately all the technicians were gone by the time we got down into the details. The salesman has only been there 4 months so is still learning. Even I know an exhaust brake and an engine (Jake) brake are two different things even though they serve the same purpose.

Does your coach have a very small pushbutton type switch in the far upper left corner of the windshield? It is not attached to the body, just hanging down slightly up where the window shade goes up. Salesman thought it might have something to do with satellite antenna. It is way too far up to be reached while driving.

[Butte64]

Originally Posted by suzettenc

Hello Jerry,

My husband says the gauges 1 and 2 are for the two brake systems front and rear. One problem we had was the back tires have valve extensions, but the front tires do not have valve extensions so could not check the air pressure on the front without taking the hub caps off. We paid to have extensions put on.

Check the shelves in the fridge. The door has to be taken off to adjust the shelves. They had two of our shelves three inches apart. It took 3 weeks for our dealership to fix the problems we had. We now realize the dealership did not do the job they should have done on preparing coach for deliver. However, it was over the 4th of July, so maybe that was part of the problem.
We had it back one day and notice fluid leaking from the coolant for the hydrolic lifts. So now we are waiting to get a new coolant before we can use it again. That will be four of the six weeks we have had the coach that we could not use it. Thor has been wonderful in helping with all the problems.

The dealership technicians have been less than knowledgable on what to do and how to do it in a timely manner. I would rather not say who the dealership is; however, if we have to wait three weeks this time for repairs, I will certainly let you know.

There is no manual for the Palazzo per se. It is a generic manual for all Thor coaches. I called Thor and that is what they told me.

Suzette,
Thanks for the information. I noticed that the owners manual was for Tuscany, Astoria, and Palazzo so had to wade through some differences.

Great info on the fridge. A question my wife asked today was where to hang bath towels, especially while in the shower, so would be availalbe before getting out of the shower?

Jerry