Quote: I did replace the useless (to me) 13ft, Carefree awning with a Dometic WeatherPro Plus 17ft. The 13ft standard issue only covers to just the front side of the entry door, leaving the main salon windows uncovered. The 17ft covers from just front of the rear cargo pass-thru to just aft of the passenger cab windows providing a beautiful, full patio awning. The WeatherPro Plus also has auto-retract for winds (user select wind speed), auto-dip for rain water runoff, and "plus" feature if built-in power sunscreen. Properly installed per mfg specs, there is a remote control fob, manual operation switch, and ignition cut-off switch that will auto-retract extended awning when ignition turned on, and also prevents any accidential awning operation when MH moving. Vince

Vince: We have a 2011 Avanti 3106 - Workhorse chassis and MaxForce 5 engine. When I open the dinky Carefree awning, I have to have the door closed as the underside of the awning will rub over the top of the door. Once fully deployed, I have to use the feet of the awning to raise it enough to clear the door. I have been looking at replacing the awning with the Dometic WeatherPro 17 ft, but wondered if it would have the same problem clearing the door. Can you provide any details of your Dometic install and if you have the door clearance problem?

I was also thinking of getting a Dometic awning version like we had on a previous travel trailer... the manual type that you pulled a strap down and the "awning feet" could either be placed in a slot on the side of the MH or on the ground. I wanted to have an awning shade cover and I didn't think that the fully automatic type awning... without "awning feet" could be fitted with a shade.
Reid Gantt reidgantt@aol.com

avanti engine /chassis choice
 

Avanti owners. Any pros or cons to the 2 engine /chassis combos used? Navistar/workhorsr vs Cummins /freightliner

Avanti owner
 

Will take possession of a 2010 Avanti 3106 in 2 days. I'm sure I'll be back here often.

Tim

Congratulation on your 3106, Tim. We are very pleased with our coach. I hope you have as much enjoyment as we do.

Best Regards,
Mike

New Awning
 

Well, we bit the $ bullet and had a 17' Dometic Weather Pro awning installed on our 2011 Avanti 3106 (Workhorse /MaxxForce 5). The awning that came with the MH was useless.... even though it was electric, I could not extend it without deploying the awning supports and that took several minutes. Anyway, the new awning looks great and opens easily. The only issue was that the space behind the old awning was not painted. With the new awning closed, a very narrow white strip shows and when it is open, a larger white strip. We have the Black and Tan color Avanti. I got the paint codes for these colors from Thor and had a pint of black and half-pint of tan mixed (the brown color is not included in the area needing painting). I've not started painting yet.... it is raining. I have a large air compressor and paint gun but I wondered if I could do this small paint job easier.... the paint company had a product called Preval spray system. It is essentially a glass bottle you fill with the paint, add the required amount of thinner, mix and then attach to the aerosol top. It is like making your own can of spray paint. The two paint colors I will apply are not finished until you use a clearcoat cover spray. The Preval spray systems were not too expensive... about $7 each. BTW, the quote I got over the telephone for having this job done at a auto paint place was about $800. Even if I don't do a perfect job, the area when awning is closed is barely visible and when awning is deployed, you have to basically be standing under the awning to see this area. But the white color stands out very much so any painting I do will be an improvement.
We will be going to the Good Sam RV Rally in Atlanta 17 Oct; if you are going, look us up. We might have our new awning open showing off the paint job!

Highly recommend joining the Thor Diesel Club, FMCA, great group of people and Thor has their techs at the rallys to answer questions about you rig.

I have read different specs about the 2010 Avanti 3106 we are getting. Some say it has an exhaust brake, others say no.

Was this an option? Can it be added?

The Cummins/Freightliner has an exhaust brake, not sure of the previous platform.

Anybody else as dumb as me? The inverter was the one thing apparently that we'd not tested after getting our 2012 2806. Son plugged in his laptop on the last trip (to do homework!) and nothing. I debugged it and in hindsight missed a few obvious clues (like the inverter having it's own 15A breaker. Long story short, these Xantrex don't have the best reputation so I bought a new one, Xantrex 1800 vs. 1000 and same deal.
Damon only powers 1 outlet which feeds the TVs on the 2806... the TVs ??? really?
If anybody needs a spare Xantrex HW 1000 let me know.

I've installed inverters in other RVs but there I ran all the A/C through it since it was a basic 15A circuit. Still getting used to this class A stuff

Thanks for the reply.

Can't find it on the 2010 3106 we're supposed to get. It's on the Freightliner chassis. Been at PPL in Houston for nearly 2 weeks trying to make it happen.

I have a 2012 2806 w/Freightliner chassis with the engine brake. On/Off switch was mounted on right side of dash next to overdrive on/off switch. While at campfreightliner in July 2012 met another avanti owner with same year and model. His did not have the engine brake.

Ladder
 

I don't have a ladder on my Avanti 3106. Did they ever come with one? What do other owners do to get up on the roof?

Don't think they wanted us up there! The dealer said they simply jump on from the RV parked next to it! Thanks..

I bought an Xtend & Climb 780P Type IA telescoping ladder:
Xtend & Climb 780P Aluminum Telescoping Ladder Type IA Professional Series, 12.5-Foot - Amazon.com

I also got the protective top cover -- which is silicone-like -- that's a TC812.
Had to get that from RE Williams (rewci.com)

The ladder stores nicely up on the frame rails in the compartment to the left of the door. I also have a 6ft freestanding fold-up RV ladder that stores in there that I had previously.