iRV2 Forums - Thor Challenger Owners Unite!

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Quote:

Originally Posted by rvbunz (Post 1969601)

I'll probably be fine by then. I'll be in Elkhart for my appointment on the 31 st, and if ask goes well I'll be there a few days, if not you may see me there. I'll be meeting with Jon Krider about our club. Have a safe trip, may see you on the highway. When are you heading out for Elkhart? Maybe we can get in touch and meet on the highway.

Won't be driving to Elkhart until Sunday 4/6 Bob. Probably have to wait until another time. Good luck there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMcRaney (Post 1969849)

Sunshiny we have the GT and have been on the road for 10 weeks since October. I can safely say we like our big window. It lets in a lot of light and when the sun shade is pulled you cant really see in. As far as the kitchen goes, we love it. we have not cooked a lot of complicated stuff, but I have always had enough room.

I have only two things that I have been real disappointed in. First the couch seems to become less comfortable as time goes along. Second, the slides are not flush with the floor. This would not usually be an issue but as we have overnight into sub-zero weather on numerous nights in Kansas City, I can tell you that there is a definite draft.

If you dont plan on going out in that lovely weather its fine.

On the DT I would point out that you cant get the stacked washer and drier (I think). If you cant I can tell you that the combo unit does not work that well.

David

We had the same slide drafts on both the DT and Kt. Our combo washer seems to work fine though; a little slow but so what while camping?

Pigeon Forge is one of the most popular vacation spots in the East for some reason. There's a lot to do to be sure. Having purchased a home in Sevierville which is just outside of of Pigeon Forge, I had to learn the back roads throughout the area. The nice thing is that there is always something to do there.

Thanks for the skinny on the CG!

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMcRaney (Post 1969941)

So we have been camping at Basswood RV near Kansas City since Feb 1st. Things have gone ok, sewage hose froze twice. Fixed with a heat tape and two thermal curtains zip tied around it.

Fresh water hose has been fine, we have the Pirit 50" hose. The reviews were mixed on line, but if you follow the instructions it should be fine. Just have to remember it is not a regular hose.

I also found a great little heater to go in the wet compartment that has worked well at keeping everything flowing. One note, on our trip to DC in November our water pump froze. I spray foamed the dead space under it that has seemed to help.

The coach only has a 30 gallon LP tank, which is fine for most things. This winter has been killer. We went through a tank in less that a week. The cost of dropping a external tank, but it would have cost over $500 just to get the tank. Ferrallgas was charging over $6 a gallon. So the folks in the RV Park where averaging $1000 a refill. We took the opportunity to put in the Cheapheat system. Cost more for installation than it should have,, but we have the choice between LP and Electric heat. Seems to work well. Our electric bill for the month was $250. Still others in the park that were using LP and space heaters had bills as high as $350. the only Draw back is the way we have ours set up, it will only run on shore power.

The one thing I can not fix? The house batteries froze solid. That never occurred to me and unfortunately they are gone. this caused the engine battery to die also, since i was not paying attention over the last few weeks. I will be going to a deep cycle 12 volt battery. I have read about the downsides for this, but we dont dry camp alot, and maintenance free sounds good. If anyone has ideas about this problem, please share.

David

We had a similar but different problem with batteries just when we were ready to leave on this trip to TN. This new KT has a residential refer. That entails a whole different system for powering it. It has an inverter that you turn on and off when needed and an EMS system that turns on the generator automatically when needed if the house batteries get low. I guess I didn't understand the new system well enough. When we were ready to head out I found the chassis battery and house batteries dead as a doornail. Refer was still cold and about 7 hours had been added to the generator. Got a jump from AAA and the chassis battery tested out good. Took it to a local RV dealer who didn't find anything wrong but said the house batteries needed replacing. We had fried them. He didn't have any so we are on this trip with house batteries that are limping along. Fine while on 50A shorepower or driving. But can't hold up much on their own. Apparently, at least that is what the dealer concluded, I left the inverter on and the battery disconnect switch off. The combination screwed things up. I am not aware of ever leaving the disconnect switch off. Grrr.

If you continue west on 73 you can visit Cades Cove and Rt. 129 through Deals Gap then on to Fontana Dam, Cherokee and Clingmans Dome

Quote:

Originally Posted by sbleiweiss (Post 1971249)

Did you call Thor for technical support? I would think that they have information on those combination of how the inverter and disconnect work. There are so many RV's that I wonder sometimes how much the general RV guys may really know about your coach.

BTW, did the EMS come with any manuals? I am picking my new 37GT and I was told by the CW service rep that he had to go onto the internet and print the 34 page manual because one was not provided from Thor with the coach. I guess they missed that one... The EMS seems to have a lot of options. There is a setting for amps, for temp, how long the generator runs when it auto starts, even a setting for "Quite Time" hours, etc.

Well, after the coach arrived at CW, and they performed all the mods we requested, and most of the PDI punch list items, we are now almost ready to take possession of our new 2014.5 Thor Challenger 37GT.

We are moving our stuff out of the old Dolphin and into the new Challenger this weekend. We have a couple of items left for Monday to do at CW, and then we will be driving it home to complete the final load of food and other personal items.

We will be heading out to NM sometime this week, and plan to spend some time in the mountain west states this summer.

Have a safe trip to NM and let's get together while your here. We have kicked our hunt up and now starting to narrow the field to pick the one.

Shaz

Have a great Summer! I'm sure you'll have a trouble free adventure in your new Challenger.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobandshaz (Post 1977996)

Have a safe trip to NM and let's get together while your here. We have kicked our hunt up and now starting to narrow the field to pick the one. Shaz

Looking forward to it. We will head up to the crest at some point anyway, so will be close. We usually get over to El Pinto resturant out on 4th at some point when in town, if you want to go there. Anyway, I'll let you know when we are in town. We will be taking in some sights and visiting some relatives as we make our way there, so it may take us a week or more just to get there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DGShaffer (Post 1978047)

Have a great Summer! I'm sure you'll have a trouble free adventure in your new Challenger.

Thanks Don! We hope to make it as good as possible. We also plan to meet another couple that we know from iRV2 and spend some time traveling with them as well. Have fun yourself this summer.

One item that is still open from our PDI punch list is the Rapid Camp wireless remote was not programmed to operate the Automatic Leveling Jacks.

I'd like to here from others that have the Rapid Camp wireless remote if they had that issue, and any thoughts you have about using it with the jacks.

It works fine for the slides.

Thanks,
Ted

Quote:

Originally Posted by tedgard01 (Post 1977843)

Yes, we called Thor. Thor tech support never ceases to amaze me with how little they know about Thor MH's without having them in front of them. You'd think since they built them they would know what is in them and where to find specific things like breakers, wouldn't you? No clue. The RV dealer we dealt with to trouble shoot this problem said that all the manufacturers except Winnebago have this same problem. He wasn't a solely Winnebago dealer either, by the way.

Good luck with your GT. We just got back from our shake out cruise (to TN) in our new KT. All went well after that initial fiasco the day the trip was supposed to start.

With the thousands of manufacturers items, gadgets, and gizmos Thor installs inside it's line of travel trailers and motor homes would you expect them to be intimately knowledgeable of each type and revision? If you're lucky and get someone that know about a particular item as well as the year of manufacture then you are just that, lucky. Damon had a hotline with guys manning the phones that were pretty good but even then were unable to help me. Always start with the manufacturer, you have a better chance getting someone that knows about their product.

Regarding the automatic leveling, I used the automatic feature once, maybe twice. It's good on an already level lot but rarely do I get one of those. I manually deploy the jacks on the low end or side, this allows the suspension on the unsupported end to collapse slightly. Once the unit is level I deploy the jacks on the opposite end or side just enough to ensure a good footing. Doing this keeps the MH closer to the ground where Automatic mode may require the use of a step ladder. I do agree that if it's installed, it should be operational.