Hi everyone,
My wife and I bought our first MH last week. I am not even exactly sure what we own, but I think this describes it.
26 ft Glendale Sterling 1986 125,000 Km The engine is a Ford 460 (it has the bathroom across the full width of the back).
I drove it about 130 Km to get it home and scared the life out of myself, this thing is like driving a boat (i've done lots of that). It feels as though it will fall over any second. I have read the threads on handling, but my problem is I am not even sure what vehicle this is based on, so am finding it hard to get specifics for even tyre pressures.
Sorry to be so vague but as an ex-pat brit, I am not even familiar with what unmodified vehicles were on the roads of Nth America in 1986, I had not even heard of a "460" until I got this.
Maybe a check-list of what I need to know to identify the base vehicle would help? like VIN #, tyre type, etc. ?
Anyone got a contact address for glendale by chance?
Planning a cross canada trip in september 2008 so would like to get it a bit better behaved before that.
cheers folks!
Bart
looks like its on a ford chassis, If you are handy with auto I would go thur it change oil,tune up ,and then take it to a mechanic to check alignment and rear end oil ,and tranny fuid and filter change. your shocks and alignment are the main thing regarding drivablity.It takes time to get use to driving something that big. Just take it around the block or school parking lot and practices alot,and your wife too.good luck.
Thanks for a fast reply, I have a few ideas about prep maintenance, it is knowing what settings etc. to use that foxes me. I read a great thread about 'dual i beam fords' whatever that means....could this be one of them at 1986?
What about shocks life? 125 Km against 22 yrs? replace them anyway?
Cheers,
Bart
I don't think the mfg is in business any more but your 460 is built on a Ford Chassis. Any ford truck dealer should be able to work on it. There hould be a label inside the unit somewhere with the recommended tire inflation psi.
Shocks... if the coach does a lot of bouncing up and down then you probably need new shocks.
hey bart, i too just bought our first MH... to get used to it, I had the alignment checked, tires, oil change, transmission, differential fluid, motor, everything looked at. Once it was "OK'd" I drove it everywhere.
I dropped the kids off to school and picked them up in the MH. I even took it grocery shopping. I did this for the first month and used it as a daily. The only place I couldnt take it was work.
Driving it all over like that really gave me a piece of mind. I have learned to watch 3 things.
1. Your side mirrors dont always show the truth (blind spots)
2. Watch that TAILSWING! give your rearend enough swing room when turning left or right.
3. Watch low hanging tree limbs. If you are unsure, don't try it.
For fun too, I drove in reverse quite a bit in empty parking lots to get used to going backwards.
being so tall they do give you the feeling its going to tip over sometimes its something you will get used to after a while ,the ford 460 is a good engine they put a ford C-6 transmission in them there a good set up.class Cs are put on a E-350 ford 1 ton van chassie,twin I beams is a ford thing two solid I beams for the front axle that pivots in the middle,have the king pins checked and toe end adjusted.
1985 Class A Holiday Rambler Imperial 33 +1979 Class C Holiday Rambler Statesman 1000 = 24 ft
Be careful on the age of tires when buying an older RV. You might do a search on discussions of tire ages. Most folks limit tire age to 7 years regardless of how much tread is left. You can usually find a date on the tires.
Mike
Fort Collins, CO
'99 Born Free 26' Rear Side Bed
Thanks all, I am now going off to the compound where our baby lives, and am going to take photos, write down details etc. and try to build a true portfolio of what we have.....why don't vehicles have log books that detail everything like boats do??
bart
g0tr00t wrote: hey bart, i too just bought our first MH... to get used to it, I had the alignment checked, tires, oil change, transmission, differential fluid, motor, everything looked at. Once it was "OK'd" I drove it everywhere.
I dropped the kids off to school and picked them up in the MH. I even took it grocery shopping. I did this for the first month and used it as a daily. The only place I couldnt take it was work.
Driving it all over like that really gave me a piece of mind. I have learned to watch 3 things.
1. Your side mirrors dont always show the truth (blind spots)
2. Watch that TAILSWING! give your rearend enough swing room when turning left or right.
3. Watch low hanging tree limbs. If you are unsure, don't try it.
For fun too, I drove in reverse quite a bit in empty parking lots to get used to going backwards.
Good luck!
Bart if you can run with this advice you will be fine and I think it is the ONLY way to really master the beast. A year later we are still learning more and more about the rig. After hours force yourselp in to parking lots that are way hard to get around in so when you do that dead in think one way in front of a crowd of people you can look sharp getting out of the jam. We shopped, when to the doctor, visited family, ect locally all last summer/fall. With the kids help we can turn around had park about anywhere.
MH's are not top heavy but they look that way but 90% of the weight is near the frame level and they will stick with the curves quite well but at first it does not seem that way. Have many boats did you turn over?
Offline
Online
