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RE: Trouble Free Motorhome Owner?
I am surprised I thought that the Gulfstream being an aircraft company would understand quality and be the best. I am surprised.
Not the same company.......
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JTHarley
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05/18/13 09:00am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Trouble Free Motorhome Owner?
I've owned 6 motorhomes thus far......to be honest, the last 3, Winnebago Journey, Winnebago Vectra and now my Dynamax have all been what I would consider trouble free. To clarify, they have all needed some "tweaking" during the first year since I bought them all new but NOTHING major. Some slide adjustments, tighten screws here and there, repair a little surface rust on the frame but nothing that stopped us from using the units.
My Dynamax needed a slide adjustment and new seal, the entry step had to be repaired that had a short but after 2 years of travels, where we stay in the coach 3-4 months per year, it has been a joy to own and drive. I consider this one the first coach, after 2 years of ownership, that I would say has been trouble free.
Now if you ask about my 2 gulfstreams that I owned in the beginning, over 12 years ago, they leaked, had breakdowns that stranded us at campgrounds, and after 2 years the frames where rusted almost beyond repair. These where also bought new but the quality compared to the Winnebago or Dynamax was just not there. They where not class A coaches, one was a B+ and the other was a C so I can't speak about the quality of gulfstreams class A coaches but the C's where literally garbage.
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JTHarley
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05/18/13 07:43am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Boondocking at Walmart
Wal Mart = convenience.......when we travel we stay at campgrounds 99% of the time. BUT, when I want to get some miles under my belt, I may drive till 10p.m. and simply want to pull off and rest. If I don't need supplies a flying J or a rest area are fine. If semi trucks park there so will I. When I do pull in to a walmart or a rest area or a flying J I come in late and am on the road at the break of daylight around 5:00 a.m.
I guess I just don't see what all the discussion is about.....The beauty of having a motorhome is the ability to STOP WHEREVER YOU WANT. If you don't want to don't do it. END OF STORY!
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JTHarley
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05/15/13 09:57am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Boondocking at Walmart
Wal Mart = convenience.......when we travel we stay at campgrounds 99% of the time. BUT, when I want to get some miles under my belt, I may drive till 10p.m. and simply want to pull off and rest. If I don't need supplies a flying J or a rest area are fine. If semi trucks park there so will I. When I do pull in to a walmart or a rest area or a flying J I come in late and am on the road at the break of daylight around 5:00 a.m.
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JTHarley
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05/15/13 09:24am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Boondocking at Walmart
Wal-Mart is the MOST EXPENSIVE campground or overnight that I have ever stayed at. We always stop at a walmart on night one of our winter trek south. The DW always goes in to the service desk after she has shopped to load up the RV....it is never less than $150-200 bucks of groceries, supplies ect....and asks if it is ok to get a few hours of rest in the parking lot. We have never been told no.
That being said, there will always be those who deploy the slides, put out the carpet, awnings and grill. 2 years ago I asked a guy parked in the back lot how long he had been there. He said 2 days and was leaving the next day....he apparently was visiting family that lived about a mile away. That seems a bit much.
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JTHarley
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05/14/13 06:15am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: the worse built motorhome you can think of
One thing I've learned in my 10 years and owning 6 different RV's from various manufacturers is that ANY company can build or put out a poor quality motorhome. That being said, this is one purchase where the old adage "you get what you pay for" holds true in my opinion. Motorhomes range from $85K to well over 1.5 million......My first RV was a small class B gulfstream. Drove fine but the workmanship wasn't all that great. I also owned a top of the line Winnebago Vectra...I loved it and it was surely built better than my gulfstream but it too had issues. I now own a $500K + truck conversion.....fit and finish is great, drives like a charm but it too had some issues although much fewer and easy to fix. I've got a friend that bought a 2009 Prevost with a sticker price of 1.4 million new (he paid $650K) and he has been chasing an electrical problem for months.
The key to me is the service after the sale and that has alot to do with the dealer. I will say that Winnebago stood behind their product even after the warranty ran out.
Bottom line is that you will most likely find very happy owners and very unhappy owners with EVERY brand of motorhome.
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JTHarley
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05/11/13 06:30am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Forest River Motorhomes RV One Superstores????
I think you should sell the coach and buy a tent and stop *****ing ! And what does a disabled vet have to do with it ? Be a man call fr and make plans to take it back to the factory and they will fix all your problems.
Wow, be a MAN?
Don't know about this poster but if I spent over $150K on a motorhome or $100K or $80K and things did not work you bet I would be P*@&&* off too. Give me a break.
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JTHarley
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05/10/13 05:20am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Forest River Motorhomes RV One Superstores????
Forest River is going to try to spend as little money as possible to get us to accept the coach.
Forest River needs to contact us, propose how they plan to repair the defects in our coach, get our approval to their plan, and then do what we settle on.
We do not believe that poor craftsmanship is a warranty item that only the manufacturer gets to decide.
1. Yes they want to minimize their expenses while fixing the MH.
2. Actually I do not think that will be their interpretation of the warranty.
3. I think the manufacturer does get to determine the level of craftsman ship sold in their coach as long as things "work".
I understand why you are as upset as you are especially considering the issues with the dealer, but I would change course and try to work with FR if I were you.
Couldn't agree more........
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JTHarley
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05/09/13 01:00pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Forest River Motorhomes RV One Superstores????
Why does everyone here think we have to allow Forest River to repair the coach without our input. Forest River is going to try to spend as little money as possible to get us to accept the coach. Did we buy an acceptable to Forest River Coach? Forest River needs to contact us, propose how they plan to repair the defects in our coach, get our approval to their plan, and then do what we settle on. We do not believe that poor craftsmanship is a warranty item that only the manufacturer gets to decide. Maybe we are shooting ourselves in the foot, but being a disabled vet I've had that problem before. HA HA
I think it is reasonable that you should pick the dealer that is convenient to you and then ALLOW forest river to work with them to fix all your issues. Unfortunately, once you make this a legal issue Forest River may back off and simply let it play out.
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JTHarley
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05/09/13 08:49am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Forest River Motorhomes RV One Superstores????
Boy, some folks here forget what it is like to be a newbie, both on the board and possibly in buying a brand new coach. I've been RV'ing for over 12 years now and have bought 5 coaches......as I look back, each one had some issues and in thinking of my first purchase, some of the issues, (to a newbie) SEEMED devastating!! Now, not so much.
To the original poster.....lets hear some of the issues you have. Perhaps some here can give some constructive suggestions on how to resolve them but most of all some of your issues may be very common and we can let you know that so you don't think it is just YOUR rv having problems.
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JTHarley
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05/08/13 06:25am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: If you were a Snowbird, where would you stay?
There is a great place called Riverbend about 15 miles from Ft. Myers. It is probably one of the nicest class A parks in the country, great events, on-site restaurant and bar, On the river leading out to the ocean, boat docks and boat rental available. Some of the friendliest folks I've ever met.
The unfortunate thing is that I can't go there anymore because my truck conversion is apparently not nice enough to allow in.......we are sad but have to be honest about how nice the place is. I've actually had some conversations with a few board members who may try to change the by-laws to allow coaches like mine to come in.
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JTHarley
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05/07/13 09:34am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Do you think anything will freeze?
I know you may not want to hear this BUT it was just that little line that went to my fridge for the icemaker that DID break.....I even blew out the lines but forgot to do the ice maker and then we got a hard freeze for 2 days.
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JTHarley
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04/30/13 05:37am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: water in the basement
Here is an idea to find your leak.....Put a 100 watt utility light in the bay and close the door. Go under the coach and check the caulking and seams of the compartments themselves. See any light? I did this in one of my old coaches that was taking in water during rain and as you said, the seals seemed fine.
Ended up being a spot of the spray foam the manufacturer put on had some gaps....if you can, do this at night or evening...easier to see the light leaks.
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JTHarley
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04/30/13 05:34am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Interior renovation companies in Indiana or Michigan
thanks, my dealer also called me and said that Panterra in Angola In. also does renovations so that gives me a few to check out.
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JTHarley
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04/29/13 02:34pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Aqua hot question
I just spent 3 months in my coach with aqua hot hooked up to 50 amp and never used the diesel burner once to heat the coach even when the weather got into the 30's. If I want to take a long hot shower AND run the heaters I would kick on the diesel burner for 5 minutes before the shower and then turn it off once I was done.
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JTHarley
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04/29/13 10:36am |
Class A Motorhomes
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Interior renovation companies in Indiana or Michigan
Can anyone recommend a company that can do interior renovations. We want to change the layout and furnishings in the main slide to better accomodate guests and seating arrangements. A little cabinet work also. I'm in Michigan so somewhere there or in Indiana would be great.
Thanks.
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JTHarley
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04/29/13 09:57am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: AWFUL RV PARKS
I've found it is really hard to trust "all" the reviews I read...for example: My DW and I have gone to the same campground in St. Augustine (oceanfront) for the last 10 years. This park has gotten many 8-9-10 reviews and many 2-3-4 reviews. Either people LOVE IT or HATE IT. It is such a personal preference. I've been to all 3 major campgrounds in and around St. Augustine AND the state park so I know what they are comparing it to.
If I had a smaller coach I would stay at the state park....it is wonderful but a long way to the beach. Since I love going to the beach the one we go to sits right on the ocean. Some people complain about the dunes between the first row and the beach......those dunes are what protect the beaches all along the florida east coast, it's where the protected turtles live and the wild rabbits......The boardwalks and there are 4 of them are a short stroll to one of the finest beaches in florida. 20 miles south there is another "ocean front" campground that is nothing more than a gravel parking lot with a large sea wall. Yes, you sit right on the ocean and see the water clearly....your coach also gets sand blasted with the slightest breeze off the ocean and there are usually breezes daily.
Some people with 40 foot coaches constantly complain about how "tight" the campground is. Yes, the interior sites are tight and for a 40 or 45 foot coach you better be a really good driver or simply take your time and get a spotter or help to get in. My 45 foot coach has never had a problem BUT I looked on google and rvpark reviews and can easily see what sites are big rig friendly and simply book those. The only time I really trust the reviews are when every one of them is a 4 or lower.......or when all of them are 8 or higher.
I don't know about you but I don't want to damage my coach at a campground and EVERY oceanfront site can accommodate 45 foot coaches...there are also pull thru sites and many others that are close to the ocean that are fine for big rigs......I scratch my head when I read the bad reviews because this campground has a new heated pool near the beach, a new hot tub, new laundry facility and absolutely gorgeous new showers. Are the interior roads sand...yes (drainage) but they've even widened and repaired the interior roads this year while we where there. But of course, someone who stayed and reviewed after we left never said anything about all the wonderful new stuff and the great staff they just complained and gave it a 2 rating because the spot they picked was "hard" to get into.
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JTHarley
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04/28/13 10:46am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: I-75 Travel
I've done it many, many times and it is a wonderful ride.
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JTHarley
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04/24/13 07:31am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Curious about maintenance...
Wow...not what I expected...it seems most respondents are doing it themselves so far and that REALLY surprises me. When I was a teenager, I used to do all my oil changes, tune ups ect...on my 65 mustang, or my 69 cougar but that is when the engines where so much simpler to move around and simply see without all that computer add ons in engines now.
I know I could do most of this maintenance stuff but like someone said "one mistake" could be fatal in more ways than one.....and when I spend $350K ++ on a "toy" I figure I better be able to keep it up and pay for the maintenance.....I've just retired at 53 and know I will be doing this for a long time but I wish I could have someone show/teach me the basics. Wonder if there is a class I could take? I do get enjoyment out of doing things myself and do get things right after a few times of getting them wrong of course....one of the reasons I bought a class 8 truck conversion was because of the "ease of maintenance" and the ability to get at everything under the hood.
Maybe its time to jump back in school...
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JTHarley
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04/24/13 05:35am |
Class A Motorhomes
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Curious about maintenance...
I'm curious how many folks on the board do their own "maintenance" on their engines...fluid changes, filters, grease fittings, ect....and how many take them to service centers?
Also...do you own a diesel or gas unit.
When you sell your coach are buyers ok with "your" service record or would they prefer and pay a bit more for a coach serviced and documented at a certified service center? Does it even matter?
I just did an M2 service on my freightliner columbia yesterday at an oasis dealer, $471 for everything...40 quarts, filters (fuel/diesel), grease, inspect brakes, air lines ect....... Took about 2 hours and I thought it was a very fair price and a great job! Of course, I have a "hood" on my coach so it was serviced like any other class 8 conversion.
I have a mtnc. book with printouts of everything ever done to the coach including the computer read out from the dealer, each time it goes in showing all the statistics.
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JTHarley
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04/23/13 10:02am |
Class A Motorhomes
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