RE: Good Sam GPS
Like how you can input the length of the coach so the Nav system can route you around road not suited for motorhomes.I don't think it will do that. It might send you on the truck routes, but most truck routes I've ever been on, I would not take my motorhome on. They go through the factory districts. RV-specific navigation and content is probably interstate navigation and rv content is GS campground POIs. You can do that with Garmin.
Ours is a 7725 and we have had no trouble so far. Last year we started on a road that had a sign "not recommended for vehicles over 40" so we turned around. The nav system would have given us an alternate route--I've already tried to program in a couple of different roads. Also it has a lot of campground and RV-related POIs other than Good Sam. We like it!
RE: Good Sam GPS
We just picked ours up today. Like how you can input the length of the coach so the Nav system can route you around road not suited for motorhomes. It's a lot bigger than our Garmin, and once we learn to use it, it should be great.
RE: the worse built motorhome you can think of
The worst we have seen was a Barth. Several examples we looked at had unfinished wood in very visble places. Of course, we saw that in a Fleetwood Tradition at a show last year, although not as obvious as in the Barths.
RE: My wife can't decide, Please Help
We had a dinette in our first coach. We liked it, because it gave us another bed when we took the grandchildren along. This coach has table and chairs, and we like it--grandkids are too old to want to travel with us. Advantage with table and chairs is with two of us in the coach, we have more space (With slides, this is not an issue). If we have guests, we can put in the extra leaf, and get the the chairs out of the basement. With our next coach we wouldn't mind a dinette--since we will be forced to have slides, space is not an issue, and most dinette comes with storage under the seats. And of course, with a dinette, you don't have to store extra chairs. Frankly, once we find the perfect coach, we won't care much whether it has a dinette or table and chairs.
RE: Towing... what is the cost????
Adding weight to your motorhome will decrease mileage. How much depends on several factors. If you add a 4,000 pound toad to a 16,000 motorhome, you just added 25% more weight. If you add the same 4,000 pound toad to a 40,0000 pound coach, you only added 10% weight. Keep in mind that weight is pretty much only a factor going uphill, so percent uphill is a factor. You will also have a larger impact on gas motorhomes than a diesel due to the difference in torque curves. For most situations you are probably talking tops 1/2 MPG difference with or without a toad.
Another consideration is how easily accessible a rental agency is. We've camped in many areas where rentals are a long way off.
RE: Adding third roof air conditioner, fitment question.
How long is yoour coach? Even though some Country Coach 42-foot units were equipped with only 2 AC units, many had the center vent prewired for a 3rd unit--Beaver built good coaches--yours may have the same set-up. A good reason for have 3 roof ACs is you have back-ups ifone shuts down. The only time we used all our roof ACs, we had 120+ temperatures in Las Vegas. We have replaced all 3 AC units with 15,000 BTU units--We don't anticipate getting hot!;)
RE: Driving with air conditioner
We use the roof ACs whenever it gets warm. We often travel 5-600 miles daily if we're just going through and have a long ways to our destination.
RE: Should you travel with a full tank of Gas?
Gas motorhomes have an 80-gallon fuel tank. Since you would be a fool to have less than 1/4 tank, that means the difference between a full tank and a low tank is 60 gallons. If I remember right, gas is about 6 pounds per gallon, so we are talking about 360 pounds. If you have a 20,000 pound motorhome,a full tank would be about 1.5% of total weight. So you could get 1.5% better mileage, right? Oh wait, like Wolfe10 correctly said, mileage difference due to weight is really only a factor when you go uphill, so you would have to multiply that 1.5% by the percentage you go uphill. If worst case you go uphill 50% of the time (doubtful), you would have a 0.75% difference in mileage--which of course would decrease as you use the gas in the tank. I think your time would be better spent making sure your tire inflation is correct, and going easy on the throttle!
RE: alpine coaches
I think you'll find many Country Coaches on the net priced well below retail price. I check several sites regularly for Coutry Coaches--we would not buy anything else--and there is a vast diffeence in prices for similar coaches. I've seen CC Allures of the same size and year vary by as much as $50k. One dealer told me that owners tend to price their coaches much higher than the market will bear. From what I've seen on the internet, I'm not sure I would disagree with that. Country Coaches are selling like hot cakes, except for the silly Veranda models. The factory is still in business doing service work for owners, and working on setting up production again. They sell coaches on consignment, and while they price coaches slightly higher, they do a coach checkout I doubt many dealers do. We test drove an Allure last year at the factory, and they said they would replace the radiator (Aluminum radiator didn't work out well) before the sale. We're heading back to the factory next month to do some minor work on our vacation.
RE: San Antonio
We love to go out to Buckhorn--one of our favorites, however, it is 70 miles from San Antonio, so if you are gong to do a lot of in-town sight-seeing, probably not the best option. We have stayed at the Admiralty campground--very nice.
RE: Exhaust break-- transmission shift down
Actually the transmission does not shift to second gear unless you're going slow. Second gear is the target gear. Transmission will only shift to the gear that lets the engine not exceed max RPM. At freewy speeds this will probably be 4th. As you slow down it will keep shifting down to lower gears. To shift to first, you would have to manually shift transmission. Newer coaches often use 4th as the target gear, since many thought the braking action was too severe with 2nd as target gear. Target gear can be adjusted at an Allison shop. Jake brakes, or engine brakes, have two or three settings, so the braking action can be adjusted.
P.S. I just saw you had a Tour, so you should have a Jake brake with adjustable settings. You can still adjust the Jake as I mentioned.
RE: What would you do?
Lots of discussion on diesel vs. gas. Also very predictable--the gas owners recommend gas, the diesel owners recommend diesel--big surprise! Personally there is no way I would go back to a gasser.
AS far as paying cash, to each their own, but we will be going into debt up to our ears when we buy our next Country Coach. As long as we can afford the payment and can afford using it, I really don't care if we will owe more than what the coach is worth for the next 20 years. We can't take it with us, so we intend to enjoy while we're here! Besides, motorhomes are still made in the U.S., and buying someone's unit will allow them to buy a new one--helping the economy.
One thing not discussed is the need to replace house systems. One roof AC lasted 11 years, the other two lasted 16 years. The refer in our gasser lasted only seven years (not the fault of the MH!), this one is still going after 19 years. But a replacement refer is over $4,000, so think about the condition and age of house systems in a buying comparison as well. Good luck!
RE: Have a question about Diesel engines...
""When is the last time you had it looked at by a Cummins dealer?""
Try to avoid this unless you are rich!
It should idle at about 800 rpm in neutral.
The idle screw or bolt is on the pump, look at the pump and move the throttle lever back and forth and you will see an Allen bolt or a 10mm bolt that the throttle rests against. You can adjust that if needed.
If everything is OK with the idle speed- then look at fuel pressure. It should be 15 psi idling and around 20-30 psi going down the road.
Have you changed the fuel filters lately?
For someone who says diesels are magic, I would say it would be worth whatever it would cost to have a knowledgable shop look at the issue! Sometimes expertise is well worth the cost.
RE: Top 5 Motorhome Manufacturers
Another issue you need to consider is how many miles do you plan to put on the RV in a year. Keep in mind a gas motorhome has extra depreciation with a lot of miles.
RE: Parts or lack of parts
What I am looking for now is control unit for slide out step Pn# 90950700
Camp world tocoma said not cross reference . Step no. 42
We picked up our step control unit for step 42 at PPL in Houston--they had it in stock. Kwikee can help as well. Not too hard install, however, I found Kwikee had reversed polarity on the control unit, so now "*****y Bill" tells us door is open when it is closed.
Yes, things will continue to break, and sometimes part numbers will change, but issues are solvable with some persistence. I have found Country Coach to be very helpful. Last year we had a dozen issues fixed on our coach, and we're heading up that way in May to fix a couple of more problems. And they are right down the road from you!
