Mike H

3 hours ago, dennis.mcdonaugh said:

That's not an explicit part of the tow setup, but one of the steps probably accomplishes that task.

When the transmission gets shifted into neutral the steering wheel is unlocked.

30 minutes ago, cbr046 said:

@Mike H, @StephenW - did you disable the steering wheel lock on your Fords?  If so, how did you accomplish that?

- bob

 

On my 2019 the procedure is as follows:

1. Press the START button without starting the engine
2. Shift to NEUTRAL
3. Press and HOLD the brake pedal then rotate the 4x4 control knob five times from 2 wheel to 4 wheel drive
4. Message shows up on the dash display saying "Vehicle is now ready for towing"
5. Press the START button again without starting the engine
6. Be prepared to select which security alarm mode you desire

You should really check you owner's manual, especially for the newer models, because Ford changed that procedure on the new trucks.

2 minutes ago, jacwjames said:

Thanks Mike

The truck is already set up for towing so I assume it can be towed which is a big advantage.  Price is in line with what I've seen especially with the towing package.  

Been doing some research, you can find both pro and con comments but overall it seems to have some positive reviews and comments. 

Asked a mechanic friend and he said overall pretty positive. 

Fuel milage is about 1mpg below what they advertise.  I average around 18.5 mpg.  There's a device and free software called ForScan you can download to change some of the hidden functions.

I've towed both a 2012 and now a 2019 both with the Eco boost engine BUT they HAVE to be 4x4's.  After 2019 or 2020 they started doing some funky things with the towing set up procedure.  Setting it up to be towed disconnects everything so no milage is recorded.

3 hours ago, Dr4Film said:

@Mike H They charged me $1200 for the removal and repaint/touch-up of the front cap. I did not have them reinstall anything as I had decided to sell the coach by then and figured I would leave it up to the new owner as to what they might want to do for any protection. If I had kept the coach, I was going to have a shop in Texas do a color-coded "truck liner" type of material applied to the front cap.

I'll be looking to have the 3M film replaced.  Did they even give you a quote for replacing the film?

On 12/4/2023 at 9:02 AM, Dr4Film said:

I believe the shield installed on Monaco coaches has been the Diamond Shield, HOWEVER, the Window Sticker & Data Card probably states that it is the 3M shield.

Dave Pratt knows the history.

I hired Dazzling Detail to remove mine on the Windsor. They repainted and touched up areas that were damaged after removal.

 

 

Richard,  What did they charge you to remove and replace yours?  I'm needing to have mine replaced.  The only heartburn I have with Dazzling Detailing is getting them to show up.  I've been 'stood up' 4 times now with a no show for having our coach detailed.  They seem to do good work whenever they do show up though but they haven't showed up for the last several times I've called them, and I feel I have been very generous to his guys when they have showed up.

Keith,  Before you start tearing into hardware have you done a system reset?  You should have a reset button possibly in your front run bay that'll do sort of a 'soft' reset or you can hold down the level button for 5 or 10 sec and that will do a 'hard' reset.  I've had to do that on occasion.  At least get that out of the way first before you proceed on.  Also, after you leveled your coach did you leave the HWH system on so the auto-level will stay activated.  I've also had to educate the guys about how to make sure the system stayed activated when they've pulled it inside.  And as a side note, always follow what Frank said about making sure your front tires are straight whenever you park it anywhere or you're exposing yourself to wheel well/fender damage.  Same goes for making sure you are aired up, and at RIDE HEIGHT before you make any turning of your steering wheel.  Don't ask me how I know.  I do know that mistake gets expensive, unfortunately.

All it takes to be a 'certified' Aqua-Hot service technician is $100 and 8 hours in their classroom ....... THAT'S ALL!  I had one of those so called certified service techs out of Titusville, Fla come to work on mine and about destroyed it.  I had to take it up to the Hitching Post to get it repaired.  When all said and done I was out $3,000 for what should have been a $165 mobile service charge.  The owner of the Hitching Post is a jerk, and they are Pricey, but the technician there is more down to earth.  The only other place I would go to is Lazydays in The Villages.  They still have some of the old Monaco Service Technicians still there from when it was a Monaco Service Center.

16 hours ago, pwhittle said:

Camera kits V2.0 are back in stock.

Paul

Great news Paul.  Did you have to change your price any? I'm thinking about getting a kit if even just for a spare for when mine OEM's crap out.

Has anyone replaced a door bell button switch on their coach?  My question is: "does it just press in from the outside or is there a nut on the backside holding ti in place?".  Just want to make sure I don't cause any damage trying to replace it.  I found what I believe is a replacement at Home Depot and it appears it's made to just press in a 5/8" hole.

UPDATE:  It does just press in from the outside.  It was just 'glued' in with a bunch of silicone calking.  Apparently water still seeped in as the switch was all rusted and ended up coming out in pieces.  Now have a nice new lighted switch and just need to re-calk around it.  I was going to delete this post but decided to leave it in case someone else was wondering how to replace theirs.   Switch was $4.98 from Home Depot.

If you're in the Ocala area just take it down to Lazydays in The Villages.  That used to be a Monaco Service Center and they still have many of the old Monaco technicians there.  I have been very pleased with all the work I have had them do for me, and without trying to up-sell me additional repairs.  

Tickets are $13 if you buy them on line otherwise they are $15 at the gate and I think it may be $10 for parking if you drive in.  As far as camping you'll need to start calling campgrounds.  More then likely camping at the fair grounds has been sold out, as are most of the 'local' campgrounds.  You may find that you'll have to drive quite a ways to find a campground, much depending on your size.  Lazydays campground is closed so that's impacting availability of other campground sites.

Are you looking for a campsite or admission to the actual RV Show ?

4 hours ago, astgerma said:

I have the same problem with the driver side shade.  It does not want to go back up.  But if I push the down and quickly push the up it will go up.  this happens all the time.

I have found that just changing the shade switch solves that problem.  I have had this happen to me several times and it has always been the switch.

10 hours ago, Twomed said:

Thanks Mike...passed on names and number.  He has been told by some folks that the fuel tank has to be dropped in order to replace the cylinder.  They are on the road today so problem solved.   🤑

Yeah, when dealing with the HWH systems you really need to have a tech that really knows what they're doing or you can end up when a hell of a mess.  Someone earlier this year was told they needed to cut a hole in the slide wall to get them out !!!  Lazydays in The Villages still has the Monaco fixture to remove a slide and lay it down if they need to.

10 hours ago, Viper04 said:

Lazy days in Wildwood is still set up to do your repair. Contact DOTTIE in parts. She has been there since the Monaco Wildwood days. Ask her for the mechanics name you need to work on your slide. 
 

she will tell you straight up if the RIGHT GUY still works there. She is a whiz at sourcing Monaco coach parts. 
 

Tim

 

2000 Dynasty pulling a 2019 

Ram  Limited. 

His name is John, don't have his last name

13 hours ago, amphi_sc said:

We just came down from Sevierville via 441 west to 411 thru Marysville, Benton etc.  Stayed off I-40 and I-75 until south of Atlanta.  Pleasant drive missing Knoxville and Chattanooga traffic enjoying the countryside.  45' with toad.

We just drove I-40 and I-75 today and traffic thru Atlanta and Macon was a nightmare !  Stopped at the Carroll's Sausage RV Campground for the night.  Was a very long day

michaelivan,  The other route I have taken is up through Ashville and down I-26 to I-95.

My experience has been that if you're at the point to be experiencing seal leaks then it would be very pertinent to have ALL 3 of that slides cylinders rebuilt.  I would be reluctant to say that no special skills are required.  You really need to know how to bleed the air out of the synchronizing cylinder to assure the system is balanced out or you could introduce more problems.  Lazy Days in The Villages is an old Monaco Service center and still has some of the old Monaco technicians working there.  ECOR Hydraulics in Melbourne will rebuild those cylinders for about $120 each with about a one day turnaround.  There is a place in the Daytona area that LazyDays has used but I hear they are a slow turnaround and very expensive.  The only fault I have with these hydraulic places that rebuild them is they they don't pressure test them afterwards.  I have had one cylinder fail immediately costing me the time to have it removed again and a 200 mile round trip to get it rebuilt and reinstalled again.

We're at the Anchor Down RV Resort now and I'm driving that route from Pigeon Forge ( I-40 to I-75 )  all the way to the Carroll Sausage Store & Campground in the morning.  RV Trip Wizard has me going through Chattanooga and the ByPass around Atlanta.  I know it's going to be a long traveling day (est a 6 hr day)

2 hours ago, top flight said:

Mike, thanks so much for this.  I am definitely going to get quotes.

If you don't plan on doing your sofa then the cost will obviously be a lot less, easily half.  Those captain chairs are really heavy and are NOT a one man job to get them out of the coach.  It took 3 guys working together (1 inside and 2 outside) removing them and the sofa was taken apart to get out.  Be sure to take a good look at the chair back cable release to make sure it's in good shape because if it ever fails you have to pull the fabric off the seat to get at it.  The swivel release cable to can replace without removing anything.  If you have heated seats then I suspect you're going to find the heating pads are probably breaking apart from age.  I didn't even try to find replacements for mine as I never plan on traveling anywhere I would need them anyway.  If you want the Monaco logo in the headrest your upholstery guy can cut you pieces of fabric to send off to get embroidered.  They can use any color thread you want to compliment whatever color fabric you choose.

1 hour ago, top flight said:

Thanks Doug & Mike.  Wow A&E did a great job.  Can I ask how much they charged for both chairs and also where you bought the covering material from?

I bought my UltraLeather from Bradd and Hall ( https://www.braddandhall.com/productcart/pc/home.asp ). 

Go to any upholstery shop and have them give you an estimate of how much material you'll need.  Bradd and Hall will send you fabric samples.  I forgot the website for UltraLeather but you can just ask B&H and they'll tell you.  You can go to that website and pick out all the colors and type of material you're interested in and then tell B&H and they'll send you samples.  I'll have to go back through my files to find out how much I paid for everything.  I did a 2-tone seat that's why you see the Doe and Pelican colors.  This is for the two captain chairs and the Jackknife sofa.

I had my seats and sofa reupholstered by A&E Auto and Boat Upholstery in Melbourne Florida.  I provided the material and they removed everything and reinstalled it.  Took about a week.  I also was able to digitize the Monaco logo and gave it to Stargazer Embroidery in Cocoa, Fla and they embroidered that for me as well.  The have the file if you want that done and I think it only cost maybe $15.

Here's switch I had to replace for my shade and where I bought it.  I also bought an actuator removal tool but you can just use a flat head screwdriver instead.  The switch will come without the actuator so try not to break yours when removing it..

I had the same problem with mine a year ago.  I had to replace the switch.  When I went to unplug the switch pulled right of the switch housing.  It's a Carling switch and they can be found at NW RV Supply.  I'll have to go see what the part number for mine is.