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McHughes

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Everything posted by McHughes

  1. McHughes
    Added 2 MaxAir II vent covers to keep the rain out and to allow vent to be open while driving. Added Winegard ToGo C2 Roadlink to replace the full motion sat dish. Was a great deal. $30/month for unl AT&T. That is, until AT&T cancelled the plan. New rate $90/month for 22Gb. Not really sure if I'll continue with AT&T. Added Air Force One Toad braking system with Blue Ox Avail tow bar and KarGard II shield. Also added an ISL Toad-Charge for my 2016 F150 4x4.
  2. McHughes
    Adding additional shelves to pantry and clothes cabinets. Image of new and old side by side. New has darker grey felt. Could not find any felt that was a lighter grey. Difficult to tell which is factory and which is the addition once installed.
  3. McHughes
    As for the door grab handle lighting. I removed the door handle brackets and drilled the center out to about 9/16". Dropped a 1156 base flat disk bulb in the hole and twisted on the base from underneath. Then just let it hang on the bulb. Drilled a 3/16" hole through the wall (behind the bracket) and wired the bulb to the porch light in the electrical panel next to the passenger seat. It has been so long ago I no longer have any pictures.
  4. McHughes
    The under slide lights are two strips of LED (amazon for about $12 each) on each side. The inside strip (stuck to the coach wall just inside the slide lip and out of the weather) is an RGB connected to power and controlled by a remote. Think Christmas lighting. The outer strip is white and connected to the cargo bay lights and controlled by the original bay light switch. To get power to the outer strip I ran the two leads down the existing tube on the drivers side that contains the power for the living room slide. On the drivers side I added a tube to pull the wires out with the slide like it does on the opposite side. Used a 1/2" piece of PEX tubing. You can see it in the pictures. Pretty easy to do. Great lighting when needing to access the cargo bays at night as well as indirect lighting for the campsite that does not disturb the neighbors.
  5. McHughes
    I think by mid 2008 Monaco was on the downward slide so materials and workmanship began to suffer. Interestingly enough my brothers 2015 Newmar Ventana has the same issue at just 25k miles. Those LED puck lights were less than $5 each off amazon.
  6. McHughes
    Yes, American cherry. Most of the stain was provided to me by Roy on irv2.com. This was mixed by Sherwin-Williams. I mixed that with 20% Rustoleum Traditional Cherry. Finish is three coats of oil based poly. In direct sunlight the colors match. In the shadows it appears a little more red. I do like cherry variations with sapwood being more red and heartwood being lighter. Makes the wood interesting. Ron and Amy, That is what the seats looked like at 35,000 miles. Material just flaked off down to the fabric backing. Just cheap imitation ultra-leather I think. Those lights are just a cherry wood plank with two or three puck lights bought off amazon. Held on by Camco drawer latches. The ones over the couch and table have touch dimmers.
  7. McHughes
    Added side table next to drivers seat. Thanks to poddville on irv2.com Manaco Owners Group for a great idea.Construction, materials and finish are an exact match to original Monaco cabinets. Corian top with adjustable shelf.
  8. McHughes
    Replaced 6 tires with new Michelin 275/70 22.5 XZA2, added Centramatic balancers and polished rims. Local tire dealer (Tim Wells Tire) beat the FMCA discounted price. Date code showed less than 2 months old.
  9. McHughes
    Added Safe-T-Plus steering stabilizer along with Hendersons on-the-fly Trim Unit. Changed out the fixed thermostat in the water heater to a temp adjustable one.
  10. McHughes
    Installed LED lighting in the outside door handle. Replaced the porch light with motion sensing. Added LED lighting under the kitchen and living room slides. Installed a queen Sleep Number mattress. Rewired all bedroom outlets to run through the inverter. Previously the bedroom outlets required either generator or city power. New mattress hung over the end of the platform and sagged after some time so we extended it about 3".
  11. McHughes
    Battery upgrade. 4 Battleborn 100ah Lifep04, Replaced the Big Boy and BIRD with a LI-BIM, replaced the control board in the Magnum 2012-02 inverter/charger and replaced the remote control with an ME-ARC. Added a switch in the hallway to be able to energize the relay without having to turn on the ignition. Changed chassis batteries to Odyssy Extreme 1150CCA AGM's. Batteries are bolted down to prevent theft and to secure in the event of an accident. Didn't like the idea of having a single GFCI outlet controlling every outlet in the coach. Especially since Samsung does not recommend the fridge be connected through a GFCI. In the last couple of years I have had 2 instances of nuisance tripping caused by the fridge. The two outlets by the kitchen, one in central bath and the one in the toilet area are now on their own individual GFCI outlets. Propane and carbon monoxide detectors timed out so they were replaced. Added two new Kidde smoke alarms (one in driver area and one in the bedroom) and added a third smoke/CO detector in the kitchen area.
  12. McHughes
    Replaced the 1.5 din original radio with a 2 din Magnadyne M6. With Android , Touch Screen, Blue Tooth, WiFi, DVD Video, Apps, 4 Camera inputs and GPS Always liked the feel of a leather steering wheel. Tired of those curtains. Installed Automotion Shades in the cockpit. Wood trim to match existing cabinets.
  13. McHughes
    Since purchasing this coach we couldn't figure out why the bathroom had such foul odors. Eventually figured out the pump shaft seals were leaking in the Tecma Toilet pump. Replaced it only to find it worse. On close inspection we saw that the new pump housing was cracked at the hose connection. Replaced it again. At last, no more odor, after almost 4 years of living with it. While at the 419th Maintenance session we stopped by the Lambright showroom near Shipshewanna IN and replaced the convertible sofa with a power recliner sofa. Pretty much hated that old sofa. Killed your back. This was a perfect fit. When we returned we made a custom mounting frame to use the existing holes in the slide floor to bolt it down.
  14. McHughes
    After seeing what people were doing with their entry steps at QZ we decided to do ours. And added entry LED lights controlled by magnetic door sensor. Come on automatically when door is opened. The original switch now enables/disables the lights. Water pump was aging and starting to randomly shut off as well as minor leak. Bought a better one on Amazon and had it shipped to a friends farm in Oregon. Installed it in the Elks parking lot. Like many we installed the VMS-PC and BlueFire systems, IPAD for Co-Pilot GPS as well as TST tire monitor. TST repeater installed in bedroom closet.
  15. McHughes
    Floor rollers had gouged the bottom of the bed frame causing it to drag on the carpet. Installed stainless panels to fix and while at it decided to replace all the carpet. Felt I needed to know more about the battery charge condition so we installed a Magnum BMK to go along with the ME2012-02 inverter/charger Upgraded the Bat Wing antenna and indoor control. While at it we converted the on/off switch for the sat dish to a charge outlet for the new hot spot router. Solar panels now occupy the space where the full motion dish was. This coach didn't come with the Magnum Auto Generator Start we added it. Mounted to the side of the inverter/charger.
  16. McHughes
    Now that I have a residential fridge I should have solar panels. Installed 8 100w Renogy panels and 40a Commander controller. Shift panel was worn and had a burnt out display. Priced a used one from salvage yard. Price was higher than an new one. So a new one it is. Decided my neck couldn't take watching the front tv from the sofa any longer so we removed the jack knife sofa and built a tv/fireplace/work table unit. Matching Corian top. Lots of counter space. 43" Samsung TV with Samsung Blue Ray player and 4K Roku. Dimplex 28" Multi-Fire XHD fire box.
  17. McHughes
    Sanded, clear coated and polished headlights. Changed bulbs to LED's from M4. Amazing improvement in lighting. Norcold doors wore out and would no longer shut. You could feel the cold air flowing out the bottom of the doors. Cost of new doors and seals we much more than the Samsung RF18 so in it goes. Created a steel base platform, vented on the sides and bolted it down to the floor and wall. Later I added Camco drawer catches based on examples given to me by Jim in Vegas. No longer have to worry about putting in "fridge fixer",
  18. McHughes
    Replaced tank monitors with See-Level gauges. Removed a 5 gallon bucket of wires from the old gauge system. Added side turn signals. Amber in behind front tire, red behind rear tire. Replace all the day/night shades with "Automotion" roller shades.
  19. McHughes
    Replaced kitchen drawers that were only 12" deep with 18" drawers and changed to soft close slides. Also added a pull out drawer under the stove. Fuse/relay circuit board had a burnt off the prong holding the air conditioner fan relay. repaired it and replace the condenser fan that was drawing too much power. Relay had melted and scorched the adjoining relays. Nearly had a fire.
  20. McHughes
    Installed the first prototypes of the front and rear watts. Again, major improvement. Still not completely fixed. Installed the TRW steering gear box after discussing with Craig several times. Only had about 3/4 inch of play in the wheel but it was enough to be irritating. Finally, the steering /handling issues are fixed. Drives like it should.
  21. McHughes
    On the next trip to Quartzsite Wanda and I sat in on a seminar on refrigerator fires given by "Mac the Fire Guy". So in went the fire suppression behind the Norcold. Eventually removed the Norcold and installed an RF18. It was just about this time, after several long trips we decided that we just couldn't take the poor driving any longer. So after a few months talking with Van we installed cross bars on both front and rear. While we were at it we installed new Koni shocks. Tremendous improvement in handling. But not fixed.
  22. McHughes
    Tired of the oil droplets on the toad so I installed a Moroso crank case vent tank. I later removed the filter and ran a plastic hose up and to the right rear of the coach. Drain it annually and get about 2 ounces of oil and sometimes a little water. Since this coach spent some of its time in Indiana there was surface rust and salt damage to repair. Blasted the undercarriage with "Black Magic" slag and redid the undercoating. While I had it in the air I replaced the front wheel bearings and seals and installed the wet hubs.
  23. McHughes
    One of the first upgrades was to replace the fake ultra-leather on the captains chairs. Found a local company, Velvet Touch Upholstery, who agreed to recover both for $500 each. Was originally going to use real ultra-leather but the shop convinced me to use a heavy duty premium grade marine vinyl. Looks the same but not as soft. I doubt the will ever wear out.
  24. McHughes
    Hi Bob, I, like you, have so many mods I'm tempted to create a thread just for this coach.
  25. McHughes
    OK, I'll start New grilles for the Air Conditioners and Fantastic Fans and replacements for the fluorescent lights . I had posted this on irv2 but thought it might be OK here as well.
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