throgmartin

I debated whether to chime in here or not. I was a shock dealer so seen the good and the bad. I started doing shock seminars and my buddy who was the shock engineer for Jeff Gordon helped me put the outline together for the seminar. Ironically this topic just came up during a recent camping trip with Dave Pratt and Van Williams. We discussed the Koni's, Bilsteins and the aftermarket custom shocks made by Source. For some background, Dave Pratt has years of racing experience as a driver including the 24 hours at Daytona. Van Williams as everyone knows is a roadmaster chassis expert and guru. Myself, I worked in Nascar's Winston Cup series for years and spent time in shock dyno rooms. In regards to the roadmaster, the softest ride you will get will come from Monroe's but you give up some handling. They produce a soft ride but have a wallowing effect in turns. By all practical terms, the Monroe is a 30 K mile shock. After that it is toast. The Koni's will produce the stiffest ride and is best for handling but you give up the soft ride component. The Bilsteins are all valved to be a middle of the road shock giving you good handling and ride comfort. My professional opinion is to run with Bilsteins as I know they were developed and valved for the roadmaster chassis. If you do not mind changing your shocks every 30,000 miles and want a soft ride go with Monroes. If all you want is handling then go with Koni's. If you do run Koni's you should periodically check your shock mounts. It is a known fact that the rebound rates and stiffness of the Koni's have resulted in busted off shock mounts on roadmasters. We have had several members here experience it. In regards to custom aftermarket shocks similar to Source, while they may be good shocks the three of us with vast backgrounds in shock dynamics and tuning feel they are a waste of money for coaches. One has to remember a custom shock is nothing more then a re-valved/tuned shock which changes the dampening effects and rebound rates. Since we are driving 40,000 lb coaches at 65 mph versus a 2,500 lb race car on high banked tracks at 175 mph, re-valving a stock Bilstein is a waste of time and money. The difference you feel in the cockpit and at the wheel will be negligible. In conclusion, the stock Bilstein shock is the best all around shock for a roadmaster chassis. The smoothest riding chassis out there ( outside of Prevost, Newells and Foretravels ) is the Spartan K3 mountain master. It comes right from the factory with Bilsteins. There is a reason why they use them. 🙂 I might also add if you are looking for handling improvement, shocks wont give that to you. You need to look at chassis modifications which includes upgrades to the TRW steering gear, Monaco Watts link and rear cross bars. The handling of a coach is a complicated subject that has to do with roll centers, weight transfers, chassis dynamics during turning, etc. This is how Van Williams and Craig French came up with the idea and developed the Monaco Watts link and rear cross bar systems. They concentrated solely on the chassis itself without paying any attention to shocks.

It looks and sounds like it jumped a tooth on one of the gears. Common issue on bedroom slides with a 2 track system. Depending on what is on this slide will determine the access to the gears. Each coach is different. Some are accessed through a false panel, some have a hatch near the rear fender well which requires removing a rear tire. The combinations are different. If you want to call my office and ask to speak to my tech, Dustin he can walk you through your issue and help troubleshooting the issue. We are really busy at the shop so please be patient with him getting back to you. Here is Amy ( my director ) phone number 352-942-2653. Tell her I personally referred you and you need to talk to Dustin.

Jeff, the truckers seats are awesome. I considered one myself. I sat in Dave Pratt's truckers seat that he has in his Foretravel and it was awesome. It has everything including air ride suspension, massage, heat and cooling and a bunch of other options. His is all leather and I cannot remember the price but I believe it is in the thousands once all the options are added. My only advice is before anyone buys a truckers seat is that they take real good measurements of the base attachment points. I believe not all truckers seats will bolt into a coach. It may require an adapter plate so be sure and research a truckers seat well before buying one. If it will fit then they are a great option.

I wont touch the electric vehicle topic of this post. Never owned one and never will. But that is just my own preference and my own personal needs dictates me driving a gas guzzling Ram 2500. Almost every trip I make requires me to take our show trailer. If we tow a car it is my wife's GMC Terrain. In regards to trailer power my enclosed trailer has 30 amp shore power. I have 12 v and 120 volt lights and 120 v outlets. In all of my travels and the events I have attended only once did I ever have the ability to plug into shore power. For the most part the trailer is always stored somewhere remote on the grounds. Because of this I have installed solar panels on the roof with 12 v battery but use it strictly for the electric jack and interior lights as well as the Girard power awning. I think most people forget that throwing batteries into an enclosed trailer is not an easy task. Enclosed trailers are limited on weight ( 7,000 or 10,000 lbs ) and the trick is weight distribution. There is nothing worse ( or more dangerous ) then driving a trailer that has cargo placed to far forward or too far back. You get your weight distribution off and you will know it. That is why I always use a tongue weight scale before heading out on a trip to get my weight distributed perfectly. All of our coaches have a limit of 1,000 lbs on tongue weight. So where do you throw that battery bank without placing too much load on the front ? Placing it in the back will impede the loading of the car. I am not up to speed on electric vehicles, especially the Tesla. I do know they have certain power requirements for charging and takes a special plug. How this will work in campgrounds I am not sure. There are many other members out there that would have a better idea of the requirements including our solar/charging guru Bill Groves. All I can tell you is charging a Tesla out of an enclosed trailer is going to require shore power. I cannot see how solar would work.

Jeff, I would have to see it in person to fully diagnose it. I have never seen a zip dee roller tube bend in the middle. That roller tube is very stout. The spring ends probably need to be lubed and then the awning cycled numerous times and then lubed again. Use Boeshield T-9 for the lubricant. For the most part Zip Dee produces some of the very best awning assemblies going which is why you find a lot of them on Prevosts and Newells. One down side to Zip Dee's is they all come with sunbrella fabric and sunbrella is the very worst acrylic fabric you can use on an RV. It has a strange bias to it which promotes stretching in some areas and shrinkage in another. Sunbrella used to be the gold standard but the quality has gone down hill big time. I am being told by our fabric consultants that their 60 " rolls are now produced in China. It took a huge dive in 2009 when they changed their finish formula. If you want to send the photo's to Amy and ask her to have Dustin review them he can give you a better idea. Dustin is our zip dee expert and has a ton of experience working on them. I am going out on a trip for a week and wont be available or I would review them myself. If you need new fabric let Amy know. We are the only aftermarket company in North America that makes fabric replacements for Zip Dees. We always use our Coachguard ( German made ) fabric on them. One last tidbit, Zip Dee's do NOT like sitting for long periods of time. They have to be operated from time to time as you have found out.

That awning is an old A & E Weathermax. Probably an 8500 series. A & E was bought out by Dometic. I do not have my parts catalog but if you call Amy who runs Talin RV for me she can help you. You will have to send her the photos. Her e-mail address is: amy@talinrv.com. Her direct number is - 352-942-2653

Scotty, my buddy here in Brooksville used to do all of the seats that customers brought in. He was a master and his work with classic and custom car interiors was impeccable. Unfortunately he is in semi retirement mode now and is getting real picky on what work he takes in ( which is now very limited ). Coach seats is one thing he dropped from his work lineup. There is a place by you just outside Atlanta that does coach seats. I have seen his work and it was impressive. They also have real fast turnaround times. One of our members had his seats done there ( Scott Philips ). Send him a PM and he can give you their name. If you can't reach Scott let me know and I will call him.

You could have Zip Dee's. If you can post a picture I can tell you who they were made by.

Jim: I have lost track of the number of coach owners who lost their proverbial butt's dealing with brokers and were nearly financially destroyed. The list is long of the brokers who did transactions and made off with the money ( and in some circumstances the title ). For the most part, these brokers are scam artists and many are doing time in prison now for the transactions they performed. My best advice is to stay clear of brokers the same way you would for Covid. While their maybe a few good legitimate brokers out there trying to find one is a risky move on your part. Sell it the old fashion way - List it and handle the transaction yourself.

Bradd at Bradd and Hall is a good place to start. Seating for coaches has went through a big change and there are new players in the game now since Flexsteel closed down their RV seating division. I looked the other day and seen names I never heard of. If your coach is mid-2000's vintage then I can assure you foam technology has changed considerably since then. As an upholsterer by trade I personally have seen some of the new foams on the market and they offer more comfort but you have to get a high quality seat to get it. I am going to be pulling my two seats and recovering them in a week. I am going to be doing a memory foam blend to make them more comfortable. Any auto upholsterer that is good at his trade can recover and customize your current seat by re-using some of the current foam base and then molding in new memory foam and maybe even using a gel insert. You may want to consider recovering what you have. The cost will be north of $ 750 - 800 dollars. I am sure some people will come on here and say " I seen new seats for $ 900 ". Trust me when I say they are not worth the money. So yes, you can get new seats cheap but the foam and vinyl will be of poor quality and they will break down fast. One other benefit of having your seats recovered is you can select a very high quality marine vinyl instead of the cheap crap that comes on new seats. Do not get fooled by the trade names leatherete, ultraleather, etc. They are all vinyl but use leather in their names to hype the product. The only true leather seats now days come in the big buses - Prevost, Newell & Foretravel ). Sig's, Exec's and some Dynastys used to come with leather seating but not anymore. For the record I do not do upholstery anymore. I am NOT looking forward to recovering my own seats let alone doing them for a customer. They are a royal PITA and there is not enough money to make me even want to consider doing a set of seats. I am recovering mine simply because I want to do a complete re-work of the foam and trust me when I say I am doing it grudgingly. They are extremely time consuming, labor intensive and I am sure I am going to ruin some vinyl simply because auto upholstery is out of my area of expertise. I know the trade but my work was not in autos so it will be a learn and go thing. The only reason I am doing them myself is so I can experiment with the foam placement and continually check the comfort and fit before finishing them off. Sewing is never an issue for me but bolster placement, correct patterning and hog ringing is something I am not looking forward to. One last tidbit. Expect to wait if you want them recovered. There is a shortage now of good quality and expert auto upholsterers. This class of upholsterers are highly skilled in automotive upholstery and like doctors, upholsterers all specialize. A furniture guy will probably be bad at auto work. Like wise a marine person wont be good either. My expertise is in marine/canvas work. I am the last person you would want doing your seat because it would take me a year of sundays to complete. There are tricks to each specialty and auto's happens to be the very worse. You want an expert who specializes in auto interiors and typically their shops are backed up just because there are very few of them. They also charge more simply because they can.

I tow an enclosed trailer. I am 70 ft long and have no issues. I get in and out of parking lots fine and the coach doesn't even know it is back there. With that said I would not want to be going in and out of campgrounds and resorts with it. You will have to be real picky and vigilant with CG's and check the drives through google maps, etc. as well as make sure they have storage. If you do get an enclosed trailer make damn sure it is a V-nose with an extended tongue. I know guys who had a flat nose trailer with a standard tongue and forgot about their limited turning radius and punched holes in the rear cap of their coach or destroyed their ladder. They are awesome to have for storage as well as haul a car around but can be a royal pain sometimes and do require ongoing maintenance - greasing the bearings, etc. If you have an issue with a trailer for sure it will be with the tires. I had nothing but problems till I changed all of them out to Goodyear Advantages. That ended the tire problems on the trailer. Before that I got stuck on the side of the highway with flat tires. Richard Smith ( DR4Film ) has towed an enclosed trailer with car behind a coach more miles then anyone I know of. He could offer much more input then I can as I have only towed our trailer for 2 years and then only to events and rally's where there is always a huge host of parking options. Richard has towed for years and tens of thousands of miles with an enclosed trailer.

Once upon a time, in my younger years I worked in operations for a power company. From stoker boilers to cyclones and then super critical boilers we provided power to Lansing, Mi via these coal fired power plants. Ask any power plant operator and they will recount spending every day ramping up power in the morning and then dropping power at night as the load's on the grids changed. Power grids are in a constant state of flux. They rise and fall with the demands placed on it. It changes by the outside temperature, by the hour of the day and by the day of the week. On hot weekdays we ran full tilt and on weekends we ramped down. While not environmentally friendly, coal and gas has the ability to ramp up and down at a moments notice to keep the grid stable and satisfy the power requirements of a community. While solar and wind are nice warm fuzzy feeling energy alternatives they should be viewed as nothing more then supplements to the grid. They are unreliable and cannot be ramped up or down and are completely dependent on mother nature and we all know how fickle she is. Going to all wind and solar to supply the numerous power grids is a recipe for disaster. If our country ever went zero emissions on our power grid you can look for rolling black and brown outs just like CA is experiencing. While battery storage could offer a life line to green power, the costs are out of this world expensive when you consider the amount of battery storage you would need for even a small city. I see no way of ever eliminating coal and gas from our energy needs to fuel our power grids. I also agree with Bob Nodine, nuclear is the best way to go. Despite what many say, it is safe due to the fact that nuke plants are under some of the toughest requirements known to power companies. Going forward I think a new direction needs to be taken in regards to green power and that includes the fact that green power should be considered nothing more then a supplement. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/aug/18/california-rolling-blackouts-caused-green-energy-p/

The surge guard 4000 is simply a transfer switch. The 41260 is also a transfer switch and also provides surge protection as well as protects against bad power or open grounds. The 41260 model is the unit Bill Groves suggested I get. With Bill being a switching/relay engineer and having decades of experience I go by what he specifies. One word of caution, it is very large and one should be sure they have enough space in their electrical bay before buying it. My tech had a helluva time installing it and had to get creative when mounting it. In the end it did fit next to my cord reel but it ate up most the space in the bay. It also is a 2 person job as it weighs a lot. That extra set of hands helps. Here is the model I am using: https://www.amazon.com/Surge-Guard-41260-Automatic-Transfer/dp/B004A30I78/ref=sr_1_1?crid=UGKVX8VWVCKB&dchild=1&keywords=surge+guard+41260+automatic+rv+transfer+switch+50+amp&qid=1605816046&sprefix=surge+guard+41260%2Caps%2C186&sr=8-1

It is about time manufacturers start looking at composites for floors to get rid of the wood. It would not be so bad if they used marine grade plywood but they use low bid plywood that rots like crazy. If some of you have not recently looked at the plywood in 5th wheels, TT and toy haulers lately you would be shocked to see the low grade plywood they are using. It will be a while before the coach builders switch to composite but once one manufacturer does it will put pressure on the others to follow suit. Technology has really advanced composite development which can be seen in the aircraft of today along with many other industries. I am guessing we are a decade away from coaches coming out with composite flooring but I for one will be happy to see it take place. Here is the article: https://rv-pro.com/features/working-away-from-wood-find-footing-in-rv-flooring/?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20201106 RVP ENEWS (1)&utm_content=&spMailingID=24060257&spUserID=NjE3MjYxMTUxOTYzS0&spJobID=1860442831&spReportId=MTg2MDQ0MjgzMQS2

I was just out cleaning my coach and discovered the tail pipe is nearly rusted in half. I do not want to piece meal the exhaust so am looking for suggestions on a new muffler. I may have a stainless custom stainless exhaust made but will still need a muffler. I know there are some newer type mufflers out there that enhance performance. Can ya'll suggest a muffler brand and supplier for me ? Thanks everyone.

We get extended warranty insurance work at our shop periodically. Good Sam's is the very worst to work with. We have to supply documentation, pictures and explanations as to the scope of the work. More times then not they come back and deny the claim saying the work is normal maintenance or they find some other reason to not pay for the claim. If they do agree to pay they cap the repair at a ridiculous low amount for labor. Customers pay all this money for this insurance and Good Sam's seem to always find a way to weasel out of paying the claim leaving the customer with the bill. Their road service also is a royal pain which is why I have coach net. My suggestion is to find another warranty company to insure with and in regards to road service go with Coach Net.

This is the switch that I recommend. It is the same one most everyone is going to. They are built very well and are heavy duty. Like Bill and Richard both said, the OEM Monaco switches like the picture Richard posted is the bad switch. They can take out inverters, batteries and start fires. Here is the switch you want - https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Systems-Battery-Switch/dp/B000MMC914/ref=psdc_3398691_t2_B00JWZCWI2

You have the old sani con system which is notoriously slow. The new turbo models will empty your tanks in 5 minutes. Many owners buy them because they have to pump to far away clean outs or up hill. The turbo model can pump uphill for 100 ft. We are a sani con dealer and we sell the heck out of them. I believe this last quarter we were the number one dealer for the country outselling Camping World and Lazy days. We have a heck of a time keeping them in stock. The main reason is that we are one of the very few who sell them over the counter versus making you have the dealer install them. I have no idea how many we have sold but we have never had a return or warranty claim. They have been solid performers. Now with all this being said I do not have one on my coach. The main reason is that my techs are so busy they do not have time to install it. Pretty sad when the boss cannot get priority service work. 🙂

Jim, I am not certain but believe it may be a Mirage. If you go to the Carefree website you should be able to find the manual. I do know they had a lot of problems with that assembly in 04/05. The motors were not sealed and would get wet and burn out. My buddy went through 2 of them before a tech finally sealed the new motor. He never had another problem after that. Carefree later corrected the problem by sealing all new motors.

Funny thing happened on the way home. I put on some Motown music, cranked up the volume and Ingrid and I were signing along having a great time. I didn't hear the lady on my Garmin and missed my turn near Mt. Dora. I drove the bus right down main street in Mt Dora and ended up in a residential neighborhood. I pretty much realized I was screwed at that point. I did drive through Tangerine, Florida. Never knew that town existed. 🙂 I made a mental note to next time turn down the radio - shut up - and pay attention when turns are coming up. That was 60 miles and an hour of my time I will never get back. Will make it a point to meet up this winter. It has been a while since we broke bread together. 🙂

Nic: I would give serious consideration to NOT using Michelins since you live in Florida. Unless your coach is garage kept the Florida UV Rays will crack those michelins in 3 years. There are many members here who have experienced it. Michelin makes a great tire but they do not use enough UV inhibitors in their tires. You may want to consider Bridgestones, Yokohamas or Toyo's. I have Yoko's and love them and they are readily available throughout the country. Also, if you currently have 275's on your endeavor I suggest going to 295's. I did this on my ambassador and now run a little less pressure and have a smoother ride not to mention I increased my load capacity on the tires. In regards to flooring, there is nothing technical about it. But make no mistake you will get one helluva work out. My knees and back ached for days after words. One of my friends owns a coach renovation center in Elkhart ( the old Holiday Rambler factory ). She is using a lot of Alterna ( made by Armstrong ) for flooring. I looked at it when I was with her in Tampa and I really like it. So much so I am going to pull up my vinyl planking and replace it with that. Local floor installers hate working on RV's which is why they probably are not showing up. Flooring is definitely a DIY project if you are physically able to. As for furniture there are very few players in the game. Flexsteel is gone out of business. You may want to contact Bradd at Bradd and Hall in Elkhart and talk with him about options. Bradd is a great guy and has been a friend of mine for years. He is a straight shooter and will give you some ideas. If you ever get to Elkhart I suggest you wonder around at some of the surplus RV stores. There is always new furniture laying around at these places. You also may want to check Visones salvage yard. They have late model wrecks including Prevosts. Your other alternative is to go to a Prevost converter and have them custom make one for you. Millenium in Sanford, FL has an awesome upholstery shop and custom make furniture there. I believe Donny Meyers in Orlando also has an upholstery shop. In as far as LED's is considered I have slowly changed my lights over. I am pretty much over ballasts, fluorescent tubes and halogens. Best of luck with your renovation. 🙂

Joe: The majority of electric awnings, whether they are patio, window or door awnings have limit switches. These limit switches allow the travel of the awning to be adjusted to stop at given points. Before ordering a new motor I would first check to be sure your limit switches are not out of whack. Your manual should have a page in it showing how to adjust the switch. A couple years ago I had an attendee at a rally come get me and asked if I would trouble shoot his door awning. It wouldn't extend all the way and wouldn't close all the way. I thought for sure it was the limit switches but before I screwed with those I lubed the pivot points on the arms real well and it worked perfectly after that. Always start troubleshooting with the easiest/dumbest thing first and then work backwards from there. Just some food for thought.

Richard, Ingrid and I just left Flagler Beach Friday ( spent the week at Camptown on the ocean ). Price was $ 2.15 at the gas stations and $ 2.45 at the truck stops. Was going to call you to meet up for dinner but knew you were still up north. Hope to see you guys sometime this winter.

A tight building code enforced area makes projects tougher and more expensive. I did a garage floor pour in Michigan once where the inspector told me flat out I couldn't have floor drains. After he left I ran them anyways, taped off the top of them and did the pour. After the final inspection I took a hammer and chipped the thin layer of cement off the top of the drains, removed the tape and finished them. 🙂 I put in an outdoor poured RV pad at our current house. I am one of those guys when I build something I build it to last. The approach and the first 10 ft of the pad was heavily rebarred and I poured it 8 inches thick. The footer at the lip of the approached I extended 3 ft in at 12 inches deep. If your approach has a slight slant it will be taking a heavy force as the coach pushes onto it and rolls up to the level area of the pad. Cracks or breakage typically happen on the approach as a heavy vehicle transitions onto a level surface. The entire pour was done with 5,000 psi concrete and with fiber mix at 6 inches deep. Pay the extra few dollars and have the fiber added. My pad which I engineered myself is able to bear 80,000 psi. If I am going to build something I make sure I never skimp on materials. In the end the cost differential is minimal and cutting corners to save money on any building project will com e back to haunt you. That is why I went with 5,000 psi / fiber mixed concrete and added more rebar then I needed and extended the footer at the approach. My concrete guy I hired to do the pour took a look and shook his head and asked, what the hell do you plan on parking here a 747 ?

Mark, the fittings are no longer welded into place. We discontinued that option because Monaco routed those lines in different directions on different coaches. I am leaving in an hour on a trip so wont be at the shop. Check with Amy to be sure the tanks we have in inventory have the removable fittings. The other change we went to with the tanks is we went to a large sight glass. The sight glasses we use are fused glass good to 1,200 degrees. They are housed in a 316 stainless housing.