throgmartin

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.

10 hours ago, Dr4Film said:

Just a followup from my previous post in regards to the Shell Truck Stop at Exit 10 on I-26 where i saw that they had diesel for $195 as was posted last Friday on Gas Buddy. Well to my surprise when i finally arrived there just before noontime today, the price had be reduced to $1.79. WooooHoooo! Tipped the coach and filled it right to the very brim. Drove another 165 miles to anther Shell Truck Fueling station off of I-95 south where diesel was $2.02 so filled up once again.

I know that diesel in GA and FL will be a lot higher than in South Carolina.

Just checked Gas Buddy for the price of diesel at my local Shell station in Flagler Beach, $2.09 / gallon. Wow, not bad! When we left last July it was $2.59 / gallon. Thank you America for being energy independent.

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.

You may want to check with Verlinks. They have the OEM plastic tanks as well as a straight metal tank. I am not a fan of Source tanks. Their other products are good but there have been issues with the surge tank. I know of 2 members on here who had problems with their welds and had to send them back for replacements. One of the members posted on here about his experience and he was livid as he said the welds looked like a grade school kid did them. I seen the pictures of the weld and had to agree with him they were pretty bad. This is why we use one welder who is certified to tig weld pressure vessels.

Monaco never used a standardized tank. I wished they would have. That is why Amy is OCD on measurements. Some of the tanks I have seen on the upper end models are real strange. Most of the aftermarket tanks, including ours is built for the middle to lower end models. I do not know of anyone who custom makes tanks to specific measurements. The cost would be almost double to do a one off tank. We have not considered doing any other size tanks as the engineering drawings, the CAD drawings and then the Cad machine setup would be a lot of money. We only sell the one tank that is specific for the majority of Monaco's and we only use 304 stainless with 316 stainless fittings and sight glass.

The shurflo is not a standard Sani Con pump. Sani Con is manufactured by Thetford. They do make replacement pumps for the Sani Con Turbo models.

You will love the motion LED porch lights.

You may want to consider this one. The owner of the company Gregg is a close friend of mine. He has been a long time supporter of Monaco coach owners and owns a Sig. The light he sells he invented himself. It puts out no RF's so wont interfere with remotes and is the brightest porch light on the market. He stands behind his product. Gregg and Vivian are great people and I am sure many of you have met them in the past.

http://greggwilsondesigns.com/

4 hours ago, Jim McGarvie said:

Thanks, Chris, I just placed the order on the website. Should I still call Amy?

 

Yes, give her a call Jim.

Jim, yes they are in stock. We had an order from a dealer in Europe come in so we did another production run. Call Amy on Monday and she can help you - 352-942-2653

Jim:

We only sell one model. Our website shows the tank as well as has the measurements so you can be sure it fits.

http://talinman.com/talin-vector-coolant-surge-tank/

Amen Dave..........

Speaking of slides and electric........ Last month Dustin, my Tech that works for us went through and fixed and upgraded numerous things on my coach. I told him my front flush floor slide has run slow since the day we bought the coach new. Numerous techs have looked at it in the past and found nothing wrong with it. I have had a few times in the past where Ingrid had to bring the slide in while I pushed on it.

Dustin came back into my office in 30 minutes with a fist full of wires and a relay in his hand. He found Monaco double relayed the slide which caused low voltage at the motor through increased resistance. He removed the extra relay and the slide work like it normally should. 15 years, multiple tech diagnoses and he finds the problem in 10 minutes. I was happy but also PO'ed it was never caught before. I even had it back to the selling dealer twice and they said everything was fine.

One never knows what happens to our coaches while they are going down the line being built.

Jim:

If you look across several RV sales sites you will find listing prices. I have found RV Trader has some insane asking prices. PPL motorhomes has pricing that is more in line with the current market and are closer to what coaches actually sell for. I watch several sites including e-bay. I wholesaled our first coach off E-Bay from a dealer, drove it for 2 years and sold it for what I paid. Some coach owners get ridiculous with their asking prices which all relates back to thinking what they own is gold. The art of selling is hitting the right price point where you get a decent sales price.

What I have done in the past and what dealers do is price a rig at a slightly higher price then you want without scaring a potential buyer away yet having some room to negotiate. Everyone loves a deal so by listing slightly higher you can come down on price and give them their deal. The trick is to post the right listing price. There are some sales people at some dealers who if you ask them what wholesale is and what they would realistically sell your coach for on their lot they will give you the numbers. I have a buddy in the industry that once or twice a year gives me the wholesale price on my coach based on recent auction prices. I admit sometimes I cry. What we think our coach is worth and what reality is are always 2 different things. This is why I own a 15 year old coach that we bought brand new. What I could get for our coach and what I could buy makes me realize I am better off holding onto what we already own. It is paid for and I am not going back to payments. The depreciation on my coach has hit the level where its value goes down minimally unlike a newer coach.

I have finally reached the age where any money I spend now is going towards an appreciating asset and not a depreciating one like a coach. See if you can get a salesman to give you some accurate numbers on what to list your coach at.

Just an update on coach prices in case someone is buying or selling.

While many rely on Kelley Blue Book for prices, the true and actual value of your coach is more reliable using the dealers Black Book. This gives a much truer representation of what coaches are selling for at auction. For those who may not understand the auction prices, dealers are trading ( buying and selling ) at auctions constantly. A coach sitting on a lot at Lazy days in Tampa on Monday maybe sitting on a lot at RV ONE in Orlando on Friday. Dealers buy these coaches at auction ( black book ) prices which change by the week.

What is interesting is not only are new unit dealer inventories down but dealers are also short on supply of used coaches. This issue is two fold. 1.) Fewer new coaches are being sold which means fewer used trade ins. 2.) Many coach owners are not selling their rigs and electing to hold on to them. This is why I ( along with other members ) are getting e-mails every week from select dealers asking if we are interested in selling our coach. It would be a cold day in hell BTW before I would ever sell my coach to a dealer. Selling to them at auction prices is not on my list of things to ever do.

Here are the latest Black Book numbers. I find it very interesting how the Pandemic created a buyers market a few short months ago to a now sellers market. It all goes back to supply and demand and people are finding that RV'ing vacations beats the heck out of hotels and airline travel during this Covid nightmare.

https://rv-pro.com/news/wholesale-rv-values-continue-to-set-records/?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20201021 RVP ENEWS (1)&utm_content=&spMailingID=23980633&spUserID=NjE3MjYxMTUxOTYzS0&spJobID=1841332972&spReportId=MTg0MTMzMjk3MgS2

If you remove a window you should clean the surface of the frame and coach side wall. When re-setting the window use butyl tape between the frame and coach wall. Be sure the seam ( the ends of the tape ) are placed at the bottom. Tighten the window using a star pattern. Once the window is back in place caulk the frame using Proflex RV caulking. 

I believe as we get old we understand the struggles of living a long healthy life. This probably is why we now have an appreciation for all living creatures.

I was an avid hunter and spent every spare hour I had in the field. I can remember days I would take my hunting dog and gear to work with me so I could head straight to the field after I left work. Since I have gotten older I no longer hunt and leave my passion for firearms to the gun range. I give a pass to all living creatures these days except poisonous snakes and rats. One only has to be bitten by a poisonous snake once like I have and go through hell afterwards to have an appreciation of snuffing their life out. We have resident black snakes that I love having around but the poisonous ones get dispatched. The same holds true for rats. Had them chew up the wiring on my tractor and that pretty much ended my giving a pass to them.

I find it interesting to see how our mind set changes as we age. We suddenly reach a point in our older life where we see things we never did before and have an appreciation for many things we never did as young adults. And this I might add is a good thing. On a decent into Tampa airport yesterday evening I marveled at the cloud formations. When I was 21 I could have cared less. As we age we all of sudden see all these little things and think...... Wow..... How cool is that. 🙂

Drum brakes on our coach are prone to sticking if the coach has been parked for a while. This is especially true if you drove in rain and then parked.

Moisture collects between the drum and brake shoes and rust forms quickly. Typically after driving a short distance the rust clears on the drums and shoes and the brakes return to normal. In regards to periodic maintenance the air brake system at each wheel should be lubed and the slack adjusters checked. And Scotty, mark it down on your calendar, you are correct. All Monaco coaches came with drum brakes except the higher end models. Hard to believe a Mississippi Bulldog could be right but it does happen now and then. 🙂

I tow our show trailer which is 30 ft from ball to rear bumper. I never found any wireless camera solution. Because I normally travel to rally's alone my biggest problem was dropping the trailer and then lining up on the ball when I was ready to leave. I ended up with two camera systems and 2 monitors. One camera is mounted high on the rear cap and the other is mounted half way in the center of the rear cap. One is tilted to give me a clear view across the trailer and the traffic behind me. The other points down towards the hitch helping me align the ball. It never fails, I get ready to leave a rally and there isn't anyone around to help me spot when I am hooking up the trailer.

All my horse friends who trailer their horses do it with pickup's. It is easy to get a wifi signal using a pickup. Once you hook a 40 ft coach to a trailer you wont pick up a signal 70 ft behind the monitor. If you find a solution please let me know. Thanks. Speaking of horses, I see a ride coming in my near future. I miss the horse life. 🙂

Believe it or not your very best source of information will be a marine upholsterer. They deal with these types of ceilings all the time in boats and yachts. They also deal with mold issues.

While I am an upholsterer my specialty is NOT marine fabrication. There are tricks to the trade and these types of ceilings have many tricks including sourcing the right materials such as glues, vinyl, scrim/foam, etc. If you have a marine upholsterer close to you who does boat interiors you may want to check with them. Sorry I cannot be of much help.

Steve:

Trust me - you WILL need door locks. My doors on my Whirlpool were nice and tight too. I made an invasive move because of a jackwagon who got stupid inn front of me and heard a helluva crash. The doors opened and all the contents in the fridge and freezer ended up on the floor. I invented some new curse words when that happened. I installed locks right after that incident. I also installed some expanding rods that are similar to curtain rods on the shelves to hold everything in place. I bought those fridge rods at Camping World.

Like my buddy Richard I wondered why I ever held on to that POS Norcold for as long as I did. I threw so much time and money at it fixing that thing. I had just did another recall fix on it, replaced the heaters and fans and the circuit board and the cooling unit went. When I tore it out I dragged it to the doorway and literally kicked it out onto the patio. I wanted to grab my 9 mm and fill it with holes I was so PO'ed. I installed the whirlpool, did a happy dance and never looked back. Just wished I would have done that long before I threw time, money and parts at that Norcold.

Your install looks great. I really like the fridge. Looks awesome. I went with a 2 door model but then I am not a Veterinarian so couldn't afford a fancy fridge like you got. 🙂 😁

The used pickup market is nuts. Used trucks in good shape and with decent mileage are commanding huge bucks. If it is a diesel it is really bringing big bucks. I never buy new and always buy a one or two yr old vehicle. When I was looking for a new pickup 2 years ago I was floored over the used truck prices. Just so happened Ram had a big rebate program going at the time on the 2500 heavy duty trucks. Between that rebate plus a commercial vehicle rebate I ended up buying a new truck for almost the same as a used one. I believe the total rebate package came to $ 13,500.

21 hours ago, JDStew said:

Chris - Always fun to read your posts. Do you have a weekly podcast or other blog you maintain?

I have never considered a Podcast or blog. I have all the equipment to do a podcast but never considered doing one. I hope my wife doesn't read this. She will be all over me to do a Podcast. 🙂

The slobber tube comes out of a square box typically located on top of the rocker box ( valve cover ). It will go down the side of the engine and will end near the back of the engine near the frame rail. The tube will be cut off and open.

I had the same problem with Tire Tracker. I talked with a rep at a rally and he suggested I buy a new monitor. I ended up throwing the entire system out. Every trip I made was a headache. Over the years I have used every TPMS on the market ( Tire Tracker, Tire Minder, Pressure Pro, Doral, etc.) and had issues with false alerts, no signals, etc.

I finally went with TST and have never had an issue. It has saved me 3 times when I had tires starting to lose air on our show trailer. The factory support from TST is second to none. I know their manager and their lead tech Jim G and both are excellent people who truly support their customers. I have had the TST system installed for going on 4 years and it has been a solid performer.

I just wished I would have went with TST at the start. I have thrown a pile of money away screwing around with the other systems.

For those who maybe considering selling their coaches, now could be a good time. Wholesale prices have shot up considerably since April.

I subscribe to a lot of industry publications so I am always monitoring used coach prices and wanted to share his latest article which shows an increase in asking prices. It appears sellers are getting decent prices for their used coaches and dealers are paying more as well on trade ins. Some of the amazing deals I seen earlier in the pandemic are starting to become far and few between. This is not to say that you can list your coach at ridiculous prices and expect to get it but rather you can expect a better price then earlier in the year.

The lower end coaches and older coaches seem to be selling well and commanding decent prices while there appears to be some pricing pressures on the high end units. I believe some of this has to do with buyers having the funds to do cash deals on the lower end coaches versus scrambling to get financing on the higher end coaches.

I would caution you on using NADA blue book prices when pricing your coach. Just like the used car markets, values are set by what dealers are paying at auctions. If you look at this chart in this brief article you will see auction prices have gone up on motorhomes. This relates back to you expecting to get more money for a trade in or on an outright sale. Just remember there are a lot of factors involved in pricing - 1.) Mileage 2.) Condition of the coach 3.) Upgrades 4.) Tires and batteries 5.) Paint 6.) History with maintenance records, etc.

As for myself, while our coach is worth more today then in April we still are not planning on selling or upgrading. Our coach is paid off and I have no desire to reset the clock and start payments over again. The other factor is I know our coach inside and out and it has been an awesome coach for us giving us little problems. I am not going to roll the dice on buying a lemon or a headache. One other issue is that we may get a better price if we sell now but will pay more for another coach. It appears to be a wash. At this stage in our life we are looking at investing in appreciating assets not depreciating ones. 🙂

Here is the latest MH / Towable values based on recent auctions:   https://rv-pro.com/news/black-book-wholesale-rv-values-head-higher/?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20200923 RVP ENEWS (1)&utm_content=&spMailingID=23844026&spUserID=NjE3MjYxMTUxOTYzS0&spJobID=1821454555&spReportId=MTgyMTQ1NDU1NQS2

19 hours ago, Pampero said:

This is a Marine canvas shop, and actually he show me the Textilene product instead of the Sumbrella, he says he uses it to make same sunshade covers for boats windows and the material has more color options and it is cheaper than the Sumbrella. Yes he has looooong tables, I used him before when I used to be a boater.

He will do a great job for you. Marine fabricators are very well versed in working with these types of jobs. Hope they come out great for you.