throgmartin

Gary: The white plastic that the slide bottom runs on is called a Glide Bar. On Monaco's and HR's it runs the full length of the slide. Some models have Glide Blocks in the corners in addition to the glide bar. Your ambassador does not have the blocks. The glide bars are only found on flush floor slides. Raised floor slides do not have them Unfortunately the glide bar or blocks are replaceable but the slide has to be pulled. They cannot be accessed without removing the slide. This is a high dollar job as removing the slide eats up a lot of labor hours. The inside wooden trim all has to be pulled, the mechanical assembly all has to be disconnected, electrical wiring pulled, etc. This is why these jobs can run around $ 8,000 at service centers. I have had customers pay over $ 20,000 to have a full wall slide pulled before. We have replaced them but typically do not take those jobs on. We do not have a slide pulling machine. We manufactured our own glide bar on one job using a specialized plastic that was harder then OEM and better quality. Feel free to contact Bethany to talk with me and she will chase me down. 352-942-2653. Let her know you are an old friend of mine. If you have an issue with your glide bar, before throwing money at it I would be more then happy to look at it and advise you on a direction for repairs if needed. I am guessing you are in Florida for the winter ? I forgot to mention, these glide bars rarely ever fail. I have seen them crack, break in half before and most of the time it was caused by either a bad floor where the white laminate underneath tore up and got caught on the glide bar. In other cases it was because something got caught in it. I myself have pulled knives, forks, spoons, wrench, dog toys, cat toys, dozens of pens and pencils, and my tech removed a compact 9mm handgun out from underneath a slide that got caught up between the floor and glide bar. The customers comment was " d***. I wondered where that went ". Had a customer complain because his slide wouldn't go all the way out once............. I pulled a book out from behind his slide trim that got wedged in between the wall.

I know many RV dealer's and if you get them alone and ask them they will tell you any RV, despite upgrades is worth no more then what the typical model last sold at auction. Dealers have auction price sheets and hey are updated constantly. They also have what is called the black book which is similar to the NADA book but is more realistic on prices rather then pie in the sky NADA prices. I have stated before, my coach ( 2005 Ambassador ) has had an interior renovation and is due to have another soon. My coach came with a factory value package which added more options. I have owned it since new. It has almost every single upgrade you can put on a RR8R chassis and the house has new AC units, Monaco Watts and rear cross bars, TRW steering gear change out, Guardian plate system, all new toppers and awnings and the list goes on. Guess what folks ??? When I sell it I will get little to nothing for those upgrades. It will still only be worth what an 05 Ambassador is worth on the day I list it for sale. I may only get a small premium for the upgrade but nothing close to what I invested. I have seen it time and again where people spend a lot of money on upgrades and think they can recoup their costs at the time of sale................... It rarely happens. If anything those upgrades will help you sell the coach quicker but they wont result in a bucket of gold like some think it will. Car's, trucks, RV's, I am a savvy buyer and I will never pay more for any of these types of vehicles then what the market dictates with a reflection of recent auction prices.

I own an RV service center so I stay on top of coach prices. Wholesale auction prices have dropped recently on used coaches. Unless this 2002 is mint, it is too high priced. As an example, my son is working on a deal for a 2005 Windsor quad slide. Low mileage, low hours on the gen set. I know this coach as the owner is a close friend of mine and I have done work on it myself. It is in showroom condition. New tires, batteries, all stainless exhaust system, new interior carpet, day night shades, etc. The coach is serviced annually by a private diesel mechanic who I know personally. The owner is so OCD he keeps a waxing journal ( he has up to 37 coats of wax applications since new). He spares no expense when it comes to maintenance. The coach is always stored indoors when not in use and is flawless. Price $ 48 - 50,000 K. If my son doesn't buy it - I will and will sell my coach. There are far too many deals out there to be had as long as buyers take their time and look. I spent 6 months looking before I bought my coach. I missed a deal 2 years ago on a 2002 H-45 Prevost double slide that had less then 100,000 miles on it. It was flawless and I could have wholesaled it off a dealer for $ 127,000. I kick myself now. I did service work on a 2008 Sig that was a creampuff. My customer wholesaled it off a dealer lot, as is, for $ 99,000. The dealer just took it in and had parked it on the back lot waiting for a dealer prep and service. He bought it as is and drove off with a coach worth $ 75,000 dollars more then what he paid. The dealer just wanted to turn and burn it without having to touch it. My point is this, there are many deals out there but you have to have patience and really look. Remember, never go off what other coaches similar to the one you are looking at on RV Trader and other sites for rock solid prices. Those are dream prices and what those coaches actually sell for is a whole other story.

As someone who holds a State license in water treatment I will mention one word here - digestive enzymes. This is what breaks down solids. I wont bore you with the chemistry behind it. You can use black tank treatments of all kinds till the cows come home. If it does not contain digestive enzymes they wont work. Some black tank treatment products have them, some are nothing more then perfume to make your waste smell good. There are products on the market that are loaded with enzymes, one in particular is made by Thetford called " Tank Blaster". This is a black tank treatment you use now and then to clean the tank. It is nothing more then digestive enzymes on steroids. Just follow the directions on the product. Over the years I have heard of all kinds of products and methods. One of my favorites is a mixture of dawn, pine sol and some other household product. I had the displeasure of changing out a waste tank valve for a customer once that had the center of the valve ate out of it because of these crazy concoctions. One of my favorite suggestions I have read about is dosing your black tank with a big bag of ice cubes and drive around the block. 🙂 Enzymes folks. Lots of digestive enzymes will do the trick.

Don't feel like the lone ranger. Many find the coach they bought has many issues. I see it a lot on our service lot and I feel bad having to be the bearer of bad news and having to tell a customer their coach they just bought needs a " great deal of work ". For me, sometimes it is heart breaking. I wish there was an online class that taught prospective buyers what to look for as well as annual costs for owning a used coach. There are many RV inspectors out there but they are not all created equal. ( Just ask Dr4film. ) In the boating world they use a 10% rule. In other words if you bought a 40 ft yacht for $ 200,000 then you budget $ 20,000 for maintenance and repairs. Obviously motorcoaches are not that high but people need to be aware that there are ongoing costs with these vehicles. I have heard of many dollar figures associated with annual maintenance costs. Some say put $ 300 a month into a savings account for repairs and maintenance while others say that is to high or too low. Either way a coach owner has to calculate not only routine maintenance but ongoing repairs. Tire prices are getting out of hand. New AC units are costing close to $ 2,000 for new ones. Roof maintenance, washing, waxing, slide adjustments and repairs, beltline repairs, the list goes on. Water leaks and intrusion is another and our highest bill ever handed to a customer was $ 21,000 for replacing the entire floor in a bathroom and bedroom in addition to mold remediation. It also doesn't matter which type of model Monaco you own or what year. We have handed out some very high repair bills for water intrusion on everything from gasser's to Sig's. I cannot stress enough how important it is to put an inspection plan in place and stick to it. Learn what to look for and then stick to a routine inspection schedule. One new seminar I am conducting at the gathering this year is to teach owners what to look for. As a coach owner you need to be proactive and constantly look for problems. One small issue can be fixed for a few dollars. Letting it go can cost you thousands.

Richard is a Rockstar and an awesome member here. 🙂

When a customer brings in a coach for service and has a problem we always start troubleshooting by looking at the simple causes first. More times then not it is some stupid thing causing the problem. With this in mind, before you get knee deep in trouble shooting your tranny gauge do yourself a favor - check the wiring on the back of the gauge. I have had 2 gauges fail on me while driving. Both ended up being a loose wire on the back of the gauge. Monacos are known to have weird things happen to their gauges from time to time and many times it can be traced back to a loose wire or bad ground. There will be days your coach will provide you with smiles and happiness................ And there will be days you will be looking for a gas can and a match. No idea what type of boat you owned but if it was a diesel powered motoryacht then think of your new coach as the same thing. They have the same exact systems - electrical, plumbing, etc. Good luck with your new coach.

Paul: As you know, I am passionate about supporting companies who support all of us. Some companies go out of their way to support Monaco brand owners. I will gladly pay a little more and support a company that has supported me or our Monaco group. My company has been dedicated to supporting Monaco owners since its first day of operation. I have traveled the country clocking over 80,000 miles giving seminars, working with coach owners and have conducted over 2,000 free inspections. I truly appreciate it when one of our members supports my small company. In the case of you suggesting Reliable Plating, I felt it was a slap in the face to a man who lives and breathes Monaco and lending support, especially to this group. Dave Pratt, owner of Spacecoast Plating also owns this forum. He writes checks monthly out of his own pocket to keep this forum going. He works tirelessly putting together the Annual Monocoers Gathering. He has assisted in building one of the best Monaco technical files section in the country. Since Dave is a very dear and personal friend I know he spends countless hours on the phone consulting to owners on their coach problems..........For free. Him and I have taken calls at all hours of the day and night and even on holidays to help a stranded Monaco owner. On Facebook and here you have a habit of touting and mentioning businesses that have never held a seminar, supported Monaco owners or spent a dime traveling to a Monaco rally to lend support. In this case I felt it was a huge slap in the face to Dave for mentioning a competitor on a forum that he owns. Dave and I both give a great deal of our time to Monaco owners and you recommending competitors who could care less about Monaco, HR, Safari and Beaver owners and who never jump on Facebook or this Forum to answer technical questions or assist an owner with a problem is a real kick in the ass. In regards to our mirror's, not one individual in the plating industry knows more about the problems with our mirrors then Dave Pratt. While Reliable may be an HD - OEM supplier, it doesn't make them experts on our mirrors. The mirror's we run on our coaches have an inherent problem with flaking and rusting and Dave knows the reason why and his plating process corrects this issue.

I wish I had a dollar for every customer who said " I can get my toppers installed cheaper elsewhere. Any tech can change a topper ". The truth of the matter is, changing toppers on a Carefree assembly requires knowledge that many techs do not have. I have been hired and brought in to train technicians in several service centers and was at one time a technical resource for the Carefree factory. There are inherent issues with Carefree assemblies and each model has its own set of problems that need to be inspected, checked and certain parts of the assembly modified to prevent future problems. I see by your post you have a 2009 Monaco. This means you have the Carefree SOK III model assembly. Starting in 2007/08 these assemblies started developing problems with the end caps loosening up. The other problem was roller tube end play. Just so you know the right end cap has a small tab which holds the tension on the spring. When this end cap starts loosening, the end cap tilts out at the top and the spring unwinds. When this happens while driving the fabric unfurls from the wind and it rips the roller tube out of the assembly. Either the roller tube and fabric ends up on the roof or smashes along the side of the coach. The roller tube end play also causes this issue as it will move back and forth between the end caps finally knocking one of the end caps off. ( Sidenote - If you have a topper that violently rips the roller tube off the coach, chances are it popped a belt line directly above the topper. The beltlines need to be checked in this area ). This is where an experienced technician comes into play when changing a topper. You simply do not just swap fabric. You pull the right hand end caps off and inspect the spring hold down tab. Once assembled you also check for end play on the roller tube and install bushings if needed. You check the left side axle for wear as these have a bad habit of wearing out. You also check the mounting brackets of the assembly to be sure they are tight. And finally you install the end cap bolts using blue loctite. Out of the dozens of technicians I have trained over the years, none of them knew these issues existed. They just swapped the fabric. The full wall assemblies have their problem areas and need closer attention then the standard SOK III's. They have some weak spots in them that need to be checked. I have had numerous customers lose their full wall assemblies out on freeways. The older style Omega assemblies also have their issues and need intervention when replacing fabric.

Dave's SpaceCoast Plating company is the best in the country. Their chrome process far exceeds any other chrome plating company. If you need chrome plating done, especially mirror arms and parts, Dave is the man to contact.

Bobby: Your 07 Dip came with Carefree SOK III assemblies. The gold SOK II assemblies were discontinued mid way through the 2006 model year. 2007 and above all had SOK III assemblies. The gold anodized covers are not available anywhere except off a wreck located at a salvage yard. Unfortunately Colaw's and Visone salvage yards do not sell individual pieces. You have to buy the entire assembly and they know what they have and charge accordingly. Depending on the style of cover you have and the length I may have a replacement for you. I have one gold SOK III cover left complete with the bottom deflector. Last I checked it was the only one available in the country that didn't come off a wreck. I also have the gold anodized SOK II covers whch I know are the only ones available in the USA. All are take offs but in excellent condition. The problem is I cannot ship these covers. I would have to buy a large shipping tube and then ship it by freight ( semi ). The cost would be crazy expensive and there is no guarantee they will arrive undamaged. We have gotten assemblies in that were dented beyond use, one was run over by a fork truck by the freight company and we have had patio assemblies with the ends crushed or knocked off them. I wont ship anything by freight. I keep these covers for customers who come in to our shop. If you are able to travel to Florida then we can get pictures from you of your current assemblies to make sure they are correct as well as measuring the length. We have a metal shop so have the ability to cut them down to size if needed. The biggest issue is length and making sure the cover we have is long enough. The hardware we always have in inventory - end caps, brackets, springs, etc. Contact Bethany next week ( we are closed till Monday ) - 352-942-2653. It may take 24 - 48 hours for her to get back with you. We are seriously back logged on call backs and e-mail responses due to being closed for a week for the holidays. Be sure you tell her you and I discussed this on the forum. .

Our resident battery expert on this forum, Bill Groves ( may he RIP ) always recommended Duracell AGM's. Bill did tons of research on batteries and knew which ones were built the best. I never bought batteries or an electrical component without consulting him first. I run all Duracell batteries in my coach, both chassis and house, and have never had a problem. l admit to abusing the hell out of them and they keep on going. I have always bought my Duracells at Sam's. One of the benefits of AGM"s is they do not off gas like flooded batteries. In my 8 years of using AGM's I have never had to clean a terminal and my battery tray is in excellent shape. One battery I can tell you to stay clear of is Interstates. They used to be a great battery but have gone down hill over the last couple years. I have lost track of the number of Interstates we have replaced at the shop, many of them 2 years or less old. Many had internal plate failures causing shorting. This is one reason why I run Duracels. Bill found that they use heavier plates as well as their internal plate mounting system is far superior to other leading brands. I miss Bill. He was a great friend and I enjoyed our many conversations. He was one of the most helpful members we had. He spent a great deal of time researching and talking on the phone with members helping them through electrical issues. I never bought anything electrical without consulting with him first. His knowledge base with electrical, batteries, solar, etc. was unmatched. He always knew which brand components were the best. He is missed by not only me but many of the members here who knew him and were friends with him.

Your Monaco more then likely came with a Carefree 12v Eclipse or Apex. Monaco didn't install Girard awnings on Camelots. They only installed them on Dynasty's and above. We are both a Girard and Carefree factory service center/dealer. Myself I like the Eclipse because the pitch can be adjusted and they are fairly cheap to replace parts on. The Apex and Marques are more expensive, provide less shade because they have lateral arms and cannot be adjusted. In all my years in the awning business I have never seen a 120 V Eclipse ( not to say they were not made ). Almost all of the 120 volt awnings I have seen have been roof mounted Girards.

Can you tell me did you hear any grinding, banging or popping noises when deploying the slide ? Also, is the wardrobe on this slide or the bed ?

You lift the tires on both sides in unison. In other words, if you are changing a right front tire you lift both the left and right side together. To state it more clearly, you lift the back or front together and never one corner. I had a mechanic pop my windshield out of the frame jacking one front corner to grease a king pin. He couldn't get it to take grease with the weight of the coach on the king pin. I learned in a hurry never jack one corner on a coach. Why your coach has not had any damage is beyond me. Some will experience cracked or popped windshields. Others find a popped beltline months later and wonder " How did that happen ? ".

Carey: You can put the jacks down once the slides are out and before you dump the air. I personally dump the air first then put the jacks down. The reason being is that it places the steps closer to the ground. If you start leveling at ride height you are going t end up with a coach much higher off the ground. In regards to leveling to the point of lifting your tires off the ground, I have never liked seeing that. Hanging the suspension components ( shocks, air bags, etc. ) in the air scares me. You see this a lot on gasser's who cannot dump their air. With DP's, you can dump the air and then level and stay closer to the ground. My rule of thumb is that if I have to exceed my suspension heights to the point of lifting a tire off the ground I will be at the CG office asking for a new site. In all my years of traveling I have only encountered one site like that and they moved me. I have walked through campgrounds and seen the front tires off the ground and on blocks. I look at the rear of the coach and it is extremely high. This is just someone who got overly aggressive jacking their coach up. They put too much height at the rear of the coach and then had to compensate for the rear height by increasing the front height. It results in the front tires being lifted off the ground. All I can do is shake my head and keep walking. Lee: With your background you understand the principles behind a square and level structure. It is the same principal in an old house from the 1800's. Some doors do not open and close properly and the door latches no longer line up. That is because the house has settled in a certain spot. The same applies to coaches. When fully aired, the house is level to the chassis. The chassis is squared. Start jacking the front, back or corner and the frame twists every slow slightly. These out of square moments and slight twists of the frame is transferred to the slides. Once that happens the rams, gears, etc. of the slide assembly start binding, causing the motor to work over time. To make matters worse, Monaco released a lot of conflicting statements on slide operations. There are a few manuals out there that state " dump the air then put the slides out ". When I first bought my coach new I did this. I asked a buddy of mine one day who was in charge of the Monaco body and paint dept at the factory and who installed the slides why my driver front slide ran so painfully slow. He said because you dump the air and run the slides out. The slide assembly is binding. 🙂

Carey: I have seen many arguments over when to extend the slides. Here is the correct way and as described by my buddy who was in charge of the body department at the Monaco factory. As soon as you are parked and plugged in, extend the slides. Do NOT dump the air. Always extend your slides with the coach fully aired up and at ride height. Why ? Because the slides were adjusted and set at the factory with your coach at ride height. Dumping the air, leveling and then putting out the slides can bind areas of the slide. The slides always work best if the coach is fully aired up and at ride height. When ready to leave, fire up your coach, let it get to ride height and then bring in the slides. As I stated above, with a 3 jack system always deploy the front jack first. This gives the house a pivot point when you start leveling side to side. If leveling manually, always go in small increments. Do not get aggressive and start jacking the heck of the corners. I always instruct customers who have an auto/manual jack system to over ride the auto and then level manually. I have seen the auto feature get overly aggressive while leveling so I am not a big fan of auto leveling when you have the manual option. Hope this helps.

Bob: Call if you need us but I do recommend that once you know your travel plans to call well in advance. Winter is our busy time and we are constantly booked out 3 months in advance. Our February is locked up completely because of the Monaco Gathering. Many of our members book appointments going to or leaving the Gathering because we are close to Lazy Days. I looked at the schedule the other day and we are booked solid for a while. That maybe a good problem to have as a business owner but it kills me to turn people away. I always want to serve everyone. This is why Bethany, for the sake of my technicians, has adopted a corporate policy that states I am only allowed to read the schedule and am not allowed to make additions. She alone rules the schedule. 🙂 If you have questions in the meantime feel free to call me. 352-942-2653. Tell Bethany you need to speak with me directly.

Rule # 3 that is found in the Monaco bible: NEVER lift a coach at one corner. NEVER lift a coach to excessive heights. In regards to Roadmaster experts - There is not a better shop then Josams in Orlando. Barry ( the manager ) and his crew know our roadmaster chassis' inside and out. In Regards to Talin RV, we are located 80 miles from Josams. Yes we specialize in many areas of the house portion of Monaco coaches and are known as one of the top Monaco shops in the SE. It is our bread and butter. But we do NOT do any work on chassis', engines, transmissions nor do we do body work ( with the exception of beltlines, window resets, etc. ). We do not paint or do fiberglass work. Whenever a coach is twisted, flexed or in other word's put into positions that applies excessive forces to the body, many things can go wrong. The two most common is cracked windshields and popped belt lines. There is a long list of other things that can be impacted such as caulking pulled from seams, slides forced out of adjustment, cracks on fiberglass roofs and other items. I have mentioned in my seminars as well as in private discussions with customers and have also sounded the alarm here before - Our coach bodies are designed for minimal flex. I sometimes feel like I am beating my head against a wall trying to get people to listen. Any stress or flex applied to the frame goes directly into the body. The forces applied from the frame to the house portion can be mind blowing. Lift or drop a rear portion of the frame and it shows up in the front and typically on the opposite side and vice versa. You turn into a drive and accidentally drop a rear dual down into a hole - that force is applied to the house. You manually put down the jacks aggressively lifting one corner more then it should be lifted and the forces go right from the frame and twists the house, roof and walls. This is why Monaco went to a 3 jack system. Too many people were leveling incorrectly with the 4 jack system by getting agressive and cracking windshields and popping beltlines. With the 3 jack system it allows the front of the coach to remain stabilized and pivot side to side. So, those of you with the 3 jack system you ALWAYS drop the front jack first and then level using the rear jacks. I cannot state it enough here - Minimize flex on the frame. Forces applied to the frame are forces applied to the house ( body ). Prevent unnecessary twisting of the frame. When having work performed on the front or rear ( tire changing, greasing of king pins, etc. ) ALWAYS make sure the service people jack the entire front or rear up in unison. Never jack an individual corner up. I am hoping Van Williams jumps in here. There are very few people in this country who understands Roadmaster chassis's like him. While some may think I am being bias because he is a dear and close friend of mine, he truly is an expert. I hope this explanation helps many of you. I get to see the after effects of twisted and overly stressed frames and coach bodies. I al;so know first hand the limits of our coaches frames and bodies when it comes to getting them into crazy positions. If these jackwagons used a tow truck to lift your coach then I would surely have the frame and house inspected. If they got the body out of whack in the process I am going to be shocked if you do not have at minimum a popped belt line. It is the weakest link on the walls of a Monaco coach.

I passed it off as fear mongering till I read this story. Evidently some pockets in the Southeast are being hit. I was headed to Michigan but had to turn around at the GA line and cancel my vacation trip because of business. I am beginning to think I will never get a relaxing vacation......LOL... Ironically, I stopped for fuel just below the GA State line and all the truckers at the fuel island were complaining because of the pumps running real slow. It took 25 minutes for me to pump 58 gallons of diesel at the truckers island. The trucker that was parked next to me had her pump running for 20 minutes or so and only 50 gallons was dispensed. Her comment ? " I don't get paid by the hour. I get paid by the trip. This is nuts ". No idea if this was an issue just at this particular Love's or if they were trying to limit sales. Typically the fuel island pumps run extremely fast. I can normally fill up and be gone quickly. I got further down the road at another truck stop to park for the night because of a bad storm that blew in and the truckers there were backed up at the pumps and taking forever to get filled. No idea what is going on. It seems they would realize truckers will fill up completely despite how long it takes. BTW, the price of fuel was a wallet killer, even with my EDS fuel card. Another big hit came when I filled the propane tank. Good Lord. $ 108 for 22 gals. That is the most I have ever paid for propane in my lifetime. https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/fuel-company-issues-diesel-shortage-warning-says-conditions-rapidly-devolving

As an upholsterer and someone who has worked with and sewed fabric for 40 years I will add my comments. Cloth Fabric is never painted, it is dyed. Painting a cloth fabric is never a good idea. Even dying fabric can give you some crazy outcomes. Because of all the various fabrics out there, each one has its own properties. Cotton, wool, polyester are just a few and each one can have different outcomes when dyed. My suggestion is to remove the valances, strip off the old fabric and then head to Joann's or Hobby Lobby and buy the fabric of your choice. Most valances are slightly padded using what is called in the trade " scrim ". It is simply a very thin piece of foam. It is glued onto the wood then covered with fabric. The nice thing about recovering valances is rarely do you have to sew. You simply measure, cut, stretch, glue and staple it down. Painting cloth fabric is the last thing you want to do. I have never done it nor would I attempt it. As an aside, and not to hijack this thread, I do miss upholstery work. There was always something about being alone in my shop with the machine, fabric, foam while music played in the background. I loved the craft and the creativity it offered not to mention the challenges. Oddly enough, I only did one RV related upholstery job - recovering a dash. I did a lot of other work, mainly marine interiors, canvas, golf carts, motorcycle seats, you name it. I will probably go back into woodworking and upholstery when I retire................ Whenever that happens. I miss my alone time in my wood and upholstery shops. 🙂

Bob: Almost all rollers are adjustable. You typically access them from underneath the slide by pulling down the bottom wiper seal. Once you find the roller, pull down the seal and then you can then see the adjustment bolt staring at you. NEVER adjust a roller with the weight on the slide. Jack it up. You can and will break a roller or its axle by trying to adjust a roller with weight on it. I should mention that some rollers on the galley slide have inverted rollers. These are adjusted by removing a false bottom panel located inside one of the cabinets. Inverted rollers have the plastic or rubber roller pointing downward and it rolls on the inside floor of the coach. If you need further assistance call Bethany - 352-942-2653. Ask to speak with me and I will call you back. BTW, on many coaches those bottom panels are held on and hinged at the bottom beltline. If you look underneath of the panel you should see two screws. Remove them and the entire panel will swing up from the bottom. Most of the time these screws go through a scrap piece of aluminum and into the body panel. The other end of the scrap aluminum screws into a brace connected to the frame. I have several panels on my coach that I can swing up using this procedure. It makes getting at things behind it much easier as you have full access. Just as a side note, I have a gear pack that went on my wardrobe slide assembly. The only way to change it out is to remove the dual rear wheels to gain access to the hatch where the gear pack is hidden. Sometimes Monaco made jobs simple. They also made some jobs very difficult.

It is probably one of the best RV shows in the country. I have been a vendor there for several years. In 2023 I will not have a booth as I cannot afford to have staff out of the office for that week. It also does us no good speaking with people about service while we are running a back log on appointments. Also, for a vendor, it is one very expensive show to attend. One of the most expensive in the country. Dave Pratt can tell you all about the hidden charges as he used to do airshows for his company. They charge for temporary ( used ) carpet inside your booth. They charge to vacuum it at night. They charge for wastebaskets. They charge for tables. They charge for table top covers. They charge for chairs. If you have even a small box shipped directly to the show they charge to receive it. If you use a golf cart they make you buy a license for the show to use it. Vendors get nickel and dimed to death there. Remember this when you try and strike a bargain with a small vendor. They paid a small fortune to be there. They also have seen their margins shrink on products due to the economy. Typically, manufacturers send their best people and power players to this show. You can gain a lot of good information on components and products. It can get crowded as they put 80,000 people through that show in a couple days. I always like to look over the new RV's to stay on top of the technology and new products. It also gives me time to check on changes some of the manufacturers have made in regards to slide topper and awning assemblies not to mention slide components and systems. I enjoy touring the new coaches as well. I always leave and go back to my coach and thank God I own a 2005 and not a new coach. The build quality today is pitiful. 😞 If you have never been to the Tampa show I encourage you to attend. Like Dave said, take a full wallet with you or a credit card. You will undoubtedly see something you cannot live without. 🙂

The slide you are talking about is called a flush floor slide. It is more then likely located on your driver front. During deployment the outside of the slide drops down and once fully deployed the inside drops into position to where it is flush with the inside floor. These slides can go out of adjustment. We get a lot of them in our shop that need to be adjusted. We also routinely get customers come in for us to re-adjust their slide after another shop created problems by adjusting it. We had a customer recently that came in from Texas after a shop there adjusted his slide. It wiped the puck lights off the ceiling and dented the roof of his slide and shifted the entire slide left inside the wall. I can tell you for certain that you have an RVA or Lippert slide. You do NOT have an HWH slide. Monaco never used HWH slides on Knights or Diplomats. Adjusting flush floor slides is tricky. The adjustment procedure is actually performed in reverse. Going too far in either direction can rip your headliner or worse yet damage your slide assembly. This is why I never instruct people on how to adjust a flush floor slide. Dustin and Mike, who are my technicians are experts at making these adjustments. There is a lot of measuring involved as well as their trained ear which hears the motor during retraction and extension. Because they have performed so many slide adjustments they can actually hear when a motor is straining. They know exactly where to look and take measurements for preventing binding as well. Rarely is a flush floor slide adjustment a DYI project. It takes a great deal of experience to obtain a perfectly adjusted slide. There are a multitude of problems that can cause a slide not to operate correctly. Rotted slide floors, refrigerators that are on slides, bent ram's, jack bolts coming loose as well as other problems. I have no way of diagnosing a slide issue without watching it and inspecting it in person. My advice is to be sure the shop you take it to has an experienced tech who knows these slides and how to properly adjust them. I have seen and worked on many slides in my career that techs adjusted. They thought they knew what they were doing and instead made things worse. I have also seen techs want to perform a multitude of work on a slide when all it needed was a 30 minute adjustment procedure. Sadly, we bill out a lot of labor hours during the course of the year because of techs who think they have it figured out. It is frustrating for us trying to figure out what a previous tech did to a slide. The Texas customer is a perfect example. They replaced the puck lights but never told him about the dented roof or the slide getting shifted. It took Dustin and I over 2 hours to get the slide working even somewhat close to where it needed to be before we could get it back to factory specs. Do your research before rolling into a service center for a slide adjustment. Just because they say they are good does not make it true.

What we have always done at Talin is provide free tech support. Because we are a small company we are able to get to know our customers on a personal level. Ever since I started Talin my commitment has always been to provide free tech support to our customers. Once a coach owner rolls on to our lot for service work they become part of our family. Either myself, Bethany or Dustin will field tech support calls and help customers troubleshoot or provide advice with a coach problem. It may take us 24 - 48 hours to get back to someone but we always contact them and provide free advice/consulting. Tech support is very time consuming. One phone call can take Bethany, Dustin or myself away from a job for half an hour or more and sometimes results in multiple phone calls, face timing, etc.. We enjoy giving tech support but we are limited by our workload during the day. ( And yes, Bethany provides tech support as she has a large knowledge base with coaches, especially Guardian Plates ). I can speak for 2 of my buddies in regards to providing tech support. Both left the RV industry and both have full time jobs. They also have families and live very busy lives and neither are interested in providing tech support. Both of them are also burnt out after spending decades in the RV Industry. I really do not know what the answer is. Service centers are getting to the point where they are booked out months in advance. If they are a high quality repair facility they have serious appointment availability issues. It is great for the business owner but sucks for coach owners. Mobile techs are a hit and miss adventure. 2 of them in our area have gone out of business. Dave Pratt's mobile RV tech also left the industry. The economics of mobile RV is just not there when considering time spent driving, not having inventory of parts on the truck, etc. which requires more driving. There are also a lot of inexperienced mobile techs out there who graduated from tech school who just do not have the experience yet. I have seen the syllabus of these tech schools and graduates leave school with basic skills and nothing more. The skill sets needed takes years to develop in order to turn into a good tech. I have been at it for 2 decades and I am still learning. There are a couple of guys who provide phone tech support for a fee. I know nothing about them or their service. Have not heard how customers experiences have been after using them. This is why I say that this forum is extremely important to Monaco owners. We have some very talented and knowledgeable members here who provide a great deal of tech support. Many of you also do not know that we have a dedicated moderator staff who spends time on the phone assisting members with tech advice. We are extremely lucky to have what we have here. It is one major reason why I have supported Bill D, Fred White and Dave Pratt all these years.