pete.miller77 Posted February 10, 2023 Share Posted February 10, 2023 I am 78 and my Monaco Dynasty 36' is a 1995 model. I've put 45.000 miles or so on the coach in the 14 years I've had it but I haven't gone anywhere in the coach in 2 years even though everything works. I have it in my head that all of those hoses that run the length of the coach are vulnerable to age deterioration and that I'll end up stranded a long way from home when a hydraulic or air brake hose bursts. I am confident that this fearfulness is more about me than the coach but I need some back stiffening. Does anyone have an informed opinion about this issue? I live in the Phoenix area. The coach is always garaged, and there is no rust on the chassis. Thanks for your opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donflem Posted February 10, 2023 Share Posted February 10, 2023 That’s a hard one brother thing’s do break BUT life is short I say get out and enjoy it don’t let fear take your golden years. God Bless. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jdw12345 Posted February 10, 2023 Share Posted February 10, 2023 Beings that your in the Phoenix area I would track down James on YouTube aztech and have him go through your coach, he’s certainly helped enough people on his YouTube channel and preventive maintenance tips. I’m sure it will cost you a few bucks but it’s also going to be a piece of mind for you, after all if your coach was concerned about your health, you’d want her to take care of you, wouldn’t you? Keep going sir, the rest of your life is right in front of you! Go for it! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDCrow Posted February 10, 2023 Share Posted February 10, 2023 All I can say… 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacwjames Posted February 10, 2023 Share Posted February 10, 2023 JDCrow hit the nail on the head pete.miller777 >>>> go for it, it will only get worse the older you get. BUT, I do almost all my own maintenance and part of that is pretty thorough inspections. I try to have a keen eye to look at failure points. If something looks iffy I take care of it. I hope that I would do a better job then just taking it to a shop. With that it does give me some confidence in my rigs ability to make it through a trip, but there are always risks. So I do carry a CC just in case. The one time I took my rig to the shop was when I had my radiator replaced (insurance claim) at the Cummins shop when I drove it home I felt a slight vibration. Crawled under the rig and found they had installed the driveshaft out of phase, so I fixed it. Also saw that they left a number of screws out of the sheet metal around the radiator, so I fixed it. Also noticed that the cooling fan was running WAO, after doing the recommended test I found the thermovalve bad, so I replaced it. If this is an indication of the quality of the work done at a shop we are all in trouble. >>>> Yes I contacted the shop and informed them of the problems, hopefully they passed the info onto the tech's. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevada Rob Posted February 10, 2023 Share Posted February 10, 2023 My coach and I are a bit older and have some miles on us. Sometimes we both leak air when we should not. Sometimes we both have a fluid leak that is not normal. Sometimes on cold morning my coach and I do not start as fast as we once did. There have been times when my coach and I both lean a little to the port side. I treat my coach like I treat myself. If I need some preventive maintenance, I go see the doctor. He checks my fluid levels, tightens a few fittings, may adjust a setting or two and I am back on the road. Your coach needs an annual check up with your Primary Care Mechanic. I try to plan the best I can for the "what if's" in life. We all do. But I never let the "what if's" plan my life and program. My input would be to have your coach checked out. Plan the best you can and leave the rest in God's hands. 6 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAT Stephen Posted February 10, 2023 Share Posted February 10, 2023 Pete, It helps tremendously that you are storing your rig indoors to protect your rig from UV exposure. With that being said, rubber has a limited lifespan regardless of storage. My coach is a model year 2000. The rubber coolant hoses recently started cracking and, in very few spots, started oozing a rubber goo. As a result, I'm spending ~$2500 to replace every rubber belt and rubber hose on my Onan genset, my CAT 3126B, and my Allison MD3060 transmission next week. I'm even replacing the transmission cooler as it is original equipment to avoid risking $10K transmission repair bill in the event of internal transmission cooler corrosion that may lead to engine coolant contamination of the transmission. The question for your rig now is not if a hose will fail, but when a hose will fail. 28 year old rubber can fail anytime. Most new hoses on the market today are made from silicon rubber which is a big improvement for lifespan, but is also hard on your wallet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivylog Posted February 10, 2023 Share Posted February 10, 2023 My role model is a 84 year old couple that bought a brand new 45’ Beaver and drove it from South Carolina to Oregon for a Beaver rally in 3 days. She was limping from having broken her leg snow skiing the previous winter. Hopefully in 6 years I’ll still be RVing at 84 and if I break down on the road and can’t fix it myself, Visa will solve most problems. While being fixed, I’ll use our toad to continue on, or do some sightseeing in the area, or wherever until it’s fixed. If it’s going to take too long; Delta is ready when you are. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetAburner Posted February 10, 2023 Share Posted February 10, 2023 I always ran silicone coolant hoses on our big rigs and NEVER had a coolant hose blow in 20 yes. If your changing hoses or the short pipe to pipe hoses, I highly recommend silicone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Whitlow Posted February 10, 2023 Share Posted February 10, 2023 We just sold our 96 HR Endeavor DP the year before last. Everything was still working fine. We did replace the TVs with LEDs. the fridge, a slide motor, batteries, tires, etc over the 20 years we had it. We had a lot of good times in that great coach. We also had a similar experience as jacwjames with the Cummins Service Center in Tampa. Terrible shop. We only sold our HR Endeavor to get more slides and an engine (ISM) strong enough to easily tow our Escalade without any problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dl_racing427 Posted February 11, 2023 Share Posted February 11, 2023 9 hours ago, jacwjames said: JDCrow hit the nail on the head pete.miller777 >>>> go for it, it will only get worse the older you get. BUT, I do almost all my own maintenance and part of that is pretty thorough inspections. I try to have a keen eye to look at failure points. If something looks iffy I take care of it. I hope that I would do a better job then just taking it to a shop. With that it does give me some confidence in my rigs ability to make it through a trip, but there are always risks. So I do carry a CC just in case. The one time I took my rig to the shop was when I had my radiator replaced (insurance claim) at the Cummins shop when I drove it home I felt a slight vibration. Crawled under the rig and found they had installed the driveshaft out of phase, so I fixed it. Also saw that they left a number of screws out of the sheet metal around the radiator, so I fixed it. Also noticed that the cooling fan was running WAO, after doing the recommended test I found the thermovalve bad, so I replaced it. If this is an indication of the quality of the work done at a shop we are all in trouble. >>>> Yes I contacted the shop and informed them of the problems, hopefully they passed the info onto the tech's. So true. On the rare occasion that I've had a shop work on one of my vehicles, I invariably have to finish the job, or correct some problem myself. 🤬 It's just easier to do it myself, and do it right the first time. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdshill123 Posted February 11, 2023 Share Posted February 11, 2023 I will be 80 this late spring. I still do some work on the rig. Nothing that involves heavy lifting. The minute you say "I am too old" will lead to the end. Sitting around doing nothing is a bad idea. . 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDCrow Posted February 11, 2023 Share Posted February 11, 2023 9 minutes ago, birdshill123 said: I will be 80 this late spring. I still do some work on the rig. Nothing that involves heavy lifting. The minute you say "I am too old" will lead to the end. Sitting around doing nothing is a bad idea. . Once you decided to sit down, chances are you stay down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admirial RVr Posted February 12, 2023 Share Posted February 12, 2023 Will be 81 this year no plans to stop yet. Still do all my own maintenence. Takes longer sometimes but it gets done. Have always tried to keep it ready to go. Travels slowed down a lot during covid but got a lot of my PM completed. Currently in the body shop for hurricane damage repairs but nothing major. Will be on the road again in May. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ray Davis Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 (edited) On 2/11/2023 at 6:16 PM, Admirial RVr said: Will be 81 this year no plans to stop yet. Still do all my own maintenence. Takes longer sometimes but it gets done. Have always tried to keep it ready to go. Travels slowed down a lot during covid but got a lot of my PM completed. Currently in the body shop for hurricane damage repairs but nothing major. Will be on the road again in May. Ha ha, Don, I got you beat, I'm 82 & still going. Not going very fast tho. LOL, I don't claim any special insight but I do believe ya gotta keep busy and keep moving. I never really thought much about becoming a senior it just happens. So far I'm ok with aging, it's better than the alternative, don't you think❓ 😇 Covid put the brakes on just about all of us. We finally took a trip to Branson last Nov, and I came back with the Flu, Covid, and Pneumonia. I've decided I ain't going back there. It took weeks & weeks to get totally well, no Thanksgiving or Christmas, but now I'm feeling frisky again, watch out. 😁 God is great & modern medicine is good, I'm thankful for both. Edited February 14, 2023 by Ray Davis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ray Davis Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 On 2/10/2023 at 9:06 AM, JDCrow said: All I can say… You guys really ought to watch this. It's short, funny, and really hits home Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admirial RVr Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 Yep that is me. I'm on all 4 when I crawl to get off the RV roof. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donflem Posted February 24, 2023 Share Posted February 24, 2023 On 2/13/2023 at 9:11 PM, Ray Davis said: Ha ha, Don, I got you beat, I'm 82 & still going. Not going very fast tho. LOL, I don't claim any special insight but I do believe ya gotta keep busy and keep moving. I never really thought much about becoming a senior it just happens. So far I'm ok with aging, it's better than the alternative, don't you think❓ 😇 Covid put the brakes on just about all of us. We finally took a trip to Branson last Nov, and I came back with the Flu, Covid, and Pneumonia. I've decided I ain't going back there. It took weeks & weeks to get totally well, no Thanksgiving or Christmas, but now I'm feeling frisky again, watch out. 😁 God is great & modern medicine is good, I'm thankful for both. Now you have me worried Ray I’ve been in Branson since the beginning of the year. I hope I leave here in better shape than you did. Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ray Davis Posted February 24, 2023 Share Posted February 24, 2023 9 hours ago, Donflem said: Now you have me worried Ray I’ve been in Branson since the beginning of the year. I hope I leave here in better shape than you did. Lol You should be ok Don, I'm pretty sure I brought all the sickness home with me. 😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donflem Posted February 24, 2023 Share Posted February 24, 2023 1 hour ago, Ray Davis said: You should be ok Don, I'm pretty sure I brought all the sickness home with me. 😁 Thank you Jesus.lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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