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Old 01-14-2016, 07:20 AM   #21
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Welcome to the QC of Jayco.
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Old 01-14-2016, 09:01 PM   #22
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Sometimes I don't know who does the layout on these coaches as we have run across some strange stuff over the years, and the new Alante 26Y is no different. In the galley there is little to no counter space on the left, or entry side of the sink, yet there are 2 electrical outlets, one under the upper cabinet, and one on the entry bulkhead. But on the right side of the sink, where all of the counter space is, for coffee maker or toaster there is no outlet, you need an extension cord if you plan on having any appliances sitting there. So I am adding a surface mount 115V socket under the upper cabinet on that side. Also the pantry cabinets are 12" wide and plenty deep, and 26" tall, really? and there are only 3 shelves? Really!! Who does this?. So I have been busy cutting, staining and installing 3 more shelves in those overly tall cabinets. Also had to cut off the plug on the microwave to install a right angle one to keep the very large and stiff cable from protruding so far into the cabinet and taking up valuable space. If I can spot these things right off the bat why can't the people on the production line, aren't they allowed to think for themselves?
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Roadmaster Braking, BlueOX Tow Bar.
Kelderman Air Ride, Safe-T-Steer, Supersteer Trak Bar rear w/ Sumo Springs.
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Old 01-14-2016, 09:11 PM   #23
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Originally Posted by Cycledoc675 View Post
Curious to hear about the poor quality ride and handling, at least in stock form, especially since Jayco touts the "J-Ride" as a signature feature of their motorhomes. My experience with my Precept 29UM ride and handling has been outstanding on the 18,000 lb Ford F53 chassis, but I have read of Precept 31UL owners, also on the 18,000 lb chassis, report poor quality ride and handling. Now with full fuel, my Precept still has 2,009 lbs of additional weight capacity, so even with a full 70 gallon water tank, it is still 1,500 lbs under the GVWR. The Alante 26Y is built on the 16,000 lb F53, so I'm wondering how far under GVWR it is with full fuel? Concerning the quality control, I have heard consistently that all of the manufacturers lack it. I have had great luck with my Precept so far (12,000 miles and 11 months), but read about another 29UM owner here that has not been as fortunate. Hopefully for you though, it's all just "small stuff" and after upgrading your suspension, you'll have years of good service and performance out of your Alante. I am fortunate to have an awesome dealer just 1.5 miles from my house. In fact, they are replacing my front AC unit and fixing some very minor issues right now.
In all fairness I think that the harsh ride I experienced might be because I was so lightly loaded on the return trip. The 7000lb front springs (3500 & 3500) need to be compressed to between 70-90% for the shocks to provide proper rebound damping. As the coach was near empty this could not happen and all of the road rash was being transmitted to the coach, My research so far has indicated that if the OEM 7000lb springs and HD shocks do not get loaded enough then performance will suffer. I will wait until I get everything loaded up for a trip and then get a 4-way weight check, so I can balance the side to side as well as front to rear weight, but most of the storage compartments are in the rear, except for one big one on the starboard side that offsets the genset weight. I still think I will need the Track Bar in the front.
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2016 Alante 26AY
Roadmaster Braking, BlueOX Tow Bar.
Kelderman Air Ride, Safe-T-Steer, Supersteer Trak Bar rear w/ Sumo Springs.
400 AH LiFePo4 house batt w/750 watts solar 40A charger & 2500 watt whole house Inverter.
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Old 01-14-2016, 10:14 PM   #24
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Our family is shopping for a class A. We recently came across the 2016 Alante 31V. The floor plan, storage and large windows are perfect, but after reading different negative posts, we are now concerned about the comfort of driving the rig. The salesperson showing us the Alante told us that it did not have JRide. Last night, though, I was looking at the 2016 Alante brochure we were given and it clearly states "JRIDE-AN ALANTE STANDARD". Today I called Jayco in Indiana. The tech person I spoke to, at first said "no" it doesn't, but then after double checking, said that the Alante's do have JRide, excluding the front and rear sway bars. He said they have the Bilstein shock absorbers, a computer-balanced driveshaft & Jounce bumpers. Has anyone on this forum heard about this or have any thoughts? Thanks.
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Old 01-15-2016, 03:24 PM   #25
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I have the 2016 Alante 26Y and the Ford F-53 chassis and it comes with both front and rear anti-sway bars, and Bilstein 1.63" shocks. All Alante models have the J-Ride add on's also. Mine road hard on the pick up trip but I think (hope) that was because I had no load at all and the springs could not compress to soften the ride. I am of the opinion (and we all know what those are worth) that the coach would benefit a lot from track bars.
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2016 Alante 26AY
Roadmaster Braking, BlueOX Tow Bar.
Kelderman Air Ride, Safe-T-Steer, Supersteer Trak Bar rear w/ Sumo Springs.
400 AH LiFePo4 house batt w/750 watts solar 40A charger & 2500 watt whole house Inverter.
2021 Ford Ranger 4X4 Toad
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Old 01-15-2016, 09:03 PM   #26
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Thanks for your response, JesseS. That's good news. It seems rather strange that the so called experts at Jayco all seem to have a different answer regarding their JRide for the Alante.
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Old 01-15-2016, 09:47 PM   #27
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Thanks for your response, JesseS. That's good news. It seems rather strange that the so called experts at Jayco all seem to have a different answer regarding their JRide for the Alante.
I guess it all depends on to whom you are speaking. Next time email Bill Isley at Jayco Customer service at motorizedservice@jayco.com He is knowledgeable, patient with questions, and very helpful.
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2016 Alante 26AY
Roadmaster Braking, BlueOX Tow Bar.
Kelderman Air Ride, Safe-T-Steer, Supersteer Trak Bar rear w/ Sumo Springs.
400 AH LiFePo4 house batt w/750 watts solar 40A charger & 2500 watt whole house Inverter.
2021 Ford Ranger 4X4 Toad
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Old 01-15-2016, 10:07 PM   #28
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Thanks so much! We'll do that. I think we're almost settled on the Alante 31V. It has everything we want, including the large holding tanks. Most of our camping is dry camping without hookups, so large tanks are a must. Hopefully, in the near future we'll be pulling the trigger. :-)
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Old 01-15-2016, 10:15 PM   #29
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Good luck, we looked at both the 29 & the 31, but with just the wife and I the 26Y (actually almost 28', why call it a 26?) was the best for us, lot's of interior storage, large tanks (we boondock a lot on BLM land) and plenty of basement storage. Same power train in a smaller package. I will not pay to store my rig so it had to fit in my home RV area, and a 31' would be a tight fit as I parallel park behind a gate.
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2016 Alante 26AY
Roadmaster Braking, BlueOX Tow Bar.
Kelderman Air Ride, Safe-T-Steer, Supersteer Trak Bar rear w/ Sumo Springs.
400 AH LiFePo4 house batt w/750 watts solar 40A charger & 2500 watt whole house Inverter.
2021 Ford Ranger 4X4 Toad
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Old 01-15-2016, 11:18 PM   #30
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Thanks, JesseS. I just shot Bill an email. We totally understand the wanting to park your unit at home. The 26' trailer we currently own was purchased 4 years ago because it was a perfect fit in our 26' driveway. We moved last year, however, and now have a huge driveway and RV parking on the side. We are looking forward to filling it up, with what we plan to be, our last RV purchase.
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Old 01-16-2016, 12:37 AM   #31
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HI jesse. I am curious what TPMS system you bought and why this product.
Also, interested in your towing equipment for your Cr-v since we also own a 07 crv and haven't yet started to tow.

Mike
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Old 01-22-2016, 12:08 PM   #32
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Well, the coach is into the dealer for all of the pre-delivery minor stuff getting fixed. They weighed the front axle for me and WOW! is it under loaded, only 5200 lbs, and I don't see a way to increase the weight by very much, just our combined weight of 300 lbs, bringing it to 5500, still 1500 under rated load, and much less that the suggested 6700 for optimum suspension performance. The Kelderman system will replace the front springs with custom ones for your coach weight as well as air bags but it is almost $3000, way more than I can spend at the moment. I have ordered a Safe-T-Steer Plus for the front to address the 'wandering' issue as well as blowout safety but that won't help the harsh ride, only more weight in the front will do that.
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2016 Alante 26AY
Roadmaster Braking, BlueOX Tow Bar.
Kelderman Air Ride, Safe-T-Steer, Supersteer Trak Bar rear w/ Sumo Springs.
400 AH LiFePo4 house batt w/750 watts solar 40A charger & 2500 watt whole house Inverter.
2021 Ford Ranger 4X4 Toad
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Old 01-22-2016, 12:25 PM   #33
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Originally Posted by Arniesports60 View Post
HI jesse. I am curious what TPMS system you bought and why this product.
Also, interested in your towing equipment for your Cr-v since we also own a 07 crv and haven't yet started to tow.

Mike
Hi Mike, I bought the InnoTechRV system TPMS as it was recommended by a fellow RV'er who is on a 6 month cross country trip. He reported that it worked very well, did not need a booster, was cordless between 2-3 week charges, fit in his pocket, and was fully programmable for both pressure and temp. I have used it for about 1200 miles so far and like it very much as it is small and doesn't take up much room on the side control pedestal.
As for our 2006 CR-V we have towed it over 12,000 miles so far without issue. I use a complete BlueOX system, base plate, tow bar and Patriot braking system. As long as you run the CR-V in 'D' with the handbrake on for 2 minutes then shift to neutral and turn the key to 'ACC" you can safely tow it for 500 miles without issue. Rather than having to remove the brake light fuse every time I installed a switch with led on the dash to interrupt that circuit (be aware the trans will not shift out of park if that circuit is un-powered) I did this because my old coach did not have power to the tow connector to keep the toad's battery charged, which the new coach will. The CR-V tows very well and is not very heavy, I will say the V10 tows it much better than the 454 V8 did.
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2016 Alante 26AY
Roadmaster Braking, BlueOX Tow Bar.
Kelderman Air Ride, Safe-T-Steer, Supersteer Trak Bar rear w/ Sumo Springs.
400 AH LiFePo4 house batt w/750 watts solar 40A charger & 2500 watt whole house Inverter.
2021 Ford Ranger 4X4 Toad
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Old 01-22-2016, 02:24 PM   #34
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thanks for the info Jesse. we hope to head to Arizona this year.
haven't decided if we will tow. if so, your info is very helpful...

thanks again.

Mike

p.s. since I am in Fremont and you are in Sacramento, maybe we can meet
this year...
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Old 01-22-2016, 06:29 PM   #35
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thanks for the info Jesse. we hope to head to Arizona this year.
haven't decided if we will tow. if so, your info is very helpful...

thanks again.

Mike

p.s. since I am in Fremont and you are in Sacramento, maybe we can meet
this year...
We are heading down to Barrago Hot Springs for a few days starting Feb 12 (after we get back from Maui) then on to Yuma,AZ to meet up with friends on the 17th for some Boondocking fun for 2 weeks. We do go to the Coast a lot in the summer, Ft Bragg and the area north of there. Be nice to meet up sometime.
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2016 Alante 26AY
Roadmaster Braking, BlueOX Tow Bar.
Kelderman Air Ride, Safe-T-Steer, Supersteer Trak Bar rear w/ Sumo Springs.
400 AH LiFePo4 house batt w/750 watts solar 40A charger & 2500 watt whole house Inverter.
2021 Ford Ranger 4X4 Toad
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Old 01-22-2016, 09:10 PM   #36
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I guess it all depends on to whom you are speaking. Next time email Bill Isley at Jayco Customer service at motorizedservice@jayco.com He is knowledgeable, patient with questions, and very helpful.
Hi JesseS. I sent an email to Jayco Customer service as you suggested. The return email I received back was surprising. He stated "The 2016 Alante has the JRide system minus the front and rear sway bars. This information has been verified by production."

The information may be a non-issue to you, but I thought you might want to know.
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Old 03-15-2016, 07:02 PM   #37
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Well, I have weighed and balanced the coach, and lowered the tire pressure to 75# (we travel light), added the rear track bar (the ford chassis comes with a front track bar) and the safety-plus steering stabilizer. This has improved the ride about 100%, next up is the Koni FSD shocks to replace the Bilstein 1.63 mono shocks that are under sized for the coach IMHO, and install Centramatic wheel balancer's. I have the feeling I will never get it perfect due to the bad overhang ratio on this chassis. There is a 2 foot extension on this frame, not sure if Ford did it or Jayco, but due to that the ratio is slightly under 50%, which from what I can find out is BAD, not safe to drive. With a 157" wheel base, and an overall length of 332" (157/332*100=47.3%) but a good 18" of the front is just air behind the cap so that puts it right at 50%, still not good by any stretch. This coach needs a shorter overhang or a longer wheel base. This is the main reason why the F53 chassis handles so badly. We can pour money into it to make it better but it will never be great. Only way to make it ride perfect is to plunk down $4K and put a complete Kedelman air ride suspension on and get rid of the leaf springs. But it is much better and I expect more improvement with the Koni's.
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2016 Alante 26AY
Roadmaster Braking, BlueOX Tow Bar.
Kelderman Air Ride, Safe-T-Steer, Supersteer Trak Bar rear w/ Sumo Springs.
400 AH LiFePo4 house batt w/750 watts solar 40A charger & 2500 watt whole house Inverter.
2021 Ford Ranger 4X4 Toad
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Old 03-15-2016, 07:06 PM   #38
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Hi JesseS. I sent an email to Jayco Customer service as you suggested. The return email I received back was surprising. He stated "The 2016 Alante has the JRide system minus the front and rear sway bars. This information has been verified by production."

The information may be a non-issue to you, but I thought you might want to know.
That is very strange, the brochure, as well as the Mark 1 eyeball (mine) shows both front and rear anti-sway bars on my coach, I know that as a fact as I had to slide the track bar bracket under it for mounting to the differential.
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2016 Alante 26AY
Roadmaster Braking, BlueOX Tow Bar.
Kelderman Air Ride, Safe-T-Steer, Supersteer Trak Bar rear w/ Sumo Springs.
400 AH LiFePo4 house batt w/750 watts solar 40A charger & 2500 watt whole house Inverter.
2021 Ford Ranger 4X4 Toad
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Old 06-02-2016, 10:54 PM   #39
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New Alante Owner

We just picked up our 31V from the dealer this evening. My husband and I have been looking to upgrade to a class A from our class C for a few years now. We have looked and looked and looked at many class A units. We had a check list of criteria that the unit needed to have. We picked the Alante basically because it checked off more boxes for the best price. The furniture is pretty comfortable (we haven't slept in the bed yet though). The cabinetry seems very solid. It has quite a bit of interior storage and a LOT of outside storage.

Only time will tell about the service and warranty but we are happy with our local dealer.

Moving from a Class C to a Class A was a big move. I am very excited to take it on our first weekend trip tomorrow. It really has a lot of cute little things that we really like about it and we are pretty particular people - lol. More to come after we use it a few times.
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Old 06-03-2016, 10:32 PM   #40
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Hello there! Congratulations on your new Alante 31V. Your post could have been written word by word by my husband and I.....except we moved up from a TT. We picked up our Alante 31V on 3/31. So far we've gone on 3 short trips and absolutely love it. We've had just a few minor items adjusted/repaired by our dealer but nothing big. Our dealer has been great. We also added an inside handrail, which the Alante does not come with, to assist exiting the unit. Our best upgrade yet! We are so very happy with our purchase. My husband got ton's of outside storage and large tanks for boon docking. I got a huge kitchen counter top, more pantry, drawer and closet space than I can fill.
Hope you guys enjoy your new Alante as much as we have ours so far. :-)
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