First RV

MacZulu · 03-15-2016, 08:33 PM

Well it's a 27ft unit, 1989 with 37k miles. it's the 460 with 4.10. has efi, but no overdrive. I have a mechanic friend who is going to go over the whole rig for me.

the layout is a rear bedroom, split washroom and two swivel chairs next to the dinette. it has a 4k onan generator that the second owner installed a few years ago, trailer hitch at both ends, the awning will need replacing in next year. second owner kept a record of what they did, tires, fridge a couple years ago. roof resealed 2 years ago. unit is clean and doesn't feel lived in, we will need to get a new mattress for the back and foam pad for cab over. will also look at cutting carpet out of kitchen and hallway to replace with vinyl planks.

looking to go out for a week in april and see how she is.

Jmooney · 03-15-2016, 08:40 PM

Awesome!

Congrats and welcome from Colorado

MacZulu · 03-15-2016, 09:11 PM

thanks Jmooney

Jayson 197 · 03-15-2016, 09:19 PM

Welcome to JOF and congrats on your purchase! It looks like it's in great shape.

MacZulu · 03-15-2016, 09:27 PM

thanks Jayson, it is very clean. and the detail quality seems pretty high. first time i saw a dinette with out plywood base. cabinets are nice and solid, and all captain chairs function fully.

fochman · 03-16-2016, 05:10 AM

Welcome from South Carolina. Nice rig. Enjoy the forum.

snowbird47 · 03-16-2016, 07:06 AM

How many miles on her?

MacZulu · 03-16-2016, 08:46 AM

thanks everyone. she has 37k miles, that was one of the things that caught my eye. although I know low mileage can cause issues too. my mechanic friend seems excited about, so I am hoping to find as much weaknesses as possible over the summer. then go for our big road trip up north which will probably be around 3500 miles. I am from the north and have done the drive more times than I can recall, but never in a motorhome.

Tunce the traveler · 03-16-2016, 09:09 AM

That's s the needle in the haystack find, it's more than new to you, it's new. Your going to enjoy that one for many years and now it's time to put the peddle to the metal.

TWP723 · 03-16-2016, 09:30 AM

Welcome aboard!

MacZulu · 03-16-2016, 03:36 PM

Trunce we were hoping to find a low mileage unit with efi, so we did get luckey. and it's big enough for us for some years i think, itching to get out there now. first trip will probably be close, but for atleast 7 nights.

thanks TWP723

Jagiven · 03-16-2016, 03:44 PM

Looks really nice for its age! Lean about how to maintain the generator.

As for the carpet, usually there is vinyl under it, so it will match the rest of the rig.

SkyBound · 03-16-2016, 03:45 PM

That's a pretty cool looking rig. You could easily modernize it a bit by swapping out the brass handles with some updated ones, etc. if you cared to. I'd be interested to know what kind of fuel mileage it gets. Is it multi-port injection or throttle body injection?

Stingray75 · 03-16-2016, 05:36 PM

Congrats on the new to you memory maker, looks like you found a real keeper.

robkelly · 03-16-2016, 07:19 PM

Congratulations and welcome!

MacZulu · 03-16-2016, 08:38 PM

hey thanks everybody, the generator oil looks due for a change as does the 460. I will learn how to keep her tip top, it's a nice luxury to have. thanks for the tip about the vinyl under the carpet, I'll be careful not to cut it as I remove the carpet.

hardware is a little dated, but all locks work. so probably wont change them in the short term, we'll see how we feel after some camp time. I think it's throttle body, but I'm not positive. I will have to update on mileage after some more use. I think the tank is around 40 gal, wish it were bigger. it'll be interesting to see how many miles from a full tank. little 16" wheels too, better for power than mileage I think.

Mwade · 03-18-2016, 12:28 PM

Nice! Get busy, and double the mileage!

MacZulu · 03-19-2016, 11:04 AM

thanks Mwade, we will do small runs through out the summer (<500km), and will get new tires before big roadtrip. would love to do the 101 top to bottom, and across canada someday. one mile at a time

MacZulu · 04-07-2016, 03:31 PM

well we got out for our trip last week. My wife and I were still dealing with a cold, but our son was feeling fine. spent 6 nights in a provincial campground, dry camping. campground had full washrooms and showers. a few beautiful days, and then it rained 4"s in one night. Unit was very comfortable, and we all enjoyed it.

Chilly enough to run the furnace at night, after four nights the battery didn't last the night. that was with daily charging with the generator for 4 hours a day (9-11 & 6-8, allowable times), very little use other than furnace fan. I already replaced most lights with leds, as they arrived the day we left (20 1156 replacements, ordered 10 more today at 10/$20). it was plugged into shore power at home for a couple weeks before camping.

so I think I need to first trouble shoot my charging system and make sure that's working properly, I will borrow a friend "battery saver" to recharge the house battery fully to check charge. I have a single 12v deep cycle under the hood on the drivers side for the house, and the chassis battery at the passenger side. if I stay with this set up I will probably go with a 100 Ah Trojan if I can. the other option would be to re position battery to under front dinette bench and do 2 6v for more Ah. 90-95% of camping will be dry camping for us, and I want to stick to 50% recharge.

I'm new to running a generator, but I think 4 hours a day is excessive. especially when it's not under any real load just recharging house battery. from what I've read, onan says a generator should be run atleast every month for an hour or 2 at half load (16.5 amps on mine).

also the propane ignition failed a few times on the fridge, when it was working it was very cold. I have to get into the burner and see whats up, today or tomorrow.

we had a 6' table outside with a coleman 2 burner stove and a hose for it to connect to motorhomes propane tank. so it was a fairly convenient set up.

all in all we are quite happy, even sick camping in the rain wasn't that bad for the last couple days.

oldmanAZ · 04-07-2016, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacZulu

well we got out for our trip last week. My wife and I were still dealing with a cold, but our son was feeling fine. spent 6 nights in a provincial campground, dry camping. campground had full washrooms and showers. a few beautiful days, and then it rained 4"s in one night. Unit was very comfortable, and we all enjoyed it.

Chilly enough to run the furnace at night, after four nights the battery didn't last the night. that was with daily charging with the generator for 4 hours a day (9-11 & 6-8, allowable times), very little use other than furnace fan. I already replaced most lights with leds, as they arrived the day we left (20 1156 replacements, ordered 10 more today at 10/$20). it was plugged into shore power at home for a couple weeks before camping.

so I think I need to first trouble shoot my charging system and make sure that's working properly, I will borrow a friend "battery saver" to recharge the house battery fully to check charge. I have a single 12v deep cycle under the hood on the drivers side for the house, and the chassis battery at the passenger side. if I stay with this set up I will probably go with a 100 Ah Trojan if I can. the other option would be to re position battery to under front dinette bench and do 2 6v for more Ah. 90-95% of camping will be dry camping for us, and I want to stick to 50% recharge.

I'm new to running a generator, but I think 4 hours a day is excessive. especially when it's not under any real load just recharging house battery. from what I've read, onan says a generator should be run atleast every month for an hour or 2 at half load (16.5 amps on mine).

also the propane ignition failed a few times on the fridge, when it was working it was very cold. I have to get into the burner and see whats up, today or tomorrow.

we had a 6' table outside with a coleman 2 burner stove and a hose for it to connect to motorhomes propane tank. so it was a fairly convenient set up.

all in all we are quite happy, even sick camping in the rain wasn't that bad for the last couple days.

Thanks for sharing your trip experience. I think your last line sums it up nicely: "all in all we are quite happy, even sick camping in the rain wasn't that bad for the last couple days."

You'll need to get to the bottom of your generator and battery charging (or lack of it) issue. It's probably best to have that wrapped up before you commit to battery changes. If you are drawing out more 12v power daily than you are putting back in, you will run out at some point - even with higher capacity batteries. BTW, LED bulbs draw very little power compared to the furnace fan motor. You may have been OK this trip if the weather had been warmer.

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