Possible 17 Eagle HT 28.5RSTS owner

[SeventyGTX]

I joined this forum because I found a Jayco we really like that is under 10k GVWR at 9950. I recently found out a Nevada Class C license is only rated to tow up to 10k after 2 1/2 years of owning our Wildcat Maxx which is 11,800. So, made a deal with a dealer to trade ours for the 17 28.5RSTS and will hopefully be able to make the 7 hour trip to pick it up by this weekend. The nice thing about the Jayco is it is actually larger than ours and has a few more features.

Hate to get rid of the Wildcat as I put so much into it. But at least the dealer is willing to swap the new 16" rims and Goodyear tires and Serta mattress into the Jayco. The Jayco has the same 15" Chinabombs I pulled off the Wildcat. So that made me happy.

[dennis b]

Welcome! is there a question here?

[SeventyGTX]

Originally Posted by dennis b

Welcome! is there a question here?

Lol....no, not really just a bit excited I gues. Unless someone wants to chime in and have me look at any particular problem areas before I pull the trigger. Its a 7 hour drive, so want to make sure this is in good shape besides the mechanicals that I can check myself.

[Nathan S.]

Make sure you have ample tire clearance with the 16” tires you are having put on. I had to have the springs lowered to the lower shackle hole to stop the tire rub and wheel well damage I got. Jayco covered it under warranty. And welcome to the forum.

[SeventyGTX]

Originally Posted by Nathan S.

Make sure you have ample tire clearance with the 16” tires you are having put on. I had to have the springs lowered to the lower shackle hole to stop the tire rub and wheel well damage I got. Jayco covered it under warranty. And welcome to the forum.

Thanks and great info! I didn't realize there could be a clearance issue or that the springs were adjustable. They will be doing the tire swap so will make sure they are aware of this. I just don't want to give up those new Endurance tires, plus they will raise the rig to help level it to my truck.

[Nathan S.]

Moving the springs down will also raise the trailer about 1”

[SeventyGTX]

Originally Posted by Nathan S.

Moving the springs down will also raise the trailer about 1”

I never paid attention to my Wildcat when I went to 16's, but just checked and they are in the lower hole already. Just called the salesman I am dealing with but he has the day off and cant check it.

[Big1]

Welcome to the forum and I hope that everything work out for you, and congrats.

[SeventyGTX]

Talked to the service manager and the springs are in the lower holes.

So, they will swap the tires wheels and mattress plus anything else I have added that is easily swapped. It has a Furrion BU camera, but no monitior. I also have a Furrion I mounted in mine and they said if the Jayco camera won't pair with my monitor, they will swap the cameras out.

Supposed to leave early Friday morning to let them inspect mine, then do any swapping that afternoon. They are also paying for a hotel nearby I can stay at, then come back Saturday morning, hook up and bring it home. Seem like great people to deal with so far. My only issue with it is it has obviously been through road salt, but I will deal with that when I get it home and it will never be through it again.

[Jim Smyth]

If it were me I would call Jayco with the serial number and ask what warranty work has been done on said unit before going there. This will give you a warm fuzzy feeling if your unit has had any major stuff wrong with it that was redone under warranty.



Also since I have the same year/model unit as your getting it seems the front cap paint job is garbage with most needing to be repainted at a few grand each within the first 2 years. You wont have this option under warranty since you wont have a warranty since your buying it used. Really look the front cap over especially on the top corners near the marker lights is where it goes bad first. Many threads on this including my fixs.



Other than that the only other annoying item I had was over a year of heater issues. They have a fix for the heater (sent free from heater manufacturer) since the way it was designed the circuit board ends up collecting water and it does all sorts of funky stuff with the main thing of not producing any heat. The fix remounts the circuit board on a angle so water cant sit on or under it corroding the solder joints.


Also under the front end 90 where the king pin is. There is trim pieces on the side running the entire 90 are connected with short screws. Very common problem is trim starts drooping due to short screws not holding. Then water gets in and rots everything out and rust all the screws. Correct fix is to use 3" screws and run it up into the aluminum frame. So if you can push up on this trim and you see it move your going to need this fix or will have water intrusion problems later down the road.


I have had my unit coming up on 2 years now (currently camping in it in Jacksonville FL) and the heater was working well this morning and life is good. Its a great sized unit, we love ours once all the bugs were worked out.

[Jagiven]

If you like your wildcat, why not add endorsement J to tour license? It sounds a lot easier and cheaper than buying a new camper.. I scanned the 75 page study guide, it looked fairly like common sense items. Some items were not applicable to an rv, like air brakes, and securing a load.

https://dmvnv.com/nvdl.htm

[SeventyGTX]

Originally Posted by Jagiven

If you like your wildcat, why not add endorsement J to tour license? It sounds a lot easier and cheaper than buying a new camper.. I scanned the 75 page study guide, it looked fairly like common sense items. Some items were not applicable to an rv, like air brakes, and securing a load.

https://dmvnv.com/nvdl.htm

First I would have to take a written test here in my town. Once I pass that, I have to find a properly licensed driver to ride with me 70 miles away to the driving test site. I do not know anyone with that license, let alone someone willing to kill their day to go with me. If you show up without a licensed passenger, they can impound your rig.

I talked to a guy that took that test and it is a major pain. If you miss one thing like forgetting to check your alternator belt and mention what you are doing, you fail. He had to take it twice because he forgot to mention the tread depth on the tires and say they looked good.

So, basically its not worth it for us with a relatively small trailer, plus we are moving out of state in a few months. Most people I know have never even heard of this endorsement and just don't worry about it. Even dealers told me very few have the special endorsement. My fear is being out of state and get pulled over or worse, get in an accident. Probably a very slim chance, but not one I want to take. Just easier to get another one under 10k even if it will cost us a few bucks.

[SeventyGTX]

Originally Posted by Jim Smyth

If it were me I would call Jayco with the serial number and ask what warranty work has been done on said unit before going there. This will give you a warm fuzzy feeling if your unit has had any major stuff wrong with it that was redone under warranty.



Also since I have the same year/model unit as your getting it seems the front cap paint job is garbage with most needing to be repainted at a few grand each within the first 2 years. You wont have this option under warranty since you wont have a warranty since your buying it used. Really look the front cap over especially on the top corners near the marker lights is where it goes bad first. Many threads on this including my fixs.



Other than that the only other annoying item I had was over a year of heater issues. They have a fix for the heater (sent free from heater manufacturer) since the way it was designed the circuit board ends up collecting water and it does all sorts of funky stuff with the main thing of not producing any heat. The fix remounts the circuit board on a angle so water cant sit on or under it corroding the solder joints.


Also under the front end 90 where the king pin is. There is trim pieces on the side running the entire 90 are connected with short screws. Very common problem is trim starts drooping due to short screws not holding. Then water gets in and rots everything out and rust all the screws. Correct fix is to use 3" screws and run it up into the aluminum frame. So if you can push up on this trim and you see it move your going to need this fix or will have water intrusion problems later down the road.


I have had my unit coming up on 2 years now (currently camping in it in Jacksonville FL) and the heater was working well this morning and life is good. Its a great sized unit, we love ours once all the bugs were worked out.

Thanks for the great reply! Surfing this site I did read about the front cap issues, which is really the thing that bothered me the most. I spent $2600 to have the cap on our Wildcat painted before I knew about this license thing. But it was a darker color and started looking terrible after one year. Even though it was only 17 months old when I contacted Forest River, since I was the second owner they ignored me. So bit the bullet and paid to have it painted with automotive base/clear.

The salesman went and took a couple of pics for me of the Jayco, but being an overcast day not much showed up. He said there were two small spots about 5" wide that were faded way up high. I keep our rig under cover, so it should last a while. I will do what I can to polish it, but they are so hard to reach. All I could find on this site were people that had warranty, no real answer as what people like me did. But I do not want to spend that kind of money again to get it painted.

I will give Jayco a call about any warranty work it may have had done. I will also call the dealer tomorrow and ask about those trim pieces and make sure they are good and tight. They have been great with any questions I have had. Thanks again for the great post!

[richie t]

We have the same rig, and love it. No mechanical issues, however I did break one of my cargo doors. The one by your water hookups by the bedroom slide. It has an arm on it that did not close properly and the hinge began to come apart from closing it. Have to replace the door. Would suggest keeping it lubricated. Tow it with a Dodge Ram 2500, 4wd, long bed. Doesn't feel like I'm hardly towing anything. Great storage inside, and obviously would like more storage outside. We also have the fireplace which we love. Did add slide toppers and larger wheels. I think you'll be happy. I do wish we had a dinette instead of table and chairs. Good luck!

[GraftonGuns]

I have a '17 Eagle HT 27.5 RLTS. It only has 15" rims . Came with the china bombs and I put new Goodyear Endurance tires on it along with a Morryde wetbolt kit. among other things. DW and I and our three Labs enjoy it. I am looking to get rid of the two swivel recliner rockers and find a two seat theater type sofa with the cup holders in the center.

[SeventyGTX]

Originally Posted by GraftonGuns

I have a '17 Eagle HT 27.5 RLTS. It only has 15" rims . Came with the china bombs and I put new Goodyear Endurance tires on it along with a Morryde wetbolt kit. among other things. DW and I and our three Labs enjoy it. I am looking to get rid of the two swivel recliner rockers and find a two seat theater type sofa with the cup holders in the center.

The main reason I went to 16's is Ram 2500 4x4s are tall and it helped level the Wildcat. Still a little nose high but a lot better than it was.

This 28.5RSTS we are looking at also has a Morryde pin box. Not sure about wet bolts, but I doubt it.

[Jim Smyth]

I have a F350 and its also tall. I had to drop the suspension into the bottom hanger hole (+1"). I put a Lippert Correct Track system on (+2") and also swapped the 15" tires for 16" tires just recently. (+1.25") I now have 6" of clearance around my bed and tailgate. Originally I was like 4" on the tailgate which made it tight in places.



Going back to the top of your 5th wheel and the start of fading spots. That will turn bad very quickly and wax will not help much. You will actually make it worse with aggressive buffing removing more clear. Whats happening is they make these caps fast in a mold. They spray clear into the mold first. Then the paint color and then the Gel Coat. So what your seeing now is the clear being worn away and your now into the paint color. Next you will be into the chalky Gel Coat. If you want to get it right away you need to use Auto clear and re coat the top to stop from getting into the paint/Gel coat.



I did my own and learned a few lessons along the way. I have 5000 miles on my clear and it still looks great. Just dont want to wait to long. I would really read this entire thread to prepare yourself.


https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...eel-67625.html

[SeventyGTX]

Originally Posted by Jim Smyth

I have a F350 and its also tall. I had to drop the suspension into the bottom hanger hole (+1"). I put a Lippert Correct Track system on (+2") and also swapped the 15" tires for 16" tires just recently. (+1.25") I now have 6" of clearance around my bed and tailgate. Originally I was like 4" on the tailgate which made it tight in places.



Going back to the top of your 5th wheel and the start of fading spots. That will turn bad very quickly and wax will not help much. You will actually make it worse with aggressive buffing removing more clear. Whats happening is they make these caps fast in a mold. They spray clear into the mold first. Then the paint color and then the Gel Coat. So what your seeing now is the clear being worn away and your now into the paint color. Next you will be into the chalky Gel Coat. If you want to get it right away you need to use Auto clear and re coat the top to stop from getting into the paint/Gel coat.



I did my own and learned a few lessons along the way. I have 5000 miles on my clear and it still looks great. Just dont want to wait to long. I would really read this entire thread to prepare yourself.


https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...eel-67625.html

Thanks for the link, I will check it out. Yea, I went through all this with the Wildcat, but it was beyond hope with chalky white spots and had to be sprayed..........or live with it, which I couldn't. This will stay under a 3 sided cover and only get a couple hours of morning sun most of the time, so it shouldn't get much worse for a while. Plus I can throw a tarp over the cap just to be safe. Is this just an issue with the 28.5RSTS? Seems odd if it is.


Here is the Wildcat after it was sprayed, $2600 later and a $50 decal off ebay. It was originally solid gray and I had them paint it like the two-tone 2017's...

[SeventyGTX]

Originally Posted by Jim Smyth

If it were me I would call Jayco with the serial number and ask what warranty work has been done on said unit before going there.

Called Jayco this morning and the lady said they were not allowed to give out that information.

[Jim Smyth]

I did the same thing 1-2 years back now and they told me both warranty items that were done on my trailer. Someone since must have ruined it for us all. I would try another number/person to make sure. I would also think the dealer should be able to do it. Its definitely something I would want to know before buying used.