Now I'm not complaining, I love the power, the space and the appliances that this thing has, but when you need work done on it, you must figure out who does what.
Remember, this is a 6-year-old motor coach that was very high end in it's day. It has cleaned up very well and is definitely a keeper. With that said, the previous owners did their level best to kill it by ignoring maintenance.
On our way to Texarkana last weekend, we had a leveling jack malfunction. We think it was a wet sensor since it was raining all the way here. The electrical plug in that you plug the engine heater into does not work. One of the new belts Camping World in Fort Myers put on is whistling at us and has ever since we took possession and drove it back to Texas. We had "idiot" lights and gauges on the dash that would mysteriously light up or ring/buzz and then go silent. Only to do it again sporadically as we went down the road.
Fortunately, Texarkana (Texas & Arkansas) has some very good places to get things worked on. For example, Artex Truck Center is on the Arkansas side of the state line. They are an International Truck Dealer but they are a Cummins certified repair shop as well. So we'll go there next week to have the engine checked out and that belt squeak silenced.
Next, the tires. When the new tires were installed the place that did the work did not install the extensions and supports necessary to check tire pressures on the dualies nor the tag. Friday afternoon we'll be going over to the GCR tire people to get this done, and yes, the dealership where we purchased this rig will pick up that tab since these essential parts were lost on their watch, thank you.
Next, the Hydro-Hot system. This wonderful system gives us hot water on demand... even when we're going down the road.It's also the furnace system since this is an all electric coach, no propane onboard here. Unless it's under 45 degrees, it runs well on just electric. Colder than that and it uses the diesel fuel. Luckily it sips instead of gulps. We're not sure who will be working on this but we do know it needs to be serviced faithfully every year or it will cost big $$$. That may wait till we get to Conroe, Texas in February.
On the way back to Teague we have an appointment in Longview, Texas. What's in Longview? A Spartan Chassis service center, authorized of course. That's who will take care of those pesky dash gremlins.
You may ask, if we had it to do all over again would we get rid of our simple gasoline powered rig for this complex behemoth?
You bet! For the full-time RV lifestyle, you can't beat the amenities and the power to go to the mountains without even breaking a sweat. We may decide to do more mountainous travel now. Personally, when we take our Alaska trip I'd love to take this thing up. But, Bob wants to fly. I've been to Alaska and I want to show him around. So I'll fly if it keeps him happy :-)
Till next time,
Happy Trails!
Vicky & Bob Heron (Capt. Jack & Jesse James)
How to work & live wherever and whenever you choose!
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