Older class B

[Chrisbe28]

Originally Posted by goreds2

My 1989 Dodge is still going strong. They are out there. I bought mine during the fail (end of camping) season. Seems to be one of the best times to buy an RV.

Do you happen to have a owners manual for the 1989 Dodge Xplorer? I have one as well but cannot find an owner's manual.

Sorry to hijack the thread.

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by Davidk

I am not excited about the miles/km on the RT I am excited about the whole van, age ,shape ride and how it fits my family.

A lot of the RV's that I looked at to but were in worse shape, had a lot less miles on them. So yes I was a little concerned when we bought it with those miles/km on it. So that is why I say the miles /km on this RV.
And growing up if you had a gas car, truck that had over 100,000 miles on it most times it was in rough shape

So i'm not excited I am/was concerned

David

It's true... I remember when any vehicle over 100,000 miles was considered a car ready for the scrapheap....not true anymore......

Nowadays.....that benchmark is 200,000 miles minimum......cars today and from the late 90s are s lot better built...... robotics...

Now... that's the vehicle..robots didn't build the conversion....a little different story here....

EVERYTHING is condition....

[goreds2]

Originally Posted by Chrisbe28

Do you happen to have a owners manual for the 1989 Dodge Xplorer? I have one as well but cannot find an owner's manual.

Sorry to hijack the thread.

Here is the manual for my fridge. I will dig around and try to find others.

http://fardo.net/gallery/d/16725-3/D...ice+Manual.pdf

[Chrisbe28]

Originally Posted by goreds2

Here is the manual for my fridge. I will dig around and try to find others.

http://fardo.net/gallery/d/16725-3/D...ice+Manual.pdf

Thank you!

[Monica998]

Originally Posted by tsrichards

Because of our budget my husband and I are going to have to purchase a class B that is more than 10 years .Does anyone have any suggestions about which brands are better than others ? We will be living in it full-time and traveling quite a bit .

If I were you, at first, I'll judge my budget; secondly, I'll search in the Google: class B RVs, there're so many online-sale websites, such as, rvtrader, rv.campingworld and so on, and then I will make a comparison; thirdly, if I have enough budget, I'll believe the top-brand RVs; if no enough budget, I'll also select a product of a similar brand. Because I think they can be resaled again if we don't need it anymore. As we all known, brand is popularity.

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by Monica998

If I were you, at first, I'll judge my budget; secondly, I'll search in the Google: class B RVs, there're so many online-sale websites, such as, rvtrader, rv.campingworld and so on, and then I will make a comparison; thirdly, if I have enough budget, I'll believe the top-brand RVs; if no enough budget, I'll also select a product of a similar brand. Because I think they can be resaled again if we don't need it anymore. As we all known, brand is popularity.

Popularity is an important part of resale..in my opinion, a rare model or unique up fitter will make it harder to sell later... kind of a rare bird.... with unique systems...
A standard model with many available similar units are going to have more available parts...

I would examine the condition..as condition is everything in used vehicles despite mileage, and ask why they are selling, if it's a private party.... also any and all service records if available are extremely valuable......

Finally.. make sure that the batteries, tires and brakes are all in reasonable condition.....

Good luck...

[peteco]

Originally Posted by Nic7320

I find I really don't need one. I bought one, but have yet to use it. I put 200 watts of flexible solar panels on the roof and it keeps up with my day to day demands -- except A/C.

Since I have a 17' Roadtrek 170P, I don't have much storage area for a generator, so I added a Hoffman 24 x 20 x 8 NEMA-4 box to the spare tire rack and put a small 1 KW gen-set in it with a spare gas can.

So the plan is, when air conditioning is needed, I'll get out the generator and supplement it with a grid-tie inverter running on the house battery to handle the extra start up current. The air-conditioning unit requires about 700 watts average. The start up power is something around 3000 watts, but just briefly when the motor starts up. It should work.

Nic, can you provide more details about your solar panel installation. How are the flex panels working out? I have read that they can impart a large heat load to the roof; have you experienced this? How did you attache the panels?

Also, interested in the grid-tie inverter and how that works in conjunction with the generator.

Thanks

[booster]

I also wonder about the grid tie inverter. My understanding is that grid tie units sync the frequency to shore, or in this case generator, which certainly is necessary if both are active. This is probably similar to what folks like Outback do with their inverters that can boost AC power when on shore or generator power, if it is needed.


What may be different with a grid tie is that they are designed to be hardwired into a structure, so they would have a continuous path to bonded earth ground. This would dictate that they not ever be bonded between neutral and ground.


In a mobile situation when you don't have path to a bonded earth ground, and are running the inverter to generate AC, the inverter should be bonded. Most decent mobile inverter will auto bond when inverting and unbond when outside AC from a generator or shore power is present.


The big question is if the grid tie in this situation bond when there is no AC from the genny or shore power inputs?

[Monica998]

Originally Posted by Roadtrek Adventuous RS1

Popularity is an important part of resale..in my opinion, a rare model or unique up fitter will make it harder to sell later... kind of a rare bird.... with unique systems...
A standard model with many available similar units are going to have more available parts...

I would examine the condition..as condition is everything in used vehicles despite mileage, and ask why they are selling, if it's a private party.... also any and all service records if available are extremely valuable......

Finally.. make sure that the batteries, tires and brakes are all in reasonable condition.....

Good luck...

As we all known, the tires and brakes are very easy to check, could you tell us how to check the batteries, good or not or need to be changed?

[Adriana]

I currently have a Coachmen 19RD on an e-250 chassis with the 351W and E40D transmission.

First time RV owner, just bought a 93 Chevy Coachmen 19RB in superb condition with 120,000 miles. (Would have much preferred the RD, will look to swap for this layout down the road)

Just getting oriented, have not taken maiden voyage yet other than driving it home. Are there any online communities or forums for vintage Coachmen owners?

[hepcat]

Originally Posted by Adriana

Are there any online communities or forums for vintage Coachmen owners?

VINTAGE??? Why, a '93 is practically new!!!

Coachmen was sort of the lower-end of the class-b motorhome in its day with particle-board interior construction and less expensive and less opulent materials. That said, there are just about as many Coachmen coaches still being used today as any other brand. Mine is still in really good condition, although it's beginning to show its age a little. I bought mine in '15 with only 26,000 miles on it, but it sat outside its entire life so there's some paint fade. It has 64,000 miles on it today. It's seen three years of regular use.

To address your question, I don't believe that there are any Coachmen B-Van specific resources out there. I was a member of an Airstream B-190 forum some years ago when I had mine, but it wasn't very active. I'm not even sure it's still going. This forum is probably your best resource, but even it is heavily weighted toward the newer euro-van coaches.

The good news is that there isn't much about a Coachmen that's specific TO a Coachmen, and everything about the coach is straight-forwardly assembled and constructed. It's pretty much WYSIWYG. The systems are all generic, off-the-shelf setups. The plumbing is easily accessible (mostly) and easy to work on (mostly) as is the electrical. All of the appliances and fixtures come from off-the-shelf suppliers, and your chassis is, of course, Chevy.

[Monica998]

About how to check the battery, I have found one post, hope can be helpful!
Please access to: https://www.wikihow.com/Check-Your-RV-Battery, thanks!

[JAJJV]

I bought the Dodge Steering Stabilizer and it did not do the trick. Death wobble/sway over 45 mph still intact! That said, it's the ONLY thing we don't like about our Roadtrek (on a Dodge B3500).

[GallenH]

My 97 PW on the Dodge 3500 didn't have a "death wobble" before I installed the stabilizer. When I first got the PW about 4 years ago I drove across Texas from New Orleans to Arizona going up to 75mph without that issue. What I had to get used to was the light, all-time power steering that Dodge used at that time. The only gain I got from the stabilizer (installed later) was a better feel for the road and less disturbance from minor road irregularities. Just feels smoother and more secure in its tracking.

You might have the entire steering and front suspension inspected for wear. Others have commented that tires/alignment can cause issues as well. Others have commented that new HD shocks help handling. I wouldn't give up until I'd explored all of these possibles. When I have my tires replaced, I'll probably also put on new shocks at the same time.

Good luck to you.

[Nic7320]

Originally Posted by JAJJV

I bought the Dodge Steering Stabilizer and it did not do the trick. Death wobble/sway over 45 mph still intact! That said, it's the ONLY thing we don't like about our Roadtrek (on a Dodge B3500).

The steering stabilizer is still good thing to have, as it will keep your steering box healthy. Next, check your tires for shifted belts. Then (best to have a shop do this) check for loose bearings, worn tie rod ends, and bad ball joints. Sometimes a bad u-joint on the steering column is the problem. The whole steering system is a chain of components and any one of them can cause steering wander.

[stevevh27]

On my 1997 Xplorer 230 I had rear axle extenders installed so the rear tires follow in the front tires tracks. The oem rear axle is 4" narrower than the front. That and replacing the tie rods made a big difference in the steering.

[Brad1998RD]

I've seen slot of videos on the "death wobble" and from what I've seen and experienced even on a Ford is the frame starts moving first. So the first thing I would do is like I did on my Jeep.. box the frame in so it is stiff and cannot move. Then a steering stabilizer to save front end parts .