Just noticed another Foretravel for sale at this place near my house. He had an 03 Grand Villa recently too. It looks nice in the pictures. Just thought I would post in case anyone is interested.
2002 FORETRAVEL U295 2 SLIDES 400HP 73K MILES 1F98D54042N054327 - Florida RVs - (http://showroom.auction123.com/florida_rvs/inventory/8673/2002/1F98D54042N054327.html)
Mark
Heads up for those who are still "searching" (like us). Nice 2002 U295 on eBay, in Florida. Price seems reasonable considering year, model, (apparent) condition, and upgrades. Sadly, way out of our price bracket. Sigh...
eBay Item number: 221274444237
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=221274444237&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:3160#ht_53290wt_1167 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=221274444237&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:3160#ht_53290wt_1167)
Merged these 2 topics - it's the same coach
If the owner of this one is the same one that had the 2003 Grand Villa I'm thinking of, this 2002 U295 is the same color and everything. The 2003 was beautiful. It was for sale at FOT when we were there last year. I think he was asking $165,000 for the Grand Villa on consignment and it did sell pretty quickly.
This coach is a twin to my coach except color and washer/dryer. Very good floor plan and I see they have done the same upgrades as I have done. I have not done the lights as I don't drive at night very often. Very happy with 02 400 40 ft two slides someone should look at this coach. Price seems fair. DAN
We may go look at that coach next weekend, any know anything about it?
Pictures show the cover missing on the house batteries and house batteries missing or needing replaced. If this is the coach I think it is // ck the leveling system out carefully. I may have seen this coach and the owner would dump all the air out to level when parked. Not sure why or if an issue exist or if same coach. He did a great job maintaining the coach if it is the one. Call Foretravel and see if they can give you any service records. DAn
That one is an "interesting" photo. In our '03, the house batteries are behind a panel (rearward) in the center of the coach basement. IIRC Tom and Bill's are also in the middle of the coach behind something (AH?) Not sure what that single 12V battery is doing there in the bay with the diesel tank. Wonder if they adjusted the Xantrex Prosine accordingly....
I agree, that battery is an after thought. FOT would not have left it like that! Plus the tray it is in doesn't look OEM either.
That is the bottom half of a tray like in the early model u280's like 88-90 and also u225 and u240
The battery compartment is the same as in my 2002. Just saying ::)
In one photo there's a placard from Washington State Department of Labor and Industries. Looks like it must have been sold out of the Foretravel Store in Liberty Lake, WA.
I had no idea Washington required such a thing.
All those photos and not a single one of the engine compartment. Everything else looks extremely clean on it and all original.
Interesting.
A 40' w/2 slides and no tag may have reduced appeal for many.
The Net Carrying Capacity really gets eaten into (VIN Plate says CCC = 3,070 Lbs.).
Since they don't state the GCVWR on the VIN Plate, I wonder what the towing limit is (vehicle, not hitch). The hitch may be 10,000 Lb. but the vehicle GCVWR may limit what can be towed to less than what ??? , 4,000Lbs, maybe???
Anyone know?
Neal
As this coach is a twin to mine I can say that the towing power is all you need and you get lots of storage space not having the tag. One draw back for some may be it takes a lot of room to turn this coach around. It will drive and ride fine. We like it much more than the 36 we had before. I have seen 42 fters lift the tag and turn on a dime as if it were a 34 fter. You just have to watch where you go towing. Normally you will have no problems with the turning radius. DAN
Also I noticed that the big awning does not appear to be raised up to the correct height. Maybe just the picture but water might be in the arms, easy to remove if so. The motor moves it out but the air pushes it up. I really think this is the coach I saw at the Mid South in Conroe. If so It was purchased from Foretravel by that owner so they should have some records. It has a great outside finish on the paint and should be in good coach for someone. Dan
GCWR of 44,500 lbs. according to the spec sheet on Barry's site
3000lbs would be enough for me, I only used 2000 lbs. when we were full timing in our 40' non-tag coach
I don't know if this owner owned a 2003 but the owner of this one was Gary & Linda Bonnett from Palm City FL.
Thanks, John.
The GCVWR (a.k.a. GCWR) was what I was looking to understand.
Woke up in the middle of the night thinking "Why didn't I just look it up in Barry's resource?" Duh!
A GCWR of 44,500 gives a potential for 10,000 lbs. towing capacity (Good).
The 3000 lbs. "Cargo Carrying Capacity - CCC" though, shows why non-tag, multiple slide coaches lead many owners into situations where they may be "pushing" or exceed the vehicle's design specifications. Not many owners weigh their coaches several times a year (or even decade).
One just needs to be very careful when pushing design limits.
FT is famous for conservative design limits and I believe there remains lots of safety margin (read as OVERBUILT) beyond the stated design specs, but it is still very wise to stay within FT's design parameters.
In the past, having used our coach associated with my DW's small business, I know that the 3000 lbs. CCC would have been an absolute no-go for us (ours has 6,470 lbs. CCC, and we sometimes had difficulty living with that). I'm pretty sure that full timing (at the 3000 lbs CCC) would also be a no-go. I'd have to look more carefully, but having weighed our coach (four corners) multiple times, I know that it isn't easy to redistribute side to side and front to back weights when one starts out that close to design limits.
Neal
Unless I am reading it wrong, the CCC on that coach weight plate is including a full freshwater tank (897lbs.), the two occupants at 154 pounds apiece, and the full 29 gallon propane tank (131lbs.). So that is a CCC of 4385lbs. It appears as though on the later coaches, they do the computations for you just in case your math skills aren't up to it. LOL! Not quite as generous as the 5950 on our 36' 99' U270, but not as bad as I thought at first glance and still better than most SOB's that I looked at. It is the unladen UVW that gives me pause... It is 5165 pounds more than our non slide 36'. Okay, granted that I've added a few hundred pounds of structural steel to our basement, but still...
Don
Don,
You
are not confusing Net Carrying Capacity (NCC) and Cargo Carrying Capacity (CCC),
but many owners do.
It's true that carrying capacity used to be listed as NCC (the only fluids included were the crankcase oil and the engine cooling fluid).
Now the math is there, on the weight information sticker, showing the Cargo Carrying Capacity (CCC) calculation which accounts for the full propane tank, the full FW tank and two 154 lb. occupants, etc, etc.
It is my understanding that much of the ton and a half loss in CCC and the two and a half tons in UVW increase are because of the frame changes to add back strength to account for the structural (slide) holes, plus the additional weight of the slide mechanism(s), plus the slide operating components and fluids.
Neal
If this coach belonged to someone in Fla. It is not the one I saw. Good looking and very enjoyable motorhome. DAN
I looked at this coach yesterday and I would liked to have bought it but with ours to sell I don't think I would be able to swing it. But I wanted to mention to everyone on the forum looking that it is in nice shape. Walter the owner says he would accept $100K which is a $15k reduction. Let me know if I can be of any help to anyone looking.
Regards, Mark
154 lbs!!! Good night! I wrestled @ 200lbs in Jr High! I'm happy when the scale sys 260 and not ouch!