Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 10, 2025 ...

Most common repairs & costs

July 26, 2013, 08:53:05 am

Just wondering what have been some of the expenses incurred after buying.

I saw a brake caliper is $1000, I just did mine in my GMC 2500HD truck they were $48..........

I'm an avid DIY to point.....

But what can I expect, tires about $400


Is there a online place to get decent prices on parts?

.

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Re: Most common repairs & costs

Reply #1 – July 26, 2013, 09:03:36 am

Tires are about 500 plus mounting and balance.  Yes brakes are expensive but have done mine once in  143000 miles and that was only new discs. Replaced a few slide pins on the calipers. They were not too bad. Do oil analyzes and figure out when o change the oil and filters. My biggest expense is fuel.

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Re: Most common repairs & costs

Reply #2 – July 26, 2013, 09:56:52 am

I asked a motorhome friend about the cost of some parts and service on my coach.  His answer, "you don't have a budget, you have a motorhome".  He added, "be glad you have a quality one".

Know you are doing your research now.  Some owners do all they can, hire what little they can not do.  Others have a cell phone, towing, and deep pockets.

But things that can bite you are all over any brand of RV.  More systems, more expenses.  HWH airride, and slides, double furnaces, double or triple roof AC's.  Foretravels have lots of extras as standard items that many SOB's don't have till years later.  Cummins parts seem cheap to me, labor seems to be $100 per hour most anywhere.  Tires, $500 or more depending on load range, and every 5-10 years due to age, not mileage.  RV tires are semi truck size, not like on my pickup.  The new exhaust manifold for a C8.3 with bolts, gaskets and seals were only $770 next day mid morning arrival. Labor for the job is often quoted at 11 hours.  Aqua Hot yearly service and parts seems to be $700, broken parts said to be expensive, replacement rebuilt units $7,000, but the value to owners seems priceless.  Slide room bladders, I remember reading $3K.

Xtreme quotes, $7K for new painted on simple patterns Stage 1, up to their Stage 3 full body paint at $20K, roofs extra.

Service cost get run up, by the gallons of fluids, not quarts like in my truck.  Double filters, or filters on the big diesel that are not on the truck, i.e. coolant filter, 2 fuel filters.

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Reply #3 – July 26, 2013, 02:01:44 pm

Plan on a couple of grand a year IMO.  Some years under a grand...some years 3 or 4.

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Reply #4 – July 26, 2013, 02:02:51 pm

or 5, 6 or 7.

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Reply #5 – July 26, 2013, 02:40:45 pm

Repair most frequently needed:  Body rash, yup after Xtreme is done, I can come up with a another  upgrade or two, yup Nac trips are seldom for repairs (body excluded) upgrades are the two biggies. My coach is like the family car, get in & go, everything keeps working.
Yes do pay close attention to the maintenance items.

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Re: Most common repairs & costs

Reply #6 – July 26, 2013, 03:05:52 pm

If you want good quality components and excellent workmanship, it will be expensive. I would budget $6k/year for maintenance, repairs, and upgrades. Other folk get by on considerably less. We generally have work done in Nacogdoches, and use fluids and parts recommended by Foretravel.

Good quality RV tires will be $3,600 for a set mounted and balanced. That should be repeated every six years. Batteries for our coach include three house batteries @ $500+- each, and two chassis batteries at $225+- each. Properly maintained, they will probably last 5 to 11 years. We replaced fuel lines and air bags this year because they started leaking and would leave us stranded if we didn't fix them. They were 15 years old. That's $5,000 at FOT. Will be more at a truck repair shop on the road, and less in a friend's garage.

All work can be done more cheaply if you do it yourself, or buy cheaper components. I could have bought six month old 8D batteries (house size) for $55 each. However, they were wet cell starting batteries. They would work, but wouldn't afford the benefits of AGM or Gel batteries. I bought a top quality RV and prefer to use replacement components of original equipment quality. Simpler and smaller will be cheaper. Get what you can afford, and enjoy it.

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