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New owner of an old 1983 38ORED Foretravel looking for manuals

November 15, 2013, 08:11:31 am

Hello,

I am the new owner of a 1983 38OREDSBI and I am looking for manuals and wiring diagrams.
I have major exterior lighting issues(only headlights and turn signals work) and I am hoping that someone on here has the Oshkosh chassis manual and the complete coach manual.
My coach manual is missing many pages. I have manuals for I believe every appliance and accessory on the coach.
The coach was a great deal other than the lighting issue and a possible black tank leak(odor). What I have tested works and a RV shop tested the propane system and said it and the propane generator are ok. The coach has the DD 8.2 with only 40K on the clock. The previous owner did some restoration on it over the years an I have lots of receipts. It was owned by one family from new until I purchased it.
Thanks for any help

Mike

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Re: New owner of an old 1983 38ORED Foretravel looking for manuals

Reply #1 – November 15, 2013, 09:54:11 am

Call Tennessee RV in Knoxville, TN.  One of their employees has an older FT and may have what you need.  On the Forum I believe his handle is JAHOLDER76.
Gary B

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Re: New owner of an old 1983 38ORED Foretravel looking for manuals

Reply #2 – November 15, 2013, 10:03:31 am

Odors usually a failure of vent seal on top of stack vents. Look for black pipes under sinks or in closets. Screw off the vent cap, take to lowes or any home store and they will have in stock. ($15?). Start there, most likely cause. One for each tank at least, sometimes more

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Re: New owner of an old 1983 38ORED Foretravel looking for manuals

Reply #3 – November 15, 2013, 10:04:01 am

His names is James Holder and he is service manager, great guy

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Re: New owner of an old 1983 38ORED Foretravel looking for manuals

Reply #4 – November 15, 2013, 10:22:35 am

My 88 had a crack at the tolite attachment. It took us a month of using it to figure it out. It had straps on the bottom.. i put a piece of angle with bolt to suport it.

No other problems for 7 years.

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Re: New owner of an old 1983 38ORED Foretravel looking for manuals

Reply #5 – November 15, 2013, 08:37:29 pm

When you lift the dash panel there are 2 separate fuse panels that have glass fuses. Some of the fuses are for the chassis and some are for the house side of the coach. There should be a piece of paper attached to the bottom of the lid that you lifted up to tell what each fuse does. The place the fuses snap into corrode and need to be cleaned, also mounted to the floor of that dash area should be another fuse  panel that is actually a Chrysler or more correctly dodge fuse panel. sometimes these created a problem and also the headlight switch would burn out due to the amount of amperage going through it to light all the marker and taillights. If you can not figure out the lighting, pm me and I will try to find an old dodge motorhome manual and copy the wiring diagram from that as this coach has the dodge wiring harness. Ron

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Re: New owner of an old 1983 38ORED Foretravel looking for manuals

Reply #6 – November 16, 2013, 11:05:12 am

I have found a wiring diagram of the dodge dash, I will try to scan into my computer, but not sure at this time. I am going to see if my wife will help do that.

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Re: New owner of an old 1983 38ORED Foretravel looking for manuals

Reply #7 – November 19, 2013, 09:08:00 pm

Congratulations on your find!
I have everything pertaining to that coach as that is what I also own. Mine was built 2/83 build #2063. PM me with your email and what you need I can scan and email to you. Do you have pics of your rig you could share? Let me know If I can help in any way.
James

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