Re: Considering a Foretravel Reply #50 – September 28, 2013, 10:22:51 pm Our "morning routine" means locking someone in our out of the bedroom wouldn't be fun but otherwise I agree, the bathroom is much more spacious as a result. Quote Selected
Re: Considering a Foretravel Reply #51 – September 28, 2013, 10:37:10 pm After 40 years together, we have lowered our standards. Only becomes an issue with guests, so we are careful who we invite. Quote Selected 1 Likes
Re: Considering a Foretravel Reply #52 – September 28, 2013, 10:53:29 pm I don't know about standards, but after 54 years we're humbled by how lucky we are. And cherish the time we're able to spend with each other...best, paulQuoteAfter 40 years together, we have lowered our standards. Only becomes an issue with guests, so we are careful who we invite. Quote Selected
Re: Considering a Foretravel Reply #53 – September 28, 2013, 11:03:16 pm We are happy with our walk thru bath, and there is really no privacy issue for us becasue of the pocket doors. Even traveling with grandkids this summer or when we have guests and someone needs to use the "facilities", it is just fine. One thing I DID do, was to eliminate the ridiculous mirrored doors that are directly opposite the commode. In what world was that EVER a good idea? Quote Selected
Re: Considering a Foretravel Reply #54 – September 29, 2013, 01:29:55 am Gee, Carol, I never thot you were hard on the eyes. Why would you? (running and ducking.....)best, paulQuote We are happy with our walk thru bath, and there is really no privacy issue for us becasue of the pocket doors. Even traveling with grandkids this summer or when we have guests and someone needs to use the "facilities", it is just fine. One thing I DID do, was to eliminate the ridiculous mirrored doors that are directly opposite the commode. In what world was that EVER a good idea? Quote Selected
Re: Considering a Foretravel Reply #55 – September 29, 2013, 01:53:36 am Quote from: bogeygolfer – September 28, 2013, 10:08:38 pmGive me the walk-through any day! Love all the space on the bath. Ditto here. Big enough for a square dance. Quote Selected
Re: Considering a Foretravel Reply #56 – September 29, 2013, 07:27:53 am I would walk away from this coach. There are simply too many issues.Ten months ago we purchased our coach from a wonderful couple who had maintained it extremely well, had done several nice upgrades and system improvements, and had documented everything. We have thoroughly enjoyed using it. Even so, we have had a few issues and have needed to do some maintenance and repairs.Some maintenance and repairs are to be expected on an older coach, but I would not purchase one that seemed to have a good chance of spending more time being repaired than being used. Quote Selected
Re: Considering a Foretravel Reply #57 – September 29, 2013, 10:35:24 am I was looking at a 1988 40 foot Grand Villa, It was absolutely impecable inside and out, Lovingly maintained by the owners, It stood out in the piccys, I just loved it,I didnt buy it because it was just too big for our skinny twisty roads, As my shake down cruise just proved, even 36 foot is just a bit big, But I will manage, HahahaThat one was $11,000-00 USD, Needed nothing, But there where quite a few around the 45 to 50 grand mark, And Stunning inside and out,I looked for over six months before I pulled the trigger, Sight Unseen, Piccys only, Mechanically, I had one thing in my favour, The PO was going to drive my coach with his toad on the back, 1500 miles from Texas to Ontario in California,It must be registered, It must be somewhat roadworthy, To be able to drive that distance, If it blows up on the way to California, Hopefully I can get my money back,But its here and I love it, Mine cost me $15,000-00 USD, Plus $2000-00 USD for Diesel for the 1500 mile delivery drive,There is nothing wrong with older Foretravels, Properly maintained, They will be here, Long after, we have all gone,And they are sight cheaper as well, Get one with a Big Motor, They cruise instead of working hard for the same speed, Quote Selected
Re: Considering a Foretravel Reply #58 – September 29, 2013, 01:06:06 pm Carol said:"One thing I DID do, was to eliminate the ridiculous mirrored doors that are directly opposite the commode. "I love those mirrored full height doors!I must admit that, during the first few months, I was sitting on the commode with the bedroom pocket door open and realized I could see folks walking by - I could see them, they could see me. I will never forget to close the bedroom blinds or the pocket door but still love those mirrored doors.Just saying! Quote Selected 1 Likes
Re: Considering a Foretravel Reply #59 – September 29, 2013, 01:42:06 pm Quote from: P. Wyatt Sabourin – September 29, 2013, 01:06:06 pmCarol said:"One thing I DID do, was to eliminate the ridiculous mirrored doors that are directly opposite the commode. "I love those mirrored full height doors!I must admit that, during the first few months, I was sitting on the commode with the bedroom pocket door open and realized I could see folks walking by - I could see them, they could see me. I will never forget to close the bedroom blinds or the pocket door but still love those mirrored doors.Just saying!Getting rid of mine eliminated noise, improved my quality of life AND my self esteem ... all at one time. One of my best modifications. I have other mirrors to check to answer the question,"Do these jeans make my butt look big?" Quote Selected
Re: Considering a Foretravel Reply #60 – September 29, 2013, 02:29:37 pm The desk is standard with the DGFE Models. (Double Galley Front Entry). Quote Selected
Re: Considering a Foretravel Reply #61 – September 29, 2013, 02:41:38 pm And the answer is?best, paulQuote > "One thing I DID do, was to eliminate the ridiculous mirrored doors that are directly opposite the commode. "Getting rid of mine eliminated noise, improved my quality of life AND my self esteem ... all at one time. One of my best modifications. I have other mirrors to check to answer the question,"Do these jeans make my butt look big?" Quote Selected
Re: Considering a Foretravel Reply #62 – September 29, 2013, 02:56:44 pm To which question?"Do these jeans make my butt look big?"or"Can folks see me from outside when I am sitting on the commode?" Quote Selected
Re: Considering a Foretravel Reply #63 – September 29, 2013, 03:22:58 pm Heck, Wyatt, even I am worried if my butt looks big now that I've lost 80 lbs ;o)Who cares if they see you on a commode?You can even see a photo of me on a commode if you scroll down this page:http://lazydazers.com/index.cfm?fa=ShowItem&ID=1894You did have to have good aim in those days...and strong knees...best, paul Quote Selected
Re: Considering a Foretravel Reply #64 – January 16, 2014, 08:58:54 pm We ended up buying this coach. All of the various issues were worked out by the seller one after another after another. There is simply no other way that we could have got this kind of coach for the money. The A/C compressor was seized and replaced. A/C also needed new relays and thermal cutout. The roof was opened up further, examined, dried and patched. The intellitec panels were sent to intellitec and repaired. The original 3 group 34 batteries were replaced (by cummins tampa!) with a single 4d battery. This battery even when fully charged can only barely start the coach in warm weather. The seller put a new 4d in but obviously we still need to use boost every time to start.We've further found that the coach has a normal Kohler household toilet mated to a standard sized black tank which fills as quickly as you'd expect. We are going to attempt to replace it with a two stage flush household toilet before we give up and get an rv toilet. Probably not the microphor since it doesn't seem to be available. Interestingly this coach has 2 fresh water tanks. 2 water pumps, 2 water fills, etc. One is in the standard place and one is all the way in the front. The porch light is stuck on and I can't figure out a damage free way to open up the cup holder to access the touch lite for repair. The dash lights didn't work so I fixed that.We had it to cummins tampa where they dynoed it. 325hp to the wheels which they say is good. The coach has a lifetime 6th gear mpg of 9.3 and a max recorded speed of 89mph. Sadly on the way home from the dealer oil pressure started falling. When I got home the oil sump read overfilled, diluted likely with fuel. It seems a common issue with these is either a seal failing on the transfer pump or one of the upper orings failed (no smoke). I am learning to be a diesel mechanic now, haha. Still want to stay positive because it is one heck of a wonderful experience being in this coach. Hopefully no engine damage, oil pressure fell from a normal 38psi @ around 1200rpm to a low of 32psi. Quote Selected
Re: Considering a Foretravel Reply #65 – January 16, 2014, 09:30:21 pm On the exterior porch light, you can remove the lower portion of the grab handle and insulate the wire that completes the ground for the touch light. Quote Selected
Re: Considering a Foretravel Reply #66 – January 17, 2014, 09:37:34 am I pulled off the lower handle and found no wire. Occasionally the porch light does work properly (touch the bottom handle to activate for 30-40 seconds). Quote Selected
Re: Considering a Foretravel Reply #67 – January 17, 2014, 11:20:21 am Piku, Is this a Foretravel that you are talking about ? Sounds like it had really been jury rigged. Hope you get it all together. How about model, year etc. Helpful when asking questions. I find it almost impossible to believe that someone would install a household toilet. It must have been parked and hooked up to sewer permanently.Good luck with your project.Gary B Quote Selected
Re: Considering a Foretravel Reply #68 – January 17, 2014, 12:37:55 pm Might you also have pics and details about the second freshwater tank? Are they completely different systems? Or do they both lower in conjunction with each other, at the same level? Do you know if this was a factory install? Quote Selected
Re: Considering a Foretravel Reply #69 – January 17, 2014, 01:20:20 pm Quote from: tothetrail – January 17, 2014, 12:37:55 pmMight you also have pics and details about the second freshwater tank? Are they completely different systems? Or do they both lower in conjunction with each other, at the same level? Do you know if this was a factory install?Definite interest to me also. Love to have more water capacity.... Quote Selected
Re: Considering a Foretravel Reply #70 – January 18, 2014, 10:09:58 am Here are pics of the front tank. I also took a pic of the rear tank and water pump to show you that. This is without a doubt 100% factory. The intellitec switch panels water pump and water fill function control the rear water pump and water tank fill. Beside the panel in the galley is two more rocker switches for water pump and water fill, these control the front pump and fill. These rockers are the same foretravel styled rockers as those that control the aquahot. You can see that they divided the front bin in two, and you can also see that there is no aquahot zone at the front pump. Sorry for the mess but we just moved in and got tired and had to just throw stuff at some point. This is a 1999 Foretravel U320 4200. All reno work on this has been done at FOT, not even Xtreme graphics was good enough for this guy, he spent $30K on the paint. It hasn't been jury rigged at all. I for one can't stand RV toilets and the "face full of poo smell" they tend to offer you so I am resistant to change back even though between the whole family we have to drain the black tank every 3 days. The only issue with the toilet is that it's too big and you have be a bit of a contortionist to pull your pants up. I'd probably replace it with one that doesn't have an elongated bowl. Also with a 0.8GPF dual flush toilet, we could go nearly a week without draining the black tank which seems pretty ok to me. The water tank looks the same front and rear so I would guess we have double capacity.If anyone is curious to see it in person, we are in Bradenton, FL Quote Selected
Re: Considering a Foretravel Reply #71 – January 18, 2014, 11:10:59 am Looks like that WATER tank is located where the FUEL and LP tanks would normally be. Where is the fuel and LP tank ?I would love to see this, it is really unusual. Maybe you can get with GARY O in FL he has a 42 footer.Gary B Quote Selected
Re: Considering a Foretravel Reply #72 – January 18, 2014, 11:24:47 am Yep - Gary is right up the road next to Mt. Olive Shores by Lakeland/Plant City. He could show you his lifting tag axle kit and all kinds of upgrades to drool over. Quote Selected
Re: Considering a Foretravel Reply #73 – January 18, 2014, 08:23:20 pm Driver Side Passenger SideFront axle----Extra water tank and pumppass through space----joey bed | joey bed----gel batteries - aqua hot - propanefuel----black tank | maniblocgrey tank | maniblocprimary freshwater-----rear axleLooking at other U320 4200 this is standard with the exception of the extra front tank I thought. Maybe I Need to look again. I was looking at other ones for sale on motorhomesoftexas pictures.There are things in the records which suggest this was a foretravel inc demo coach. Quote Selected
Re: Considering a Foretravel Reply #74 – January 22, 2014, 05:49:12 pm Thanks piku, for all the pics and info, I really appreciate it. Very interesting setup there. Quote Selected