Home safe with my new coach. 958 miles, 2 days, good to be home

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Home safe with my new coach. 958 miles, 2 days, good to be home

June 13, 2015, 11:06:53 am

Step one: find coach
Step two: buy coach
Step 3: get coach home
Step 4: start learning

It is great to be home and I'm still pinching myself to make sure I really do own a FT. I'm amazed how well the coach handles given it's size, age and weight. The first few trucks that passed me got my attention but I figured it out.

The folks at MOT were amazing. I had a fantastic buying experience all the way around. They performed the impossible getting my punch list done in 2 days, including some unplanned projects. Brett's inspection found that both front wheel bearings were shot and needed replacing. The converter was not charging the batteries so that was replaced. A couple of tests showed the coolant was bad so we flushed and replaced the coolant. I went ahead and had a full oil and chassis service, generator service and changed all the filters so I'm working from a comfortable baseline.

In the service area at MOT....you can tell these folks are not just wrench turners. Each one that I met is passionate and cares about what they were doing. All of them took their time with me and answered all of my questions.

It was an honor meeting and working with Brett Wolfe. I am lucky and so glad he was in town and available to do my inspection.

I also enjoyed meeting fellow Fore-traveler's getting work done while I was there.

Per advice and PMs I'm forcing myself to just relax and take my time. I'll spend this week cleaning the coach inside and out and I'll study the manuals and service records.

I'm moving the coach to it's permanent storage location today, locked up, inside and plugged in. Unfortunately I can't get it to my home. We live 8 miles up a dirt mountain 'road'.

Even after driving for two days I'm still looking forward to firing it up and driving it again today..

Have a great weekend everyone and thank again for everything!

Re: Home safe with my new coach. 958 miles, 2 days, good to be home

Reply #1 – June 13, 2015, 11:30:09 am

We are glad you made it home without incident. Congratulations, again. It was a pleasure meeting you folks. Best wishes for your future Great Adventures.

Re: Home safe with my new coach. 958 miles, 2 days, good to be home

Reply #2 – June 13, 2015, 11:30:58 am

Excellent Jeff-- that is a really special coach.

If the converter you had installed is a smart one and is programmable (some are/some are not), be sure to do so.

Programmable items often include: Battery technology (wet cell/AGM/gel), battery bank size (in amp-hrs) and ambient temperature.

Be sure to order the Delo 100 40 WT for the engine. It is not often stocked, but your auto parts house should be able to order it by the case.

Re: Home safe with my new coach. 958 miles, 2 days, good to be home

Reply #3 – June 13, 2015, 11:39:04 am

That's a 4 day drive for us OLD folks. Congrats on the coach....now, to enjoy it, put it on the road, not in storage !

Re: Home safe with my new coach. 958 miles, 2 days, good to be home

Reply #4 – June 13, 2015, 11:39:58 am

Brett, thanks again for this and everything else, I really appreciate it.

MOT thought the dash power issue was a loose ground wire. Unfortunately after an hour underway heading home it happened again for about 3 minutes, intermittently losing fans and speedo. It corrected itself and hasn't happened again since.

Edited to add: Brett, one interesting note, when the speedometer went out the odometer was still counting miles.

Re: Home safe with my new coach. 958 miles, 2 days, good to be home

Reply #5 – June 13, 2015, 11:41:07 am

Quote from: Forewheelers – June 13, 2015, 11:30:09 am

We are glad you made it home without incident. Congratulations, again. It was a pleasure meeting you folks. Best wishes for your future Great Adventures.

It was a pleasure meeting you both! Thank you for your kindness.

Re: Home safe with my new coach. 958 miles, 2 days, good to be home

Reply #6 – June 13, 2015, 12:07:03 pm

The ground lug (actually lugS) are at the far front left side under the dash. Just tighten the nuts holding the gangs of ground wires, being careful not to touch any positive sources such as the ignition solenoid with a metal tool!

And, the good thing about ground circuits is that if in doubt, ADD ANOTHER ONE. Another large gauge wire from that ground lug/strip to good clean chassis metal is a lot easier than trying to trace a bad connection somewhere between there and the batteries.

Re: Home safe with my new coach. 958 miles, 2 days, good to be home

Reply #7 – June 13, 2015, 04:03:44 pm

Quote from: toyman – June 13, 2015, 11:39:04 am

That's a 4 day drive for us OLD folks. Congrats on the coach....now, to enjoy it, put it on the road, not in storage !

Jeff just followed the driving instructions for the 6V92, maybe too literally, "DRIVE IT LIKE YOU STOLE IT!"

Re: Home safe with my new coach. 958 miles, 2 days, good to be home

Reply #8 – June 13, 2015, 04:21:11 pm

They don't call them "screamers" for nothing.

Loudest screamer I ever heard was in the early 1970's in Mexico. HUGE Mexican bus (tandem steer axles, drive and tag axles) had 12V71's with straight exhaust and 10 speed manual transmissions. On Mexico 57 on the high plains south of Saltillo we were trucking along at 60 MPH in a VW bus. They literally blew by us. Later asked one of the drivers what speed they ran on the flats. Answer 150 kph!

They did not need a horn-- everyone could hear them for a long ways off and just got out of their way.

Some good photos here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPMr3EBCZVU

Have seen two converter to RV's-- OK large enough that they were really condos.

Re: Home safe with my new coach. 958 miles, 2 days, good to be home

Reply #9 – June 13, 2015, 08:47:27 pm

Welcome to Foretravel Enjoy your new coach, The Crystal Ship.
Tony

Re: Home safe with my new coach. 958 miles, 2 days, good to be home

Reply #10 – June 13, 2015, 08:54:57 pm

Brett, those 12V 71's sure do live up to their nick name " buzzen dozen" drove a 71 freightliner CO for 2 years with straight pipes turned out just above the cab.

Jeff, congrats on the new to you Foretravel sounds like you got a nice one

Re: Home safe with my new coach. 958 miles, 2 days, good to be home

Reply #11 – June 13, 2015, 09:02:41 pm

Thanks all. The coach is parked in town until I can either get it to our mountain house to set things up or to indoor storage on Monday. I met my wife at the coach for a pizza dinner tonight after our store closed so she could see it. She looked at it and declared that the coach is definitely 'us'. She quickly toured it and laid claim to the drawers and cabinets that were now hers.

she wants to get it outfitted and head out ASAP.

The only issue I had driving the coach was the last 10 miles on route 321, a steep mountain road to Boone. What is the best way to manage the gears on the climb? Do I just drive normally and let the transition do the work, use the cruise control or do I need to help it with gear selection? It seems to strain at certain points increasing the throttle at that point didn't have any effect.

Thanks as always,
Jeff

Re: Home safe with my new coach. 958 miles, 2 days, good to be home

Reply #12 – June 13, 2015, 09:13:25 pm

Down shift manually to keep the rpm's at or above peak torque.

Re: Home safe with my new coach. 958 miles, 2 days, good to be home

Reply #13 – June 13, 2015, 09:18:24 pm

Quote from: jy001 – June 13, 2015, 09:02:41 pm

The only issue I had driving the coach was the last 10 miles on route 321, a steep mountain road to Boone. What is the best way to manage the gears on the climb? Do I just drive normally and let the transition do the work, use the cruise control or do I need to help it with gear selection? It seems to strain at certain points increasing the throttle at that point didn't have any effect.

The lack of throttle response is perfectly normal. The only time I mess with changing gears is if the coolant temp get up to 200. There are a number of posts regarding down shifting, The biggest concern with a 6V92 is overheating. Try to never let it get above 210 degrees. Once it approaches that temp, pull over and let it cool down.

Re: Home safe with my new coach. 958 miles, 2 days, good to be home

Reply #14 – June 14, 2015, 07:26:56 am

Take it out of cruise, downshift and watch your rpms and temps. If you had Silverleaf, you would see 100% load. The engine is at full output.

Re: Home safe with my new coach. 958 miles, 2 days, good to be home

Reply #15 – June 16, 2015, 04:16:26 pm

I finally had a few unhurried hours to spend in the coach today. Everything works. I am really impressed about how well taken care of this 23 year old coach is. Everything works. I'm learning how everything works.

We are making progress 'making it ours', slowly moving our stuff in. It's like moving into a new house.

MOT was able to find and send me the wide view passenger side mirror that fell off somewhere on 285 in Atlanta. They told me it attached with Velcro.

Is there a better way?

Re: Home safe with my new coach. 958 miles, 2 days, good to be home

Reply #16 – June 16, 2015, 05:01:33 pm

That looks to me to be the snap -on type top hat mirror. I believe the part number is GLS750 (convex mirror and skirt) for a CAS750 top hat mirror. IIRC the cost from Ramco Engineering is $26 + shipping.

Oops. After finding a picture of mine, yours looks just a bit different. Best send your picture to Ramco. They should be able to tell you for sure. Probably won't help, but here is what mine looks like:

Re: Home safe with my new coach. 958 miles, 2 days, good to be home

Reply #17 – June 16, 2015, 05:23:55 pm

Jeff.

Here are some installation instructions-- some with velcro and some with silicone:

ramco-eng.com

I would also not hesitate to show a local auto glass repair company what you have and get their recommendation. The reason for the velcro is that the mirror can be replaced if damaged without sacrificing the mechanism. Kind of a toss up!

Re: Home safe with my new coach. 958 miles, 2 days, good to be home

Reply #18 – June 16, 2015, 05:45:48 pm

Thanks Brett. Great idea with the auto glass thing.

Re: Home safe with my new coach. 958 miles, 2 days, good to be home

Reply #19 – June 16, 2015, 05:55:06 pm

I should re-title this thread: 'the dumb newb question thread'. Thanks for your patience all, I really appreciate it.

At home we clean the bathrooms with Clorox Cleanup. I know using this bleach based cleaner in the coach is a bad idea for the rubber seals in toilet and probably not not good for the grey and black tanks either?

What does everyone use to clean their coach bathrooms?

Re: Home safe with my new coach. 958 miles, 2 days, good to be home

Reply #20 – June 16, 2015, 09:12:27 pm

We use Lysol All Purpose Cleaner when needed.

We pour a gallon of warm water with 1/4 cup of Dawn dish detergent and 1/2 cup of Calgon bath beads mixed well down the throne of contentment after dumping the tanks and scrub out the ceramic shine in the process. Seems to work well for cleaning and for keeping the black tank emptying better. Lots of recipies for black tank magic mix out there.

Use plumber's silicone grease to lube the seals. This is a great thing to have in your on-board maintenance kit.

Glad you made it home OK. Try short trips first, build confidence in yourselves and your coach. Epic adventures await!

Roger

Re: Home safe with my new coach. 958 miles, 2 days, good to be home

Reply #21 – June 16, 2015, 09:44:32 pm

Thank you Roger!

Re: Home safe with my new coach. 958 miles, 2 days, good to be home

Reply #22 – June 16, 2015, 10:06:47 pm

Regarding the lost mirror, you may want to check with Foretravel of Texas for parts. We lost the bottom mirror from a Ramco set. It was a velcro mount, but the back plate left with the mirror during high winds in Nebraska. FOT helped me get the right parts based of coach build number. I had to buy the mirror, and the back plate/motor assembly. Installation was easy.

Re: Home safe with my new coach. 958 miles, 2 days, good to be home

Reply #23 – June 16, 2015, 11:09:55 pm

Thanks J.D. MOT shipped the part today. I should be good to go.

Mirror motors

Reply #24 – June 17, 2015, 12:41:19 pm

I have two mirror motors, one large and one small that I had acquired over the years that I had FT's. I cannot remember now if they work or not, seems to me I ordered new mirrors and they came with motors and that is why I have these.
If you can use them they are yours for postage.
Gary B

Motors are gone

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