*Update* trouble on I-5

Topic: *Update* trouble on I-5 (Read 2895 times) previous topic - next topic

Re: Update trouble on I-5

Reply #50 – October 29, 2015, 07:59:29 pm

I would get it machined, it should be a lot cheaper

Re: Update trouble on I-5

Reply #51 – October 29, 2015, 08:51:47 pm

Have you decided what to do, Boss?

Re: Update trouble on I-5

Reply #52 – October 30, 2015, 12:04:18 am

As a nubie that has just made his very first RV purchase I'm feeling rather demoralized & utterly defeated by our experience.

I told VFI to just get it fixed so we can move on. manifold will arrive on Wednesday next week.

In the end this will be an $8,300 dollar endeavor for us, Which includes Wa. State sales tax on the coaches purchase.

Re: Update trouble on I-5

Reply #53 – October 30, 2015, 01:25:31 am

Quote from: bigdog – October 30, 2015, 12:04:18 am

As a nubie that has just made his very first RV purchase I'm feeling rather demoralized & utterly defeated by our experience.

I told VFI to just get it fixed so we can move on. manifold will arrive on Wednesday next week.

In the end this will be an $8,300 dollar endeavor for us, Which includes Wa. State sales tax on the coaches purchase.

Hopefully the Foretravel gods will now smile on you guys.

As I grit my teeth while I continue to go through ours the crazy enjoyment tempers the money spent. At least for us.

No way in our case to come out with what we have spent.

As I have told countless customers "the only way out is to drive the investment out of the coach."

Spent three days ending today parked at a San Diego beach almost on the sand.

75's to 80 degrees. Surf breaking. All of our stuff with us and our cat.

Safe, private, quiet, roomy, easy to drive, fantastic vision out the windows, our food and entertainment yet moveable and all season.

Hard to duplicate any other way.

Odds are it will now turn good.

Rare event. Unfortunate as a Newby. Not fair versus a lot of us grizzled repeat offenders.....

Trick is to get back on the horse in my way of thinking.

Most rv'ers do not go to Vegas much. Almost put a large casino out of biz long ago as the rv'ers were waiting for happy hour and the buffet. Tables empty.

We gamble on our coaches I guess?

Hope it works out better from now on.

Re: Update trouble on I-5

Reply #54 – October 30, 2015, 06:23:13 am

I feel your pain and had the same when I bought this current coach. It was not my first so that was good but coaches this old are always going to have an issue or two if they sit for a while. The good thing us once you get thru this you will have a coach to enjoy. There is nothing like waking up in Yellowstone with Buffalo under the window or in Jackson Hole looking at the mountains or in the smokie mountains of TN. It is great to drive somewhere and just stop for the night in a rest area. No unpacking or going in and getting your room. You got to see the ugly part first but the good part is better. Of and be thankful it is WA state not VA. My tax alone to register the coach was 11 grand and I paid a bit less each year. It is more expensive tax wise then my house.

Re: Update trouble on I-5

Reply #55 – October 30, 2015, 10:28:05 am

I surely do understand your feelings at this point ... and I know myself well enough to know that if I were in your DW's shoes, I might be echoing her statements and bending Mr Wonderful's ear about money down the drain. BUT ... since I now have the perspective of years and experience with older coaches (we started with a '93) and waving goodbye to $$ ... I can say that the places I have been and the sights I have seen and the people I have met and grown to know FAR outweigh the $$. If I had never purchased a coach ... and just taken vacations or cruises or trips abroad ... I would have spent the same (or more!) and no had nearly the education and enjoyment. If I look at it that way, our mishaps and repairs (and , in my case, excessive remodeling) are not money down the drain. Please take it easy on yourself and let the doubt go with both hands. You will soon be having much better experiences! See ya down the road!! Oh ... and, while I am trying not to stray "Off Topic" ... just let me know if my Private Messages to you have gotten through. I know I should be sending this to you that way, instead of on this thread ... but I got no reply to my previous message.

Re: Update trouble on I-5

Reply #56 – October 30, 2015, 12:23:13 pm

Bigdog, A Foreforum member I have been supplying information to is by Lake Tahoe right now. He is driving a 1989 GV with the 8.2T DD V8 from Olympia, WA to Florida. No towed, first time with this coach, no manuals to consult, holding his breath every time something happens. He is welcome to call me anytime for aid.
Just think, almost nothing is available for that coach, seeing as how it is an Oshkosh Truck chassis (sold to Freightliner) and virtually no one has any information on it anymore. Scarey, isn't it? And I have the same year and style coach! Yet we go anyway and enjoy the good parts. At least you can get parts while I would be up the creek.
The time will come when all these problems are behind you and you will be able to look back and laugh at what it took to get you to where you want to be.
Good luck. I hope this is the last hurdle to pleasantly enjoying your Foretravel coach.

Re: Update trouble on I-5

Reply #57 – October 30, 2015, 12:42:55 pm

It's the "10 Coach Bucks Syndrome" after one has bought a used coach. We had it bad when we bought our first Airstream MH, but after fixing the (what I think was PO ingnorance) major problems, we ran it for a few years with normal upgrades. The day we bought the second AS, we headed for The Northwest Territories with only a LOF. She ran and ran for twenty years, we put two hundred fifty thousand miles on her and she still ran like a bandit when we moved to the Foretravel. Bottom line? I'm convinced any problems with coaches are A) Lack of upkeep & B) A "Monday Rig", built by techs with hangovers.

Re: Update trouble on I-5

Reply #58 – October 30, 2015, 12:45:36 pm

Not that it will make you feel better about your purchase (although I hope it will...), I spent the first two years of coach ownership lying underneath it learning to weld... Completely rebuilt the basement and bulkhead joints and replaced and augmented most of the framing under the utility compartment. It was difficult to stay positive at the time, to say the least... I love our coach all the more knowing what is underneath the skin, but I am sooo glad that that is behind me now. I hasten to add that Tys was a champ in having the patience to allow me to do what I felt I need to do to remedy the problems...
Yet another Bulkhead Separation Story, Chapter 1
Chassis construction photos from Don and welding on your FT
Don

Re: Update trouble on I-5

Reply #59 – October 30, 2015, 12:54:37 pm

All will eventually work out. I'm not nearly as negative as my posts might indicate. One of my flaws is that i tend to be a deep thinker at times. Why is something the way it is? Get's me into mental trouble often.

As a person that was trained in electronics & maintained nuclear missiles. (Minuteman II) I know for a fact that the Allison shift selector has about $10-$15 worth of parts in it. No ECM, No internal power supply. Each button has an assigned voltage that the ECM on the trans sees as a certain request. It's simply a wired remote. Three years ago I had a mechanical hand made German watch made for me (STOWA) and is far more complex a machine than this shift selector and STOWA only make a few thousand a year. And it cost less than this shift selector. It's also not as if this shift selector is a rare thing either. Every garbage truck has one, Every city and long distance buss has one. The fact that they then charge over $1,000 for it, Goes nearly into the criminal extortion arena. Heck the iMac I'm typing this post on has 79 buttons, so in the Allison world I should have paid $13,166 for this computer. So when I sit and think of all that. I then get going and vent a bit in a post.

I even had a day dream while i was at Les Schwab yesterday. I imagined I went in asking for a new schrader valve core as the old one was leaking, They just threw me one & said no charge. But being curious they asked what it was for. I said it was for my Foretravel motor coach. The guy grabbed the valve core he had just given me and promptly said it was now $300 dollars.

Re: Update trouble on I-5

Reply #60 – October 30, 2015, 01:34:45 pm

Quote from: bigdog – October 30, 2015, 12:54:37 pm

I even had a day dream while i was at Les Schwab yesterday. I imagined I went in asking for a new schrader valve core as the old one was leaking, They just threw me one & said no charge. But being curious they asked what it was for. I said it was for my Foretravel motor coach. The guy grabbed the valve core he had just given me and promptly said it was now $300 dollars.

Just think what the charge might have been if you'd have told him it was for a Newell!

Re: Update trouble on I-5

Reply #61 – October 30, 2015, 02:29:38 pm

Quote from: D.J. Osborn – October 30, 2015, 01:34:45 pm

Just think what the charge might have been if you'd have told him it was for a Newell!

Good one DJ, thanks for the laugh.

Re: Update trouble on I-5

Reply #62 – October 30, 2015, 05:18:08 pm

Or a DD 8.2T V8. They would have told you to just go on down the road (as if you could).

Re: Update trouble on I-5

Reply #63 – October 30, 2015, 07:37:29 pm

"Why is something the way it is.?" Describes a lot of us here.

Worse for me in some ways as I asked that same question on every coach I sold or used for 30 years.

Worked on my old off road bike every time I got back to the pits for seven years.

Finally got off and got a beverage instead and my DW and buddies asked what was wrong?

"It's done" was my answer.

I modded diesel pushers brand new many times.

Every part relates to every other part. Lots of details to learn. Most just want it to go.

Some, maybe like you, want to know the details.

I only have had problems with things I did not know not the stuff I knew all about.

Normally. Sometimes. Maybe.

Re: Update trouble on I-5

Reply #64 – October 30, 2015, 08:52:33 pm

Bob, I look at "why is something the way it is" in a bit different light.

I do in fact know why the shift selector is so expensive. The clue is in my valve core day dream. And in the following.

When I was starting a small business and needed phone service. (This was back in the US West / Quest days). I called to add a second line in my house for my business that contracted to FedEx. No brick & mortar, Not retail of any kid. They quoted the very same price as my home line for the second line. They then asked what name to list under the number. When they heard the name, They said Oh wait a minute, This will be a business line? Yes I said. Well then it will cost this much. Which was nearly double the home line. Same services. I asked why and they said you are a business and are making money so it's a business expense. WHAT? So because it's a write off they charge more.

The shift selector is so expensive because most vehicles that use them are commercial in nature and earn the vehicles owners money, As such those high costs for parts & repair can be written off at tax time. For the motor home owner this isn't the case most of the time & thus "get the shaft" of the special business pricing.

Re: Update trouble on I-5

Reply #65 – November 08, 2015, 07:02:27 pm

Went to Mount Vernon to pick up the coach on Saturday, Stayed the night for a Sunday return to Walla Walla. Everything went well this time around. I went south on I-5 to I-405, Then I-90 East. Traffic was so light that I was on cruise control (discounting the interchanges) That 450 Cummins pushing a 36' coach, Didn't even slow down on the Snoqualmie climb. Had a few 5% assents & descents from Elensberg to Yakima. It didn't break a sweat, The coolant temp didn't budge and that retarder. Crikey, It's like tossing an anchor out the back. Even on a 3 mile 5% descent, The trans temp never went past 200 on the descent.

Re: Update trouble on I-5

Reply #66 – November 08, 2015, 07:13:52 pm

Glad it has all worked out OK and that you are home again. It seems like an age since we met in Kennewick and showed you and you wife around our coach.
We trust that you have many happy years of Foretravelling without any more drama. The past will soon be a bad memory.
Brian & Maribel.

Re: Update trouble on I-5

Reply #67 – November 08, 2015, 07:22:15 pm

Glad you made it back in such style. Hope your wife was with you, and has grown her smile back.
Len

Re: Update trouble on I-5

Reply #68 – November 08, 2015, 07:23:28 pm

Quote from: speedbird1 – November 08, 2015, 07:13:52 pm

It seems like an age since we met in Kennewick

That's because at our age, A few weeks is like a few months.

Re: Update trouble on I-5

Reply #69 – November 08, 2015, 07:37:27 pm

Glad you are finally able to enjoy it!

Re: Update trouble on I-5

Reply #70 – November 08, 2015, 08:38:59 pm

Awesome Big Dog! Glad it was a non event - and Soooooo many cool places for you in the NW to use the new FT

Hope the DW comes around as well.

Re: Update trouble on I-5

Reply #71 – November 08, 2015, 08:43:55 pm

Bigdog, glad you got your issues resolved . Our reward for having problems is driving these beasts down the roads with those big diesels humming and the Foretravels driving like they are on tracks.
Enjoying the trip to wherever .Hope you have many ,many enjoyable trips.
Regards,Irwin

Re: Update trouble on I-5

Reply #72 – November 08, 2015, 08:52:27 pm

BD, the thrill is back! A good day with that FT, 450HP pushing your 36' up and down hills and over the flatlands and your face will ache from smiling so much. A extra challenge on the way home, overcome. The way forward begins now for you and your wife to grow older with your FT and enjoy every minute of it, good (mostly) or bad (a wee bit perhaps).

Welcome back to the world of happy Foretravelers.

Re: Update trouble on I-5

Reply #73 – November 08, 2015, 09:01:12 pm

Hey BigDog,

Glad you finally got your couch home! We pick ours up from RnR RV last Thursday and spent three days in Chelan before getting home on Monday.

Mike

Re: Update trouble on I-5

Reply #74 – November 09, 2015, 06:07:45 pm

Firstly, I think the few guys who have been a bit patronizing were not being patronizing so much as sympathetic or empathetic. Meaning hey we've been there and you'll get through it. Personally your comments resonate deeply with me because my wife really would prefer a smaller simpler newer rig and the big complicated bus is my deal. So even when I take care of all the issues (and all the driving) I still catch hell. Also I'm a BMW racer not a caterham racer so you might only be slightly more nuts than I am but we're both racers

That said, I'm going to reaffirm your sentiment that you got a raw deal. $5K sucks. In my case I've had some significant trauma and in every situation I came out smelling like a rose. We broke down in Iowa. It was a terrible experience. I got setup by the cops with an aggressive undercover driver, pulled over and hassled because I was out of state, dressed like crap and my toad was filthy (covered in oil and dirt from the blown hose). We hired a mobile mechanic who came out and was a *moron*. I mean absolutely useless. His truck was beaten and battered. This was through Good Sam so they tried to make us pay a call out fee. We said, no we can't out of principle and had to argue for hours with the. We won but it wasn't worth it. Eventually I had to disassemble everything and fix the hose. Hydraulic hose I had made up for $70 at Napa. It was 2 cheap lessons regarding police and mechanics but man I was really broken down emotionally at the time.

Then there was my winnebago. I carefully went over it and replaced SO much stuff before we took off. Entire cooling system, brakes tires tuneup and other bits, just as preventative maintenance. The ONLY thing I didn't do was the fuel pump because it was right on the cutoff of the known bad fuel pump and I wasn't sure I had a good or bad one. I had a bad one. Found out after cresting a mountain on the crow indian reservation in Montana. I had no cell phone service and no way to figure out that 3 miles BEHIND us was cell phone service and 60 miles IN FRONT OF US was nothing. So we drove for 40 miles to use a phone at a gas station in Lame Deer as the Cheyenne population looked on at us as though we were invaders. Good sam couldn't find a tow for us and we had to wait on the phone with them for HOURS as they tried. I mean _4_ hours. Eventually we gave up and told them if they could find one great, if not, great. We went back and the damn thing started and ran. We went to the nearest campground who graciously allowed me to drop the tank and replace the pump myself. I sprang for the expensive $400 OEM pump and was successful though I'm sure I cut a few years off my life due to the fumes.

Back on to the Foretravel a bracket on our radiator broke. Spent 2 days removing it and replacing it in the parking lot of the manufacturer who agreed to fix it _ for free _ for us, 5 years after it was made. Yes I spent 2 days of my life under the bus extricating the damn thing but again it all worked out.

The aquahot is finicky. We had a zone die and it turned out the brush holder popped out. The brush for that zone motor was just laying in the pan. Put it back in and that zone worked perfectly. Generator died. Loose connection on a glow plug. Sticky caliper, ring power wanted to charge us $125/hr * 5. Turned out to be $125/hr * 1 since we were up their butts and staying in the rv while they worked. (They just pulled hte pins, cleaned, greased and reinstalled. I know there isn't supposed to be grease so it's something we have to handle). Leaking hub on the other side done at Yasbeck who only charges $85/hr (highly recommended).

Numerous other problems here and there. The few points here are:
1) You are NOT alone. Yes I've made poop smell like roses financially but it's still a pain in the butt and immensely time consuming to chase all the issues.
2) You will get past it. At least I hope you will. I have. I caught up wtih everything and hte coach is still enjoyable. Still every time I drive it I have $10K waiting to be spent in a worst case scenario. I think that is good advice too. Every time you drive it be prepared for a breakdown, be preapred to spend $10K. It's stress I never knew I had to deal with and finding the inner peace to roll with it is a challenge.
3) Foretravel is not honda. It's more like Lamborghini. They are amazing and temperamental. I'm sure they're really lovely when they are new but my coach is pushing 20 years old now. You can't expect perfection without going through and replacing every hose, every bolt, etc. The kind of thing I do on my 250,000 mile cars. I just can't afford to do it on the motorhome.

I insist that we should travel in packs. These breakdowns would be a lot better with a bunch of friends having beers helping you fix the issues.

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