Skip to main content
Topic: Instructor in Dallas TX for new U300 owner? (Read 1745 times) previous topic - next topic

Instructor in Dallas TX for new U300 owner?

The short version of my question is: Would someone on this forum in the D/FW area want to instruct new owners of a 1991 U300 so they won't destroy it? :)

The long version of this unfolding drama is: I'm going to have a very dangerous open heart surgery in a few days and if I don't make it I want to leave my coach to my sister and her husband, who have been wanting to buy a coach and travel the country. She has this annoying brother who travels around to national parks and posts pictures on Facebook and it affected her or something. There's no way I could explain how to properly operate my coach to her over the phone, so an instructor may be needed. If any of you would like to help her out in this way I'd appreciate it... or at least I'd appreciate it if I wasn't dead. Basically I'm just looking for some phone numbers or email addresses to leave her in case she needs you. I've made quite a few modifications to the coach. Maybe I'll make a list of everything I can think of and leave it in the coach to help you figure it out. It'll be like a fun little mystery for you to solve, with clues and everything. I don't know for sure what day the surgery will be, but I'm told it'll be at UT Southwestern and it'll be soon. I need 2 valves replaced. There's a good chance I'll be okay but I'm asking this favor of you folks just in case, because they won't know how to operate the coach without instructions. Thanks my friends. I really appreciate you. I'd really appreciate your prayers too.

Scott
(615) 482-7650
Scott Cook
1991 U300 36' 6V92TA
Old Town Penobscot 16
1984 Honda VF1100C (V65 Magna)

Re: Instructor in Dallas TX for new U300 owner?

Reply #1
Scott,

We live in Longview which is a couple of hrs. away but would be glad to help out if need be. We had a '92 and we haven't forgot everything about it yet. Will P/M you some info.

We pray all will be well and this will not be needed.

Pamela & Mike

Pamela & Mike 97 U 320

"It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters."

Re: Instructor in Dallas TX for new U300 owner?

Reply #2
Hi Scott,  We will be praying for You...  No matter what, I can assure You that any U300 owner will step up and help you through this critical time. You being here to advise your Sister is the absolute best out come, if You need a pinch hitter I have a 1994 U300 with the Detroit 6V92, so I could give needed advise. I have also done must of my own maintenance, from air bags to Refrigerator swap out, so feel free to share My info with them..      Gerry  @  grvmantuao@yahoo.com  cell  330.802.5201  God Bless and Good luck !!!! 
The selected media item is not currently available.
Gerry & Brenda
CHARLOTTE HARBOR, FL
1994 Grand Villa - # 4466
U300 Unihome - 6V92 Detroit
4 speed Allison - Jake Brake

Re: Instructor in Dallas TX for new U300 owner?

Reply #3
Scott, we'll be praying for you and your medical team. We're also available to help out via phone, email, etc. immediately. Plans are firmly set in Jell-o, but starting to set up.

Re: Instructor in Dallas TX for new U300 owner?

Reply #4
Scott,
Marilyn and I would be happy to help, if needed.  We live in Duncanville a suburb south Dallas County.  We aren't anywhere near the high end of the knowledge scale but, we get by.
We will keep you in our prayers, also. 
Feel free to call on us if we can help.
214-536-4118
gr_clark@swbell.net

Best wishes,

Glen

Retired Nurse and Bat Chief
2001 U320 36' 450 Cummins
Past 1981 Bluebird 36' 3208 Cat
HD2500 Chevy Toad

Re: Instructor in Dallas TX for new U300 owner?

Reply #5
Scott,
Our prayers will be with you, wish you the best............. I don't own a U300 as you know but I will be here on the forum if needed. Make sure she knows about the Foreforums, as I know you have, lots of knowledgeable and willing folks here. Heart doctors of today can do amazing things, our son had open heart surgery at 2-1/2 years old, you met him that day at the South Rim, I would have preferred it to be me in that surgical room. I understand and appreciate your feelings.

Take care my friend
Justin
Justin & Cathy Byrd
1995 U280 "Old Faithful"
36' Build #4673
C8.3 Cummins
Allison MD3060R 6 speed - retarder
Powertech 10KW  4cyl Kubota

Re: Instructor in Dallas TX for new U300 owner?

Reply #6
Scott,

My prayers your procedure will be successful and you will be on the road again soon! You are a survivor and we all know you will get through this fine and teach your family how to drive the Foretravel yourself!

Tony
Tony Pasquale
SOLD....
'99 U295 36'
WTFE, 04/99, #5572
Toad: 2020 Equinox

Re: Instructor in Dallas TX for new U300 owner?

Reply #7
Best wishes Scott,  We hope all goes well.

For basic driving instruction there are several instructors in the DFW area.
School locations – Click on map icon to see the town & date availability |...

Should be plenty of FT owners in the area who can help with the FT stuff.

Re: Instructor in Dallas TX for new U300 owner?

Reply #8
Surgical teams today are fully capable of amazing work. Had a friend that had an arotic anuriysm that burst. That was 4 years ago and his prognosis was only 5% to survive the emergency surgery that was arranged in just 2  hours after admittance. Took 6 months till he could do manual construction labor again.
Old Phart Phred, EIEIO
89 GV ored 36' #3405 300 hp cat 3208 ATAAC side radiator, mountain tamer exhaust brake

Re: Instructor in Dallas TX for new U300 owner?

Reply #9
Thanks so much my friends. I truly appreciate you and your prayers. I'm sure your kindness will be very appreciated by my sister and her husband ...if needed ...I'm not being negative, just being a little bit prepared.
Scott Cook
1991 U300 36' 6V92TA
Old Town Penobscot 16
1984 Honda VF1100C (V65 Magna)

Re: Instructor in Dallas TX for new U300 owner?

Reply #10
I know, because of my episode with cancer last May 10 that so many things change in degree of importance. Priorities change, Things that need to be done NOW, and people that one must take time now to say how much they are appreciated and loved.
Love is a two way street and there are a multitude of degrees of that love.
Hang in there. Positive thoughts. Prayers are being said constantly for you now that your Foretravel family knows your situation.
May your outcome be great.
Personally, I thought that if I died that my outcome would be great. I would see Jesus and all my friends and relatives that went before me. If I survived I would have time to make amends where necessary and better prepare myself for the end, all while savoring every second I have with the greatest love of my life--my WIFE.
Nitehawk,  Demolition Lady, & our NEW master, Zippy the speeding BB cat.
1989 Grand Villa 36' ORED
Oshkosh chassis, 8.2 DD V8
2006 Saturn Vue AWD

Re: Instructor in Dallas TX for new U300 owner?

Reply #11
I have lots of room, and hookups in Weatherford.

Re: Instructor in Dallas TX for new U300 owner?

Reply #12
Scott, you might want to make sure that your sister and her husband have accounts here, so they can post their own questions - as well as giving us updates about you.

Re: Instructor in Dallas TX for new U300 owner?

Reply #13
Best of luck-Arthur here has had 5 stints and it looks like more soon so we kind of like know what you are going through. Hang in there they are pretty good at this sort of thing now days. But if we can help let us know.
73's de AA1OH/N1RPN.
PS we are late to the party but we only have motorcycles and the Grand Villa so yes we tow our bikes ever place we go.  1983 and a 1986 Honda Magnas V45 (750).
1992 U225 36'
Build #4134
1987 Rockwood 32'
Ham radio/Motorcycles and old cars
Both of us are Retired
Married 32 years
Other half is "Old Toolmaker"
Dog named Duke.

Re: Instructor in Dallas TX for new U300 owner?

Reply #14
Scott, though we are newbies to the forum, rest assured that God's Little Church In The Desert has members dispersed through the whole US, and you are on our World Wide Prayer List.
Keep a good outlook and always remember Jesus Himself told us that He would NEVER leave us nor forsake us.... Amen?

God Bless you my friend,
Rick & Carol
1992 FT U240
Vin# 1F96D3362NN054378
Model # G92401236SBIU240
Model # 4012
2007 Toyota FJ
2007 Cadillac
1984 Jeep Cherokee
2008 Polaris Ranger
2018 Polaris Ranger
More cars, pickup, and tractors than anyone 83 years old needs. :)

Re: Instructor in Dallas TX for new U300 owner?

Reply #15
Thank you so much Rick & Carol and everyone else for your prayers. My courage has been lacking through this. Your prayers are holding me together. I went to the doctor yesterday but didn't learn much new information. I'm seeing a second cardiologist this afternoon. I really appreciate you my friends.
Scott Cook
1991 U300 36' 6V92TA
Old Town Penobscot 16
1984 Honda VF1100C (V65 Magna)

Re: Instructor in Dallas TX for new U300 owner?

Reply #16
Scott I underwent Open heart surgery 10 years ago at age 49. I had a triple bypass. I had a 97% blockage in the feed to my heart. Luckily I did not have a heart attack and encountered no damage to my heart muscle. I'll put you in my prayers . Todays procedures are so routine and sucess rates are extremely high. What issue are you having?
91 GV U300 Unihome 40' Build 3811
6V92TA Detroit

Re: Instructor in Dallas TX for new U300 owner?

Reply #17
I'm currently in the VA hospital in Dallas. They will transfer me to UT Southwestern next week. I'm scheduled to have a valve replacement on Friday the 17th through a catheter instead of open heart surgery. If all goes well they'll release me the following day. They may let me drive a week later and they may let me go back to work a month later or perhaps less. I need to get back to work before I run out of money. My coach is somewhere in Waxahachie but I don't know where. I'll ask if I can stay in the coach where it is currently until they let me drive, then I'll go to my friend's camp, where I can stay as long as I want and ride a bus to my doctor's appointments at the Dallas VA hospital. That's about all I know for now. The VA ran endless tests and took their time for 5 doctors to carefully decide what to do. The quality of cardiac care here is the best in the world I'm told. The same cardiologists and surgeons who are professors at UT Southwestern are here at VA Dallas. Thanks so much for your prayers my friends.
Scott Cook
1991 U300 36' 6V92TA
Old Town Penobscot 16
1984 Honda VF1100C (V65 Magna)

Re: Instructor in Dallas TX for new U300 owner?

Reply #18
You know if you need the coach moved you have 50 people standing by to do that. 
Rick & Rhonda
2003 U320 4220  Build #6199
Was
91 36' GV 300 Caterpillar, 92 40' U280 300 Cummins, 97 36' U295 300 Cummins, 2002
U320 450 Cummins
(Guess we're hooked)

The selected media item is not currently available.

Re: Instructor in Dallas TX for new U300 owner?

Reply #19
Good luck, that is a top tier hospital. ^.^d
Bill
2008 Newmar Mountain Aire (4523)
Cummins ISM 450HP
Allison 4000 MH tran.
Towing a 2014 Honda CRV with a blue Ox tow bar
A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.
-Mark Twain-

Re: Instructor in Dallas TX for new U300 owner?

Reply #20
We are all praying for you. Prayer WORKS!!!
Nitehawk,  Demolition Lady, & our NEW master, Zippy the speeding BB cat.
1989 Grand Villa 36' ORED
Oshkosh chassis, 8.2 DD V8
2006 Saturn Vue AWD

Re: Instructor in Dallas TX for new U300 owner?

Reply #21
I had several people say they could take care of my coach, but I had a lot of difficulty. The person who took care of it had a tough time finding a place to park it and I think a battery may have been ruined by running it dead while parked in a field. I won't know for sure until I get back to the coach. In the grand scheme of things a battery doesn't cost much and it was a couple of years old. The main thing I was worried about was the refrigerator because I just put a new cooling unit in it the other day. The way it happened, the cardiologist told me I was about to die and I needed to go to the emergency room right away. I had to leave the campground I was in that night and park my coach in a friend's driveway. It had to be moved a few days later after I was in the hospital, which is how it got parked out in a field. I don't even know where my motorcycle is... maybe I need to ask? ...If I had one day to prepare I could have put the coach somewhere safe and then gone to the hospital. I'll start picking up the pieces after I get out of the hospital.
Scott Cook
1991 U300 36' 6V92TA
Old Town Penobscot 16
1984 Honda VF1100C (V65 Magna)

Re: Instructor in Dallas TX for new U300 owner?

Reply #22
Scott you are way ahead if they can perform with a cath instead of splitting your chest open. That hurts like hell! Some caths are inserted through groin and some can be done through your wrist. I have had both ways done. Wrist much better. Groin you have to lay flat about 8 hrs after procedure so you don't blow out the hole clot. But either way although it is a serious procedure,  So many are performed that it is routine now. If you did not suffer a actual heart attack you are really in a good position because you have no damage to the muscle. Keep us posted and more important,keep thinking Positive!!!@ ^.^d
91 GV U300 Unihome 40' Build 3811
6V92TA Detroit

Re: Instructor in Dallas TX for new U300 owner?

Reply #23
Don't sweat the battery.  It may take overnight before it starts taking electrons at a measurable rate, but rest assured that it will.

You've done the difficult part so far, that is to say, waking up alive.  The recovery goes quickly from here on out.
1992 Foretravel Grand Villa
U225 SBID Build No. 4134
1986 Rockwood Driftwood
1968 S.I.A.T.A. Spring
1962 Studebaker Lark
1986 Honda VF700C
1983 Honda VF750C
Charlie, the Dog was broken out of jail 24 Oct 2023
N1RPN
AA1OH (H)e who must be obeyed.

Re: Instructor in Dallas TX for new U300 owner?

Reply #24
I won't have the procedure until Friday. I didn't have a heart attack and I'm not at elevated risk of heart attack. I don't have any plaque / cholesterol blockages. They're only replacing one valve. I have radiation damage to my heart from cancer treatments when I was a kid. This is where I got my childhood phobia of surgery. It's a long and difficult story to tell. Your prayers for courage would be much appreciated. I'm battling all the normal fear in addition to my irrational fear from childhood. I know a phobia isn't real, it's all in my head, there isn't any cure for it, I have to face it and not give in. On the outside I'm a grown man but on the inside I'm that terrified kid again... I was just too young to handle that amount of fear and it affected me for life.
Scott Cook
1991 U300 36' 6V92TA
Old Town Penobscot 16
1984 Honda VF1100C (V65 Magna)