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OT - New to me motor home

R

Royse

Well-known Member
33 Ft Ford chassis, 460 auto with 31,500 miles on it.
Anyone care to share advice, tips, horror stories?
It'll be more of a weekender, not a cross country traveler.

29103.jpg
 
One of the biggest problems with motor homes seams to be that they set so much that the transmission seals dry out and you get to rebuild it. Have towing insurance and enjoy it. I put $500.00 worth of tires on the trailer this spring, and only went 400 miles all summer.
 
You do know those things do not pass many gas stations before you need to pour more in. Good thing it gas is at or around $2 a gal. If your retired and get S.S. well blame the gas price for no COLA raise across the board including the guys in the military.
Nice rig if things hit the fan you can park it some place way out in the woods paint it green and brown and have a nice place to live for a while LOL
 
What year is it? Some had fuel pump issues and with it in the tank, it can be a time consuming repair if it is full. Another issue is the exhaust manifolds run hot and pop some of the bolts and the manifolds are known to crack.

I just bought a 1997 Pace Arrow back in June with the 460. It has the Banks intake and exhaust already on it. Has plenty of power. Mine is 37'. Our first trip was about 4500 miles. Mileage was 12.2 if I ran 55 to 57 max. When I pushed it to 65 on the interstate with several big hills, it dropped to 8.9.
 
never thought I would buy a motorhome. My wife talked me into buying one. About three years ago I bought a 02 26 ft. The motor had around 35,000. So far I have put around 8 thousand miles on it. Not all at one time. No horror stories yet, just a flat tire. My Ford chassis has a V10. The 460 has been around for a while, and should last, and use a lot of gas. I tow my Ford Edge now, to have something to drive when I get where I am going. Have fun. Stan
 
They are tuff on tires about 5 years is all you can get out of them no matter what the mileage...

Don't leave nuttin at home pack it full and have fun...
 
I'm happy for you! We are on our third motorhome (2nd real one) Wasn't my idea, it was wife's idea but tell you what we both have
enjoyed it immensely. Most of our trips are within 300 miles of home but we sure enjoy it. We've been through the pop up and
travel trailer thing but this is pretty sweet, no unhitching leveling then re-hitching etc. It really adds to the spontenaity of
just taking off and going. We tow a little 1991 Jeep Wrangler behind. Can't hardly tell it's there. We're in our early 50s and
love it! We've been out on some short trips venturing the "road less travelled" and have had a lot of fun and other than fuel
and camping fees, we've had a lot of fun for not really that much money! ENJOY!
 
Been RVn part time for 10 yrs. Make certain tires are not tooooo old. May have lots of tread but will blow out on
the road. Ask me how I know. HA HA. Can do several $1000 dollars damage very quickly. 6-7 years of sun exposure
is not good for tires.
 
Looks Good!! Maybe the new meeting place for Oakley? HEHE

There is enough to see and do here in Michigan it will be great for weekend getaways. John
 
1970-1655, it's the same year as yours. 1997.
I drove it ~100 miles home, 10-12 seems about right @ 55MPH.
It was windy and we had snow flurries that day.
I didn't want to get it above 60 in that wind. LOL
 
Wow! Nice rig Royce! Now you can be the base for our Oakley old tractor show gittogether! I am impressed.. John
 
Stan, We just bought an 03 Class B+ on an E450 chassis. It just went over 35,000 after a trip from Modesto up hwy 101 to Tillamook, over to hwy 5 and then back down to home. I like it, but...I notice it pings in low RPM's and also if I don't take it out of Overdrive on inclines. Also, it's kind of gutless climbing hills. Is this normal? I think we're also going to start towing a car.
 
VERY NICE CONGRATULATIONS..As a user or RV's nearly 40,years and a past used RV dealer, I could tell enough to write a book but will keep it short. I owned a ton of those 460 Fords. They are bad to overheat and crack the manifolds and/or break the rear manifold bolt then they start leaking exhaust and burning out the manifolds to where they wont hold a gasket and need machined/planed down or new manifolds....................On some the crossover exhaust/EGR pipe starts leaking.......................On many the EGR valve goes bad.............If the water pump ever goes bad it takes an act of congress to change it since there must be 50 bolts on it to water pump and AC pump and PS pump and Alternator grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr OTHER THEN THAT THEY ARE RELIABLE STRONG ENGINES

The C6 trannys always worked okay

Each time I bought one I removed the old 3 core radiator and replaced it with a new HD 4 core and changed the water pump while in there. If there were exhaust leaks or burned manifolds or broke bolts I planed the old manifolds or bought new ones. Of course INSTALL ALL NEW BELTS AND HOSES

On the older mechanical fuel pump units I Had a hard time keeping fuel to them. Good to have an elec pump moumted in the back at the tanks.

Replace tires each 6 to 7 yrs max,,,,,,,Keep full inflated to max load at X PSI

Best wishes good luck

John T Motorhome user of nearly 40 years
 
"Ya,I've got some advice. Get the heck up here and pick me up and let's take a road trip!"

Ok, but ya'll are getting stuck with the queen sleeper sofa bed! LOL
 
John T, thanks. This one is fuel injected with an electric pump.
I think I can hear a small exhaust leak under load.
None at idle. Not at all. So that may be something to look out for!
 
"When folks pizz about the fuel and expense tell'em its a life stile I worked hard for it and going to enjoy it..."

Ya, you have to know going in that they are not going to get great
fuel mileage, especially if gas, and they aren't going to like wind.
I don't see how people could not see that coming!

What was less than expected was the insurance cost.
Michigan supposedly has one of the highest rates in the nation,
yet my annual insurance cost was less than the title transfer,
license plate and sales tax. :roll:
 
Learn how to do brakes on it and never leave it parked on grass or anywhere damp for storage. It will lock up the brake calipers. I
learned on my first RV trip this year that camping in an RV is work masquerading as fun. Not for me, way too much work to keep it
functional to call a vacation for my liking.
 
To me it is no big deal but tell that to the guys who signed that blank check and they do not get a penny more this year but yet are willing to give there life for this nation but those in D.C. sure as heck will get a pay raise. Plus the V.A. pension will not go up either and again those guys gave there all for this nation but yet they have to get by when things are going up but there pay is not
 
I'd be happy to bring it to Oakley guys, but I'm not sure it
would be close enough to the tractors for us to meet at!

I'll have to see if it will pull my trailer with a tractor on it.
I think it's about 1000 lbs shy on the tow rating. :(
 
"Planning on becoming a weekend Yooper?"

Porcupine mountain is beautiful! Especially in the summer. LOL
 
My 02 Greyhawk isn't a power house, especially pulling my 4000 lb Ford Edge. I just take it easy on the hills. On the flat no problem. My Grand Pa lived in Chowchilla, when he left his family. Stan
 
When you get the time. Get me the model and serial number. I can get you the manuals for it. Run the generator at least twice a month.Most people
don't so it ends up costing them big repair bills.New carbs and voltage regulators are not cheap.
 
John T's post is spot on. The only further opinion I would add is don't push her too hard. I typically won't run over 55-60 or so in the summer.
Winter time I'll run posted speed.

I also add oversized transmission pan, to hold more fluid, and a temp gauge to monitor trans temp.
 
I've had my same insurance carrier for 45 years, so I checked with them. I also checked with Geicko. Then I called Good Sam. Not even close. Good Sam realizes that you're not going to use it as your daily driver. They were half the cost with better coverage. Also, when my road hazard insurance expires, going with G/S. 40.00 less for farther towing range.
 
That elec pump is MUCH BETTER. That exh noise may be the EGR related crossover or a rear manifold bolt or crack GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR lol

I don't mean to discourage you I owned a ton of those Fords, best wishes with it and good luck

John T
 
Very nice Royse. You'll enjoy it.

We spend the majority of our time camping around Michigan, plenty to do, especially the UP.

One thing I havent seen mentioned yet, take some time and really check the roof and slides out.
Make sure all the seams are sealed and not cracked. I check mine twice a year.

As others have said, keep an eye on your tire age.

Rick
 
(quoted from post at 01:00:20 10/20/15) 33 Ft Ford chassis, 460 auto with 31,500 miles on it.
Anyone care to share advice, tips, horror stories?
It'll be more of a weekender, not a cross country traveler.

29103.jpg
Click to expand...

A bigger problem than has been mentioned is keeping it in the dry. 10 years uncovered is about the life expectancy for those roofs and when they start leaking it is likely you won't notice it until it has caused damage to the walls and ceilings
 
Looks good Royse. FYI when you get to where you are going don't forget to let it idle for 5 mins or so to cool the manifolds down so they don't crack. I learned this the hard way with my class c with a 460. Also when I replaced the exhaust I put a 4" system on and a open element air filter on it and picked up 1.5 mpg, apparently they don't like to breath thru a coffee straw..........
 
Very nice! :D I better not let the red head see that or she will be bugging me to get one too. Someone mentioned the basketball goal, when I saw the first pic I started wondering if you missed it by accident or missed it on purpose? I would have run slap over it with my luck and backing skills...lol :oops:
 
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