2000 Shasta Sprite questions

UPDATE on our 1999 Shasta Sprite bought last March 2015: This gem of a Class C has been absolutely great! When we bought it, there was 19K miles on it and we now have 26K and continues to impress. Our cost was $15,000 and so far, we have spent another $1800. for parts/maintenance: new roof coating and new tires, oil change, filters, and topped off the a/c. The coach was in great condition and looks great, especially after we hand cleaned/waxed it with a good cleaner wax..it shines. I went over all exterior windows with a bead of silicon to guard against leaks. The Triton V10 (on the Ford F350) runs smooth and has lots of power which is especially nice when passing or heading up long grades in our Sierra/Nevada mountains.

I'm posting our experience in case someone new is looking at older models and are concerned about reliability. We did not get ours inspected other than what the seller went over when buying. I could see it had lots of TLC, so I grabbed it. We did have a veteran (retired) RV service guy go over the coach from top to bottom and he gave her a clean bill of health. My dad had a truck dealership for many years so I did have some prior knowledge as to what to look for in problems. What's funny is that we have had 3-4 offers from people to buy her..lol. We have been to a few rv dealer lots to see the newer models, but our floor plan and 22' length fits us fine. I have been trying to find a similar gem for 2 people in our RV group (both retired women) and the excellent condition ones sell very fast, especially in the 21-24' length. We do a lot of rv camping into some remote parks and a bit of off road areas (we hike/kayak) and the shorter length has worked well vs something like a 28' for us, but your needs can differ.

Good luck for those looking for a good one..they are out there so be prepared by having your rv inspection person ready and cash talks vs telling a seller you need approval to finance. See you on the road!

Yeah that sounds good. I would like some specs if you have them. Our Rv's probably look a lot alike. Matter of fact, some of the VIN decoding info came back 1999, but I guess it is titled as a 2000 model year. Mine is probably 22' too, I doubt it is any longer.

Mine has kind of a hunter green seats and carpet.

Congratulations on the new to you Sprite! We have a 1999 Sprite we got from a elderly couple (19,000 miles) a few months ago and love it! As you will quickly find out, the V10 has lots of power which is great for passing and mountain driving. When I get home tomorrow, I will give you a few specs from our coach if it helps. Ours is 22' which makes getting into our favorite and remote places a easy deal. Have fun!

I can get you the make and model of fridge. It does have the auto switch and uses ether gas or electric.

The manufacturer is still around. By 2000, the Shasta brand was being used by Coachmen Industries in Middlebury, Indiana. While Coachmen is now a part of Forest River, it is operating mostly independently, and might be a source for some of the documentation you seek.

Need make/model of fridge. Many have switches for on/off and gas/auto. In auto it uses electricity if available otherwise gas. Needs 12 volts DC regardless.

Leave the fridge doors open when it's stored and you won't have any deodorizing problems. You will want to wipe up the water in the freezer after the frost thaws.

j-d wrote:
There are VIN de-coder websites that'll tell all about the Ford Chassis. I think you're right about cylinders. "Could" be a 5.4 V8 but much more likely the 6.8 V10.

You can get an aftermarket service manual from Chilton, Haynes, maybe others and should be able to find Owner's Manual on the Ford webpages.

For the "House" what you mostly need is manuals for the appliances and generator. BryantRV.com has lots of appliance manuals and if genset is ONAN you can gOOgle the model number and probably find Owner, Parts, and Service manuals.

About all you'll be missing is how electric hooks up (with switch to/from generator). That and the water system as in how to dump tanks, how to fill fresh water and ABOVE ALL how to Winterize so stuff doesn't freeze and crack.

Bob Livingston publishes a book that's really good.

LPG tank is marked with its capacity. If you measure your fuel tank and use 231 cubic inches to a gallon, you can come close. They had 30-or 35-gallon and 55-gallon. I think they differ only in length, so if you measure yours somebody here can measure theirs and tell you the capacity. Ours gets more like 7-8, so worst case 7 mpg gives 350 miles on 50 gallons with a 50-mile reserve. That means we start looking seriously for gas around 300 miles.

If yours is small and light, V10'll get 8-9 mpg around 60 mph.

"Camp" at home a couple nights and get a handle on what works how, plus what you need to bring along.

Above all, WELCOME, have fun. You'll be answering questions instead of asking them before long.

Thanks for the tip on the VIN Decoder. It is a V10. The tank has to be a 55gal because I put roughly 30 gallons in to fill it from half tank the other day. At $2.75/gal, I put in $82.

I was instructed on how to maintain and dump the holding tanks, and how to use gray water to clean the lines afterwards. I was also instructed on how to put in clean water.

I was given a brief rundown of the antifreeze and blowing out lines for the winterizing. Luckily we don't get real harsh winters here in Alabama.

I guess the only other question I have is about the refrigerator. I am not sure how I understand how the refrigerator runs on either propane or electricity. I turned it off when I got it home, to save propane. The RV will likely sit for up to a month at a time until we can use it (monthly) and I don;t want the Refrigerator just sitting there running using up all my propane. I guess I will just have to deal with the cleaning out and deodorizing the refrigerator and freezer as it dethaws.

There are VIN de-coder websites that'll tell all about the Ford Chassis. I think you're right about cylinders. "Could" be a 5.4 V8 but much more likely the 6.8 V10.

You can get an aftermarket service manual from Chilton, Haynes, maybe others and should be able to find Owner's Manual on the Ford webpages.

For the "House" what you mostly need is manuals for the appliances and generator. BryantRV.com has lots of appliance manuals and if genset is ONAN you can gOOgle the model number and probably find Owner, Parts, and Service manuals.

About all you'll be missing is how electric hooks up (with switch to/from generator). That and the water system as in how to dump tanks, how to fill fresh water and ABOVE ALL how to Winterize so stuff doesn't freeze and crack.

Bob Livingston publishes a book that's really good.

LPG tank is marked with its capacity. If you measure your fuel tank and use 231 cubic inches to a gallon, you can come close. They had 30-or 35-gallon and 55-gallon. I think they differ only in length, so if you measure yours somebody here can measure theirs and tell you the capacity. Ours gets more like 7-8, so worst case 7 mpg gives 350 miles on 50 gallons with a 50-mile reserve. That means we start looking seriously for gas around 300 miles.

If yours is small and light, V10'll get 8-9 mpg around 60 mph.

"Camp" at home a couple nights and get a handle on what works how, plus what you need to bring along.

Above all, WELCOME, have fun. You'll be answering questions instead of asking them before long.