2004 Fleetwood Southwind 32vs workhorse

fyrflie wrote:

How in the world can you stop a 32 foot motorhome in 2 feet unless you are moving under 20 mph..


Use Two Feet. The things that hang off the ends of your legs, to stop in an emergency.
I think that’s what he meant.

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OK maybe that's it..

:C

Have an 03' owned it for 4 years and very happy.....mine is the Ford chassis but I drove both, drive about the same. Just make sure the brake recall is done and go have fun. When I bought it I was only looking at 03-04s because the water tank is 100 gal and I primarily dry camp, 05 they went to 80 gal.

How in the world can you stop a 32 foot motorhome in 2 feet unless you are moving under 20 mph..


Use Two Feet. The things that hang off the ends of your legs, to stop in an emergency.
I think that’s what he meant.

With my Workhorse chassis the brakes were great but it required FLUSHING the entire brake system and replacing the brake fluid with all new brake fluid. Just bleeding the brake fluid will not do it. It takes almost three quarts of fluid to properly flush all of the brake lines. This should be done every two years.
It is also required that you grease the slides with brake caliper grease to insure that they slide properly. This also prevents the calipers from sticking on coaches that are not driven frequently.

DSDP Don wrote:


Our second issue was that it didn't stop well. 2004 was during the time that Workhorse was having brake issues. Ours had none of the recall issues, but required two feet to stop in an emergency. I thoroughly went through the brake system and bled all the brakes.....no help. For those two reasons, we spun the coach off after a year.

How in the world can you stop a 32 foot motorhome in 2 feet unless you are moving under 20 mph..

We bought a 2004 Fleetwood Terra 32', a model under the Southwind. In 2004, Fleetwood did a very dumb thing which drove us crazy. They didn't have space for the black tank under the toilet. So, they made a black tank with an extension. The bulk of the black tank was between the frame rails, but they added a section to one side that fit up under the toilet. Supposedly, the toilet was to drop the contents onto a shelf that would then slide down to the main tank. Nice idea, but the thing CONSTANTLY plugged, no matter how much water we used. You can easily tell if the coach has this tank design by looking underneath. If it has a section that goes over the frame to the toilet, it will be an issue.

Our second issue was that it didn't stop well. 2004 was during the time that Workhorse was having brake issues. Ours had none of the recall issues, but required two feet to stop in an emergency. I thoroughly went through the brake system and bled all the brakes.....no help. For those two reasons, we spun the coach off after a year.

The good news, the Workhorse with the 8.1 GM engine was a beast. I could pass any diesel on a grade. We also liked the expansiveness of the livingroom area on a short coach.

Last month we bought a Winnebago Sightseer 28 foot with 35,000 in good shape. Very clean and garage kept. The underneath was like new. Has Jacks and one slide out. Been going over it and rebuilt the rear brakes. Straighten out the TV so it works very nice now. Today we filled up the water tank and check out the hot water, stove, furnace and the air condition. Oil was just change and new filter. The Generator new oil and filter. Now to wax it. It sits in the garage.

We bought a 2000 class a in 2010 and have been full-time in it since 2011. We have not had any major issues and do not regret the decision at all. Everything wrong has been minor - a circuit board, new awning springs, a sensor, new vent covers, a thermostat etc. We have spent very little in repairs over the 8 yrs we have owned it and have been traveling all over the country.

We bought a 2004 MH 3 years ago in very good condition and with all the service records. It is still 14 years old. We had the AC clutch go bad, a solenoid and a valve on the self leveling, a wheel bearing and last week a brake caliper froze up (the recall had been done). We have been almost 25,000 miles and I have been very happy with it but I know everything on it is 14 years old. We have fixed everything ourselves so it hasn't cost us much.
Don't expect it to go forever without a brake down even if it's in good condition.