looking for owners of 2004-2005 Pace Arrows
I'd like to make contact with others who own one of the new (2004, 2005) Pace Arrows so we can share experiences, problems, good things, etc.
Forum Discussion
1,941 Replies
- I had the dealer replace the return springs on the jacks that weren't retracting all the way, this seems to have fixed the problem...at least for now.
Bbur7 wrote:
Bbur7 wrote:
We have experienced the same problem with the awning not dumping water on our '04 37C. I remember the salesman touting the feature when considering the purchase. Funny, when I brought it up with service the first time back, the tech told me that those things don't work and if it were him, he would just bring the awning in every night.
Last weekend we were out with rain in the forecast. I used a bungee card to pull and hold the rear support down in the position it would be in from the water weight. The awning still filled up without dumping.
Another peeve about this awning is having the tube slot to put in lights but having to get the ladder out every time to put them up. We have stopped using our awning lights unless we are some place more than a weekend.
My unit is in the shop for other problems, but I will check these numbers when it gets back.
Now let me vent about the things its in the shop for now.
We bought in August 2004, indoor winter storage both winters, under 12K miles by us.
1) Packing for weekend, the left frontmost basement door would not close. Front hinge tore through. Support rod fought the closing of the door, and clearly contributed to the stress on the hinge as its the one directly on top of the support. This did some damage to the trim molding above until I removed it. Took both of us to get the hatch secure. Quoting the PA 2004 brochure
"Improvements abound! A redesigned front and rear cap, new luggage doors and hinge system"
Dealer said out of warranty, this is my problem. Good Sam Extended Warranty will not cover either.
2)Better half went to remove something from the under bed storage in bedroom, and found the bed platform not square on the bed frame. We removed the bedding and mattress and found the platform had separated from the hinge on the side toward the rear of the coach. When we lifted the platform, the stress from the support rod ripped the platform apart on that side. Like the door, the support rod force would not permit our putting the bed back in place. This platform is constructed of pine 1x4's on the flat, with 2 sheets of luan like laminate glued and stapled to it with solid foam insulation fit into the sandwich. It is obvious the glue failed and then the strength of the piston of the support rod pulled it apart. I had to crawl in the storage area and remove the rod to get it to close, plus remove 3 dozen staples protruding from the damage so they wouldn't rip the mattress. Dealer said out of warranty, this is my problem. Good Sam Extended Warranty will not cover either. Again quoting from brochure Let serenity be your theme tonight. Retire in grand style with Pace Arrow’s queen size bed with pillow top mattress... Serenity my @#$!!
Frankly, I will would not let them fix this back the way that it was originally - if you have 2 adult people sleeping in this platform, this is not going to hold up the way it was constructed - truly a piece of junk. I will replace myself with cabinet grade birch 1/2" plywood.
3) Washing breakfast dishes Sunday morning, turned water on in kitchen sink, the facet head literally flew off the metal hose. Was using city water with my always present pressure regulator at the supply. Dealer said out of warranty, this is my problem. However Good Sam extended warranty is going to cover this.
I called Fleetwood and expecting that since their "...mark of excellence is a pledge of quality." and "Every Pace Arrow is inscribed with the Pace Arrow insignia as a testament to its enduring elegance, character and craftsmanship." , I expected these obvious lapses in quality and craftsmanship would result in some consideration.
This is our 2nd Class A; our previous rig was an '02 Thor Hurricane, it was a nightmare. We thought the higher price tag and at the time reputation of the Pace Arrow would get us in a rig that was well made and reliable. We love the layout and the mechanical platform, but are getting pretty tired of the failures that occur in the coach and it spending more time at the dealer than with me. Is this the standard for RV manufacturers - not caring about quality and workmanship and then crossing their fingers for one year while they and their inept dealers stall you so they can then say tough luck?
Had planned on upgrading again when ready to go fulltime, but don't know if I'm up to putting up with another round of headaches from another unit.
Since I posted this the dealer confirmed we had the wrong awning and Dometic replaced it; a new kitchen faucet head was installed, but it has the same kink in the hose that the original had - still waiting to here if this is normal; I built a new platform for the bed with cabinet grade plywood edge wrapped with maple; and 5 more basement doors have had had hinge failures - I suggest to all that you buy a rivet gun.
Am also experiencing a problem listed elsewher in this forum regarding the jacks retracting all the way - right rear remains down about 2 inches.
We feel you pain with all your PA problems. Sometimes I wonder if PA stands for Pain in the A** instead of Pace Arrow. We also have a problem with the rear jacks never wanting to retract all the way up. Now I spray the rear jacks with a silicone spray just before we retract them. It still takes a little while but they eventually do go all the way up with the assistance of the silicone spray. We've complained to the dealer about this but they can't find anything wrong.
Meme- Anyone know if the 04 37C is prewired for a trailer brake controller?
Bbur7 wrote:
We have experienced the same problem with the awning not dumping water on our '04 37C. I remember the salesman touting the feature when considering the purchase. Funny, when I brought it up with service the first time back, the tech told me that those things don't work and if it were him, he would just bring the awning in every night.
Last weekend we were out with rain in the forecast. I used a bungee card to pull and hold the rear support down in the position it would be in from the water weight. The awning still filled up without dumping.
Another peeve about this awning is having the tube slot to put in lights but having to get the ladder out every time to put them up. We have stopped using our awning lights unless we are some place more than a weekend.
My unit is in the shop for other problems, but I will check these numbers when it gets back.
Now let me vent about the things its in the shop for now.
We bought in August 2004, indoor winter storage both winters, under 12K miles by us.
1) Packing for weekend, the left frontmost basement door would not close. Front hinge tore through. Support rod fought the closing of the door, and clearly contributed to the stress on the hinge as its the one directly on top of the support. This did some damage to the trim molding above until I removed it. Took both of us to get the hatch secure. Quoting the PA 2004 brochure
"Improvements abound! A redesigned front and rear cap, new luggage doors and hinge system"
Dealer said out of warranty, this is my problem. Good Sam Extended Warranty will not cover either.
2)Better half went to remove something from the under bed storage in bedroom, and found the bed platform not square on the bed frame. We removed the bedding and mattress and found the platform had separated from the hinge on the side toward the rear of the coach. When we lifted the platform, the stress from the support rod ripped the platform apart on that side. Like the door, the support rod force would not permit our putting the bed back in place. This platform is constructed of pine 1x4's on the flat, with 2 sheets of luan like laminate glued and stapled to it with solid foam insulation fit into the sandwich. It is obvious the glue failed and then the strength of the piston of the support rod pulled it apart. I had to crawl in the storage area and remove the rod to get it to close, plus remove 3 dozen staples protruding from the damage so they wouldn't rip the mattress. Dealer said out of warranty, this is my problem. Good Sam Extended Warranty will not cover either. Again quoting from brochure Let serenity be your theme tonight. Retire in grand style with Pace Arrow’s queen size bed with pillow top mattress... Serenity my @#$!!
Frankly, I will would not let them fix this back the way that it was originally - if you have 2 adult people sleeping in this platform, this is not going to hold up the way it was constructed - truly a piece of junk. I will replace myself with cabinet grade birch 1/2" plywood.
3) Washing breakfast dishes Sunday morning, turned water on in kitchen sink, the facet head literally flew off the metal hose. Was using city water with my always present pressure regulator at the supply. Dealer said out of warranty, this is my problem. However Good Sam extended warranty is going to cover this.
I called Fleetwood and expecting that since their "...mark of excellence is a pledge of quality." and "Every Pace Arrow is inscribed with the Pace Arrow insignia as a testament to its enduring elegance, character and craftsmanship." , I expected these obvious lapses in quality and craftsmanship would result in some consideration.
This is our 2nd Class A; our previous rig was an '02 Thor Hurricane, it was a nightmare. We thought the higher price tag and at the time reputation of the Pace Arrow would get us in a rig that was well made and reliable. We love the layout and the mechanical platform, but are getting pretty tired of the failures that occur in the coach and it spending more time at the dealer than with me. Is this the standard for RV manufacturers - not caring about quality and workmanship and then crossing their fingers for one year while they and their inept dealers stall you so they can then say tough luck?
Had planned on upgrading again when ready to go fulltime, but don't know if I'm up to putting up with another round of headaches from another unit.
Since I posted this the dealer confirmed we had the wrong awning and Dometic replaced it; a new kitchen faucet head was installed, but it has the same kink in the hose that the original had - still waiting to here if this is normal; I built a new platform for the bed with cabinet grade plywood edge wrapped with maple; and 5 more basement doors have had had hinge failures - I suggest to all that you buy a rivet gun.
Am also experiencing a problem listed elsewher in this forum regarding the jacks retracting all the way - right rear remains down about 2 inches.- I like it, I'll have to get into the generator and look.
- Bricot,
A good way is to go inside of your generator cabinet and open up the junction box where your generator wires go. Now one romex wire goes to one rear AC and the other goes to the front AC and the rest of the house.
How to find which one is what? Well, I am not an electrician, but one way is to take an extension and plug the open wires in the female plug of the extension cord. Plug it in a receptacle and see what AC is running. Mark it. Do the same on the other set of wires and see what it runs. Mark it. Now, you have two romex wires marked as what it runs.
Wire up that junction box back together with the set of wires that runs the house and front AC. Now you have the 2nd set of wires which is for the rear AC. Install another junction box in the generator cabinet and tie it to the 2nd AC wires with a male plug. To run it off the outside 15-20 amp pedestal, plug it into a extension cord.
Now you have two separate systems. If you want to make it so you can run both AC’s like you have now, install another receptacle off the original junction box. Now, you have a choice. Either plug the rear AC plug in the extension cord or plug it in the original junction box. You are good to go. bricot
It allows you to plug in your normal 30 amp cord into the pedestal and then plug your other a/c unit directly into one of the other 15 amp plugs in the pedestal, leaves you more amperage on your mainline so you can run more things with both a/c units running.
Basically takes the amperage draw from the one a/c unit out of your main line.[/quote wrote:
It is a good idea if done right, but be careful when you use it. Some of your RV Parks are now wiring the 15 amp breaker thru the 30 amp plug breaker in the pedestal so you can only get a total of 30 amps out of the pedestal. They have been doing this because of cutting electric cost and so the 50 amp rigs can not get 50amp with the 30amp/15amp cheater plug and only pay for 30amps. I found out by using a extension cord from the 15amp into the rig for a heater and I kept popping the 30amp breaker. I ask some campers at the park and they related that was what the park did. Don't know if it is in code or not but they do it.Fyr guy wrote:
bricot, I guess I don't ubderstand why you would want to do that? The '04 is a 30 amp rig right? What is accomplished by rewirung the ac unit? Enquiring minds want to know...
Sandy
It allows you to plug in your normal 30 amp cord into the pedestal and then plug your other a/c unit directly into one of the other 15 amp plugs in the pedestal, leaves you more amperage on your mainline so you can run more things with both a/c units running.
Basically takes the amperage draw from the one a/c unit out of your main line.- I was having problems with my refrigerator staying cold and took it in for repair. The tech showed me that when Fleetwood installed the refrigerator on the 37C (refrigerator in the slide out) they left a three inch space above the top of the refrigerator and the heat builds up in there and don't come out the top vent. On the 37C the top refrigerator vent does not come out a roof vent but a side vent.
He put insulation in the open space and then made a sheet metal hood from the top of refrigerator over the new insulated opening and around to the vent opening so the heat will flow out the vent. Then a small fan was placed in the back to help force the heat out the vent. - Re: Sink drain
This refers back a few pages on where the sink drains. It depends on the model. Normally the sink would drain to the grey tank but when they did the "upgrade" read "recall" on my '05 36D the dealer told me they made the sink by the toilet drain into the black tank for convenience. Thats why if the black tank is full the toilet can force black water up into the sink. The "upgrade" included putting in a one way valve in that sink.
I've never filled up a black tank until I got this motor home. The new toilet really uses water, and if you cut back on the water it doesn't flush well.
