Palazzo review
I just got back from my shakedown trip with my new Palazzo 33.3 and since I have seen several questions/comments about this model here I thought that I would share what I have learned so far. First o...
Forum Discussion
Time for an update:
I just the second trip for the spring after the long and cold winter and finally go to make some of the mods I have been wanting to do.
First the good news:
I am still very impressed by the fuel economy. The gauge indicated 9.9mpg after 700 miles of towing a 5,000lb horse trailer with a target speed of 67mpg and going through Atlanta on a Friday afternoon. It got up to 10.0 towards the end of the trip but the wind picked up and knocked the economy a little bit.
I am getting more comfortable driving the coach and hardly even notice the trailer back there. I am very comfortable in low winds but I still have trouble keeping it in one lane with a strong cross wind. I was more aware of the trailer on the 6% grades of Monteagle but I still got up them fast enough for me.
I got the sound system upgraded with 3-way indoor/outdoor speakers attached to the A-posts, a subwoofer and an extra amp all for about $430. The sound is immensely improved. The only problem is that the pre-amp out the extra amp seems to be related to the rear speakers and I cannot use the add ons without some volume to the rear that is in the back bedroom. That would not be an issue except that my DW wants it quiet when she is trying to sleep and Ihave to turn it off whenever she is napping. I am planning to pull leads off of the front speakers to run the new gear. I may just disconnect the originals as the new ones sound so much better and have better placement.
I got the 3 monitors installed for the rear-view cameras and am satisfied with how they work. The main issues now are with the cameras themselves having limited vision at night, in the rain, and how they are pointed. I would like to have the center one aimed high enough to see traffic that I need to worry about when changing lanes but need to modify the mount more to get that and I have already lost the ability to see the trailer hitch or anything else within 2 feet of the rear end. I may install a separate camera down low to see the hitch and other close-ups. Now that I have the cameras off of the dash radio I am thinking of putting in a radio with bluetooth and navigation. I have my eyes on a Kenwood that uses Garmin GPS programming but have been told that if I wait a coupleof months they are going to release on for trucks that has useful features for RVs. It will be the same model number with TR on the end.
Now for the bad news:
Top of the list is that the large slide made some popping noises while retracting yesterday then refused to extend more than a few inches today. Fortunately I am at home now so it is not a disaster if I can get it fixed before I want to use it again. I made a service call this afternoon but got voicemail. I fully expect to get a call in the morning and if I do I will push to take it back to the factory for service. From what I have experienced and heard local dealers are not equipped for this job and I want to done right and quickly. I will post updates as I have them. The factory is about a 9 hour drive from here but I think that it would be time well spent.
A lesser problem was that when I took the coach out for excercise a few weeks ago I noticed that on a patch of soft ground the rear duelies were on leaving one tire track. Feeling pretty sure that there should have been two tracks I check the tires and found the the inners were both low with one side off of the rim already. I took the coach to the only capable shop in the area and they could not find anything wrong with the tires(other than no air). Their conclusion was that the valve stem extenders had leaked and made the inner tires lose their are. We removed the extenders and the tires seem to be holding air now but are a pain to check. I generally have to remove the wheel covers to do it. The coach sits so low that it is difficult to even thump the tires well.
The stove does not vent outside and the smoke alarm is right over it. Routine cooking sets it off. My wife made me disable it until I find a better location.
I have pretty much decided that the "Dream Dinette" is good for dining but darn near useless for sleeping anyone over 4' 6" tall. Also, the storage under the seats is very hard to get at and sleeping requires the use of a very bulky pad for the table that I have not found a good place for in the coach. I may have to rip it out and build more conventional benches with back rest cushions that cover the table. I would keep the table, it goes up and down nicely.
One of my clearance lights has failed with only 5,500 miles on the coach. The bulb was burned out. I am wondering if this was a fluke or evidence of things to come.
Everyone that sees the controls for the overhead bunk marvels that they are in such a dumb location. I hope that they have figured out how to put the controls in the new coaches without rendering a storage cabinet useless.
Next alteration:
The coach came with TVs for the bunk beds and one of those TVs has alternate mounting locations. All of my kids have lap-tops and/or tablets that they prefer to use so I see those TVs as wasted space, especially the location in the hall. I am thinking of taking out the TV and getting more pantry space. I was trying to get matching doors from Thor but my wife suggested that I just put in sliding doors made of Lexan that we can see through. We will see how that works. I am planning a 2 to 3 week trip this summer and feel sure that we will use all of the food space we can get.
I got an extendable clothes line like the ones you see in motels and plan to install it over the bed so that things can dry while we travel. I may put another one in the shower so that really wet things can drip without making a mess.
Another priority is rain covers for the vents. This coach has very limited ventilation in bad weather. Window awnings may follow. I want to put a double layer cover on the Fantastic vent.
I would love to put a bike rack on the front but there is no way to mount it. I want to get a local weld shop to build me a front reciever, partly so that I will have a place to attach a tow chain if it is ever needed.
The horn is an embarrassment to anything larger than a goat. I am trying to decide whether to simply step up to a $20 horn from Autozone or go ahead and get airhorns. I am leaning towards the $20 horn right now.
bigcamtom: You may have already decided how many panels to get but my feeling is that 200 watts would run the fridge and lights during the day. 300 to 400 watts would let you bank some power in the batteries to keep things going at night. Of course, all of this depends on how much you use everything. You can always start small and add more as needed if you allow for that in your plans. If you put some in I would love to know how you run the wires to the batteries. I am thinking of putting some in down the road but I tend to camp under trees so they may not be of much benefit to me.
I just the second trip for the spring after the long and cold winter and finally go to make some of the mods I have been wanting to do.
First the good news:
I am still very impressed by the fuel economy. The gauge indicated 9.9mpg after 700 miles of towing a 5,000lb horse trailer with a target speed of 67mpg and going through Atlanta on a Friday afternoon. It got up to 10.0 towards the end of the trip but the wind picked up and knocked the economy a little bit.
I am getting more comfortable driving the coach and hardly even notice the trailer back there. I am very comfortable in low winds but I still have trouble keeping it in one lane with a strong cross wind. I was more aware of the trailer on the 6% grades of Monteagle but I still got up them fast enough for me.
I got the sound system upgraded with 3-way indoor/outdoor speakers attached to the A-posts, a subwoofer and an extra amp all for about $430. The sound is immensely improved. The only problem is that the pre-amp out the extra amp seems to be related to the rear speakers and I cannot use the add ons without some volume to the rear that is in the back bedroom. That would not be an issue except that my DW wants it quiet when she is trying to sleep and Ihave to turn it off whenever she is napping. I am planning to pull leads off of the front speakers to run the new gear. I may just disconnect the originals as the new ones sound so much better and have better placement.
I got the 3 monitors installed for the rear-view cameras and am satisfied with how they work. The main issues now are with the cameras themselves having limited vision at night, in the rain, and how they are pointed. I would like to have the center one aimed high enough to see traffic that I need to worry about when changing lanes but need to modify the mount more to get that and I have already lost the ability to see the trailer hitch or anything else within 2 feet of the rear end. I may install a separate camera down low to see the hitch and other close-ups. Now that I have the cameras off of the dash radio I am thinking of putting in a radio with bluetooth and navigation. I have my eyes on a Kenwood that uses Garmin GPS programming but have been told that if I wait a coupleof months they are going to release on for trucks that has useful features for RVs. It will be the same model number with TR on the end.
Now for the bad news:
Top of the list is that the large slide made some popping noises while retracting yesterday then refused to extend more than a few inches today. Fortunately I am at home now so it is not a disaster if I can get it fixed before I want to use it again. I made a service call this afternoon but got voicemail. I fully expect to get a call in the morning and if I do I will push to take it back to the factory for service. From what I have experienced and heard local dealers are not equipped for this job and I want to done right and quickly. I will post updates as I have them. The factory is about a 9 hour drive from here but I think that it would be time well spent.
A lesser problem was that when I took the coach out for excercise a few weeks ago I noticed that on a patch of soft ground the rear duelies were on leaving one tire track. Feeling pretty sure that there should have been two tracks I check the tires and found the the inners were both low with one side off of the rim already. I took the coach to the only capable shop in the area and they could not find anything wrong with the tires(other than no air). Their conclusion was that the valve stem extenders had leaked and made the inner tires lose their are. We removed the extenders and the tires seem to be holding air now but are a pain to check. I generally have to remove the wheel covers to do it. The coach sits so low that it is difficult to even thump the tires well.
The stove does not vent outside and the smoke alarm is right over it. Routine cooking sets it off. My wife made me disable it until I find a better location.
I have pretty much decided that the "Dream Dinette" is good for dining but darn near useless for sleeping anyone over 4' 6" tall. Also, the storage under the seats is very hard to get at and sleeping requires the use of a very bulky pad for the table that I have not found a good place for in the coach. I may have to rip it out and build more conventional benches with back rest cushions that cover the table. I would keep the table, it goes up and down nicely.
One of my clearance lights has failed with only 5,500 miles on the coach. The bulb was burned out. I am wondering if this was a fluke or evidence of things to come.
Everyone that sees the controls for the overhead bunk marvels that they are in such a dumb location. I hope that they have figured out how to put the controls in the new coaches without rendering a storage cabinet useless.
Next alteration:
The coach came with TVs for the bunk beds and one of those TVs has alternate mounting locations. All of my kids have lap-tops and/or tablets that they prefer to use so I see those TVs as wasted space, especially the location in the hall. I am thinking of taking out the TV and getting more pantry space. I was trying to get matching doors from Thor but my wife suggested that I just put in sliding doors made of Lexan that we can see through. We will see how that works. I am planning a 2 to 3 week trip this summer and feel sure that we will use all of the food space we can get.
I got an extendable clothes line like the ones you see in motels and plan to install it over the bed so that things can dry while we travel. I may put another one in the shower so that really wet things can drip without making a mess.
Another priority is rain covers for the vents. This coach has very limited ventilation in bad weather. Window awnings may follow. I want to put a double layer cover on the Fantastic vent.
I would love to put a bike rack on the front but there is no way to mount it. I want to get a local weld shop to build me a front reciever, partly so that I will have a place to attach a tow chain if it is ever needed.
The horn is an embarrassment to anything larger than a goat. I am trying to decide whether to simply step up to a $20 horn from Autozone or go ahead and get airhorns. I am leaning towards the $20 horn right now.
bigcamtom: You may have already decided how many panels to get but my feeling is that 200 watts would run the fridge and lights during the day. 300 to 400 watts would let you bank some power in the batteries to keep things going at night. Of course, all of this depends on how much you use everything. You can always start small and add more as needed if you allow for that in your plans. If you put some in I would love to know how you run the wires to the batteries. I am thinking of putting some in down the road but I tend to camp under trees so they may not be of much benefit to me.
