Any Coach House 98 B van owners out there

[starduster67]

Just put a deposit on one. We think it will fill our needs nicely. Just wondering if any others with a similar van are out there? I know its old but it was cared for and protected from the elements. Would be interested in hearing anything you have to say good or bad about it or any of the older ones from the nineties.

[Neverhappy]

I just bought a 96 in nice condition for 10, but the electric sofa is binding & is stuck half way ...only one side moves..
I am worried as it is stored on a open lot in the hot damp Florida summer & I wont be back before november to check it out.
It is a wide body with white interior, I think they are nice rvs.

[miken807]

starduster67 it stands for technical bulletin. What occurred, I was on a trip and after I stopped for gas, I started the engine and my oil light stayed in the red. I did a search on dodge oil loss and found this bulletin put out by dodge. I had the gasket replaced and have not lost a drop of oil between changes. I believe your getting a good deal, I just happened to luck out, I went to my local Rv dealer and they had this unit on their lot, they had it listed for 15,000. After talking to the sales manager, he told me they really did not want it because they do not deal with B's, so he said if I want it, he would wholesale it to me for 8400.00.

[RnRs-RT]

Sande
Is your 97 on a Dodge Ram Van chassis? My Road-Trek leaked in the Right rear after a severe storm. I pulled the tail light unit out and found a galvanized patch over a hole which I presumed to be factory. It had been stuck on with some type of adhesive. I removed the patch and I could see that there was just a very small area where it had leaked. Reinstalled it with a good sealant and haven't had any problem since.

[starduster67]

Miken807 I'm new at this forum stuff. What is a TB? I thought we were getting a good deal till I read what you paid. We are paying $13, but as the paint and interior are great and everything seems to work and there's 2 brand new tires maybe its a good deal anyway. In any case we are buying it and hopefully won't have to put too much money into it right away. Sandeluvs2camp I'm not sure about the door leak but I'll tell you we looked at a few that had this problem and one up in the panhandle is so reasonable at ten thousand but it has rust going down all 4 sides of the coach. Now that's a water problem, Good luck I'm glad to be here myself to learn from others. By the way ours is a 98 TB193 wide body which I like very much cause I'm not exactly skinny. LOL

[Sandeluvs2camp]

I bought a 1997 Coach House RD 194 about 3 months ago. It had 35,800 orig miles and in generally good shape with 5 new tires and a generator with only 112 hours. In May, I drove to Denver from mid-Florida with my dog for company. Aside from tent camping as a teen with my family, this was the first time I've RV'd. LOVE IT!

An older vehicle of course comes with some drawbacks. On my return trip, I lost oil pressure resulting in a very labor intensive (AKA costly) replacement of a valve in the intake manifold. I was very lucky however, as it doesn't appeared to have caused any additional damage to the engine. I am having some trouble with water leaking in around the rear door and/or the taillights. Today I sealed around the lights with silicone but not certain how to handle the door. How difficult is it to replace the black rubber seal on the door?

The interior walls in the van are a foam-backed fabric adhered to some type of eighth-inch board. The fabric is waterstained in areas. Any suggestions on how it can be replaced? I would much rather have some type of solid surface wall rather than fabric.

I am new to the group & look forward to learning and sharing with you all.

Sande & Lil(my trusty canine sidekick)

[miken807]

I purchased a used 1998 coach house wide body 192KS 2 years ago. It had 82,000 miles and in good condition. The generator did not work, but in 2 hours, I got it running great. I paid $8400.00 for the van which is on the Dodge 3500 platform with the 5.9L (360 magnum) engine. I replace the shocks, brakes, rotors wheel bearings and got new tires (old ones were 5 years old). I had to replace the plenum gasket a year ago, that is a common problem with Dodge, they have a TB you can read online about the issue. I get 15-16 mpg. Which I'm happy about.

[MickD]

When you get it be sure to post pics here. We all love to see what great buys others have made.

Mick

[starduster67]

Thanks Mick and others yes the price was very right and everything works its in beautiful condition for its age. I have to arrange for a storage lot nearby to park it before we go and pick it up as our community prospectus says no campers allowed. We are excited to get it here. Need to get 2 new tires the man we are buying it from bought two and used the five yr old tires in the back. He bought it from a neighbor of his so he knew it was well cared for but his wife is clausterphobic and found she couldnt be in the back so his dream of traveling a little was stopped. I guess I have to match them huh? I was amazed at how nice the ride is of course we didn't go out on a highway for the test drive but we figure we have an excellent garage nearby that services our minivan, they have an R V lift outside and the owner/mechanic agreed he'd go over the whole mechanical part for us and tell us what needs doing. We need to get it home safely here to west coast of Florida from east coast so we'll go easy till its checked over. Its still a great value no matter what ...no payments that's what we like. I'll read all I can from other B owners to learn all I can thanks all. The Genny started right up and ran, the back air blew loads of cold air the engine purred so I'm thinking we were lucky to find this little rig.

[pgh1aB]

Recently purchased 1999 Coachmen Saratoga on 1998 Dodge chassis. Good shape, good price. Only problem is lack of information about this b van.

[thriftydutch]

I have a 1990 LER class B with 125,000 mi. Works perfect, was so cheap we could afford it and it still has the original 120-12 volt Norcold fridge.

[MickD]

I have a 1997 Coach House 192 TB wide body on a 1996 Dodge Ram 3500 chassis. I don't think there will be much difference unless yours is on a different platform. As you have probably read on this forum before age is not as important as the care that was given during it's life. The biggest problem that I have experienced with mine is the fresh water tank is small and if you are going to be boondocking for extended periods then watch your water. I don't know if they came with different size tanks or not. We take ours everywhere and don't worry about problems any more than vehicle. Ours has 103,000 mi. on it.

If you have questions ask and I'm sure someone will be able to answer them. The coach parts are the same used in many other Class Bs.

Mick