B+ motorhomes

[Daniel_C_]

I just bought a Trail Lite B+ 211s with 8.1 Chevy
engine. This is my fifth motorhome (others range
from an old 20' Vagabond, and three Winnegagos, from 19 to 32'. This vehicle is fantastic. I am
using it as a mobile office (and sneaking in a fun
journey from time to time). It gets about 9.5mpg
and I believe I could pull a bus behind it if I wanted! I paid low $40's which is about what I had expected to pay for a five or six year old Chinook with a nicer interior, but fewer features
(slide). I am delighted thus far.

[Gene_in_NE]

burlmart wrote:
|---deleted stuff---| (i realize i am treading on thin ice with the whole 'woman driver' thing, so i apologize in advance.)

burlmart - what are you thinking. You must have had a brain hiccup? :B

I did not know about your mishap with the rear tire. Those inner duals are a little harder to contend with. I carry my infrared temperature gun to get some warning about low tire pressure - increased heat due to flex. It does not sound like you had that problem, merely tire failure.

[burlmart]

as you know, Martha drives for us since i have low vision. she does a good job, but is very carefully slow and makes many corrections when in proximity to things, even w/ our 4runner. i will watch her back it down the driveway and under its shed and get frustrated that it could be done more fluidly, but not w/ my eyes. so pretty sure our B+ is the upper size we could manage.

sounds like you have PP under control, and that it does require more diligence. how carefully cautious do you find yourself driving ths B+? how would you compare terry's handling it to yours? (i realize i am treading on thin ice with the whole 'woman driver' thing, so i apologize in advance.)

[Scottiemom]

burlmart wrote:
we stayed at that park 1 nite when RV was still new, but a wicked thunderstorm kind of loused up the evening.

i am oblivious to big rig stuff. i read where dale mostly drives PP and you drive other vehicles. how different is it to drive the big rig?

Not sure how to answer, burlmart. I guess where the little one is like driving a car/truck, the big one is like driving a bus and towing a car. I do drive the big one and I drive the cars and the Trail-lite. But I am the only driver of PP since Terry's last cardiac events. My driving it was born of necessity. Terry realized that if he were to have an event while driving, it would be messy and deadly, so he voluntarily gave it up. I'm thankful he was able to do that.

The big one requires more concentration I think. I will not allow myself to be distracted. Correcting a move in a car or B+ is much easier, so I try very hard not to get into situations that would be scary. Longer stopping distance, wider turns and usually slower.Just gotta be content sometimes to not be able to make rapid lane changes, etc. My Dad drove an 18-wheeler and years ago I had reservations about launching boats on boat ramps with our Class C. He helped me overcome that and I've been fine every since. I have always loved to drive. I suppose a lot of people aren't comfortable driving big rigs and they shouldn't. But for now, I'm good. Dad eventually gave up driving big motorhomes and at 92, we don't encourage him to drive much, although he still does a decent job. I hope to be able to continue for a while yet.

Dale

[burlmart]

we stayed at that park 1 nite when RV was still new, but a wicked thunderstorm kind of loused up the evening.

i am oblivious to big rig stuff. i read where dale mostly drives PP and you drive other vehicles. how different is it to drive the big rig?

[Teacher_s_Pet]

burlmart wrote:


(dale, our blowout was exit 19 on I12 E, where did your serpentine belt fail?)

Burl this Terry (Teacher's Pet) Dale's husband (Scottiemom)

We had spent two nights at Lakeside RV Park south of Livingston at exit 22 on I-12....we made to about the 24 mile marker the the morning we hit the road. If we had been in the B+ I could have changed the belt, but with Phaeton Place it was a tow (Coach Net was great!) and about $1000 for the labor and belt in Hammond. Not fun at all on a Freightliner XC chassis with a rear facing radiator. If we ever get another coach it will be a Super C or Class A with a side radiator.

[burlmart]

i know some of you read of our recent major inner passenger dually that did a lot of damage to things proximate to the tire, most critically rupturing propane piping to furnace and fridge. i cannot shake the fact that i noticed all 4 rear tires felt very wrong, but took RV out anyway.

the seriously unsettling effect of my misjudgement and resulting potentially fatal blowout spending 6 hrs in the RV trying to get our safeco roadside people to bring help, and ultimately calling our tire supplier - TCI - saying we'd pay for his roadside 2 tires mount (he was gonna leave us w/ no return call after safeco kept low balling on the service). unsettling.

subsequently, uniroyal agreed to replace 4 other tires after TCI told them how all 4 rears showed serious defect in tread donding. for reimbursement, uniroyal had us ship the blown tire, the bill for the 2 tires put on in field, and 2 estimates of damage repair from an RV shop. only one could get to giving a timely estimate, and it took 2 weeks. it was way, way high - $5000, mostly labor. when uniroyal saw that they contacted via a lawyer sayind we had hit something in the 4 yr, 10k mi life of the tire that led to its demise. did not acknoledge the other equally defective tires and closed the case. complaint to NHTSA that the Laredos should have been included in a recall proved pointless.

all the negative experiences above had me really wanting to exit the RVing kingdom. but after succesfully reparing (w/ a bit of copper tube flaring help from encouraging friends), i was able to fix everything w/ about 40 solid hrs work and $90.

2 good local SP outings later, i can say much of my MoHo mojo is back! i even took another stab at quieting overcab cabinetry squeaks/squawks with added screws around the center (former TV location) wood framing between the side glass-doored cabinets - anxious to hear the result.

TMI, i suppose, but kinda wonder if any of you have felt the uneasiness of being in the RV kingdom?

(dale, our blowout was exit 19 on I12 E, where did your serpentine belt fail?)

[Scottiemom]

avan wrote:
Dale: It was uneventful. We picked up the last two spots on the Cedar Island/Ocracoke ferry on Tues so spent Monday nite 'camped' at the front of their line. It was a beautiful clear sky, nice breeze day so the ride was great. Spent Tues nite at the Ocracoke NP CG with perhaps a half dozen other campers. Today took the ferry from Ocracoke to Hatteras. Similar day and once again a nice way to travel. Now at Ocean Waves CG for 30 days of R&R. Good luck on the appt for Butterscotch!

Uneventful is always good! Thanks for the good thoughts on Butterscotch. Really watching your trip. Looks very interesting. We've been out that way but never right where you are. Have fun!

Dale

[Gene_in_NE]

avan wrote:
Dale: It was uneventful. We picked up the last two spots on the Cedar Island/Ocracoke ferry on Tues so spent Monday nite 'camped' at the front of their line. It was a beautiful clear sky, nice breeze day so the ride was great. Spent Tues nite at the Ocracoke NP CG with perhaps a half dozen other campers. Today took the ferry from Ocracoke to Hatteras. Similar day and once again a nice way to travel. Now at Ocean Waves CG for 30 days of R&R. Good luck on the appt for Butterscotch!

Avan - Welcome to this topic. I clicked on your profile and found you had posted to a number of different topics and different forums. If you have time to browse this topic, you will see it has been around a few years. It is the reason we bought our Trail-Lite because of the originator. We have not been disappointed. However, our likes are rather simple - small, adequately equipped, respectable mpg, not bad looking, and appears well built.

[avan]

Dale: It was uneventful. We picked up the last two spots on the Cedar Island/Ocracoke ferry on Tues so spent Monday nite 'camped' at the front of their line. It was a beautiful clear sky, nice breeze day so the ride was great. Spent Tues nite at the Ocracoke NP CG with perhaps a half dozen other campers. Today took the ferry from Ocracoke to Hatteras. Similar day and once again a nice way to travel. Now at Ocean Waves CG for 30 days of R&R. Good luck on the appt for Butterscotch!

[Teacher_s_Pet]

Avan how did the ferry ride go?

[Teacher_s_Pet]

Been waiting...still almost 2 weeks from where MinnieMee has been resting up. Been a long winter in Phaeton Place, ready for something a bit smaller, might just let the Sport Trac take a rest also and put the Miata back on the road also.

[Gene_in_NE]

Well, had to bump this topic back to the top so that new members would know about these 357 pages.

Our unit is ready for another year of traveling. Our first outing is planned to be around May 19th. We plan on pulling our enclosed fiberglas trailer with motorcycle inside. Will have the bike for site seeing at the destination.

[Gene_in_NE]

Our RVision Trail-Lite 211-S is spending the next 5-1/2 months in indoor storage. Just got back from a 1,700 mile trip the first week-end in November to see the brilliant autumn colors near Detroit.

[avan]

Warmer but wet in advance of a cold front. Post cold front our highs are supposed to go down to the mid/upper 70s. Thanx for asking! 🙂

[Teacher_s_Pet]

71° here today and sunny avan...how's the weather in the Everglades?