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.

[cheeze1]

Daniel, always great to hear from you.
Gang, I'm pleased to report that our first LONG trip was a great success! We traveled from home to South Florida via Smithfield KOA,NC, and Lake Harmony RV in Townsend, Ga. Both nice places. Return was via St Augustine Beach KOA, Barnyard Park in Lexington, SC,(large flea market next door) and Walnut Hills KOA in Staunton, Va. (Great glassblowing studio there). I can attest to the fact that Virginia, DC, and Maryland got slammed with snow. Walnut hills only had about 10 sites open and tho' accessible, they were still dicey. My neighbor with a fiver slid trying to get in and his pickup had to be pulled out by a tractor.
The 213 performed beautifully, our reconstruction is really comfortable and we only have a few 'things' to add to make it even moreso. The engine ran like a top the whole time with no oil usage. Even the tires started out at 65 lbs and stayed that way the whole trip. Our 'on road' avg. speed according to the Garmin was 62 mph with bursts to 75 and long stretches at 70. I have no idea what the gas mileage was!! ;( duh!) **After downloading the log from the Garmin turns out we averaged 13 mpg.
I'm seriously thinking of going to a truck tire place and having curved, easy access airfill valves installed in the rear, the present ones are a pita and the inners are almost impossible to reach.
I'm going to wait for warmer weather to do the foglights and some other mods. I do want to do something about the bathroom door so my knees are not jammed up against it at 'certain' times.
btw, the accordion pleat shower curtain from Camping World is great.
I'm also going to replace as many plated screws as possible with stainless, especially the clearance lights and ladder. We need some kind of clock for the interior, I'm thinking digital or a battery analog mounted on a wall or door, from a place like ClockIt or Merrits.
ok, I think that's all for now....

[burlmart]

From your thread about the cabover cap...Sure glad to see you got that cap separation fixed and at such a reasonable price, too.

You sure put miles on an RV!

[Daniel_C_]

It is heartwarming to hear from all you guys! My reasons for getting a new motorhome was the 130K+ miles I had put on the old one. I considered a couple of Trail Lites on EBAY, but got this one for 29K one year ago, with 27K miles. I drive 20-25K miles a year, so will probably keep this one for about 3 more years. I DO NOT like the fit and finish, but do like the E450 chassis - no alignment problems like the traditional A frame front end Chevy. I would prever teh 8.1 chevy as it got 10 mpg, and I now get 8, but very much like the 5 speed auto. I did buy the Good Sam warranty, and it has served me well with many of my repairs. I had mentioned elsewhere, that I am considering getting a class 4/5 hitch, because I am pretty confident I can tow my 33' trailer with little trouble (heavier chassis, and relatively short distance from rear axel to rear bumper). I do have a nagging vibration in the driveline. I first noticed it when I was driving home to Texas from Seattle (where I bought it). Replaced the U Joints, but they cracked the harmonic balancer on the drive shaft, so I had to have it balanced, and it has never been completely smooth. I am afraid that the harmonic balancer is essential for that shaft, but hate to spend the price to completely replace it (about 1500). Plan to have it balanced again and see if I can advise the shop to balance it at the RPM that averages 65 mph. I suspect that they will never get it completely right, because the balancers are static, and I vaguely remember forces changing when the rig is in forward motion, not to mention the change in size (slight) as the shaft warms up(?). I'll try to be a little better in updates in the future.
Dan

[audreyv]

Yes, Gene, we ran into the rain problem and have learned to park the rig slightly tilted to keep the rain from entering box.

I was talking about the windshield type seal that has cracked. It could be from old age, too, altho this is an '03. Patched it up with duct tape (wonder tape) and pray for the best during our two week trip. We are currently camping at Breezy Acres in Chiefland, FL, where we generally stop for a couple of days as we scoot south. It is not fancy, but very friendly with 'take-one/leave-one' library, various activities (cards, bingo, ice cream social, potlucks) and very reasonable.

Thanks for your input, Audrey

[Gene_in_NE]

audreyv wrote:
No snow accumulation here in the FL Panhandle, but did get a few large, fluffy flakes a couple of days ago...This little Trail-Lite B+ 211S works just fine for the two of us. Only a problem cropped up...The inside seal of the slide has cracked, most likely from the tension of the 'tension bars' used to prevent the slide from opening while vehicle in motion...Has anyone experienced this problem and did you have to replace the whole seal? Thank you.

No snow, huh? Some of us can't even get to our RV until the weather warms up and melts the snow. Our RV is stored indoors, but the main door of the building is about 75' from the street. The street was plowed by the city and left a ridge of snow about 4' high and hard as a rock next to the curb. Can walk to the building and go inside to check on everything, but unless we hire a tractor or skid loader with a scoop likely will not move the RV out.

As to the slide, are you talking about the seal on the top you can see when the slide is out? If I recall we have two (2) seals. One that looks like a flat strip on the side of the RV and then a flap that sweeps the slide roof (much like a windshield wiper). We do not use the slide very much as we usually don't stay more than one night. Really opens up the inside area when we do.

Can't help you much on the replacement question. One time we got some rain inside when the right side of the RV was lower than the left. A driving rain hit the roof of the slide and ran against the RV with force and worked it's way inside. Now we park with the left front tire as the lowest point. Did you get a pamphlet on the slide with your unit? It may provide some phone numbers or contact name. I wouldn't think the "tension bars" or "slide-lock" would cause a problem, but anything is possible.

[audreyv]

No snow accumulation here in the FL Panhandle, but did get a few large, fluffy flakes a couple of days ago. It has been cold tho, and this a.m. I woke up to 26*. So tomorrow we are heading south for warmer weather. Plan on camping for a few days in Chiefland, then on to Tampa and ending in LaBelle for the Swamp Cabbage Festival the last weekend in Feb. Will be gone 11 days; this being our second trip for 2010. Look forward to many more this year as the family has events going on all year -- graduations in NY, birthday in VA, wedding in SFL.

This little Trail-Lite B+ 211S works just fine for the two of us. Only a problem cropped up upon pre-travel inspection. The inside seal of the slide has cracked, most likely from the tension of the 'tension bars' used to prevent the slide from opening while vehicle in motion. Has anyone experienced this problem and did you have to replace the whole seal? Thank you.

[happyjack2]

I would love to post a pic of how much snow is on and around the B+ right now. The Washington DC area has broken a century old record for snowiest winter. Today was the first day of school since Thursday a week ago for most counties and some are still closed to our west and north. Anybody else snowed in?

[cheeze1]

Daniel, great to hear from you! I second my friend Gene's statement and raise him!!
I must admit in all candor that when we looked at the 2005 Lexingtons at the Hershey Show we were underwhelmed with fit and finish. In addition, they did not use the standard Ford seats but some aftermarket torture device finished in a crude, non-matching vinyl. I was disappointed. Seems like the new Lexingtons have come a long way, but I still wouldn't compromise on the Chevy cab.
New topic:
I'm getting the 213 ready for our first trip of 2010. I learned a few things (as always) after getting the rig out of COLD storage! First, I ran the furnace too high with the idea of warming up the coach to allow water service and had to refill the propane.
Second, When searching for why your grey water won't drain take a revolutionary new device called a flashlight and look in the pipe to see the water was frozen and the drain valve was working fine.:S
Third, even with the best preparation and intentions, there are still fresh water lines that will find a way to freeze. 😉

[Gene_in_NE]

Daniel C. wrote:
Just checking in for the first time in a couple of years. I have replaced my original B+ with a 2006 Lexington 235S. While I love the additional room, and it is just as easy to drive (on E450 chassis), the Ford engine just isn't the engine as the 8.1 Chevy...(and 8mpg, vs. 10mpg).

I will second the comment of "jkreutzer". You created a close knit group of owners of the Trail-Lite who have willingly shared ideas - hopefully for everyone's benefit. Your posting answers some questions and then prompts another.
Best I can tell the Lexington 235S floor plan looks like this -

The Trail-Lite 235S floorplan looks like this -

Look very much alike. Was there a reason you picked one over the other?

[gkreutzer]

Holy Smokes! Daniel C. "The Originator!"
Sorry to hear about the troubles with the new rig.
I gotta say thanks for all stuff I've learned over the years from your original post so many years ago. So glad to hear from you.
Take care.:C

[Daniel_C_]

Just checking in for the first time in a couple of years. I have replaced my original B+ with a 2006 Lexington 235S. While I love the additional room, and it is just as easy to drive (on E450 chassis), the Ford engine just isn't the engine as the 8.1 Chevy. I have also had several problems with the unit, that I never had with the other one, such as driveline vibration that defies solving, and a separation between the coach roof, and the cabover nose. I use this vehicle in my counseling business, as I did the last one, so I will just have to tolerate higher maintenance costs (and 8mpg, vs. 10mpg).

[Orion_42]

Thanks Lee. Not sure how I screwed up that link. Thanks for fixing.

[TMBLSN]

Orion_42 wrote:
McZippie, thanks for the compliment. I really do still like your outside color scheme and may do something similar in the spring. That sure is a classy rig.

The TV bracket you showed looks similar to mine. The key thing is to attach it to a solid surface. As shown here: http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/157894/srt/pa/pging/1/page/234.cfm

TV mounting

[Orion_42]

McZippie, thanks for the compliment. I really do still like your outside color scheme and may do something similar in the spring. That sure is a classy rig.

The TV bracket you showed looks similar to mine. The key thing is to attach it to a solid surface. As shown here: http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/157894/srt/pa/pging/1/page/234.cfm

[McZippie]

Orion_42 wrote:
The TV bracket I used was pretty heavy duty from Best-Buy, but if I had to do it again, I would probably start with the one available from Campers-World as it's more likely designed for road use. I did add an additional custom-made padded bracket below the TV where the TV parks during travel, so there's no vibration or movement.

Found this mount at Amazon.com it's small and all the axises can be tighten down. Temporarily I used it to mount a small LCD TV but will switch to a new super slim LED TV later this year when they become more available in 19 to 22 inch sizes.