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.

[Orion_42]

Snowman, thanks for all the great info and shots. That heads-up no the underside trim is a good one as I've got the same problem!
By the way, it looks like you've got two loose bolts on your upper awning brackets.

[Rolin]

Currently looking at a 2005 Kodiak VXL2200 with a slide because I want a motorhome that is narrower (8ft or less), not as tall, that gets better gas mileage (hoping for an average of 12mpg) and will work well for us as we get older and mobility is not as great. Bigger is nice and more comfortable when parked, but we like to travel and hope to find something that is easier to drive in traffic and park.

Some Bigfoot and Born Free units also seem to be in our price range.

Sleeping on a jack knife sofa doesn't sound too attractive, but maybe that can be replaced with something better.

Any recommendations or things to look out for with Kodiak?

[Snowman9000]

I found another thing, I hope it is only a problem on my coach and no one else's. There is a painted aluminum channel that makes the bottom edge on the exterior wall panels. Under the chassis, that channel is supposed to hold in place the black plastic sheeting that protects the inward sides of the wall panels where they hang down below the frame.

Underneath the sheeting is the same paneling you see inside the coach.

Well my assembler did not get the sheeting under the channel in quite a few spots. Resulting in a path for water to get into the wall panel when driving in the rain. For most of the problem areas, the sheet is still adhering to the paneling except for the bottom edge of the sheet, less than an inch. Nevertheless I have to seal it. The right way would be to remove the channels and reinstall them, but they are super tight.

Almost nothing adheres to polyethylene. That's why they make glue containers out of it. 🙂 But since Dicor sticks to TPO and it is a close cousin to PE, I figured I would try it. I cleaned a spot and stuck a blob of the non-sag Dicor to it. Dicor stays soft for a long time but it did seem to stick very well. Today I cleaned up all the suspect areas with lacquer thinner and will seal them with the Dicor. If that doesn't hold up, there is a tape made for the poly under-RV sheeting. The tape is called Flex-Mend. Whether it sticks to metal, I dunno. I hope the Dicor holds.

I did a little bit of it today as a trial. The sheeting has taken a set with a curled up edge and kept pulling away from the dicor. I used masking tape to hold it down tight on the dicor and we will see how it goes.

One spot was really bad, the sheeting was able to pull completely away. This is the back driver's side corner in the following photo. The plywood was actually soft. I'm real glad I caught this before it got any worse.

[Snowman9000]

This weekend I got the roof side seams done. Thought you might be interested in some photos "before".


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Same location after caulk removal. That is mud under the caulk:

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A better look at the mud:

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The other end before caulk removal:

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I got them cleaned up and put Dicor non-sag caulk in there. I'm glad that is done!

[Snowman9000]

I had to go back and edit two posts about the radio hookup. It is not hooked up under the seat. Something is, with a red wire, in conjunction with the Kwikee step IGN signal. But it's not the radio.

The radio play mode (red wire on radio) is powered off a brown chassis wire behind the radio. It came from a 4 wire plug, which now has only 3 wires remaining: Red/white, black, and white. The red/white is always hot. The radio does draw power whenever it is available, even if the radio is not turned on. The clock and all the feature messages are displayed.

One way to have the radio available at all times, but with power management, would be to wire an on-off switch from the red/white chassis wire, and feed the radio from the switch. Then use that switch instead of the radio switch.

Alternatively, the (non-GM?) power mirrors run in the ACC mode. A person could track that supply wire down inside the cab. If R-Vision added the mirrors, it probably isn't fused, lol.

[Gene_in_NE]

Snowman9000 - My unit is already winterized and in storage, but my recollection is that my 2002 radio is also a Blaupunkt. We are not fervent radio listeners, so not sure but believe that the ignition key has to be in the on position - not in accessory.

As to the keys/tools for radio removal, I think the automotive electronic shops have those just laying around and probably would give you a pair. They are always swapping some fancy radio for the factory ones. I watched them slide these flat pieces on either side of the radio and then slide the whole radio out of it's housing.

[Snowman9000]

I'm sort of curious if you folks who bought your TL new received a pair of sheet metal removal keys/tools for the radio. Nothing in mine, and they don't seem to be available on the internet anywhere. I don't need them; I figured out a workaround. Just curious if others might face the same issue if they ever want to take out the radio.

[Snowman9000]

What I'm finding from searching is that on a commercial Chevy van of that vintage, not equipped with a factory radio, which means ours, there was no ACC wire conveniently available.

The aftermarket sells an all-inclusive multi-purpose wire harness which connects into some main wiring junction under the dash and does include an ACC wire then. But it's $200 because of its complexity. So forget that.

A kludgy workaround is to go underhood and piggyback off the wipers fuse. Apparently they work on ACC.

[burlmart]

I refuse to use it in this mode as the improper wiring that likely exists will surely create a short in some part of the GM system requiring a huge stealership expense (and ultimate phantom never solved problem). Too bad, the CD and house speakers are kick-a$$ good!

[gkreutzer]

Same here, Blaupunkt stereo on ignition position only. Always has been a bone of contention for me.

[Snowman9000]

Second click would be the IGN position.
Funny German name would be Blaupunkt.

Same as mine, then. You'd think in an RV they would have enough sense to provide a way to listen to the radio without having the actual engine ignition on.

[burlmart]

Second click of ignition key, I yhink. Our radio has a funny German name I don't remember - a friend said it was a hi quality company.

[Snowman9000]

Another TL question.

Does your radio work on the ACC key position?
What brand of radio came installed?

Mine only works on the IGN key position.

I cannot find anything in the fuse box under the drivers seat which becomes hot in the ACC position. I can find one that is always hot, no problem. But I don't think I want that for the radio either. I'll search the interwebs for an ACC source for radios in the GM vans.

[Snowman9000]

I decided to test how easily the caulk would come out. It comes out pretty well, so I removed the driver's side caulk in about an hour.

I blunted the tip of a new blade in my utility knife, and drew it along the molding side of the caulk, being careful not to go to the bottom or hit the roofing. At first I only did an inch or two at a time to make sure of how deep I was running the knife. But after a while I was taking two foot runs.

Just one cut along the molding, then pull up the end and it comes right out. There were thin remnants but they practically wipe off by either back-dragging the knife blade over them, or using another blade type tool like a putty knife. I dampened a rag with WD40 to wipe it down. It's not good for roofs but then nothing is. I made sure to wipe it off right away.

There is putty tape under the molding and it appears to be in fine condition. I don't think the awning side will be as fine, because there is already one gap visible before I start. So I could have ignored the driver side, possibly. But I have had an RV that needed structural repairs due to leaks, so I'm pretty finicky about caulking.

I thought I had seen the non-sag Dicor on the shelves of my area RV dealers, but I called them and came up empty. One of them suggested silicone, and one suggested another sealant that doesn't stick to TPO (when I looked it up). Dealers, jeesh. So I have to order the caulk. Good thing the putty tape is in good shape.

Bottom line, it's worth checking to see if you have any suspect areas. Beyond that, your mileage may vary.

[Snowman9000]

I called Dicor. The woman said their lap sealant will stick to most anything but silicone. I think I'm going to lay a bead on top of what is already there and see how it goes. I'll clean the existing bead first though.

I'll keep an eye on the Dicor and if it fails because of the stuff underneath, I'll deal with it then. The way it would fail would be because of not being "necked down" as they call it, down into the seam.