I'd like your opinion

[catsgalore]

What do you think about a 1999 Fleetwood Southwind Storm that is well maintained going on a three thousand mile trip? We have roadside assistance, extended service plan and just added travel assist.

[Gjac]

Gjac wrote:
How many miles on the MH? Has the transmission, rear end and brake fluids been changed. I think some worry is normal, every trip I have made some thing needed repair. The only system I have not had to fix on the MH was the slide, and the roof top A/C's. If you go on the trip knowing things fail and have to be fixed the trip will not be as fearful. My MH is 21 years old with 109k miles on it I would be lying if I said I was not concerned to make another long trip with it, but the concern made me change fluids and check every system so I will be leaving on a trip cross country in two days, concerned but not fearful. I have posted on here many times and have gotten help to get things fixed from the forum members when things failed while on the road. Hope this helps.

After I posted this my auto park system failed at 60 MPH and smoked the parking brake on I 80 in PA. I even replace the green pressure switch before I left on the trip thinking all would be well. I was very disconcerting to have this happen and to be stuck on the side of the Hwy. If you read my post on Auto Park Again some folks helped me out and I have the part on order to fix it being shipped to SD. I found out you can ship parts to a UPS store and they will hold them for you for 7 days. Until then I will continue west and use wheel chocks until I can fix the e brake. I don't think you can do enough preventative maintenance to cover every possible failure that can occur.

[Itasca55]

Here is how to do it check everything when you leave . and carry a credit card . And think of it as a adventure . and see what happens .
My parents did that for years and 100,000 miles plus . motor homes will do more miles then you can. at 157,000 miles before we retired the 1978 Itasca. It had 137,000 on odometer. but always put over size tires on 🙂

Itasca66

[xctraveler]

Our equipment never got that old, but we had an '04 Southwind that we put 110k miles on in 8 years. I performed every required service faithfully and was fully comfortable that I had done everything needed to have safe travels. Traded it only because the interior was shabby and a major refurb did not seem reasonable on a chassis that I thought was "only" good for another 90k miles. The replacement coach has 48,000 miles on it so far!

Any trip that does not have an interesting failure is a blessing. We have had many, but only a couple stopped us for mare then a day. The most recent was a refrigerator failure we discovered upon returning to the coach after a 3 week trip overseas. Saturday afternoon at about 3 PM a began a search for help and by 8:30 pm that night the reefer was cooling! If you are near Blue Springs MO and have a failure call Athena Motorcoach and Jay will bail you out if it is possible.

[FordDiesel250]

Go for it! We purchased a New to us 1995 motorhome and on our third trip out the accelerator would not do anything when I pushed down on it. I pulled into a empty lot and called Good Sams and they sent out a young man who troubleshot the problem and found that the throttle cable came off. He proceeded to fix it and followed us down the highway to make sure there was no more problems. Great service and just part of traveling. Stop and smell the roses and Enjoy the trip!

[olfarmer]

Take good care of it, be prepared, and GO FOR It!!!

[catsgalore]

Thank you so much for all the responses. I was not like this in the past but if you read one of my old posts you will know why I have all this apprehension. We were going down a very steep road in New Mexico and the gas pedal got stuck. We were towing and flying down that road. Anyway it has all been fixed better then new and I have to try and not think about that day. You have all been a great help to me. Our motor home has 83,000 miles.

[Gjac]

How many miles on the MH? Has the transmission, rear end and brake fluids been changed. I think some worry is normal, every trip I have made some thing needed repair. The only system I have not had to fix on the MH was the slide, and the roof top A/C's. If you go on the trip knowing things fail and have to be fixed the trip will not be as fearful. My MH is 21 years old with 109k miles on it I would be lying if I said I was not concerned to make another long trip with it, but the concern made me change fluids and check every system so I will be leaving on a trip cross country in two days, concerned but not fearful. I have posted on here many times and have gotten help to get things fixed from the forum members when things failed while on the road. Hope this helps.

[jplante4]

Here' the deal with a tire pressure monitor for me. Before TPMS, I made it a habit of checking the pressures after a half hour on the road. After a while, I just checked the temps by hand instead. The TPMS saves me a stop, and even though I tried to find a rest area or someplace a half hour into the trip, sometimes I went longer and sometimes I pulled off on the shoulder, not the best place to do this.

I also found that obsessively checking tire pressures with a gauge was actually causing loss of pressure due to the occasional stuck tire valve. I determined that the tire shop did not put the correct valve stems in when they put Equal in the tires for balancing. In addition, I've had 2 valve extenders leak causing a total deflation on a tire each time.

So for me, the TPMS is peace of mind.

[JoyNoelle]

I just took a 1983 travel trailer with a 1996 Tahoe over 4000 miles. 3 women on a bucket list national park trip. We had to do one duct tape repair to the front of the trailer when the front seam popped. Great experience. There is never a guarantee of a trouble free trip. Do the best you can to prepare and just know you can roll with the challenges.

[doxiemom11]

Ours is only 1 year newer and we take it wherever we want to go.

[time2roll]

If there is an actual reason to worry, fix it. Otherwise just go.

[tommy_g]

Look at my signature. We are on our way to yet another adventure even now. Up through the midwest via The Carolinas, Virginia and West Virginia. Lotsa miles and lotsa hills. Well maintained.....no problem.

[Mr_Mark1]

TPMS=Tire Pressure Monitoring System.

They do bring peace of mind. Our coach has a TPMS built-in from the factory and I've had to have the sensor in the front left tire replaced under warranty and recently had one on the rear give me a false 'zero pressure' reading then corrected itself.

Still, nice to have.

Safe travels,
MM.

[ParkCountry]

catsgalore wrote:
What is a TPMS? If it gives peace of mind I want one.

They are a good idea, in theory. However, you do need to understand that they aren't perfect and can, at times, give you a false alarm. If so, just check your tire pressures to be sure, then hopefully you can find a Tire shop that will reset the warning light for free.