My First RV

Congrats and good camping!

I found I could greatly increase my confidence and save time and money by familiarizing myself with the electrical system. We never plug in to 120 volts when camping. I tried to keep track of battery charge with voltmeter (overly optimistic until several hours after charging has stopped) and hydrometer (too awkward to measure in place and too long to take the batteries out), finally finding satisfaction with a $25 Battery monitor Be advised that damage to regular lead-acid batteries occurs when discharged below 50% capacity (12.0 volts with no load).

Caulking is important! It took a spoiled trip - water dripping on the bed in the middle of the night - to teach me that! Even tiny cracks in caulking or slight loss of attachment can cause trouble. Now I check all the roof caulking before every trip and repair or replace anything suspicious.

Tire pressures are important. Lots of good threads here. Be sure you have the tools to measure and top up the pressure in the dual wheels. I gave up the wheel covers to avoid buying special valve stems and manage well with a regular straight/backward ended gauge and inflation tip for the best Walmart air pump.

Take a look at the Class C FAQ.

Also read this VERY long thread:

How many of us are there? Owners of Dodge based RV's?

Granted, the above thread is about Dodge based RV's but they are about the same vintage as yours so all the non-Dodge stuff is the same.

Note that RV manuals do not generally include anything about the appliances and other interior stuff. So, look here for manuals on that:

RV appliance and etc. manuals

All good advice, thanks!

Having had a class C of about that vintage. When you buy tires you need at least load range "E". When I got my coach it still had the original tires the ones that the chassis manufacturer had installed on the rolling van chasey. If I remember they were only "LT" rated. The previous owner had had several blow outs but had replaced with the same as original. I had a front one blow and replaced all of them with load range "E" and no more problems. The best thing is to weigh your coach(all 4 corners is best)and that way you know if you are within limits.
Bill

Tires are critical. A front tire blowout can cause loss of control, rear dual tire steel belts can flail and damage holding tanks, propane lines wiring, etc. At the very least, getting a replacement RV tire in Podunk can delay your trip and cost a lot. BTW, front brake flex lines can develop a blockage inside causing a sudden pull to right or left. Good to replace old brake flex lines. We almost went over a cliff when one flex line failed while rounding a curve.

Might sound counter-intuitive, but your best tires should be on the rear. That's where the weight is, and it's the end you can't steer if a tire blows. They should also be closely matched.

j-d wrote:
Awning looks like it has a lot of age on it. We salvaged ours. Since only the first "wrap" stays exposed to the sun in storage. Pinned the roller shafts and slid the awning off the coach. Bought a couple yards of boat cover material. Took the edge rope out of the edge. Measured and cut off about 1-1/2 foot from the coach edge, had upholsterer piece the material into a new edge strip, sewed the rope back in, sewed edge back to awning. Never took it off the roller. Two of us walked the awning roller down a couple tables while the job was feeding through the machine. OTOH, new awning fabric is $100 or so...

The awning is actually in good shape, just dirty on the outside of the roll. I think a little Simple Green will clean it up ;)

Awning looks like it has a lot of age on it. We salvaged ours. Since only the first "wrap" stays exposed to the sun in storage. Pinned the roller shafts and slid the awning off the coach. Bought a couple yards of boat cover material. Took the edge rope out of the edge. Measured and cut off about 1-1/2 foot from the coach edge, had upholsterer piece the material into a new edge strip, sewed the rope back in, sewed edge back to awning. Never took it off the roller. Two of us walked the awning roller down a couple tables while the job was feeding through the machine. OTOH, new awning fabric is $100 or so...

Bordercollie wrote:
Interior looks good, no orange shag carpets!! Make sure tires are the right type and less than 5-6 years old by date codes with no sidewall cracks. RV tires go bad sitting parked and can come apart whipping underside stuff with steel belts. You will probably need the RV generator and roof AC working reliably. The converter/charger and house battery(s) may need replacing. Modern converter/chargers do not overcharge/boil out batteries. Flush brake fluid as it collects moisture leading to brake fade on long down-grades. You probably know the rest. Have fun with your new hobby.

Thanks for the tips. At least two of the tires will need to be replaced. Both batteries are new as well as the alternator. The generator (Onan whisper 4000) works perfect and is amazingly quiet inside and out as is the roof AC. The cab AC needs to be recharged. The brakes need to be gone through also. They seem to work well but the PO said it may need rotors and fluid is a little dark.

Finally figured it out!