Time for my progress report.
Purchased the "new to us" 2006 American Heritage 45E in Lewisville, TX. in July of this year. With no prior experience which could help in our undertaking, we set out to bring the coach back to Ocean City, MD. I asked the dealer if we should purchase an auxiliary braking system for the Jeep Commander Limited we were going to tow and all the fellows there said that they never use them. So we didn't buy one. We traveled the 1600 miles back to the Maryland Eastern Shore without incident. We stopped first night at Tom Sawyer Campground in West Memphis, Arkansas. We took the Jeep into Memphis for some great Beale Street BBQ and good blues music., The second evening we stayed near the Bristol, Tennessee NASCAR track. Ate dinner at the Bristol Outback Steak House. We arrived home late on the third day.
Crossing three mountain ranges, towing the 5000 lb. Jeep we averaged 5.2 mpg. Keep in mind that we drove at or over the posted speed limits throughout the trip. (Because we have 600HP, we drove up the mountains at our cruise speeds.) Moreover, I didn't know about the Allison transmission "economy" setting at the time. I had foolishly hoped for somewhat better fuel economy.
Some observations from that trip:,
The VORAD collision avoidance system is worth its weight in gold!!! If I ever buy another coach, it will have this system.
The ABS disk brakes on the coach were flawless, and stopped smoothly even with no assist from the Jeep.
Used every system on the coach except the furnace and everything performed as it should. The prior owner had fully "debugged" the coach.
The 3 speed Jake Brake is truly a brake saver.
The lights in the basement bays are really a nice touch.
The auto-locking bay doors are nice as well.
We washed the beast TWICE in 3 days. Found out that a 45 foot coach has (45x2) + (8.5x2) x 12 = 1284 sq. feet of washable surface, not counting the roof.
Found out that darling wife did not know that she needed to watch out for overhead obstructions lower than 13 feet. ( We BOTH now know.)
Found out why Trailways and Greyhound buses go over 75 mph...because they can do it in comfort. 'Course their drivers don't pay for the fuel.
Once home, we camped locally a few weekends with our intrepid navigators...3 Westie puppies. Purchased fencing to retain our puppy inventory only to discover how clever our little Houdinis were at escaping the escape-proof enclosure we designed. Each weekend included a "round up" of the clever little buggers, and adjustments to the enclosure design. Finally, we attained Leavenworth Prison level security.
New observations:
Camping (if you can call a weekend in a Heritage camping) is really great. The people you meet are even nicer than my yachting acquaintances.
AGM batteries are expensive. I purchased 5 Lifeline 8Ds for $700 EACH! Another several hundred for two type 31 chassis batteries.
Made reservations to spend 5 months in Naples, Florida at the Pelican Lakes RV Resort.
Purchased the new RViBrake, with remote monitoring of the Jeep's tire pressures and the braking action. THIS IS A TRULY GREAT SYSTEM. (I wanted the SMI Air Force One, but I couldn't get it installed in time for the trip to the Shenandoah Valley and on to Florida.)
Tuesday prior to Thanksgiving, drove in heavy rain and wind to Lynchburg, Va via The Chesapeake Bridge Tunnel, Richmond and Charlottesville. For several nights, slept in the coach with the outside temps in the high teens. The furnace and heated floors worked like a charm!
Left Lynchburg on Saturday morning. Arrived Jacksonville, Fl. around dark, due to several hours of holdups caused by highway accidents. (All were on the northbound side, but the rubbernecking added more than two hours to our travel time.)
Stayed in a Walmart for the first time. Nice manager and security personnel there.
Left early Sunday morning and drove to Naples. Checked in at Pelican Lakes, set up the Westie prison, and enjoyed several refreshing tequila beverages.
Total trip was 1350 miles, in all weather conditions. Drove thru 3 long tunnels without knocking the mirrors off the semi trucks passing thru. Brought the fuel economy up to 5.7 mpg. I think the "economy" setting on the tranny helped.
Overall, I really love the American Coach. The factory folks have helped me far more than I have any reason to expect. Before buying this coach, I looked at Newmar, Tiffin, Entegra, Country Coach, Travel Supreme, and Beaver. I'm sure that the top of each of their lines would've satisfied our needs, but now I'm hooked. Barring a profound change in the American Coach quality of production and quality of service, I will remain an Heritage client. (Bought my first Mercedes SL nearly 30 years ago and for the same reasons, I've stayed with them...six cars in a row.)
As the winter progresses her in sunny Naples on Florida's southwest coast, I may have more to report.
All the Best,
Captain Stan
All the Best,
Captain Stan
2006 American Heritage 600HP
