Our first RV - 27.5' Jayco Class C

[MacZulu]

Hello we bought our rv for our small family, wife, me, son (2 1/2yo)after looking into our 3rd time renting for an upcoming 3 week trip. Co workers started suggesting looking at our own used model, considering the rental cost and our likely future desire to take our son out more it seemed like a viable option. so we made a list of desirables and started looking.

we ended up with a 1989 27.5' Jayco Ford chassis
30k miles
460 cid, 4.10 rearend (throttle body FI)
3 speed transmission.
rear bedroom, double bed on drivers side
split bathroom and shower
2 front swivel chairs and a hideaway table with dinette up front
4k onan generator built in (s/n stated 1997 as manf. date)
front and back hitch receivers

2 previous owners, both local. it was purchased just south of the border in washington state. fridge/freezer is 2 years old, all systems functioning well except dash ac is a little weak (maybe needs a recharge). I work with an active mechanic who is my go to guy for mechanical work. Tires look good, but are old. so they will be replaced before september.

here it is
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It is very clean and shows no water damage. Engine runs strong and it brakes well. Handling fully loaded is as expected and fine, power is better than expected. And the storage has been better than expected.

The LIST of stuff
2 scissor jacks for rear stabilizers
2 pedastal jacks for front stabilizers
new house battery (t 1275 trojan 150ah)
2 40w solar panels
plug in external battery charger (ctek 25000)
2 swing down supports for step
reverse wireless camera (that was an effort with fiberglass body)
all lights replaced with LEDs (23 interior bulbs alone!)
blind spot mirror addons
I changed the oil (chassis and generator)
changed the fuel filter too
4" memory foam added to cab over bunk
10' propane hose and adapter to use camp stove straight off rv
bike rack
hitch cargo rack


Mileage I am still getting an idea of, about 1500km (930ish miles) over some decent mountains so far. best mpg was just under 6 mpg fully loaded and over some decent grades (hope BC to Cache Creek BC up the #1)and the best was empty coming over # 5 starting just north of Merritt to home just under 11 mpg.

In April we has 6 nights locally, house battery showed issues and some fridge issues. vacuumed out fridge burner area and it was fine.
(1st photo shows camp spot after pack up)

In May we went for 2 nights local, more battery issues. everything else running well.
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a couple of weeks ago we went for 1300km trip, 6 nights, 3 campgrounds. we are seeing how our son does for long travel, pretty typical I think at 1 1/2 to 2 hours at a time. maybe 3 runs a day. We have his seat in the passenger seat, so he has a good view and enjoys spotting trucks of all make and sizes.

we spent 1st night on the road

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2nd night at a campground we didn't like too much. 3rd, 4th and 5th night we had water/power hook up. we don't like no privacy type camping, but temps at 30C plus we were enjoying the ac 20hrs a day. And the campground was teeming with folks.

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and the last night we spent in Monck Park

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we have 7 night booked in 3 campgrounds ( around 600 km)in mid July, and a 21 day trip planned for September. We are going up to the Yukon, my wife have driven our car up in 2010 and 12. I have done the trip ore times than I can recall though out my life. First time with an rv though. so the tires and probably brakes will be new by then.

So that's our story so far, we are enjoying it very much.

[MacZulu]

Hey thanks everybody for kind comments and tips, we feel quite happy with her so far. She does seem well made, it's amazing how quiet the interior is even on washboard. The woodwork does not creek at all, and all the draw/cabinet latches work. The little ledge in the showertub works very well for bathing our son, and it's nice your in the hallway doing it not on the washroom floor.

It would be nice to have hard floor area in the kitchen, but for now we will use that plastic floor protector for the entrance and kitchen. The two accordion privacy doors need some kind of latch, maybe magnet style. I have also ordered a fantastic fan to replace the original fan vent, if I need to I will replace the maxi vent with the fantastic one. To get really picky, it would be nice if the dinette was behind the passenger seat. It limits how much I can move my driving seat, it's not too bad, but it could be a little better (I'm about 6'). but dont get me wrong, we love and feel very blessed in our find.

The house charging system seems to kill house batteries, previous owner notes have 3 batteries in 6 years. And I just replaced, it was purchased aug 2015. So I researched, read Handy Bobs blog, "state of charge" article, trojan and interstate info. called interstate, emailed trojan. talked to Xantrex. So I did buy a Trojan T 1275 (150ah) battery and ctek 25000 battery charger, it does not use 14.8v for bulk charge as trojan recommends but is a good hold over until I come up with a better solution. When I emailed trojan and asked if they knew of any charging systems on the market for rv's that would accommodate their unique charging recommendations. Their short response was call Xantrex and ask if they will do a custom algorithm with the trucharge2 20a, well no they don't. They do sell a charger/invertor sw series that is programmable apparently, it's $2300 on amazon. So a plug in charger when the generators running and solar panels when its not.

I have checked the tire codes on the front, and they do need changing. So I will I try set up new ones before july trip. I still need to do a full tune up with my mechanic friend, he does alot of camping in the summer so it's been hard to get a common date. But I will make sure to go over the brakes especially,I will also ask him about the ac recharge options. I did have a couple people tell me they ran house ac while on the road, so thats always a back up option.

The power leaves me with no complaints, I am surprised at how much resistance I get in "drive" when going downhill (even loaded). Saves on brakes I guess, I went down an 18km grade and barely touched the brake.

The tilt steering is kinda funny, when I test drove the unit it was fine. I didn't notice at first when I picked up it wasn't moving, it was stuck in a fairly high position. While moving about in the front while camped, I bumped it hard and it freed up. I had tried a rubber mallet before to no avail. So it is a little touchy, but now working.

[j-d]

Forgot. Should be a tilt steering wheel. It may be balky. Take top of the wheel and push pull away and toward you while push turn signal lever AWAY from you.

[stripit]

Looks impressive, and clean. Also loved the photos and looks like your going to get a lot of use out of that new to you rig.

[j-d]

We had a 1984 Holiday Rambler on similar chassis that was built about the same way as this Jayco. Flat floor from cockpit back, fiberglass front and rear end caps, integrated spare tire carrier, probably more. We sold it because it didn't have "bed down" and we no longer wanted to climb into/out of the cabover. A few observations:

Looks like chassis ("Dash") air conditioning is Factory. Easily converted to the R134A refrigerant if you need to and can't find R12 to boost it with.

Designer Series was Jayco's top line and it shows in your photos.

It's new enough to have: 16" tires and one large gas tank. Earlier was the hard to find 16.5" and annoying dual tanks

That 460 engine and C6 transmission is as close to bulletproof as it gets. Both are powerful and durable. The EFI doesn't get much better MPG than the carbureted version (like we had), but even without overdrive (like they've had since 1992) the MPG isn't significantly less than the ones with MPI and OD.

It is also a MUCH MUCH better handling (steering and tracking) chassis than 1992 and later. Yours has kingpins, not ball joints, so a lot of the Caster, Adjustable Bushing discussions don't apply to you. Luckily you don't need them. But be sure the End Links of your Front Anti-Sway Bar are a Hard, Solid, material like Urethane.

[Strabo]

Very similar to a '91 Jamboree I once had. This rig you have is nice.

[Cousin_Eddie93]

I love it. A well made older rig. Love and miss those giant Windows the older pre slide rigs had.

[TyroneandGladys]

We do not use the cab AC only the roof AC. Run the generator going down the road the house part will be nice and cool when you stop. We do use a fan to move the cool house air into the cab and if extremely hot we close the bedroom and the over cab unit off.

[CharlesinGA]

Throttle body injection is quite reliable. Probably a EECIVsystem. Codes can be got with a analog multimeter and a little patience. Go on Ebay and find a E350 genuine Ford Shop Manual, everything, body, emmissions, drivetrain, etc. Well worth having. Dothe air filter, pvc valve, full tuneup etc, you won't be sorry. Also do a Trans fluid an filterservice Inc converter. Put a deep aluminum pan on it. Will help with cooling the trans. Will last you a long time.

Nice looking rig.

Charles

[Bordercollie]

Oops, accidental double post.

[Bordercollie]

The rig looks very nice and fresh. RV tires are the "Achilles tendon" of RV's

If tires are over 5 years old by date codes imprinted on each tire, replace them ASAP, regardless of appearance/tread depth. RV tires become unsafe just parked and can suddenly come apart with flailing steel belt damaging holding tanks, wiring and propane lines and with possible loss of control. Good to have entire brake system checked including flushing of old brake fluid to prevent brake fade on grades. Original flexible front brake lines may fail internally causing sudden steering pull to right or left. There's more but the above are "safety first" items.

[MacZulu]

thanks to you both, we look forward to many good trips

[tonyandkaren]

Very nice! Enjoy the many adventures and all of the RVing fun you'll have with your son!

[jarata1]

Looks nice

[MacZulu]

testing 1 2 3. ok I was testing. I have found the rv.net uploading then copy and paste method. seems alittle convoluted, but it is what it is.

Here are the photos
















first 6 nights, after packing up. Gold Creek Prov. Park


2nd trip Rolley Lake PP


3rd trip. 1st night on the road. Hwy #1


2nd night no photo.
3rr, 4th and 5th. Juniper Beach PP



6th night. Monck PP


rearview camera set up


alright, I hope they all work