bobphoenix
Explorer
Joined 13 years ago
User Profile
User Widgets
All Activity
Re: 2000 Coachmen Catalina Sidewall Repair
moisheh wrote: What you have encountered is a built in flaw in Coachman RV's of that vintage. The floor is attached to the sidewalls with just some screws. They rust and break. In some of those units one can sit on the sofa and watch the dash float up and down. A proper fix is a big deal. If it were mine I would sell it! You might try and post some pictures of the floor/sidewall area. Moisheh Thanks for all the advise... Yesterday, the temperature went up to the mid 40s and I was able to get up underneath the wheel well... Just poking around and feeling around I felt a loose piece of wood and gave it a gentle tug... I dissolved in my hand! Apparently along with the screws rusting away, I have a leak inside the wall and the wooden underframing has also rotted too... After closer examination, the inside wall at the passenger's window is de-laminating... On the inside... This is serious! So, the first thing I'm going to do pull out the passenger chair, the loveseat sofa and pull back the carpet on that side... Then take a good hard look at the flooring, frame connections and the sidewall... get up underneath with a good strong work lamp to see what I've got there too... I've also got to find out where that water is coming in on the inside... I think it is from the front awning mount that needs to be re-caulked... BTW: On the last trip home after and that section of bad road, I did see the dash "floating" in relation to the side wall, as the RV went up and down with the road... So, I have to start getting some stabilization started before I try to move it again...468Views0likes0Comments2000 Coachmen Catalina Sidewall Repair
Hi all, During the last trip of the Summer I was traveling home on one of the worst maintained roads I have ever traveled. For nearly five miles it felt like I was getting hit by another vehicle, only from below... As soon as I got back onto a better road I stopped to put the bakeware in the oven, sweep up the dish that came out of an upper cabinet and reset the shower doors. Once I got home and started emptying out I noticed daylight coming from the floor at the outside wall behind the passenger side couch. The Sidewall of the coach is separating away from the floor (the gap is nearly a half inch) and the door binds. I looked at the fasteners that are behind the trim strip and they have suffered corrosion and snapped off for about eight feet from the wheel well to the entry door... Based on the stress on the dashboard and the racking of the entry door, I think the sidewall is sagging about two inches. So, with that, does anyone have any ideas for how I can raise the sidewall up and refasten the sidewall to the floor... before our next trip in March...? I'm thinking that there is going to be some angle aluminum involved and I already have sourced out some 3 inch self tapping headless tech screws. All thoughts are welcome!3KViews0likes7CommentsRe: Pet Pictures - READ MY STARTING POST B/4 POSTING
Mike E. wrote: Bailey wondering why we are inside and she's not....:) After a swim in Oregon with her new friend Hedgy the hedgehog....since this pic, Hedgy is no longer with us:) Six years ago my mother, who passed away three years ago, gave my dog Skip that same Hedge Hog and he's kept it an loved it ever since... When we got our new boy, Sydney, "Hedge Hog" was the only toy Skip wouldn't share... (consequently, the only toy that has not been "de-squeekered"...!991Views0likes0CommentsRe: What did you do to your Class A MH today???
We arrived at Canoe River CG in Mansfield MA, last night, after three nights at Nelson's Family CG in East Hampton, Connecticut... Nelson's, highly recommended... Canoe swamp, um... I mean River... too much like living in a "Will of Landrew" episode from Star Trek... Why doesn't New England have more State Parks with facilities? Oh and not to stray off topic... I had the oil changed, before we left Connecticut... and I repaired the mirror and awning stays, I knocked off by pulling too close to a telephone pole that was leaning into the road at my brother in law's house...447Views0likes0CommentsRe: What did you do to your Class A MH today???
Since the Powder post beetle episode has been abated (I hope!) now comes the cleanup... Stripped everything out of the coach... Pots and pans, dishes, linens and bedding... all into their respective washing machines! Then it was hot soapy water everywhere... walls, shelves, doors, seats and tables... Cabinet floors and window sills... dashboard and console... anywhere that gas can get... (and a few places it can't!) Tomorrow I'll shampoo the couches, carpet and bed matress... then Sunday will be the day I'll load everything back into the RV... along with the sh... Um, stuff for our trip on Monday... Monday, 8AM we'll be on I-75 heading to Warner-Robins, GA... Tuesday, we'll leave there and follow the route where "My Cousin Vinny" was filmed... (Madison, GA). Stop to see a friend in Snellville, GA, then on to Harrison Bay State Park in Tennessee for the night... Wednesday, it's on to Princeton WV for two nights and Friday, Canoe Creek State Park in Penn... That will put us in Hartford, CT on Saturday... 1750 miles... Then I will be ready for an oil change filter, transmission filter and fluid change and a tire rotation... Onward and upward!330Views0likes0CommentsRe: What did you do to your Class A MH today???
Last January, I packed up for a trip to Saint Augustine (only three hours from my home base...) Well, a local guy said he could give me a 1/4 cord of fire wood for cheap... I loaded it into my empty basement compartment and we headed out for our trip, got there and set up in the rain... But, before the good weather arrived my brother called to say my Mom had taken a turn for the worse! He said it would be a good idea to get back home... (Which I did, post haste!) Unfortunately, in dealing with my Mom's condondition I forgot about the wood in the basement until our makeup trip, three months later... I got to our campsite, opened the compartment for the fire wood and I found the space was a mass of spiders and all sorts of other critters... EEK! I filled the cmpartment with a whole can of Raid and sealed it back up for the day... When we got back to the camp after a day trip, I opened the compartment and started throwing logs on the fire ring and lit it... (BTW, Raid and Kingsford Charcoal lighter fluid will get a log burning with one match...!) Anyway, I burned nearly all the wood and had a few pieces left... We got back home and I went to empty out the basements and there was a whole lot of fine "sawdust" under the last couple of logs... I called the Terminex guy and said I need an opinion about what bugs I might have... (I was worried about termites...) Nope! The man said, "Not termites... They are Powder Post Beetles... They are nasty little buggers that will bore into all sorts of hardwoods and especially hardwood floors and furniture..." He continued... Ugh! So, innocently enough, I ask... "How do you treat them...?" He answers... "The only way to get rid of them and their eggs is to fumigate..." "You mean tenting?", I ask. "Yep!" he happily replies... "And, it's $1200.00..." So, that's what I did to my coach today... So much for a cheap load of wood...!337Views0likes0CommentsRe: What did you do to your Class A MH today???
bigred1cav wrote: I had an annoying noise in the front area of our coach. I made her stay in the bedroom, no more noise. LOL!!! I had the same noise, but when I suggested that, she said it was probably a loose nut behind the steering wheel... :S338Views0likes0CommentsRe: Pet Pictures - READ MY STARTING POST B/4 POSTING
Our new RV travelmate... No we didn't get a new RV... Yet! But we did get an new travelmate for Skip... Our Border Collie. Skip has been with me for over four years and we are inseperable... We've logged over seven thousand miles in the RV over this last year and more than a hundred and twenty-five thousand miles in the car too... But this past month, while I was passing Skip's old alma mater, (the Okeechobee dog pound - a 93% kill shelter...) I decided to "stop in"... (mostley to say hi to the staff, who remembers Skip and really appreciate seeing him, because he is a success story...) Well... One of the staff asked if we were interested in "looking" at another herding dog, an Australian Shepherd, who was picked up as a stray several weeks ago, was never claimed and now his time was running short... Meet Sydney! He's a little high strung. a lot unsure of his new surroundings... but he loves to ride in the RV...! Oh, if he only knew what he has gotten himself into... LOL!!! He's going to have a great life!!!335Views0likes0CommentsRe: New York State
This past summer found us in Pennsyl-delphia and New York (South Central, Syracuse and Southeast Corner...) we stayed in the state park system mostly... I would not recommend Syracuse (Green Lakes...) far too over used... But... 3X on Letchworth and the Grand Canyon of the east... Very nice!!! (even follow that down to Mansfield and Kettle Creek in PA (or start there...) Highly recommended... (but use Rt 13 because I-81 was a mess... Taking the rout through Ithica and Elmira was beautiful!!! And, of course, back tracking down Rt 17 to Middletown and Bear Mountain... Again... Very nice and highly recommended...247Views0likes0CommentsRe: What did you do to your Class A MH today???
I've been tossing the idea of an opional heater around for a while as well... Last winter we stayed in mid-central Florida for our maiden voyage and the temps droped overnight to 38 degreese... we had our trusty fan driven plug-in heater on stand-by but I wanted to make sure the LP heater worked... Boy, did it ever!!! But, at a cost... After midnight and set at 68... It kicked on with a roar from the gas ignition and then the fan would rattle and hum until the heat exchanger cooled down... for 10 hours I let the house heater cycle automatically... And, I went through a 1/4 tank of gas...!!! Next night... the plug-in... On, Off, On, Off, Drove me nuts! (I need quiet...) I found these options this last summer and settled on the glass radient wall heater... for only $99.00 per unit... It's a Qmark / Marley FDI1500 Electric Drop In Floor Heater - 120 VAC - 1500 Watts... But at $185.00 it is a bit pricy and it said nothing about "sones" (the noise it makes...) Then I found... It's a Aura DGFP15120B 1500 Watt Glass Radiant Heater with Digital Temperature Control... it's adjustable from 750 watts to 1500... It plugs in and is wall mountable... (can't put it on the ceiling because of the tip protection...) But for $99.00 (plus shipping...) it's a great deal and QUIET!!! I got two from Air and Water Portable Appliances out of California...226Views0likes0Comments
Groups
Motorhome Group
Join in here to discuss all things motorhomes.Feb 17, 202538,707 Posts Pet Owners
Notes from the road with the best travel companions around.Dec 29, 20242,081 Posts
