CaptJD
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Re: Review on the new 7.3 Ford V*
Gjac wrote: alvinator wrote: CaptJD wrote: Well, last Wednesday I've purchased a Thor Coleman 19CM and it came with that 7.3 engine. The smallest Coleman Class C motorhome on their website is a 22CM. Where were you able to find a 19CM? That model and size sounds like a rental unit that Thor makes. They are selling them at Camping World and Gander RV dealerships. I guess it is the same model as what they were called "Majestic" for rental companies. They just changed the model name from Majestic to Coleman and did not improve single thing IMHO.. They chose the most basic of all parts and equipment as they could find. They did NOT include one single extra convenience over whatever the most cheap & basic model of that item comes as. Quality of the workmanship SUCKS big time! - 1 out of every 3 screw is either sideways or sticking out in a way that can snatch on to your clothing or was screwed in a way that cracked the material. - On Day 3 of the ownership of this gorgeous(!) marvel by THOR MOTORCOACH proudly put on the market with a label as "2021 Thor Coleman 19CM" everything inside either flimsy or already cracked or the cheapest of the cheap **** you can find on the market. - If you press the flushing pedal of the toilet, the whole assembly moves like it is about to get out of its base attachment. - When water pump turned on water began to gushing out of the City Water connection port. So some sort of one way valve is failed inside I guess and when two weeks ago (on February 9th,2021) we call the dealership to fix it under warranty we've been told that first opening to look at will be Mid April 2021. So, the solution: I capped the city water intake myself to keep the water gushing out so we can use the darn thing! - None of the dinette seats or the single sideway seat behind the front passenger seat's cushions were attached to their base properly. Some sort of superglued velcro supposed to hold the seats moving but they were all crumbled, tangled and staples holding them attach to the base was worst quality then the ones my wife use to staple her office supplies... - We've been told under the seats are all extra storage but when we tried to access we noticed they were all screwed in a way which made them permanently shut. - The fake wood pieces has been used to made the base of the dinette and the single seat are so flimsy and cheap that they were held together with these flimsy staples coming out after 2 weeks and nothing does sit firmly in its place anymore. Every cushion moves whichever way they want to go that day. - When driven on the smoothest highway surface at 50-65 mph it feels like in the back we are carrying hundreds of pots and pans loose on the floor of the RV. Between the symphony of tings, tangs, bangs and all other sort of noises I've never heard in my life before my wife and I sitting in the front and screaming at each other to understand what the heck we're talking about. Before this we owned a 2003 Pleasure-Way Excel which we bought brand new in 2003 and sold it in 2010. My GOD!, Now I understand why they are more expensive than these **** and I was getting 16-18mpg on that compared to 9-10mpg on this. Plus that B class had a V10 Triton engine on it. My wife wanted something small like our old B class but not as expensive with a little more width inside and she thinks this one is sufficiently wide for her taste. During the Covid pandemic she was stuck at home almost a year not even able to visit grandkids or go out to do anything for fun at age 71 and that was depressing her. I fly planes and ride motorcycle and at least was able to get out to do few fun things which she couldn't. So she remembered how fun our Pleasure-Way was for us when we go camping and wanted to get something similar. So, she saw this at an online ad and loved the cute little toy RV look and wanted it... So I went for it! She is still happy since she is able to get out of the home now and I am happy for being able to take her out camping even if it was just a few miles away to a campground by a lake or river or beach. BUT the thought of "what a mistake to cough up $67,000 to one of these piece of ****" does not leave my mind no matter wherever we go! Oh, few days ago for the first time I was standing at a higher elevation like a second floor of a house and for the first time I saw the roof of this POS... I wanted to cry! It looked like was put together by 1st grade students as a school project at elementary level. If that roof doesn't come apart after a short amount of time I'll consider myself extremely lucky! So, yes they were not advertised all over or NOT even mentioned in THOR's own website! I was wondering "WHY?"... Now I know the reason!2.1KViews0likes0CommentsRe: What I am looking for is......
dedmiston wrote: Not as close to you in the Central Valley, but I think the Owens Valley has some river-front spots where you can boondock and fish. I haven't camped there in ages, but I remember car camping there north of Crowley when I was in college. There were other spots up the hill like McGee creek, but you couldn't fit an RV up there. Those Owens River spots were the most wide open waterfront camp spots I can think of. Other than that, California doesn't like people having any fun near the lakes, rivers, or oceans. You' betcha! California doesn’t want people having fun at all anywhere within its borders! Thankfully we found a waterfront spot at Lake Camanche with full hookups. It’s a very tranquil surrounding with lots of bass and trout stocked yesterday up to the camp rangers. Only 2 hrs away from my home. So far not bad at all!507Views0likes0CommentsRe: Ford 6.2 gas vs 7.3 gas highway gas milage
I am the owner of a one week old Thor Coleman 19CM with 7.3 engine on it and during the last week I drove it from AR to CA. Despite being the tiniest possible C class when we hit the strong windy conditions I was making 9mpg average on the flats and 8 to 8,5 on the hills. Then when we hit the flats again and on a calm evening hours from Blythe to LA we were averaging 10 to 10,5mpg when I set the cruise control at 70mph. After a while I decided to slow down and set the cruise control to 60mpg and it went up to 11mpg. Today for the first time on a calm day I was driving back to home on flat roads and decided to cruise at 55mph and it went up to 11.4... That was my best so far during the 2300 miles in my first week. To be honest when I first started the engine it scared me. I thought it sounded like a big muscle car! Still think it's a little overkill for a 19' long mini-C class but what do I know?427Views0likes0CommentsRe: Price increase at our KOA
Get ready for the worst of the worst treatment by many places in 2021 and on... During the Covid19 crisis all RV dealerships sold their inventories and people attacked every model and type motorhome, trailer you name it, as if it was the last one left on earth. Guess where all those people will go to in coming days? Many RV campgrounds traditionally stay mostly vacant during midweek days in February are all sold out their sites and of course say good-bye to those old off-season discounted prices when 100 people trying to book 20-25 campsites... I see this "don't bother me if you're not handing me the cash within the next 30 seconds and get out of my way, I have others lined up behind you" attitude. Typical when demands increase for a limited supply I guess. Oh well, in a year or two watch the second hand RV market to explode!377Views0likes0CommentsWhat I am looking for is......
to find RV campgrounds in CA with the following... - A campground where the RV sites located by the waterfront of a Lake or River with good fishing activity... and when I say "waterfront" I mean "Waterfront"... ;) I do not want to pull into my space and then walk 1/4 mile to the lake or the river. In the past I've been few locations where my RV space was only 30 ft or so away from the water's edge. That's what I am looking for. One of those spots I've already been is at Kernville, CA called KRSRV Resort (Camp James) where you can almost fish while you are sitting under your RV's awning! The other one is almost next to it and called Rivernook Campground! Then there was Lake Tulloch RV Campground... So, I am looking into a similar location or locations within 200-250 mile radius of my zip (93635). Anyone???2.8KViews0likes9CommentsRe: GPS / CB Choices
Thank you for all the advise guys. CB wasn't going to be my main radio since I am a HAM. I wanted to have the CB in order to talk to truckers along the highway and get a better road condition reports etc. Last week we decided to buy a small motorhome at a dealership in Arkansas. We rented a car and drove there from CA and once we got the RV we drove it back to home in CA. about 4500 miles in 5 days. At some point along the route there and back weather got a little bit scary and at those moments I wish I could've talk to oncoming truckers to find out how was the conditions where they are coming from. Otherwise my hobby activity is HAM radio. But I did not know about truckers using GMRS nowadays! That's good to know. CB technology is sooo ancient nowadays but I thought if that's the only way to contact maximum number of truckers along the routes, so be it! I'll continue to investigate.390Views0likes0CommentsRe: Life expectancy of a small C class.... Ex Rental
Ok. Wife won the RV war (as expected) and we bought a 2021 Thor Coleman 19CM... I guess Camping World liquidating their "new" rental inventory or something. Because Thor website doesn't even list this model and trim and so far nobody at the dealership even knew the specs or other details of the unit. Wife is happy and that's all I care at the moment!2.8KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Review on the new 7.3 Ford V*
Well, last Wednesday I've purchased a Thor Coleman 19CM and it came with that 7.3 engine... I think it's a little overkill for that tiny motorhome but in any case so far I drove her from AR to CA via Southern route by El Paso due to bad weather along the N route. It has so much torque but not much top speed IMHO. But again I am no expert. When I started for the first time and heard the engine I thought exhaust muffler was off. At home I drive a 3.5L EcoBoost engine Ford Transit 350 XLT. My poor XLT feels like Mercedes SL550 in noise comparison to the 7.3L V8... I feel I am not going to RVing but rather joining to a drag race every time I hit the ignition switch! Gas guzzler for sure. On a 19ft (20' overall) C class it gives me only 10mpg if I am lucky. A little bit of wind or uphill climb I am down to 8-8.5mpg. I was expecting to get at least 12mpg or so on such a tiny C class but I guess it was wishful thinking on my part! So far after 2200 miles not much to brag about. But today I've found Ford already issuing a recall on this engine and E350 bodies for some sort of heat shield issue I assume. So waiting for the postman!489Views0likes0CommentsGPS / CB Choices
I need a GPS and a decent CB radio... So I need advice. This past week I drove from CA to AR and back in 5 days. CA to AR was done in a rental car and AR to CA was done in a small Class C motorhome. Along the way, weather got really scary at few locations and at those moments I wished I had a CB to talk to truckers who're coming from W towards where i was and ask them the road conditions etc... I was looking at few Trucking GPS models and also GPS models for RVers and couldn't decide which one of them will be more beneficial for me. Also who installs CB radios to trucks? I stopped at least 5-6 Love's Truck Stops and few other Flying J locations and asked people selling CB equipment but none of them had an idea who does that kind of job around Central/Northern California areas.... Also I was wondering ill it be a good idea to use an iPad mini with a really nice GPS app instead of buying a dedicated GPS like Garmin models etc., ? What to do, what to do??? ,6.8KViews0likes30Comments
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