dleslie125
Southern Ontario/Palmetto FL in Winter
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Joined: 03/21/2003
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Semi Retired Grandpa wrote:Liked the Jayco until I found they installed only one coach battery in a small rear compartment w/o room for another. Having had a variety of motor homes and campers over more than 45 years I couldn't help but wonder if the Jayco designers had ever spent a few days in their own MH. Settled on a Winnebago last time around for that reason alone - two coach batteries! (still often insufficient).
We have one in ours but room for more - but not dry camping much and having a 5.5 gen we have not found it a problem at all. I was going to add a second but have decided it is not needed for us.
2011 Itasca Impulse 26QP Silver Toad 2011 Escape Ltd AWD
New W-I Class C Yahoo Group
07 Jayco 32SS on Kodiak • 06 HR Amb 40PLQ ISC 330/950 • 04 Winnie Jrny 39W CAT C7 330/860 • 2000 Triple E Cder F53
Prev toads • 07 Tahoe LTZ • 04 Colorado Z71 04/06
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Kamphiker
South Florida (this 'aint paradise anymore)
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Joined: 07/09/2002
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Like the easy access to the 2 batteries in our Outlook (under the entrance steps, pull off the top step). have room for 2 trojan T100 6 volts or larger than the current group 24 currently in place. We do dry camping and I would not think about trying it on only 1 battery.
One thing impressed me with our Winnebago is when looking I pulled out the drawers in the kitchen and under the refrig and the workmanship on the backside as far as fit and finish of the cabinet joints were excellent. The wiring were bundled well marked with part numbers and fastened in place. Extra care that in other Mfgs. I saw were hidden rats nest.
Then there is the Winnebago website to download PDF of complete parts list, blue prints, wiring schematics etc. It's the little things all put together that sold us.
2006 Winnebago Outlook WF324V
2009 Honda CR-V 2wd TOAD ......Campgrounds in the Smoky Mountains NP
Last Camping trip ->2011 SUMMER SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK
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dleslie125
Southern Ontario/Palmetto FL in Winter
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Joined: 03/21/2003
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Kamphiker wrote:Like the easy access to the 2 batteries in our Outlook (under the entrance steps, pull off the top step). have room for 2 trojan T100 6 volts or larger than the current group 24 currently in place. We do dry camping and I would not think about trying it on only 1 battery.
One thing impressed me with our Winnebago is when looking I pulled out the drawers in the kitchen and under the refrig and the workmanship on the backside as far as fit and finish of the cabinet joints were excellent. The wiring were bundled well marked with part numbers and fastened in place. Extra care that in other Mfgs. I saw were hidden rats nest.
Then there is the Winnebago website to download PDF of complete parts list, blue prints, wiring schematics etc. It's the little things all put together that sold us.
I hope they changed the lousy plastic caches that were on the drawers in the 2004 models. They just kept breaking and breaking and the dealer gave us a handful so we could replace them as soon as they broke without having to wait until we could buy some more.
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MXRacer368
Kansas City
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Joined: 09/20/2009
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I've had both a Coachmen and currently have a Winnebago. Quality etc. with the Winnebago is far superior than the Coachmen. Also parts availability, wiring and plumbing diagrams are very easy to obtain. If I needed a part for my Coachmen it was usually weeks. Winnebago is a couple days.
Jeff
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j-d
Sunny Florida USA
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Joined: 09/04/2003
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Our Moderator, Westronics, upgraded his Jayco battery compartment to go from one to two batteries. He now has a better setup than "under stepwell" since it's accessible from outside and on a slide tray. Ours (signature) has the setup Westronics originally had. The crime is...all the wasted space in the original Jayco layout.
God Bless, jd
2003 Jayco Escapade 31A on 2002 Ford E450 V10 4R100
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Westronics
Redmond, WA
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Joined: 08/07/2002
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j-d wrote:Our Moderator, Westronics, upgraded his Jayco battery compartment to go from one to two batteries. He now has a better setup than "under stepwell" since it's accessible from outside and on a slide tray. Ours (signature) has the setup Westronics originally had. The crime is...all the wasted space in the original Jayco layout.
I agree it should have come with room for two batteries. It was not a too tough job to fix that, but I did have to replace the compartment door and hang a new tray. Not the easiest job, but, really, not too bad.
I now have two batteries (Trojan T-105 RE) that are trivially easy to get to for maintenance.
Again, I think both companies (Winnebago and Jayco) have their pluses and minuses and neither one rises clearly above the other.
2002 Jayco Greyhawk 24SS, Camera, ScanGauge, Inverter, Airtabs, Portabote, SeeLevel II, Tireman valves, Xatnrex Battery Monitor, Aero-flo vent, Trik-L-Start, XPS Rib, Chains, Lil' Stanker, Be kind to septic systems Ford: 1-800-444-3311. RV Tires
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pnichols
Santa Cruz Mountains
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Joined: 04/26/2005
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"He now has a better setup than "under stepwell" since it's accessible from outside and on a slide tray."
Well, that depends. If you can extend that understep bottom shelf/pan length a bit to the left and right, then two 12V (or 6V) batteries could go there instead of just one ... thus saving that outside valuable storage space for other items. Why not make maximum use of that existing understep volume?
For instance, in our (Itasca's) case we can even check/get-at our two coach batteries under the step while staying right inside the rig in, say, pouring down rain. (They are however well-isolated from the interior for fume safety due to a good seal when the step-cover is clamped in place over them.) Also, probably batteries under the step may be kept just a bit warmer from interior heat transfer than in the outside-exposed storage cabinet. This helps the batteries perform better in cold weather.
Phil, 2005 E450 Itasca 324V Spirit
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eoffen
NM
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Joined: 05/06/2010
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We just purchased a 2010 Jayco 31FS. Made the deal 5 days before picking up the unit. We have encountered numerous issues, some should have been dealer fix before delivery, some are factory/parts issues.
1. 16 interior lights were burnt out due to unit being on show room floor.
2. Headliner above top bunk loose and coming unglued.
3. rear auto vent inoperable.
4. Air gap at entry door daylight shines thru.
5. Not vacummed.
6. Water pressure very weak. Found kinked waterline near water pump.
7. Awning strut too weak to hold up awning, inoperable until parts are ordered.
8. Marker/tail lights had blown fuse. replaced, blew again, removed all bulbs, replaced fuse, everything worked fine. Got it home. Day 1 loaded all of our stuff. Went to park it and fuse blew again.
Unit returning to dealer in the morning. Canceling out Mothers day trip. Not very satisfied at this point.
On the up side, Service tech at camping world in Albuquerque was very nice and extremely helpful.
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ipen
west hills, ca
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Joined: 07/11/2008
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we had some issues but they were quickly fixed and the customer service was great both on the factory end and dealer end. We love our coach and going to spend a month in it this summer so i'll let you know when i get back. I sure do wish it had two house batteries. I did put a group 29 in place of the original group 27, we also take a honda 2000 generator with us when we dry camp. i did just put on hellwig sway bars and bilstein shocks and it is WAY MORE COMFORTABLE...
2009 jayco 31fs with front ent. center, bilstein shocks, 1 1/2 inch sway bars, with 2001 jeep cherokee in tow and unified tow brake system
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rvten
Crossville,TN
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Joined: 11/30/2000
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WE looked at a lot of class C's on last purchase. Went with another Winny. Jayco was second on our list.
Tom & Bonnie
Crossville, TN.
Aspect 29H 2008 Type C
Ford Flex SEL 2010
There is no B+
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