BoxinTheCompass
Florida
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One question on an older thread... do these rental units come with any sort of inverter? If so is there a stanard base inverter/converter model that is used and whats its capacity? Lets say for the former CA Majestics that they sell?
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Mich F
Plantation, Fl
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Joined: 04/18/2004
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BoxinTheCompass wrote:One question on an older thread... do these rental units come with any sort of inverter? If so is there a stanard base inverter/converter model that is used and whats its capacity? Lets say for the former CA Majestics that they sell?
I believe most, if not all of the units, will have 30 amp convertors, but no inverters.
2014 Itasca Spirit 31K Class C
2016 Mazda CX5 on Acme tow dolly- 4 trips ~ 5,800 mi
Now 2017 RWD F150 with a drive shaft disconnect
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Mocoondo
Chicago, IL
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BoxinTheCompass wrote:One question on an older thread... do these rental units come with any sort of inverter? If so is there a stanard base inverter/converter model that is used and whats its capacity? Lets say for the former CA Majestics that they sell?
120vac is available when you start the generator, therefore no inverter is needed. A standard converter panel is provided which supplies and distributes 12vdc to services which require it.
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Seniorfirsttimer
United States
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We purchased our 26ft 2004 Fleetwood Jamboree a little over 2 months ago and have yet to put it on the road. Not having a RV dealer within 100 miles it was left up to my son, a mechanic, and I to look it over and decide whether it was a good buy or not. It also was originally a rental at El Monte Rents in Santa Fe Springs, CA. We are the third owners having purchased it locally from a man who bought it from El Monte. The unit has 104,500 miles on the odometer with all but about 3,500 miles being from rentals. Exterior and interior are in surprisingly good shape and the drive train doesn't seem to have any problems (knock on wood).
To forstall some problems that may arise we have changed all the fluids, replaced the shocks, u-joints, and all the steering rods, tie rod ends and steering damper. The engine is a toss up as it is just too hard to get at. As I said before it drives and sounds good, so we shall see.
The seller was asking $20,500. On-line sellers for similar units were asking in the high $20s to low $30s with one RV place asking over $50,000. I offered $19,000 and he took it so fast I thought I should have started lower, LOL. At that price I figured I could put some money into it if need be. I need to add an awning and we should be set.
We plan on a few trips this year within about 300 mile radius to check it out before venturing out of state. We are in out seventies and this is our first experience with an RV. We're getting a late start but are hoping to get maybe 5 years of travel around the country.
If anyone has any suggestions for us we would gladly accept.
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adlereins
Tri-Cities of Apple Valley, Hesperia, Victorville
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Hello Senior First Timer,
I have a "re-purposed" El Monte RV from Santa Fe springs myself. It is a 2005 Tioga 29V. Hopefully, the previous owner gave you all of the records that El Monte provides with a purchase from them. I have the Ford v-10 and has proved to be almost bullet-proof. I got it with just over 120,000 miles and as I sit here in Colorado, it now has just over 134,000 miles. The only problem of concern was a weak diode in the alternator that caused a shutdown in the middle of a long grade! LOL Long story short, replaced alternator and no more problems! Sounds like you and your son have given yours a good once-over and you should enjoy it for many more miles. Like anything else, you take care of it and it will take care of you. BTW, the "long grade" was in the middle of the night, with a trailer, and all lights on. HAVE FUN and welcome to the club!!!
Allen B. . . . another BTW, I'm 73!
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Seniorfirsttimer
United States
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Thanks Allen. The PO didn't have the records you speak of. All he had from them was a copy of the certificate of title. I also have the V10 and as I said it seems to run good. Can you tell me what mileage you get with it for comparison when we get on the road?
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adlereins
Tri-Cities of Apple Valley, Hesperia, Victorville
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Absolutely Senior; On the way from SoCal to Denver (uphill most the way) I averaged 7.8 MPG at an average cruise control set speed of 58-60 mph. On previous trips with flat terrain, I have achieved a high of 11.3 MPG. Not too pretty but you didn't buy it for the gas mileage ![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/smile.gif "smile") Be aware that on steep hill climbs, your cruise control will completely cut off if it can't maintain the speed that you set it at. Scared the beetle juice out of me the first time it happened! Lesson learned . . . cruise control has it's limits! According to various web sites, the V-10 gets it's best mileage at about 2300 RPM. Let that be your guide and of course, your experience (and others) will vary. HAVE FUN!
Allen B.
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adlereins
Tri-Cities of Apple Valley, Hesperia, Victorville
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ONE more thing. Don't panic when that V-10 drops into low gear and the RPM's shoot up to over 4500. Sounds like it's screaming but according to Ford, the engine and tranny are built to take it for extended periods of time. I just drop my speed to a more reasonable level (40 - 45 mph) to quiet things down
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Seniorfirsttimer
United States
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Thanks much Allen. Good info. Appreciate it.
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themotoviking
United States
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Hey guys!
Let me first say, great thread! This is truly the first thread where I read each and every post.
I've been snooping around RV threads for the last couple of months as the wife and I are looking at getting a Class C this winter. We live in Arizona about 15 miles out from the Mesa Cruise America. We are considering a pre-rental unit from CA. Almost every other weekend we have been out looking at Class Cs to get the idea of what's out there and pricing. We are both very utilitarian people and don't like much foofoo or frills. For us we find ourselves always going back tot eh CA design. very basic, robust and durable. I have seen people complain because CA does not have carpet or the furniture is cheap with zipper covers and square padding. I think to myself PERFECT! It will be cheap to fix and easy to clean.
I was raised with a wrench in my hand so I am very familiar with Vehicles and repairs. I don't have a problem doing repairs or upgrades myself. I also have friends in both the RV and the auto industry that can help if I need more professional equipment. I just need to learn the mechanics, wiring and plumbing of the house side of it which doesn't seem too bad.
We are renting a 28a in October to drive from Phoenix to Valley of the Gods in Utah. We are also hauling our motorcycles on a trailer as well. We will be out for 5 days off the grid with 3 people and 2 dogs. We will be taking the more scenic route which will also give us more hills, some steep grades and curvy roads. We want all the "worst" conditions so we can see how it is on the road. Mind you, we do a lot of driving to areas in our 1991 suburban I have outfitted for long term driving and sustainability. I have also hauled racecars and such so large vehicles on the road don't scare. it's just a matter of learning.
We have already been in contact with a Wayne in the sales dep't at the Main store in Mesa. We have been in 3 times already just going over the RVs and each time Wayne was there for any questions. We are also ones that don't like to spend a large amount of money unless it is REALLY going to be worth it for us. I was able to get the fine print of the extended warranties to give to a friend who works on RVs and see what he says. Wayne also said he should be able to get a service record for whichever one we pick out. The nice thing about getting it from the Main store is we will have the pickings before they go elsewhere. Let me say so far the best sale customer service we have received so far is from CA.
One of things I noticed was not mentioned was the 2008 and older Tritons having the tendency to spit spark plugs out due to bad head casting. Ford will not recognize this enough as a issue and I guess it does not happen enough for a recall. However there are tool companies that have come up with the specialty tools to fix this issue. I have a friend who has a 03 super duty V10 and he has had 6 of the 10 spit and fixed already.
CA, from what all I have seen so far I think does do their refurbishing really good. a lot of dealer owned Cs that were in same year range obviously had a lot less mileage but they showed more wear especially on the outside where the AZ sun just kills everything and they wanted 10 to 20K more over CA. I guess for us what the CA Rvs really does it for us is the "practical" design they put into them. Everything is right there and its all meat & potatoes.
I found the link that Wizard posted on the 15 page check list and there has been a lot of positive info in regards to units from CA.
Sorry for such the long post, just wanted to get everything out there!
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