socal77
Redlands, CA
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Joined: 03/27/2006
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Steve, I agree with you about Ford's Triton V-10. I've loved it and been very impressed. We had a 1995 Class C 29-footer before our current 28A from CA. It had a Ford V-8 on the E-350 chassis. That engine and chassis were too small for that size RV in my opinion. I was so impressed with the difference in power with the V-10. It's like night and day. Hills and mountains are a piece of cake now in comparison.
I bought my 2009 28A with 161,000 miles on it. Was concerned, but everyone I talked to said this engine is built to last 400,000 or more miles if regular oil changes and services are handled.
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path1
Varies with weather
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Joined: 04/19/2012
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I'm a DIY guy also. Here is what I carry "just in case" in my 2001 for the V-8 engine, which is the little brother of your V-10.
...Spare "cop" (coil over plug)
...spare fuel filter and tool to remove ($10 bucks)
...spare injector (just to confirm when trouble shooting if "cop" or injector is bad)
Locking gas cap... Don't toss your old cap if you buy a locking gas cap. I fail smog test with locking gas cap for some reason?
Jack and tools to change spare tire. Recommend you do a practice run in your driveway first before hitting the road.
Make sure you use quality oil filter. Motorcraft and some others have what is called "silicone valve" in the filter. But many other filters do not. The silicone valve prevents oil leaking down out of filter after you shut it off. Reason is when you start it up again, the oil filter is still full of oil, so you won't do what is called a "cold" start every time you start engine.
Cooling system...I found it easier to drain system by removing lower radiator hose versus drain plug.
If the drive shaft is 2 piece be sure to check carrier bearing. Not uncommon for those to go bad. You might even have a grease zerk fitting there.
Might want to check overhead A/C gasket. To make sure it is water tight. Don't torque to tight. Lots of info on it, on this site.
Download all manuals for what you have (generator, awning, micro, etc)
If you get new wheel simulators (because my CA caps totally sucked)New ones were held on by a nut called a "coupler nut". Use ONE drop of removable lock tite. Don't do what I did, thinking if one drop is good, many drops are better. A very Big hassle getting those things off.
Had our CA 7 years now and still pleased with it. Only problem (other than normal stuff) was with an injector getting plugged up when we first got it.
Any questions, just ask
* This post was
edited 01/30/17 01:20pm by path1 *
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STEVE-OTR
Chicago
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Joined: 01/27/2017
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Hey, guys:
I'm back. Yes, I agree, socal77. IMO when I seen any 27+ footers riding on a e350 chassis with only a V-8 to pull it, I was concerned about what that thing could do. I was thinking that those units must have a very low CCC. Plus with an engine working that hard I would be surprised if it was giving more than 8 MPG and yes I have heard that those Triton V10's can take a lickin and keep on tickin. I work at a hospital and I see the Ambulance units that have the Triton in them and those are at 300K miles or more and are used heavily. So, yes I think Ford got it right after the year 2000. Nice to know that your 28A is still going well even at 161,000 miles. Wow!!!
2012 Majestic 28A
Ford E-450 V-10
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STEVE-OTR
Chicago
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Thanks for the advice path1.
I will probably do the same thing as far as the items to carry in my "just in case" bag.
I did have a few quick questions. I know that one way to tell if the bearing is bad, on the drive shaft, is to grab the shaft itself and wiggle it to see if it has play. Is there any other way to tell if its going bad? Also, for the jack. I was thinking of purchasing the bottle type of jack. What weight support do you recommend for a jack? 8ton, 10ton? I'll probably only use it to change a flat tire and for basic maintenance with jack stands of course. Speaking of Jack stands, what weight support are recommended for those?
It gives me "peace-of-mind" knowing that most of you have had your rigs for several years and have experienced very few problems especially with the engines. All this is great info!!! Thanks!!!
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path1
Varies with weather
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Joined: 04/19/2012
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(Sorry dup)
* This post was
edited 02/01/17 11:28pm by path1 *
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path1
Varies with weather
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Joined: 04/19/2012
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Drive shaft bearing...Yes, excess play like you describe is how I check.
Jack...I think I have a 8 ton. But length of size very important. I I think mine is called "low profile" I have one of these. http://www.jettools.com/us/en/view-series/jhj-series-bottle-jacks/JHJBtlJack But don't recommend them or maybe I'm just behind on times. I carried the jack in M/H since we got it in 2009. Couple months ago I wanted to use the jack on my pick up, because I didn't feel like digging the jack out of my pick up. The jack didn't work. I took it back to where I buy all my tire stuff from including valve stem extensions and "gator" caps". A wholesale tire supply type place for tire shops, but he sells to public also. He laughed and should me a rubber plug where the jack oil goes. He filled it up with jack oil and it worked. But my point is, my old 3 ton bottle bottle jack maybe 20 years old still works great, but it has a threaded bolt where the jack oil goes. And I've never had a problem. I think newer jacks have been "cheaped" out with rubber plug. Sitting since 2009, I think the jack oil evaporated out? I think I have 10 ton jack stands. I know they are Harbor Freight. I use 3/4 inch socket with extension to remove lugs because the back tires my regular lug wrench wasn't long enough. Also have torque and air pressure spec's written done.
Jacks... I found out the hard way, when I bought a jack many years ago for different vehicle, I slid it under the frame after buying and thought great, that will do the job. Then couple years later I had a flat and then discovered my mistake. When a tire is flat, vehicle is much closer to the ground. My brand new jack was to tall and wouldn't fit under vehicle. That's why I said in above post, do a practice tire change before being stuck somewhere. I do carry some 2X4's to level M/H when camping and but also 2X4's would come in handy changing a tire.
Also recommend a complete fluid change on every fluid.
Also if your drawers have a cheap plastic thing that holds drawer slide, pick up a spare. One of ours broke and was a a big hassle. Couldn't find one stopping at RV places when traveling. Our is "question" mark shape. If you look at it the way a piece of wood would fit in...looks like a "question" mark at the end. OH, the things you learn when RVing![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/smile.gif "smile") Hopefully CA doesn't use them anymore. There are much better available today.
http://tweetys.com/jr-products-70715-dra........pe.aspx?gclid=CK336MXh8NECFQ9EfgoderULeQ
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IllinoisTraveler
Springfield, Illinois
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Joined: 02/02/2017
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Hi - this is my first time posting so please forgive missing some of the shorthand. We are considering the purchase of a 2013 Coachmen Freelander 28QB LTD Class C MH. It has 39,000 miles on it and we would be purchasing from an individual. It looks great on the inside of the RV and the engine, tires, etc. all look good. The current owners purchased from an RV dealer in the Chicago area - not one of the "big" names but a good sized dealership. They purchased it about a year ago when it had 37,000 miles. They are selling because they need a different set up for their family. Their story checks out. What we have figured out from looking at the VIN history and talking to the current owners is that it was a rental purchased new by the dealership in late 2012.
We owned a pop-up before and are really interested in going to a class C but want to buy a used one - we are recent retirees and are looking forward to some long term trips to visit kids, parks, etc. We've been reading on this forum about purchasing a former rental and have been feeling pretty good about it. But, before making the final deal with this individual, we thought it would be good to post a question here.
Any experience with Coachmen 2013 Freelander 28QB LTD (it's the Chevy 4500 chassis)? We know it's not top of the line. Any thoughts about a former rental with 39,000 for 4 years of use? (NADA doesn't show it as high miles.)
Thank you all in advance for any replies and we look forward to posting experiences on this great forum.
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IAMICHABOD
Sunny So Cal
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Joined: 12/12/2011
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Hello IllinoisTraveler. Welcome to the forum.
I have no experience with the Coachman but other Large Rental companies do have the Coachman line in their inventory so it would seem that the hold up well in that market, with that mileage on it you should be just fine if it has had proper maintenance.
My Former Rental had 90000 miles on it after 5 years as a rental and it has held up very well.
One thing about it is a plus,it is on a Chevy Chassis it will give you more room in the cockpit area and it will be more comfortable and handle much better than ones on a Ford Chassis that many are plagued with handling problems that can be fixed at some extra expense.
Good Luck with your choice.
* This post was
edited 08/27/17 06:30pm by IAMICHABOD *
2006 TIOGA 26Q CHEVY 6.0 WORKHORSE VORTEC
Former El Monte RV Rental
Retired Teamster Local 692
Buying A Rental Class C
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FunTwoDrv
NC
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Joined: 11/16/2010
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We have a '15 28QB on the GM chassis. We also bought it used with about 17k miles. The layout works for us but, may not be ideal for everyone. The handling and ride is every bit as stable and comfortable as we would expect. Fuel mileage is around 9 towing a 3800# car and hovers around 10+- without it. Tank capacities are very respectable. We will be replcing the single 12v battery for two 6v units this week. The 12v has met our needs thus far but would like a little extra so we can take advantage of some off grid camping.
So far we have not had any issues with the unit itself. When we purchased it, the instrument cluster was flaky in that it would just shut down after a few miles and then come back on a few miles later. GM found a "loose wire" and repaired that under warranty.
I'm still playing around with air bag pressures. As we have it loaded, it seems to respond well to 20# in both bags. 30# seems to make the ride a tad bit more solid.
Feel free to ask any questions...
Gary
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STEVE-OTR
Chicago
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Nitrogen vs Oxygen in the tires
Hello, All:
I've been getting more excited as the day is quickly approaching when I will buy the 28A Class C from Cruise America (3 more weeks).
So I was thinking about when I rented twice from Cruise America and I remembered that all of the tires had the "Green" caps on the valve stems which indicated, to me, that all tires were filled with Nitrogen. Which I understand helps keep a more consistent reading on the tire pressure as the tires will not loose pressure based on temperature changes outside. I was just curious if any of you on this thread have units with Nitrogen filled tires? What are your thoughts? Where would you take your RV's for Nitrogen refills? I remember when I purchased a GMC Envoy and it had Nitrogen filled tires too. Eventually the tire pressures did drop and I had nowhere to take it for a fillup of Nitrogen. It was kind of a bummer so I ended up deflating all of the tires and filling them with normal oxygen. I guess it was a bit of a pain to find places that would top off the tires with Nitrogen.
As always, it is great to hear from you guys!!!
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