Coast Resorts Open Roads Forum: Buying a Former Rental Class C. How many of us out there?

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Topic: Buying a Former Rental Class C. How many of us out there?

Posted By: Snowman9000 on 11/08/15 08:19pm

Aliceinwl wrote:

We've put a down on a 2011 (2010 chassis) Cruise America Class C 23A RV. It's the Ford E-350 V8 SuperDuty. We plan to flat haul a 2001 Jeep Cherokee Sport behind it and use a Brakemaster system. Any comments or suggestions?

You should be good with that combo. You might ask specifically in the Dinghy Towing folder, though.

Currently RV-less but not done yet.

Posted By: Mocoondo on 11/08/15 10:16pm

CatchinBluegill wrote:

FWIW, what my regular mechanic (at one of the top independent garages in my city) said about the V-10 is that even on the later ones, the spark plugs have a tendency to break in half when removed, so I should either:

A) Steer clear of the V-10, or
B) If it's anywhere near 90,000 miles, ask the rental company to replace the spark plugs before I buy it, so that the person sitting there with half the plug in his hand isn't me. This is what I call the "new plug problem." The old one was just blowing the plug straight out of the head.

The spark plug matter has been resolved since at least 2008 when a redesigned plug was put into service, but for some reason the drama refuses to die. If plugs are breaking upon removal, the mechanic is doing it wrong. Ford has a TSB out with very specific instructions on how to remove a spark plug. Some mechanics are just too lazy and don't follow it, resulting in broken plugs. I've never once seen a plug break when following the Ford procedure.

Posted By: path1 on 11/08/15 10:24pm

Aliceinwl wrote:

Mine had a sticker not to tow over 3,500 pounds and forget how much tongue weight sticker said. How much does your Jeep weigh???

Found this in FAQ's. http://www.cruiseamerica.com/buy/buyers_resources/faqs.aspx

Can I tow a car behind the RV?

Yes you can. All sales coaches are equipped with a receiver hitch. Our Class III hitches are rated to tow up to 3,500 lbs as equipped, and can be upgraded to tow up to 5,000 lbs. Check with your Sales Pro on limits with your expected RV travel activity.

Not playing weight police but, One ton model...And you've checked out your CCC in owners manual to make you're OK? Should be no problem. (CCC= Cargo carrying capacity)

Manual explains it all...

http://www.cruiseamerica.com/buy/buyers_resources/owners_manuals.aspx

* This post was last edited 11/08/15 11:20pm by path1 *

Posted By: Mocoondo on 11/09/15 07:25am

path1 wrote:

Aliceinwl wrote:

When the vehicle is in service as a rental, it is placarded to 2,500# and 200# tongue weight. Fourwinds allows up to 5,000 pounds if memory serves me correctly.

Posted By: themotoviking on 11/09/15 08:00am

I thought I would share some good info here for upcoming potential buyers. We had recently purchased a 29A from Cruise america. We chose not to get the extended warranty. They do come with a 30 day bumper to bumper and then a basic warranty for 12,000 miles.

We had already put 2 trips under our belt within those 30 days and found some small things and one big thing. the small things were like window seals, locks, headliner etc. but the one big thing is the tranny had shuttered a little built while going up a steep grade just south of Flagstaff.

To make a long story short the issue happened within the 30 days but its getting serviced now well outside the 30 days. When I had dropped it off for the tranny work I also mentioned the fridge "appeared" to be leaking they offered to check that out and he said worst case they will replace the fridge. That was 2 weeks outside the 30 days.

Next
the V10 is a decent machine but its so detuned its a gutless wonder. After a mountain of research I settled on the 5 star tuner. This is a specific PCM tune for the Class C Ford V10. I got the "87 Octane" tune. HUGE difference. No it did not turn it into a racing machine but instead mainly played with Shift points in the transmission. Hills I was down to 35 on I was cruising at 50. The stock tune winds the motor way up before shifting where as the new tune just shifts more but also stays in gear when needs to. It does also play with other things like Air/fuel ratio and timing a bit.

We never lost mpg but we gained power for sure. We were hauling gear for 5 days with about 4 wheelbarrows worth of firewood and a trailer on the back hauling 3 motorcycles and we got 8.1 mpg going from far east valley Phoenix to Mexican Hat Utah.

I have always been skeptical about tuners but the fact this tune is built specifically for this RV helped me make my decision and I don't regret the purchase at all.

Posted By: CatchinBluegill on 11/09/15 10:12am

Good info on the V-10 tuner, Motoviking. Is that similar to/work-alike with the tuner that comes with a Banks Power Pack?

Posted By: GalinAZ on 11/09/15 10:36am

path1 wrote:

Aliceinwl wrote:

We've put a down on a 2011 (2010 chassis) Cruise America Class C 23A RV. It's the Ford E-350 V8 SuperDuty. We plan to flat haul a 2001 Jeep Cherokee Sport behind it and use a Brakemaster system. Any comments or suggestions?

Mine had a sticker not to tow over 3,500 pounds and forget how much tongue weight sticker said. How much does your Jeep weigh???

Found this in FAQ's. http://www.cruiseamerica.com/buy/buyers_resources/faqs.aspx

Can I tow a car behind the RV?

Yes you can. All sales coaches are equipped with a receiver hitch. Our Class III hitches are rated to tow up to 3,500 lbs as equipped, and can be upgraded to tow up to 5,000 lbs. Check with your Sales Pro on limits with your expected RV travel activity.

Not playing weight police but, One ton model...And you've checked out your CCC in owners manual to make you're OK? Should be no problem. (CCC= Cargo carrying capacity)

Manual explains it all...

http://www.cruiseamerica.com/buy/buyers_resources/owners_manuals.aspx

When the vehicle is in service as a rental, it is placarded to 2,500# and 200# tongue weight. Fourwinds allows up to 5,000 pounds if memory serves me correctly.

------------------------------
Thanks for the info. The jeep curb weight is 3,194, The GVWR on the RV is 12,500, 500# tongue weight, 5000# tow weight. I should be good to go!

* This post was edited 11/09/15 12:33pm by an administrator/moderator *

GalinAZ
2011 Thor Majestic Class C 23A
2001 Jeep Cherokee Sport toad

Posted By: D.E.Bishop on 11/09/15 06:37pm

Hi All, We are looking at El Monte and I asked the salesman how many miles were on the '08 rig I looked at, he would only say "they're all over 100K". I'm not worried but I have changed my mine about the '08 and we're now considering a '14 Jamboree Sport 31N. Has anyone out there looked at one of their '14s and if so, what was the mileage. We're a couple months out but I do have pre-approval for >$50K, which is more than I plan on financing and the Insurance agent asked about MSRP and mileage.

A PM would be appreciated as looking for a thread isn't something I normally do.

TIA, David

"I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to go". R. L. Stevenson

David Bishop
2002 Winnebago Adventurer 32V
2009 GMC Canyon
Roadmaster 5000
BrakeBuddy Classic II

Posted By: samven1 on 11/09/15 07:49pm

Just for those that are confused about the Ford spark plug issue. There were 2 problems. On the older motors there were not enough threads to hold the plugs and there was a problem with the engine spitting the plug out and stripping the plug hole which then required the head to be replaced or helicoils to be installed. The 2nd problem was that Ford used a 2 piece spark plug and the hex drive was on the upper half and if the plug got tight from age or mileage or lack of antisieze the top of the plug would break off with nut. Ford made a special tool to remove the plug but you had to go to Ford because they would not sell it to independent garages. There is an aftermarket 1 piece plug that does not have this problem and any mechanic worth 2 cents would not put the factory original plug back in after getting the old ones out. I do not know if or when Ford stopped using the problem plugs but you could just pull a boot and check the plug number to see if its the aftermarket or original.

Sam
03 Dodge Ram 1500 QC LB Hemi
2015 Four Winds 22E Chevy

Posted By: BoxinTheCompass on 11/09/15 09:07pm

Thanks for that advisement!

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