@CampColombo 5th wheels do make a ton of sense. But despite the added effort & cost of maintaining two driving trains, we went the motorhome route for a few reasons: 1) We like having access to the fridge & bathroom while covering long distances, 2) We love our Honda CRV toad for local travel, and 3) I used to drive charter buses and love driving motorcoaches as much as you love driving you big diesel truck! :) Wow... Mike Rowe?! He does have a great voice. Thanks!
I don't anticipate being anywhere for more than a couple of weeks at a time, but this is great information and a nice general reminder that diesel pushers need regular care and maintenance. Thank you!
I was an RV Technician for two years, so I know a little bit. The number one killer of things on an RV, mostly generators, was LACK of use versus overuse. Just a little factoid.
Thanks so much for all the time and effort you two have spent putting this and all your other videos together. I think I'm about done with all of them now ... it has been a marathon session :-) I have 12 pages of bulletized notes and have learned so much.
+rksandman Hi Bob & Dena! The fuel-water separator is also known as the 10-micron fuel filter. That, and the 2-micron fuel filter, are both replaced once each year at the same time the engine oil and oil filter are replaced. Other than that, we never touch it. The only time we know of that you would ever need to do anything other than an annual replacement is if the WIF (water in fuel) warning light were to come on in the dashboard. We've never had that happen, and barring that, there's no routine maintenance required besides the annual replacement.
It might be a good idea to check the dryer for the compressed air brake system. It is easy to overlook. Same with greasing the steering column [Freightliner chassis.[
We get a pretty consistent 7 MPG. :-/ Cummins ISL 400 HP, 43' motorhome (weighed in at about 19 tons), towing a Honda CR-V. We just crossed 53,000 and have been expecting to get that "post break-in" increase in mileage, but no change yet. We usually cruise at about 60 MPH, and never over 65 MPH (even on 70 & 75 MPH highways), but the mileage has been pretty much the same for 8 years. Sure would love to see even 8 MPG.
Thanks on the heads up on what's needed to be done you sit for a month or so. Guess I'll start up the engine once a week then to let it sit a month then checking it. Lee.
@croshayallday We just ran the heat pumps until it was too warm, then ran the A/C to cool it back down. LOL It was about 45 degrees (F) when we took the RV out, so the heat pumps worked fine. I'm not sure, but running the heat pumps was probably enough exercise for the units, so at that point, running the A/C might have been redundant. Just making sure. :)
No problems with slide-outs. We didn't insulate around them, but some people do, by fitting sheets of styrofoam insulation (the blue stuff) to the top and/or sides of the slides. Sorry we don't know much about the differences between travel trailer makes & models. Since you'll be wintering in one, you have the right idea that R value is important. Many RV manufacturers include that info on their websites, and there may be some with models geared toward winter RVing. BC is warmer than ON! :)
Job well done. am considering selling my home, and purchasing perhapsa newmar or other coach. as a home. will put this video on my computer so I can watch it untilit becomes second nature.
Aye, as a former trucker, this I know well. id run em maybe once a month if sitting idle. if I did anything with the genie it would be to either run the ac or perhaps charge the coach batteries.
I think any vehicle needs to be exercised periodically. I use my RV as my only vehicle now, excluding my bike of course! I could not see the point and expense of keeping two, particularly as I can use my bike and public transport around town if necessary.
how did the slide out fair during & after? Any special insullating around the slide out? thanks, your vids have been helpful learning how we're going to live year round BC while my lady attends Thompson Rivers University. we're from London Ontario off to BC in 2013. Cheers we're still shopping for the final purchase. are there travel trailers, in your experience, you'd recommend?(not gonna hold you liable...just your experienced opinion) manufacturers wise? we've been looking for best R value.
Wow ... good stuff..... do you guys have a check list for this video? Would be a big help in remembering what to do (besides wear a heavy coat while driving if going to have the AC units running in winter) :) Also, how do you know which is the main air valve vs the secondaries? PS I also drive a Newmar but have a Star
+Trish Whitley Sorry we don't use a checklist, because we just know what to do after all these years... although we do occasionally watch our own videos to remind us. LOL On our Spartan chassis, the silver (clear) cable is the primary, and the colored (red & green) cables are the secondaries. Newmar's service department is REALLY helpful, and if you call them with your VIN number, they can look it up and probably confirm if yours are the same as ours.
I'm NEW to this world and a US Marine Veteran, what are the FULL Cost for Full time use of a Prevost 45 XLII or H3 a month? FYI it would be a Pre-Owned in a Very updated 2014.
If ya gotta ask about MPG, ya probably can't afford a Pusher! Maintainence, fuel, tires etc will burn thru thousands, like owning a boat, only worse! SO, if MPG is a problem, keep your pickup truck and camper! Class A pushers are a Rich Man's Toy! We love our Monaco pusher!
Does this mean that when your RV's in winter storage you should still take it out once a month to exercise it during the winter? Is that what you do? I always got the impression that people who live in cold climates just put them away in the fall and don't start them again until Spring. Thanks!
+Open-minded Skeptic It's a bit of a balancing act. In an ideal world, you would drive it once a month, but when it's being put into cold storage, you prepare everything as much as possible for a long period of inactivity (tires aired up to the max and off the asphalt or dirt, fuel additive run through the engine and generator, etc) and let it sit for the duration. Lots of people leave their RV completely untouched for the entire winter, because it's unrealistic to get it out of storage to take it for a run. Prepare it well and don't worry about it. However, if you do decide to take it out, you could do more harm than leaving it alone. For example.. running the engine or generator for a very short time, and not under load is worse than not running it at all. If you have the time to really run everything hard and up to full operating temperature, fine. But otherwise, don't bother starting anything up at all.
RVgeeks Thank you for your excellent videos and thoughtful replies! I hope I'm not bugging you with too many questions. But say you want to use your RV to travel to the southwest for a 4-6 week getaway during the wintertime (heading for warmer weather . Do you think it is practical to get an RV out of winter storage for such a trip? If so, I'm assuming you should warm up the engine the night before, like you showed in the video, to get your diesel engine to start. And obviously you would have to leave the anti-freeze in the system until you arrived at a warm enough spot to safely flush the system. I think I may be buying my motor home at a weird time of the year, considering that I live in Michigan (I should be getting it in 3 or 4 weeks, if everything works out like it should). I don't want to wait until spring to buy it because I might lose out on a really great deal. So do some people leave for this kind of winter getaway that I'm describing? (And obviously you would have to re-winterize the water system before you brought it back into the cold after the trip. Do you see any sort of problem with this scenario? Thanks again.
+Open-minded Skeptic No problem... Happy to help! I would say that a 1-2 week trip would be worth getting the RV out of storage to warm up from a Michigan winter! lol 4-6 weeks would be SO worth it... almost qualifying you as a Snowbird. lol If it's REALLY cold, or you want to play it safe, you can leave the water system winterized until you get to warmer climate. That would probably be a wise idea for a newbie (assuming this is your first RV). If we were confident, and had an RV with a heated basement, and it wasn't arctic cold, we'd start using the water system right away, and just keep the basement heat on until we got to above-freezing conditions. But again, it you're not confident with it, and will be south pretty quickly anyway, you could wait to start using water on board. And yes, you'll need to re-winterize after returning, but if you can't get to that immediately, keeping the furnace on, along with the basement heat, should keep things from freezing in all but the coldest conditions. Although yo do live in MI. ;-) By the way... use your block heater the night before starting up.... don't run the engine the night before. Good luck with your purchase. You must be so excited!
RVgeeks By "warm up the engine" I meant turn the block heater on. Still getting used to all the new lingo, since this is out first RV. And yes, we are really excited about owning and traveling in one! I'm trying to learn as much as I can before we get it to avoid any newbie mistakes (which could be costly if it's a serious mistake). All the best!
Very informative! My wife and I are looking for a 5 to 10 year old motorhome to live in full time for a few years. With your experience, could you suggest what might be good choices? We are looking for durability, not bling. Length about 29 to 34 feet, up to $200k. Thanks!
Durability = Diesel Pusher, but at that length (29'-34') the options are likely to be a bit limited, since shorter diesels are less common. The good news is that you can get a lot of 5-10-year-old coach for the money you're looking to spend, or likely, les (or you can buy newer). We'd suggest that any of the major brands would do, as long as they're available in the length, and a floor-plan, that you like. Our first choice has always been, and still is, Newmar, which would pretty much mean a Ventana, which is the only diesel pusher the made in the size you're looking for. We'd suggest checking out our video on buying new vs used ( ua-cam.com/video/uKYjE1YPVU8/v-deo.html ) which touches on some issues you'll want to think about, and then searching RVTrader ( rvtrader.com ) to see what's out there. They let you specify year, make, model, length, location and lots of other important criteria. We would try to buy a 1-owner rig if you possibly can... from the original owner if possible. We know that's know always possible, but just our ideal situation. As you hone in on possible makes & models, a perusal of the related IRV2 owner's forums (irv2.com ) is a great way to hear from owners about their experiences, likes, dislikes, etc. Lastly, have a professional pre-purchase inspection done by a qualified tech before buying anything. Hope this helps. Happy RV shopping! :)
RVgeeks ah I thought the lanyards were for different air supply tanks like red was for an emergency brake. Like the emergency brake system on 18 wheelers. And the green one was primary air
My daughter got my mother's car after she passed. The A/C unit on a 1991 sedan with only 40k miles on it was shot. My mom lived in Seattle and never used it.
@CampColombo 5th wheels do make a ton of sense. But despite the added effort & cost of maintaining two driving trains, we went the motorhome route for a few reasons: 1) We like having access to the fridge & bathroom while covering long distances, 2) We love our Honda CRV toad for local travel, and 3) I used to drive charter buses and love driving motorcoaches as much as you love driving you big diesel truck! :)
Wow... Mike Rowe?! He does have a great voice. Thanks!
I don't anticipate being anywhere for more than a couple of weeks at a time, but this is great information and a nice general reminder that diesel pushers need regular care and maintenance. Thank you!
I was an RV Technician for two years, so I know a little bit. The number one killer of things on an RV, mostly generators, was LACK of use versus overuse. Just a little factoid.
The best RV videos to watch. Very informative.
Thanks so much for all the time and effort you two have spent putting this and all your other videos together. I think I'm about done with all of them now ... it has been a marathon session :-) I have 12 pages of bulletized notes and have learned so much.
Thank YOU, Richard! We appreciate your taking the time to let us know we've been helpful.
Motor home 43 ft 2004
+rksandman Hi Bob & Dena! The fuel-water separator is also known as the 10-micron fuel filter. That, and the 2-micron fuel filter, are both replaced once each year at the same time the engine oil and oil filter are replaced. Other than that, we never touch it. The only time we know of that you would ever need to do anything other than an annual replacement is if the WIF (water in fuel) warning light were to come on in the dashboard. We've never had that happen, and barring that, there's no routine maintenance required besides the annual replacement.
It might be a good idea to check the dryer for the compressed air brake system. It is easy to overlook. Same with greasing the steering column [Freightliner chassis.[
We get a pretty consistent 7 MPG. :-/ Cummins ISL 400 HP, 43' motorhome (weighed in at about 19 tons), towing a Honda CR-V. We just crossed 53,000 and have been expecting to get that "post break-in" increase in mileage, but no change yet. We usually cruise at about 60 MPH, and never over 65 MPH (even on 70 & 75 MPH highways), but the mileage has been pretty much the same for 8 years. Sure would love to see even 8 MPG.
Thanks for your response. keep up the good work.
Thanks on the heads up on what's needed to be done you sit for a month or so. Guess I'll start up the engine once a week then to let it sit a month then checking it. Lee.
@croshayallday We just ran the heat pumps until it was too warm, then ran the A/C to cool it back down. LOL It was about 45 degrees (F) when we took the RV out, so the heat pumps worked fine. I'm not sure, but running the heat pumps was probably enough exercise for the units, so at that point, running the A/C might have been redundant. Just making sure. :)
Thanks for sharing your knowledge
I exercise mine on the freeway driving the hell out if it! Passing 18 wheelers and pissing them off! Zoooom! (5 Mpg!)
No problems with slide-outs. We didn't insulate around them, but some people do, by fitting sheets of styrofoam insulation (the blue stuff) to the top and/or sides of the slides. Sorry we don't know much about the differences between travel trailer makes & models. Since you'll be wintering in one, you have the right idea that R value is important. Many RV manufacturers include that info on their websites, and there may be some with models geared toward winter RVing. BC is warmer than ON! :)
Another great video!
Job well done. am considering selling my home, and purchasing perhapsa newmar or other coach. as a home. will put this video on my computer so I can watch it untilit becomes second nature.
Good stuff.
Aye, as a former trucker, this I know well. id run em maybe once a month if sitting idle. if I did anything with the genie it would be to either run the ac or perhaps charge the coach batteries.
These guys r the best....check out all videos!!!!
Thanx for the prompt response.
Good info.
I think any vehicle needs to be exercised periodically. I use my RV as my only vehicle now, excluding my bike of course! I could not see the point and expense of keeping two, particularly as I can use my bike and public transport around town if necessary.
The most accurate time to check engine oil level is when the engine has been sitting and cold.
how did the slide out fair during & after? Any special insullating around the slide out? thanks, your vids have been helpful learning how we're going to live year round BC while my lady attends Thompson Rivers University. we're from London Ontario off to BC in 2013. Cheers we're still shopping for the final purchase. are there travel trailers, in your experience, you'd recommend?(not gonna hold you liable...just your experienced opinion) manufacturers wise? we've been looking for best R value.
Wow ... good stuff..... do you guys have a check list for this video? Would be a big help in remembering what to do (besides wear a heavy coat while driving if going to have the AC units running in winter) :) Also, how do you know which is the main air valve vs the secondaries? PS I also drive a Newmar but have a Star
+Trish Whitley Sorry we don't use a checklist, because we just know what to do after all these years... although we do occasionally watch our own videos to remind us. LOL On our Spartan chassis, the silver (clear) cable is the primary, and the colored (red & green) cables are the secondaries. Newmar's service department is REALLY helpful, and if you call them with your VIN number, they can look it up and probably confirm if yours are the same as ours.
ha ha I thought you were talking about getting rid of ghosts👻 and evil spirits 👹 from the RV... 🤣
Well, it might need to be exorcised, too. ;-)
Yesh I know. I am aware of the correct spelling. Lol I was just playing with words.
Knew that. LOL
Hi Peter, Wondering about the fuel water separator on your newmar do you drain at every fill up? Thanks Bob & Dena
The best videos!!!!
Thanks!
I was just wondering what the capacity is for your fuel tank on that sized rv?
Mine has 2 100 gallon tanks
I'm NEW to this world and a US Marine Veteran, what are the FULL Cost for Full time use of a Prevost 45 XLII or H3 a month? FYI it would be a Pre-Owned in a Very updated 2014.
We have never owned a Prevost, so we have no clue. Might want to Google Prevost owner's groups and ask your questions on one of their forums.
If ya gotta ask about MPG, ya probably can't afford a Pusher! Maintainence, fuel, tires etc will burn thru thousands, like owning a boat, only worse! SO, if MPG is a problem, keep your pickup truck and camper! Class A pushers are a Rich Man's Toy! We love our Monaco pusher!
Does this mean that when your RV's in winter storage you should still take it out once a month to exercise it during the winter? Is that what you do? I always got the impression that people who live in cold climates just put them away in the fall and don't start them again until Spring. Thanks!
+Open-minded Skeptic It's a bit of a balancing act. In an ideal world, you would drive it once a month, but when it's being put into cold storage, you prepare everything as much as possible for a long period of inactivity (tires aired up to the max and off the asphalt or dirt, fuel additive run through the engine and generator, etc) and let it sit for the duration. Lots of people leave their RV completely untouched for the entire winter, because it's unrealistic to get it out of storage to take it for a run. Prepare it well and don't worry about it. However, if you do decide to take it out, you could do more harm than leaving it alone. For example.. running the engine or generator for a very short time, and not under load is worse than not running it at all. If you have the time to really run everything hard and up to full operating temperature, fine. But otherwise, don't bother starting anything up at all.
RVgeeks Thank you for your excellent videos and thoughtful replies!
I hope I'm not bugging you with too many questions. But say you want to use your RV to travel to the southwest for a 4-6 week getaway during the wintertime (heading for warmer weather . Do you think it is practical to get an RV out of winter storage for such a trip? If so, I'm assuming you should warm up the engine the night before, like you showed in the video, to get your diesel engine to start. And obviously you would have to leave the anti-freeze in the system until you arrived at a warm enough spot to safely flush the system.
I think I may be buying my motor home at a weird time of the year, considering that I live in Michigan (I should be getting it in 3 or 4 weeks, if everything works out like it should). I don't want to wait until spring to buy it because I might lose out on a really great deal. So do some people leave for this kind of winter getaway that I'm describing? (And obviously you would have to re-winterize the water system before you brought it back into the cold after the trip. Do you see any sort of problem with this scenario? Thanks again.
+Open-minded Skeptic No problem... Happy to help! I would say that a 1-2 week trip would be worth getting the RV out of storage to warm up from a Michigan winter! lol 4-6 weeks would be SO worth it... almost qualifying you as a Snowbird. lol If it's REALLY cold, or you want to play it safe, you can leave the water system winterized until you get to warmer climate. That would probably be a wise idea for a newbie (assuming this is your first RV). If we were confident, and had an RV with a heated basement, and it wasn't arctic cold, we'd start using the water system right away, and just keep the basement heat on until we got to above-freezing conditions. But again, it you're not confident with it, and will be south pretty quickly anyway, you could wait to start using water on board. And yes, you'll need to re-winterize after returning, but if you can't get to that immediately, keeping the furnace on, along with the basement heat, should keep things from freezing in all but the coldest conditions. Although yo do live in MI. ;-) By the way... use your block heater the night before starting up.... don't run the engine the night before. Good luck with your purchase. You must be so excited!
RVgeeks You're the best! Thanks.
RVgeeks By "warm up the engine" I meant turn the block heater on. Still getting used to all the new lingo, since this is out first RV. And yes, we are really excited about owning and traveling in one! I'm trying to learn as much as I can before we get it to avoid any newbie mistakes (which could be costly if it's a serious mistake). All the best!
Ours is 150 gallons of diesel fuel.
Very informative! My wife and I are looking for a 5 to 10 year old motorhome to live in full time for a few years. With your experience, could you suggest what might be good choices? We are looking for durability, not bling. Length about 29 to 34 feet, up to $200k. Thanks!
Durability = Diesel Pusher, but at that length (29'-34') the options are likely to be a bit limited, since shorter diesels are less common. The good news is that you can get a lot of 5-10-year-old coach for the money you're looking to spend, or likely, les (or you can buy newer). We'd suggest that any of the major brands would do, as long as they're available in the length, and a floor-plan, that you like. Our first choice has always been, and still is, Newmar, which would pretty much mean a Ventana, which is the only diesel pusher the made in the size you're looking for. We'd suggest checking out our video on buying new vs used ( ua-cam.com/video/uKYjE1YPVU8/v-deo.html ) which touches on some issues you'll want to think about, and then searching RVTrader ( rvtrader.com ) to see what's out there. They let you specify year, make, model, length, location and lots of other important criteria. We would try to buy a 1-owner rig if you possibly can... from the original owner if possible. We know that's know always possible, but just our ideal situation. As you hone in on possible makes & models, a perusal of the related IRV2 owner's forums (irv2.com ) is a great way to hear from owners about their experiences, likes, dislikes, etc. Lastly, have a professional pre-purchase inspection done by a qualified tech before buying anything. Hope this helps. Happy RV shopping! :)
RVgeeks Thanks for the feedback! We will take it all in to consideration.
What color Air Lanyard is the PRIMARY ??????
Check your owners manual, since it might be different from other manufacturers.
So with the air purge lanyards does the color of the lanyard mean anything?
Silver is stage one, so if gets purged first, followed by green and red in no particular order.
RVgeeks ah I thought the lanyards were for different air supply tanks like red was for an emergency brake. Like the emergency brake system on 18 wheelers. And the green one was primary air
My daughter got my mother's car after she passed. The A/C unit on a 1991 sedan with only 40k miles on it was shot. My mom lived in Seattle and never used it.
A/C definitely does not like to sit unused.
About what kind of gas mileage do you get with a diesel pusher ?
8
why is temp dial set to hot while running AC?
This was filmed in winter, so even though we wanted to exercise the air conditioning compressor, we didn’t want it blowing cold air!
I hate to be so pedantic but the correct term is water heater not "hot water heater".
If it was already hot it wouldn't need heating would it?
;-)
+reagentism I always try to remember not to say "hot" but sometimes I forget. LOL
Not in murica it aint
At least you're nice about it. 😊
You