Motorhome: After the Buy

Brenda and I got separated when I left Walter and his sales tactics, and when I got home she was already there. As I got turned around and started backing into the driveway alongside of the garage, I suddenly thought to check for roof clearance. Good thing, too--the cable providing TV and internet to our house was very low and vulnerable, and I would have ripped it off the house if I'd have gone another couple feet. Hell, I was just barely able to miss it even with her spotting me. (The next day I made an appointment with the cable company, and they sent a guy out to raise it up, fastening it to a new location higher on the house. I felt much better after that.) I spent the next few days going over things to figure out what did or didn't work. The task was complicated by the fact that I didn't even know how a lot of things worked in the first place. I don't mind saying, I got sidetracked a lot. I would start investigating something and would end up on something else all the time.

It's a 1999 Itasca Class C, 27 foot long, and it's on a Ford E-450 chassis, with V10 and 4-speed automatic. Not many amenities come with a bare cab/chassis before being turned into a motorhome, but this is one of the few I had seen that had electric windows and door locks. It also has cruise control and a factory AM-FM cassette (remember those?) stereo, that actually sounds pretty good. There are also connected speakers farther back so you can hear the music in the house area.

There was a time when it appeared that the law was going to require all RV's to have a rear back-up camera. A lot of people kind of did a panic/knee-jerk reaction and bought something just to be legal. This one was no exception. It was an old CRT unit that was literally hanging on the driver's console. The coax cable from it ran all the way to the back of the motorhome on the inside, held up with peel and stick hangers of various kinds. It was butt-ugly and had to go. It worked fine, but it was old, grainy B technology. I'll replace it with a nice wireless one eventually.

It has a factory-installed HWH electronic leveling system. The first time I used it (not knowing how to actually use it--I was just pushing buttons) it leveled the rig up pretty well. It sat in the driveway like that a few days while I was working on things, but after moving it one of the jacks didn't feel like extending. I still haven't looked into that yet, but I'm hoping it's minor--likely a dirty connection on one of the electrical plugs. I made up four multi-level wooden blocks I can use to drive it up onto also. Between those blocks and the installed leveling system I should be able to level it anywhere we go, even if it's soft asphalt or dirt.

Besides the tires, the dipshits that "detailed" the unit smeared Armor All all over everything they could. Kitchen floor, entrance step, floor mat--it was even on the pedals. Once that shit is applied almost nothing short of abrasion takes it off. For several days we endured squeaky shoes because of it. That shit should never have been invented.

Poking my head around inside of cabinets and compartments, I found that they all looked almost new inside. The original owners were good about keeping it nice. It has all the manuals and everything that it was sold with, and the internet provided me with service and maintenance information--even complete wiring diagrams. All systems are covered well now.

I tried all things propane-powered, and they all worked. The water heater, furnace, refrigerator--all work great. All the holding tanks look real good, and all plumbing associated with them look good too. The only thing is one of the "turd-cutter" valves has a broken T-handle on it. No biggie--it still pulls out fine. There is an electric step that automatically stows, and it works good, going in and out with the door operation.

I had a lot of trouble with the awning. I had zero idea even how to work it, so when it wouldn't come loose when I pulled on it, I had no idea what the problem was because I didn't know what it was supposed to do. After climbing up on a ladder I found that it was just sticking badly on one post. I pulled it out, still not knowing how to lock it in place or anything, but we eventually got it locked open. The awning was pretty dirty, so I cleaned and pressure-washed it. It didn't help much, being stained and worn from years of use, but it's still functional. I found one portion of it that was not assembly right (likely since day one installation), so I fixed that. It works a lot better know. It has a few tiny holes also, but it's still good enough for now. Might get a new one someday.

At one point, I was going around to all the storage doors on the outside of the unit and had one of
those, "hey, look what I found moments." There was an outdoor entertainment system installed behind one of them! Well, it's a piece of shit cheap car stereo, but it's "factory" and still kind of a cool idea. I'll likely replace it with a new, updated unit that will play Bluetooth from our phones and stuff. There is even a factory-original folding table that hangs on the outside of the entertainment system door like a drive-in diner tray (for folks that remember them), and looks like it was never used:

During the last couple of weeks I played with the generator off and on, tweaking this and checking that before finally extracting the carburetor and cleaning it out. I did it carefully enough that I didn't ruin any gaskets. It had some gunk in it, and after cleaning it well and blowing compressed air through everything I reassembled it and shoehorned it back in. Success! It ran pretty good, especially considering I used no new parts. At first I didn't have the electrical plug connected between the generator and the house wiring (like I said, I didn't know how anything worked!), but after getting that right I went inside and saw the microwave was on. Yay! I tried out the roof AC--it worked too! I was pretty pleased at that point. All systems functioning!

 In some ways, the motorhome is almost stuck in time. It still has the CRT television and VCR installed in the factory cabinet on a track system. There is also a place for a TV in the bedroom, and that will likely go away also. Here are a few pics from right after we bought:

Still to address:
Tub/shower curtain track broken
No door keys to the cab--only ignition

Other minor things we repaired:
Curtain in the rear window was defective and was hanging askew
Bathroom vent handle broken
Broken seat back bracket from people climbing up on it

To make the motorhome truly ours, I ordered a new license plate frame:

Let's go camping!