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Announcements

Yahoo Message Number: 5673
I would like to thank Dave Sparke for agreeing to take on the role of Deputy Moderator supporting Ron Hall. As you are no doubt aware we are a very free form group and do not hold postings for moderator approval as is done in some groups. In my view we've had an outstanding group of members and since June 2007 I've only had to remove one participant who signed in to promote a specific product. In fact, that is the only reason I set up the group to require permission to join.

Ron has done a great job and my favorite description of Ron's activities warrants repeating. Whenever I see how much he has done to his Kodiak and his knowledge of its systems I get so exhausted I've no energy left to do anything to my own. :)

Now, speaking of my Kodiak Greyhawk 32SS gasser - well, it is not MY Kodiak any longer. It was traded yesterday and we now have an Itasca Impulse 26QP Silver. I will continue with the Group but not quite to the same extent as in the past. DW asked "can we still go the the rallies" as she really enjoyed the folks she met in Indiana in July. I answered "I hope so."

We wanted to downsize and the Itasca, which was just announced on Sept 15, is about 5 feet shorter. It has one slide and is 27 ft 10 inches long. It is, of course, on the Ford E450 but with a GCWR of 22,000 lbs (new for 2011) and GVWR of 14,500 lbs. Since we are leaving for Florida on Monday (going to Cincinnati and then traveling south from there with Dave and Linda Sparke) we rushed this purchase as the dealer just received the unit a week ago.

I usually do a lot of investigation and this time it appears I slipped up a bit. When I had a Winnie Journey 39W I got very frustrated with Winnie. Sadly, that has already started with the Itasca. I didn't mind that it did not have a transfer switch (30 amp power cord plugs into the generator or shore power but you have to do it manually) since that is not going to inconvenience us one bit. It doesn't have an inverter - but we never used the one in the Jayco in almost 3.5 years - so no issue. The first thing that really annoyed me was finding out that power door locks meant that when you pushed the button inside the door both doors unlocked. It did not mean that we had a key fob for remote unlocking. So back to manual unlocking. Not a big deal I guess. Today, I found that the switch on the dash above the radio that says "vehicle" and "house" is a dummy. Thus, the radio will not work when the ignition is off and we are connected to shore power (which is all winter long in Florida when I disconnect the chassis battery). Very annoying and foolish on the part of Winnie. If we want to use it when connected to shore power then I'm going to have to connect my Battery Minder as it should easily cover the drain from the radio.

When testing the DVD player today (which gets lots of use by our son in Florida as he is in the MH and Bev and I are in our park model) I found that every five seconds the RCA unit drops a second of sound - without fail. Really PO'd me as it will have to be replaced - but when we return from Florida. In the meantime I'll connect a small DVD player to the back TV (it has the distribution box up front to direct all sources to either TV - a feature missing in our Kodiak).

When thinking back to the punch list we had with our Journey, our Ambassador and the Greyhawk, this one is pretty short and if it doesn't grow (fingers crossed) I'll be pretty happy with it.

We drove 120 miles home from the dealer yesterday and I was pleased that it handled much better than I expected. It does have Firestone Airbags. It was very windy for the first 60 or so miles and 18 wheelers were moving around much more than we were and when they passed us we weren't blown around very much. Nonetheless, I may put a Safe-T-Plus on it next spring when we return from FLA (something I was contemplating for the Kodiak in any event). We had given some consideration to the new Jayco Greyhawk 26DS (28 ft 9 inches) which looked like it would serve our needs. It has a very nice U shaped dinette but it has a corner bed and a number of people warned us against that feature. That was not, however, the deciding factor that made us eliminate it from contention. It was the ratio of the wheelbase to length. The wheelbase is 181 inches and the ratio is .5246, which in my opinion is far to low since it results in too much overhang (are you listening Paul Gardner of Jayco??? It should have been on a 200 inch wb). The Itasca's ratio is .5688 which is not too much less than our Kodiak's .577. The Jayco is 11 inches longer and the wheelbase is 9 inches less.

Power was better than I expected and rev's at 60 mph were not as high as we'd experienced with our first MH - a 2000 Class A with the F53 but a 4 speed transmission. The 5 speed has made a big difference.

This unit has much less interior storage than the Kodiak Greyhawk but a much larger and more useful main storage area at the back with two access doors. After deducting for a full tank of water, full fuel, factory options and the weights of Bev, Phil and I we will have 1950 lbs for "stuff." That will be more than enough. Lichtsinn in Forest City Iowa has a unit that is close to ours (except for dual pane windows and inverter but doesn't have the motoraid feature that ours has that heats the water in the hot water heater from the engine while traveling) on its lot that is on a 2010 chassis (must have been one of the first off the line) and is the same color scheme. The cab seats are unusual as they swivel around and face inwards. Video is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6L0uVRMe0E

So, as Paul Harvie would always say - "now you have the rest of the story."

Don

Re: Announcements

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 5674
Don
Sorry to hear that you have left the Kodiak family. Although still sticking around. Enjoy your new RV.
I noticed in the video that it has a Norcold fridge. Hope you checked the door out before it falls off.
Should not be a hard fix to install a wire to make switch work for DVD when ignition is off. Where is the battery emergency start switch at?
Best
Ron Hall

Re: Announcements

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 5675
Dave
Welcome to the tedious job of helping me moderate this forum. (Need a smile here). Not much to do. Just approve new members and check a few post that end up in spam.
Best
Ron Hall

Re: Announcements

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 5676
Norcold Fridge. What could be wrong with it? :) I didn't get the bracket Greg sent put on the old one so guess where I think I'll put it? (it is the improved door but we don't know what that means and the wood panel is one piece and seems a lot lighter than on the Kodiak).

Ron, on the dash there is a face plate with 3 switches that is about 8 inches wide. One switch on the left is for the Emergency Start, the centre is for the heater and the right is the dummy. I guess what you are thinking would be a rewire of the radio to connect it to the house power (2 batteries) instead of the chassis battery. That is an interesting thought. Any negatives or downside to that? Should such a connection be fused to prevent a jolt - especially if emergency start used? The switch doesn't move at all as it is a real dummy.

Thanks

Don

Re: Announcements

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 5678
I use a battery maintainer to keep my chassis batteries charged. This way I do not have to disconnect it when parked at a campground. Most radios need to have some power from the chassis battery to keep settings in radio working. I added a switch to my Kodiak that allows radio to run without ignition switch in on position. More to getting a switch to work than just taking power off Emergency Start switch. What I was saying in first post is there is coach power in dash.
Best
Ron Hall
l

Re: Announcements

Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 5679
Thanks, I told Don I thought we might be able to "grandfather them in" when it comes to the next Rally, whay do you think? Question Mark

Dave Sparke

From: ronjhallsr
To: KodiakChassisClassC@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thu, October 21, 2010 6:02:18 AM
Subject: [KodiakChassisClassC] Re: Announcements

Dave
Welcome to the tedious job of helping me moderate this forum. (Need a smile here). Not much to do. Just approve new members and check a few post that end up in spam.
Best
Ron Hall

Re: Announcements

Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 5680
My current plan is to simply connect our Battery Minder for the winter and that should do it. Now, come to think of it, when we had our Journey 39W we had 3 12v house batteries and 2 chassis batteries. Winnie, in its wisdom did not provide a chassis cut-off switch. They had a severe chassis battery drain and I got the battery minder to keep them charged or they would be flat in 2 to 3 weeks. Needless to say, Winnie had such a headache from that problem it added a chassis battery cut-off. I bought a kill switch to put on our Flex when we are away as it can suck up a lot of power with all the junk on it. Then I decided I'd use on the Itasca (battery nice and visible under the hood and not the steps) and get another for the Flex or simply take the negative off. Now, I'll put the switch on the Flex and use the BM for the MH.

Tx

Don

Re: Announcements

Reply #7 –
Yahoo Message Number: 5681
You mean we have a choice. I figured they would just show up. LOL
Best
Ron Hall

Re: Announcements

Reply #8 –
Yahoo Message Number: 5682
Don wrote

Quote
I would like to thank Dave Sparke for agreeing to take on the role of
Deputy Moderator supporting Ron Hall.

Further proving that no good deed goes unpunished :-)

Quote
Whenever I see how much he (Ron) has done to his Kodiak
and his knowledge of its systems I get so exhausted I've no energy left
to do anything to my own. :)

Hey, good excuse! Why didn't I think of that?

Quote
Now, speaking of my Kodiak Greyhawk 32SS gasser - well, it is not MY
Kodiak any longer. It was traded yesterday and we now have an Itasca
Impulse 26QP Silver.

WHOA WHOA WHOA there mister, let's just back up a dadgum minute! Nobody
sent anything across my desk about this. I didn't see any request, nor
did I see a committee report discussing this decision and whether you
would be allowed to do that or not!

Quote
I will continue with the Group but not quite to the
same extent as in the past.

Boy oh boy, I don't know what it says about a group when the list owner
abandons ship!

Quote
DW asked "can we still go the the rallies"

Well she can, but the jury is still on you!

Quote
We wanted to downsize and the Itasca, which was just announced on Sept
15, is about 5 feet shorter. It has one slide and is 27 ft 10 inches
long. It is, of course, on the Ford E450 but with a GCWR of 22,000 lbs
(new for 2011) and GVWR of 14,500 lbs.

Wow, it sounds like a well done unit with the numbers you've quoted. I
sure hope it works out well for you. I guess you'll have a pretty good
shake down cruise with it going to Florida.

Quote
It doesn't have an inverter - but
we never used the one in the Jayco in almost 3.5 years - so no issue.

Agreed. I've never used mine either. Well, I did try to run a coffee pot
off it once and it wouldn't do it. I guess it will only handle the
little TV.....I'd rather have it work for the coffee pot. After running
extension cords up to that overhead plug it was really disappointing to
find it wouldn't work.

Quote
The first thing that really annoyed me was finding out that power door
locks meant that when you pushed the button inside the door both doors
unlocked. It did not mean that we had a key fob for remote unlocking.

That sure seems like a silly thing for Ford to have missed.

Quote
the switch on the dash above the radio that says "vehicle" and "house"
is a dummy.

Boy it's tough letting a straight line like that go :-)

Quote
We drove 120 miles home from the dealer yesterday and I was pleased that
it handled much better than I expected. It does have Firestone Airbags.
It was very windy for the first 60 or so miles and 18 wheelers were
moving around much more than we were and when they passed us we weren't
blown around very much.

That's a pretty good first road test.

Quote
After deducting for a full tank of water, full fuel,
factory options and the weights of Bev, Phil and I we will have 1950 lbs
for "stuff." That will be more than enough.

That seem generous enough. I can't remember the model, but recently in
either Motorhome or Trailer Life there was a unit that ended up with
about 600 pounds.....pretty bad.

Quote
So, as Paul Harvie would always say - "now you have the rest of the story."

Well it just shows we can't take our eyes off you for a minute or you're
out looking for trouble!

We hope to be at The Great Outdoors in Titusville for Christmas. Not set
in stone yet, but we're laying the foundation :-)

Take care,
Greg

Re: Announcements

Reply #9 –
Yahoo Message Number: 5683
Well, what can I say Greg. Nice comments and put forth in a very novel and interesting manner. Thanks

Update.

Found the DVD skipped the audio for a second every five seconds. Really not useable that way.

Could not get the pilot and copilot overhead lights to work. Switched them off and on and nothing.

When driving, the TV in galley on swing arm kept swinging.

Could not check the fridge. Tried AC and it wouldn't work. Tried propane and still would not work. No error message - temp just would not drop. Got out my iPad as I had downloaded a Clinometer a few months ago and checked the slope (our driveway is not flat). Ah, it was 5% - notes in the manual say it will not work when left to right is more than 3% or front to back (when facing fridge) is more than 6%.

The real scary problem came next. We were checking the water system. Seemed to work fine until DW noticed water running out from under the wall of the bathroom. Turned the hose off pronto. Investigated and all we could see was that it was coming out from under the sink in the bathroom. Panic time. Called the dealer and said I'd have it back the next morning. He said see you tomorrow.

Left before 7AM and arrived at the dealer at 8:55 AM (120 miles).

On the way we had the fridge on with propane - down to 10 deg F in the freezer and main section well under 40 deg F. So it works on propane. We assume it will work on electricity - when we can try it.

Dealer looked at the cab lights. He said you have to turn the little wheel next to the head light switch. Arghhhh. They were not Winnie lights they were Ford's and just like any car you roll the wheel that adjusts the light level on the dash and the last click turns on the cab lights. So, they work after all.

DVD player - he looked to see if he could do a swap. Wow, what a bundle of wires though because of the surround sound. I went to do something else and when I came back he said it was working. I asked if he swapped it out. No, just hit the HDMI feature when selected source. Well, I'd hit video 1. It works fine using HDMI. Another non-problem. Hmmmm. Maybe I should read the $%% manual - but time is short and the way they are doing it now it is huge.

Swing arm - they made some mods to a bolt with with a rubber foot so it could go closer to the wall - now locks tight and no more swinging.

The big problem. Fixed quickly. Winnie had, for some strange reason used a T junction in the plumbing when it was not needed and put a cap on the end of the T not used. When the dealer checked the water system they did it by putting 1/3 tank in and using the pump. When we connected to the city water the pressure was greater and it blew the cap off. They put it on securely. Appears problem solved (if not we are going to have a lousy trip to FLA - maybe I'll add to the tank and use the pump until we get there).

We were out of the service department and back on the road home by 10 AM.

I had to joke with them a bit about our previous dealer where we bought our Journey 39W, Ambassador 40PLQ and the Jayco 32SS. If I'd called them in a similar situation last night the service writer would have said "just a second and I'll check our book. Ok, I have an open spot in early December."

Travelling east to the dealer the Scan Gauge said we were getting 9.3 average for the trip there. The return dropped it to 8.9 roundtrip as we encountered heavy winds for 2/3rds of the trip home. I was pleased that 18 wheelers did not have a huge impact on us as to pushing us around in the lane. I would regularly watch the instant MPG whenever an 18 wheeler would come up behind us. The Scan Gauge would be around 8.7 but would start dropping as he overtook us (we were travelling at 60 on cruise control) and the head wind hitting the truck moved onto us. In one case I had to laugh. MPG dropped to almost 6 mpg. When the truck got ahead of us in one case he pulled over into our lane very quickly. The impact of his draft was amazing as the Scan Gauge MPG jumped to 12+ and stayed that way until the gap widened. I'm kind of wondering about following a truck to FLA. Oh, better yet, I'll drive in Dave Sparke's draft and save a bundle. :)

Anyway, again I was happy with the handling.

IF, and it is a BIG IF, we don't encounter anymore quality issues (and the water is really the only one of relevance so far) it will be a big change from our 2004 Journey which had one problem after another. When you get down to 27 ft 10 inches you start to get compromises. In this case they sacrificed the lounge but they really did a good job of the bedroom. It has three large windows and those on each side open. There are roller blinds - doubles - with black sunscreen on the outside and solid white on the inside. They are very smooth and I don't know why the entire industry hasn't gone to these. Mattress seems very much to our liking and head and shoulders over the mattress in the 32SS (we'll find out for sure Monday night). With the Scan Gauge I could check revs at 60 accurately (turns out speedo is off 2 mph at 60 when benched against the ScanGauge and GPS) and with the ScanGauge and GPS showing 60 the rpm shows 2300. Overall cab noise is down from the 32SS because of no noticeable driveline whine.

Thursday we had the transmission fluid in our Escape lowered to the required level for towing. Tomorrow we are going to connect the toad and do a test drive. We still have to carry on with our fingers crossed. I always said I'd never get a new MH just before heading south. So much for my promises to myself.

Thank goodness this small dealer is very responsive and the two brothers who operate it really want to help and have happy customers. Only thing I could ask for would be a shorter distance to their facility (it is the closest Winnie dealer to us in Canada). In the Windsor area we only have one motorized RV dealer - he had Gulfstream until a year or two back and dropped them and picked up Coachmen. Well, he is also the only dealer in Ontario for Jayco's Class A DPs - but I don't know if he has sold any yet. I can't figure that one since he has no service facilities - he farms out his service to a trailer dealer about 15 miles away. Lots of trailer dealers in the area though. The Jayco dealer that is 900 yards from our home brought in 6 motorhomes late last year. They didn't understand that motorhomes can sit around for a year or more before they sell, which I'm told is not the case with much lower priced towables. (BTW, last week Olson of Winnie said the average age of MHs on their dealers' lots has now dropped below one year.) This spring they ended up selling them off at their cost and they have not ordered any replacements. They said they'd order anything I wanted. Yipdeedoo.

So, that is where we are now. I should point out that had Ron been in my shoes, he'd probably have taken the Itasca apart twice by now and put it back together to suit his tastes. :) (Right Ron?)

Don

ps. When you are in FLA at Xmas we'll be back north with our family.

pps. One other point. In 2003 a few months after we got our first used MH we were in the Atlantic Provinces and went to a campground south of Halifax. It is called the Ovens - right on the Atlantic Ocean on cliffs with nice blowholes. This campground is owned by Harry Chapin's brother and his wife. Parked next to us was a young couple with a fairly new Airstream Class A DP (which I, as a lowly gasser owner was admiring). I got to chatting with the fellow. He told me that when he recently traded he actually wanted a brand other than Airstream. His problem was that he was President of the Owners' Club and really enjoyed it so he couldn't change brands. My thought then was that I could not imagine anyone making a purchase decision involving over $200k on a club membership. I've got to say, the same logic had me thinking the past few weeks.

Re: Announcements

Reply #10 –
Yahoo Message Number: 5684
I should point out that had Ron been in my shoes, he'd probably have taken the Itasca apart twice by now and put it back together to suit his tastes. :) (Right Ron?)
Not sure about tearing apart. I may have read the manual though. :D
Best
Ron Hall

Re: Announcements

Reply #12 –
Yahoo Message Number: 5686
Past Member Don wrote:

Quote
Got out my iPad as I had downloaded a Clinometer a few months ago and
checked the slope (our driveway is not flat).

I've got a couple of those apps for my iPhone that come in very handy.

Quote
The big problem. Fixed quickly. Winnie had, for some strange reason used
a T junction in the plumbing when it was not needed and put a cap on the
end of the T not used.

Probably a case of having thousands of them in stock and no elbows, so......

Quote
We were out of the service department and back on the road home by 10 AM.

Sounds like they fixed it all in about 15 minutes....impressive :-) Sure
is nice they responded they way they did.

Quote
Travelling east to the dealer the Scan Gauge said we were getting 9.3
average for the trip there. The return dropped it to 8.9 roundtrip as we
encountered heavy winds for 2/3rds of the trip home.

Just like printing money :-)

Quote
I'm kind of wondering about following a
truck to FLA. Oh, better yet, I'll drive in Dave Sparke's draft and save
a bundle. :)

NOW you're thinking like a list owner! :-)

Quote
you get down to 27 ft 10 inches you start to get compromises. In this
case they sacrificed the lounge but they really did a good job of the
bedroom.

Did you say the other day that the front seats on this one spin around
to face the interior? That's a pretty big plus for a class C coach.

Quote
Mattress seems very much to our
liking and head and shoulders over the mattress in the 32SS

Yeah, I keep threatening to replace that, it sure doesn't win any awards.

Quote
Overall cab noise is down from the 32SS because of no
noticeable driveline whine.

That would be nice, the whine does get old, especially if you do a 10
hour day or so.

Quote
always said I'd never get a new MH just before heading south. So much
for my promises to myself.

Like my shakedown cruise with the Greyhawk going on a 5000 mile trip out
west and back. Stupid.

Quote
Thank goodness this small dealer is very responsive and the two brothers
who operate it really want to help and have happy customers.

No doubt a failed business plan, who could make money keeping customers
happy?

Quote
So, that is where we are now. I should point out that had Ron been in my
shoes, he'd probably have taken the Itasca apart twice by now and put it
back together to suit his tastes. :) (Right Ron?)

If you had been thinking, you would have had it delivered to Ron's house
and then picked up when he was done :-)

Quote
ps. When you are in FLA at Xmas we'll be back north with our family.

Oh yeah, I forgot that every time we go to FL for Christmas (every other
year) you make a run for places far away. I should get a message from
that :-)

Quote
This campground is owned by Harry Chapin's brother
and his wife.

Neat, I used to go to a club in Plattsburgh, NY where Harry and his
brothers played. It was a small neighborhood bar that's still there.
After Harry made it big and wanted to get away from the hub-bub of the
city he used to come up to Plattsburgh and hang out with my sister and
her friends. I was just the little brother in college at the time.

Quote
change brands. My thought then was that I could not imagine anyone
making a purchase decision involving over $200k on a club membership.
I've got to say, the same logic had me thinking the past few weeks.

Just think of the money you spent just so you could try to get away from us.

Take care,
Greg

Re: Announcements

Reply #13 –
Yahoo Message Number: 5687
Ron the diplomat wrote:

Quote
Not sure about tearing apart. I may have read the manual though.

Nice way of saying RTFM!!!!! :-)

Take care,
Greg

Re: Announcements

Reply #14 –
Yahoo Message Number: 5688
Dave Sparke wrote:

Quote
Huh? Are we supposed to do that?

Manuals are like speed limits - a guideline :-)

Take care,
Greg

Re: Announcements

Reply #15 –
Yahoo Message Number: 5689
DW had some good chuckles. When do you start your new career as a script writer for SNL? :)

Don

Ps. Front seats do swivel but driver's won't go full 180 but copilot does. Actually comfortable and good view of the TV but for older folks (that means me) getting out of the seat is fun.

Re: Announcements

Reply #16 –
Yahoo Message Number: 5692
We need them to come so Phil can pick a resturant for us !!!!!!!!!!

Re: Announcements

Reply #17 –
Yahoo Message Number: 5693
Gary, I'll let Phil know your views - he will be flattered. :)

Don

Re: Announcements

Reply #18 –
Yahoo Message Number: 5713
I hope you are happy with the downsize as we tried that once and were very disappointed so went back to full size. We are going to foretravel in January to see what we can have one custom built for. Probably will be out of our price range but will see. Dane

Re: Announcements

Reply #19 –
Yahoo Message Number: 5722
Dane, a fellow at our park in FLA (he owns 6 lots) had a lovely custom painted Foretravel. He told me his previous Foretravel lasted him 18 years and he'd never be able to outlive this one. Well, two years ago he disappeared (with his MH) for a month. Came back and things seemed normal until someone asked me if I'd seen Chet's new coach. I looked dumbfounded since he didn't have a new one. Turns out he was in Tx watching it being built to his specs - which included the same color scheme. He wanted heated marble floors and a host of other options. Laid out over $600k. It has a huge Cummins engine with over 500 hp as well.

We have a 500 sq ft Park Model on the lot next ot our MH lot. We are putting an additon on it shortly taking it up to 750 sq ft (seems kind of small compared with the condo we had in Sarasota that was 2200 sq ft). Won't bring the new MH down once that is done. As it is now Bev and I are in the PM and Phil is in the MH. It is good independent living experience for him.

Don

Re: Announcements

Reply #20 –
Yahoo Message Number: 5732
We are coming to Fla. to Black Lake Lodge and RV Resort the end of Feb - sometime in March depending on the fishing. How far are you from there ( nine miles from Okeechobee). Dane

Re: Announcements

Reply #21 –
Yahoo Message Number: 5733
About 140 Miles. We will be back north at the end of Feb for about a week. Have a grandson due at the end of Jan.

Don