The Job Jar
There is always something. A truth in the world of the Motorcoach owner. Ongoing maintenance and resolving outstanding issues are an integral part of the ownership experience and, if you don’t set your expectations accordingly, then the lifestyle is going to be frustrating.
After completing a journey of several thousand kilometres from Canada to Florida, I expected to have a list. And I do.
Oasis heating system. I’m really not very happy with ITR. They delivered a heating system which included defective pumps and, rather than do the right thing and recall the faulty pumps, they let their customers experience pump failures and then they make them pay an inflated price to replace them. I’ve replaced two of the three pumps. And, predictably, when we needed heat, the third pump failed. I will replace that pump at my leisure sometime over the next few months. We won’t need furnace heat while we are in Florida. Here is one of many threads about the faulty pumps from ITR.
Blue Ox tow bar. Tow bars, at least the one we own, require regular servicing and inspection. When hooking up our coach, I noticed that the coating on one of the arms was flaking and exposing bare metal. The arms were also very stiff in terms of movement. Time for lubrication and a careful examination to ensure that there are no cracks or fractures in the product. RV Geeks shows you how to lubricate the tow bar:
Tank levels. We never cared for the system that Newmar installed on our coach. Tank levels are shown in one-third increments. Not particularly accurate. Less so now. Despite careful maintenance of our tanks, the sensors for the gray and black tanks have malfunctioned. On our list is a replacement of the factory system with the SeeLevel system. Their sensors are externally mounted and the SeeLevel product is far more accurate than the factory system.
In-dash radio. Simply put, I find the Clarion in-dash radio awful. Terrible ergonomics combined with poor sound quality. I won’t use the radio’s navigation system. Time to replace this device.
Tire pressure gauge. I had been using a trucker gauge but it was really off when setting the tire pressure. For example, when checking the tire pressure on our toad, I had measured 33 PSI on the gauge. Our tire pressure monitors, in-vehicle and through the coach’s onboard TPMS, showed 40 PSI. I’ve already crossed this one off the list. I purchased a high-end precision digital tire gauge: Longacre 52-53028 Tire Gauge Digital 0-125PSI. Despite the expense, I have a weird sense of calm knowing that the tire inflation levels are precise.
Air compressor. We have a Porter and Cable air compressor. It is a big beast. Heavy. Loud. And very slow to inflate. Time to replace this one.
Sewer hose. We bought a new one and now it is time to get another new one. They don’t last and Lorraine really doesn’t like the design of the current one. I have been debating getting a SaniCon system.
Network upgrade. I have been using two network environments within the coach. One for the 2.4G and cellular (Winegard). One for 5G (Ubiquiti). Time to consolidate to a single system. I ordered this system from Livinlite. Arrives next week.
Bike carriers. We have a couple of bikes that we need to carry as we travel. Time to get a hitch and bike rack for the toad.
Update checklists. I have comprehensive checklists for operating the coach. Over the past 10,000 or so miles, there are a few revisions that I need to make to the checklists.
There is always something.
Richard, we have a Thule T2 bike rack and it’s a solid well made rack. It’s easy to use and works well. Had an extension made so that that we can carry the rack and bikes on the back of our rig. The extension is high enough not to impede the toad during turns. When we want to use the bikes locally, I’ll switch it to our Grand Cherokee. The only problem with this setup is that the bike rack needs to be taken off the back our Dutch Star 4328 to check the oil. Had it installed at Dan’s RV Service in Elkhart, IN and should have had them install a hinge so we could tilt the bike rack to check the oil. WIll likely have this done during our 1 yr warranty visit. When it’s on the rig, actually we use a outdoor grill cover secured with bungie cords to protect the bikes.
We have a 2020 Dutch Star (Factory PU past September) which comes with a Sanicon Turbo 700. It’s been a great product for us thus far. If you do go with a Sanicon, I highly recommend getting a fire hose type sleeve, secure it with a typical hose clamp and then use shrink tubing at both ends. This should extend the life or the hose (I hope). Sorry that I don’t have more info on this but a search on the Newmar Owners group in iRV2 should work in obtaining this info.
Hope this helps. I enjoy your posts and fortunately we’ve been lucky thus far with our rig.
Hello Joe,
Thank you for this! Very helpful. I had pretty much decided to keep the rack on the back of our toad as opposed to the coach. But, if we change our minds, we’ll make sure to get a hinge.
I’ve taken a look at the Sani-Con Turbo 700 and I will jump on the iRV2 forum to get more insight on the sleeve.
Congratulations on your new Dutch Star!! We love our coach and we look forward to many more happy years on the road — even with a few issues here and there 🙂