Jim
Forum Replies Created
-
Nothing could be more ridiculous.
The only thing separating Northern La from the Southern regions is cuisine. The Southern area has more Cajun type food and people…
Great area …
Pres
-
A 2000 Featherlite Vogue recently sold for $35,000 in our area. As I understood the situation, it hadn’t been used regularly for a while and probably needed some “aged out things” addressed as well as some outside and inside repair work.
I kindest thing I can say is that whether its a Featherlite Vogue or a Country Coach Concept, its a Prevost Wannabe. If you had stopped by our coach while we were at the Oneida Casino RV lot on Saturday night to talk to me about this coach, I would have said the same thing. There might not be too much wrong with a Prevost Wannabe, if it can be bought for the right price (which I don’t know what that is, but certainly well south of a comparable Prevost).
Was the Featherlite Vogue or Country Coach Concept chassis built to the same specs, parts and pieces, and attention to detail as a true Prevost chassis? I don’t know the answer. Maybe someone who has had one or if Jeff Rowe has had them in his shop, they might offer their opinion.
Was the Featherlite Vogue or Country Coach Concept “conversion” turned out with the same craftsmanship, components, do-dads, technology, engineering, and fore-thought as a Marathon or Liberty or Beaver or any of the other Prevost converters put into their conversions? Good question. Vogue was Harvey Mitchell who converted Prevosts as Vogue conversions. Featherlite bought Vantare which was owned by Mike Guth and he converted Prevosts. Country Coach converted lots of Prevosts; so both should have known what “right is”. So the Featherlite Vogue or Country Coach Concept wasn’t like you and I meeting at WIR and deciding to build motorcoaches in the Town of Howard in a pole building heated with a wood stove.
While we were searching for our Prevost I was made aware of what I think was a really, really nice Country Coach Concept that was owned by a well known person in the Milwaukee area. A mutual friend put a really, really hard sell on me to buy it. I think both of them are first class individuals. But I had to tell them it was probably a good coach, but it wasn’t a Prevost … which they had a little trouble understanding.
The posts I read on PC and POG as well as a number of phone conversations with Geo Prentice regarding Prevost vs non-Prevost convinced me to go the way we went. Going in a different direction might work out for you, or it might not.
Think about service. Are you comfortable taking a Country Coach Concept coach to the #1 RV service facility in Green Bay or to say Horn’s in Sheboygan? Would they know what to do? Or would they be going to school on you. Prevost just opened up a service facility in the Chicago area. I don’t know if I’m going to use it or not, but that’s close to both of us. ETLC is about 700 miles from me, that’s 800 from you in GRB. But I know when I go there, Jeff has 25 (maybe 30 years now) experience working on Prevosts, Prevosts are 99% of his business, and he knows all the conversions well. I keep reading that in a pinch we should be able to take our Prevosts to just about any seated coach operator running Prevosts that take in outside work. Can you do that with a Featherlite Vogue or a Country Coach Concept? I don’t know.
While I can’t share any real life experiences, I hope I’ve raised some questions for you to think about to help you make a good decision. Good luck with your deliberations.
-
Tim,
Thanks for the camera info.
Our current camera was replaced somewhere along the way, but has so
much glare from the reflection of the Lights at night it is totally useless.
-
Thanks much.
Pull the high and low speed relays. Start the engine and see if the fan is still locked in on one of the speeds. If it is then there must be a short to ground on the wire from the relay to the fan clutch itself. If it just free wheels, then there may be an open between the ECM and the relays on either wire 555 (low speed) and 565 (high speed ).
I pulled relays 78 and 79 and had my wife crank the bus. The fan was immediately engaged. If I understand correctly, I now need to be looking for one of the wires going between relay 78 or 79 and the fan clutch that may be shorted to ground? Or is the wire I am looking for going to the fan clutch from another source?
Am I looking for a broken wire? A wire with the copper exposed and touching metal? Something else entirely? Or any of the above?
Davy
-
Saw another forum the Mercedes diesels are not approved for anything over bio diesel 5. That would be a hard find just looking for bio 5. Word has it will effect the warranty.
-
I’m originating the content from an iPhone.
Honestly, it’s been quite a few months since I set this up and I’ll need to get back on the bus to remember exactly how I did it!
-
The only products that I know are safe on tires and protect from UV damage are “303 Areospace Protectant” and Aero Cosmetics’ “Rubber Care”.
Wash Wax All from Aero Cosmetics is used by the Air Force One Squadron along with a number of cleaning supplies designed for aircraft use such as Rubber Care.
Soap and water and a good scrubbing are my only hints at cleaning the surface of a tire.
-
The more I read the happier I am with my set up.
Phone on when I want to make a call.
Jet pack on when I want to connect to the internet.
If they don’t work, oh well.
-
P.S. The reason I asked if this would be your first motorhome was that if so, then definitely go with a pre-owned model. This way, if you’re enjoying the bus, then when it’s time to upgrade, you’ll have a pretty good idea of which features and layout works best for your lifestyle.
My Prevost is my second bus and my first Prevost. I chose to purchase a pre-owned 2014 Marathon with less than 40K on the odometer that I found at last year’s show. I feel like I purchased a very good value, but if I was build my own bus, there are some things I would consider doing a bit differently.
-
Glad to help fellows! I wish I would have taken a few more pictures along the way, but it was pretty straight forward so nothing else stood out to me as warranting a photo while we were working on it. I just have a couple from before I took anything apart as a reference.
-
Count us in. Might have to cancel in the event our pool contractor schedules an install same time. Will hopefully know well in advance. Hope no conflicts come up!
-
Does going to single pane have any downsides? I would imagine that single pane windows are going to be more prone to condensation on the inside of the windows, especially in colder weather and lots of people in the coach (or when cooking the right stuff). But if one tends to minimize operating the coach in cold weather and minimizes the number number of people in the coach, that should reduce the condensation events.
Maybe I’ve talked myself out of the need for two pane/thermopane side windows in the coach and we should be able to live with single pane windows.
Does anyone have any insight into why there isn’t a good, working, reliable two pane/thermopane fix for these windows? Are the seals necessary to keep moisture out from between the two panes of glass forever doomed because of the movement and flexing as the coach goes down the road?
You boys and girls with relatively new coaches … say 2014 or 2015 or newer, I wonder how long the seals on your two pane/thermopane windows are going to last.
-
Pres, I’m sure you’ve thought of this, you should have a good radiator shop close locally that can recore yours. Just a thought.
Over the years I’ve always had good luck up here with Omaha Radiator.
-
Dick,
This looks like a “Dolphin” MH … I had one in my early Army days.
Who knows, this may be my old MH 🙂
-
Mike and Karen’s coach is sparkling clean, Phil and Joanne’s not so much.