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We encountered some dificulties with our 27k, however we are still very happy with its purchase. We have taken our first trip from Arkansas to Georgia and back again and found the experience to be enjoyable. However, you must expect that your new RV (assuming that is similiar to ours) will need some changes to make the ownership enjoyable.
When I recieved our RV, it was winterized. I had the task of preparing it for our first trip. The hot water was a real challenge because none of the vehicles documentation could explain exactly what must be done to de-winterize the water system. All explainations were generic and other then explaining what must be done, the explainations did little towards explaining how it should be done.
The hot water tank has valves that shunts water past it when winterized. The valves can be found by completely removing the clothes cabinet bottom drawer (foot of the bed) and removing the exposed wooden cover located inside and on the bottom of the drawer cabinet cavity. The valve handles should align with their piping when they are open or be at 90 degrees to their piping when are closed. The valves connected to the pipes that come from the cold water resovior and leave the tank to the sinks should be open while the valve that ties the incomming plumbing to the outfeed plumbing should be closed. This will put your hot water tank into service.
There is a storage drawer located in the first step of the entryway that I used to store some tools. I discovered that when I went artound a corner, the drawer would slide open and bang into the RV's door. I solved this problem by installing an eyebolt on either side of the drawer and then securing the drawer by using a bungi-cord to hold the drawer closed. I brought enough tools to tighten or fix small things that I may discover during ourn trip. I also took a package of spare fuses and a spare flash light.
I purchased bug screens to prevent the entrainment of insects into the areas behind the appliances. In Arkansas, we struggle with "Mud-Daubers" which can become quite a problem. They will pack mud into holes in unbelievable amounts and plug things up so badly that appliances will fail. This was a precautionary thing.
When we took our first trip, we discovered that the galley storage, which slides open to reveal storage shelves, would open and slam into the cabinet door next to the bathroom. This occured whenever the coach swayed badly while crossing driveway entrances/exits that were not exactly level with the street. Tightening the RV's sway bar has helped this problem. Now we tie a wrapped towel around the doors knob so that if it should open again, it will not slam into the opposing cabinet door.
I had to add magnetic latches to the cabine doors located over the eating area because they would open and spill their contents onto the floor. I bought the latches at the local hardware store and installed them myself.
When we puruchased our RV, it was difficult to drive because it wanted to meander all over the place. Driving was a real white-nuckled experience until I discovered the following;
1. The RV was sold to me with the steering alignment of the RV slightly our of adjustment. The "toe-in" was adjusted, which helped stablize the steering. As I discovered, the RV sales location did not (and could not) check the alignment. It requires a truck garage to do the work. It cost me approx $125 to get this done. In my opinioon this is a wortyh while endeavor.
2. When I purchased the RV, I assumed that they would have varified that the tires were inflated to a pressure recommend by Thor. If you look at the tag located inside and directly adjacent to the driver, you will discover a tag that exactly specifies the correct tire pressure. While I was in the middle of my first trip, I decided to stop at a tire shop and have my tire pressure checked. It was discovered that every tire had a different pressure that was higher then the recommended pressure. After insuring that all my tires were inflated exactly to Thor's recommendations, the RV's steering stablized so much, that it actually became fun to drive. Tire inflation seemed to make the most difference with stablizing the steering. I discovered that a 5 PSI pressure difference changes the stearing stablization and as a result, I purchased a 120v air compressor, hose and tire inflation valve so that I can check tire pressure anytime that I desired durring our trips.
3. Even after having the alignment checked and the tires inflated properly, the RV would still tend to steer down ruts and get pushed around by the wind of passing trucks. To help with this problem, I installed a steering control stablizer (Safe-T-Plus) and had the RV's sway bar tightened up. Now I can drive the RV using one hand and I am looking forward to our next trip to Washington state.
There were a few small thing that I was able to take care of with some small tools. One item in particular that I should mention is to have someone insure that the windshield wiper arm nuts are properly tightened. Ours came loose during our trip during a rainstorm in heavy trafic while driving through the center of Memphis, Tenn. which was the kind of excitement that I did not need.
Other then what I have shared, we have had not problems and we are looking forward to using the RV to visit our grandchildren. We are also looking at a cross- country trip to see the Grand Canyon and Mount Rusahmore. I think that the only change that I want to make now is to have the driver's seat tilted back a little more to make myself more comfortable.
In any case, should you like to visit more then please contact us.
Paul and Tatyana Hetzer
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