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Old 04-15-2019, 12:59 PM   #1
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Hurricane 29M
State: Arkansas
Posts: 515
THOR #11266
ACE Owners Report??

Hey all you ACE Owners. I've narrowed down my search and am beginning negotiations. But I've never spoken with an ACE owner. What are your opinions...what do you like and dislike? How is the ride and handling?

I don't want this to turn into a complaint thread about Thor QC. I'm well aware of issues manufavturers have and what we have to do for them. Have a Four Winds and love it. We just want more liveability.

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Old 04-16-2019, 01:55 AM   #2
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: ACE 29.4
State: Mississippi
Posts: 75
THOR #10956
My wife and I own a 2018 ACE 29.4; bought to replace a 37' Alpine fifth wheel. After several long and very enjoyable long trips in the 5ver we decided it was bigger than we needed. We were very cramped in several National Parks and we started shopping as soon as we got back. I looked at more floor plans on more dealer lots and on the internet than I can recall and we settled on the ACE 29.4.

We really like the motor home. The layout works great for us. Like any motohome it was not without issue, but all were taken care of through warranty or were easy enough for me to fix myself. Camping World is a bad word around here but my experience has been positive overall. The biggest issues were the refrigerator (would run on electric or gas, but wouldnt switch to gas when on auto); door alignment (would get stuck closed), USB charging and dash power outlets didn't work - all fixed under warranty. A couple other small cosmetic issues were also resolved by the local CW.

It drives like most other gas motorhomes on Ford chassis, I don't find it bad at all. There are several things you can do to stiffen up the handling, but I haven't felt the need to do any of them thus far. My 29.4 is only 30' feet long, not hard to drive or back up. We drag a 4dr Jeep around, it definetely doesn't pull like my buddies diesel pusher but it gets us where we are going. You are not going to win many 0-60 races, but that's not what you get a motor home for. I don't think it has had anymore problems than any other comparable RVs. I say pick a floor plan and a dealer you like, be prepared for the things that aren't perfect and have fun. Also, be sure you do a thorough PDI, we identified several of our issues and got them resolved. If you have any specific questions just shoot me a message. Welcome, in advave, to the ACE family.
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Old 04-16-2019, 11:45 AM   #3
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: A. C. E. 30.1
State: Indiana
Posts: 164
THOR #1488
They no longer build our model, 30.1 and that is too bad because we really like the way it is laid out. The floor plan is what sold us with everything except the lower cabinets in the bedroom the only things not usable with the slides in. Overall we have been happy with some things that needed attention being done under warranty or fixable by me and never having to go back to the dealer. Thor has been real good about sending parts to replace bad ones so happy with them.
Has the power steering pump develop a leak when only a few miles and later a broken sway bar bracket both replaced by Ford under their warranty. Jim.
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Old 04-16-2019, 11:46 AM   #4
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Brand: Still Looking
State: Missouri
Posts: 425
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I have a 2017 29.3. We downed sizes from a 35' 5er, and not sorry we did . We have put many miles on so far 16000 with no major problems. We have had to reattach some of the trim moulding and work out some other small maintenance issues.

I am sure you have read about handling issues and the fix for that. I myself have not found handling a issue. I guess it's all about how one drives, driving the hilly winding roads in the Ozarks helps with the learning curve.

Would I buy another ACE yes
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Old 04-16-2019, 12:57 PM   #5
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: A.C.E. 29.2
State: Oklahoma
Posts: 190
THOR #2542
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fish and Dear View Post
Hey all you ACE Owners. I've narrowed down my search and am beginning negotiations. But I've never spoken with an ACE owner. What are your opinions...what do you like and dislike? How is the ride and handling?



I don't want this to turn into a complaint thread about Thor QC. I'm well aware of issues manufavturers have and what we have to do for them. Have a Four Winds and love it. We just want more liveability.


We’re starting our 5th year of ownership of our 2013 A.C.E. 29.2. We bought it used with 9,700 miles on the clock. It’s relatively small but just right for the 2 of us. We’ve dealt with several systems issues but there’ve been no show stoppers.

I’ve added additional soundproofing under the doghouse which should help on the road, front end alignment, Safe-T-Plus steering stabilizer, cheap handling fix, and will replace the shocks this year at just over 50K miles. We easily pull a 6 speed Mini Cooper 4 down.

With over 25 states and Canada in our logbook, count us in the happy column.
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Old 04-16-2019, 02:12 PM   #6
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: ACE 29.2
State: Florida
Posts: 62
THOR #14140
like our ACE

we bought used 29.2 Ace and are happy with it. Small issues but no deal breakers by any stretch of the imagination. would buy again.
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Old 04-16-2019, 03:48 PM   #7
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: ACE 30.1
State: Colorado
Posts: 388
THOR #5190
We have a 2017 ACE 30.1 that we’ve had for about 2-1/2 years and put about 8000 miles on it. We’ve had minimal problems so far, but have made a lot of improvements. Overall, the coach is pretty much what we were looking for and we expected to need to do some upgrades.

Two only things I might like to have known about are

The overhead bunk is only rated for 250 pounds. I think the Hurricanes (which are much the same coach) have a 500 pound rated bunk design. You might look at the 29M and see what they offer.

I didn’t appreciate what a pig the F-53 chassis is when it comes to handling. Power is OK, but requires some patience climbing the big passes. I had to make several suspension upgrades to get it to where its drivable without having to fight the rig. These are described below.

Problems - all of which I fixed myself. We bought it a CW and I’ve avoided even trying to get warranty work done. Fortunately that wasn’t an issue.

I found that 3 of the 120 VAC breakers had wiring landed on the wrong breakers. The hot water heater, converter and the driver’s side outlets were on the wrong breakers. Fixed that myself

One of the blinds had one of its cord guides pull out of the wall. DW didn’t like them anyway and she replaced all of the blinds and the front curtains with new ones she made. From what I read, the front curtains don’t stand up to the sun and need to be replaced after a few years anyway.

The batteries only lasted less than 6 months. I replaced them with a pair of Interstate 6 volt batteries. I changed the OEM WFCO converter with a Progressive Dynamics. Harris (battery OEM) usually doesn’t honor warranties and point to the WFCO converter as the battery killer. So I replaced both

You will want to improve the suspension as the F-53 chassis has handling issues. The steering wanders, the shocks aren’t really up to the weight of the box that Thor puts on the chassis and the coach is really sensitive to passing trucks and wind gusts. This is going to apply to just about any gas motor home on an F-53 chassis.

Suspension upgrades I did (so far)

Had the coach aligned (Thor doesn’t do an alignment after putting several tons on the chassis)

Installed a Safe-T-Plus steering stabilizer - took care of steering wander

Installed a SuperSteer rear track bar - locks the box to the frame so passing trucks and wind gusts won’t wag the tail and try and drag you off the road. Massive improvement

Replaced the OEM Bilstein shocks with a set of Koni FSD’s. Improved the ride and reduced porpoising when crossing bumps and expansion joints.

Current looking at putting on a set of Sumo Springs as I still thing sway on turns is too much - we drive on a lot of mountain roads.

We also changed out the jack-knife couch and installed a pair of RecPro recliners. Big, big improvement. Bunch of other more minor improvements which weren’t related to coach quality - mostly electrical such as solar and battery monitors.
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Old 04-16-2019, 11:25 PM   #8
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Hurricane 29M
State: Arkansas
Posts: 515
THOR #11266
Quote:
Originally Posted by be happy View Post
I have a 2017 29.3. We downed sizes from a 35' 5er, and not sorry we did . We have put many miles on so far 16000 with no major problems. We have had to reattach some of the trim moulding and work out some other small maintenance issues.

I am sure you have read about handling issues and the fix for that. I myself have not found handling a issue. I guess it's all about how one drives, driving the hilly winding roads in the Ozarks helps with the learning curve.

Would I buy another ACE yes
Well we frequently travel in the Ozarks. All those westerners who laugh at our "mountains" need to drive a rig int he Ozarks or Appalachians. It's a whole different animal. I think that is why I don't understand the handling issues people describe. Seems par for the course to me.
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Old 04-17-2019, 07:40 PM   #9
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: 2013 ACE 30.1
State: Alberta
Posts: 1,410
THOR #2631
Well I don’t want to jinx the ride, but so far our 2013 ACE 30.1 (built 2012) has been practically trouble free (knocking on wood now). Dealer replaced a leaking kitchen sink tap with an upgrade prior to our walk through and we had the BCC (battery Control Center ) replaced under warrantee by Thor within a week of owning in 2012 (coach latching relay failed in our driveway).....less labor to change the whole BCC for Thor.


After year one, even though these OEM items were still working, I replaced the OEM water pump (to Shurflo), the OEM converter to Progressive Dynamics Intellipower with remote; added a Progressive Industries surge/power monitor. We still have the original Harris coach batteries......still working fine (not a big boondocker though). Just installed a new chassis battery today in fact, even though the OEM Ford battery was still fine (don’t want to push my luck there). Also replaced the TV's. Ironically the OEM Jensen radio still works fine... shhhhh.........



We like the 30.1 floor plan; would like it better if the rear pass through could have remained though. Exterior body is still looking pretty good after 7 years with normal minor chips from road travel. The one thing we note is the original paint is flaking off the plastic roof edge trim runners and plastic roof covers that happened to have been painted body color at the factory. Clearly not the correct paint for plastic. Besides the yearly roof clean and inspection by yours truly I have noted body caulking starting to need refreshing especially wheel flares and some body mouldings. Rear tail light lenses were a must do years ago.


I find old Ford cars (Crown Vics etc) that I have owned always had sloppy steering boxes and this F53 chassis is no different to me. I did the CHF front and back and don’t have any issues with truck air wash, but strong cross winds do require a reduced speed and strong arm on the steering. Have never done an alignment and it drives fine under normal conditions.


Based on the DW and my experience with this coach I would buy it again......however, from what I am seeing on this forum for new coaches (of all types) it seems Thor quality control is getting worse not better with time.
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