Looking at a Vegas 2018

[K2Whire]

Hello all. Not an RUV owner yet. Leaning toward a new 2018 Vegas. After reading as many posts about the Vegas I have a couple questions. There are 3 mods I’d want before I drive it. Helwig sway bars (1 3/8 front , 1 1/2 rear), Safe-T-Plus steering controller/stabilizer (White) and front and rear black 47 SumoSprings. My questions to the forum are, does mods like these affect manufacturer warranty and is it reasonable practice to ask the dealer to add these upgrades to the purchase agreement. I’d like to do do this before I take delivery having never driven anything this big. Lastly, if this intro thread is an inappropriate place to ask forgive me. Also regarding manufacturer warranty. They still honor the same warranty since it’s a 2018 never been owned or is the manufacurer warranty already past based solely on its age. Thanks K2

[JamieGeek]

Welcome to the forums. You've come to the right place.

If you haven't already, download and read Ed's excellent crowd sourced Axis/Vegas owner's manual found here:
http://www.thorforums.com/forums/f10...nual-4961.html
You'll find a ton of information about Axis/Vegas units in there.

I would recommend you also have the dealer do an alignment if you're having them do all that suspension work (alignment before any work).

I believe having the dealer perform the work wouldn't void the warranty (even if they don't do the work it probably won't void the warranty). Especially since all the stuff you're asking is mods to the Ford Chassis which almost never has any issues to begin with (issues that would require warranty work that is).

[paulwadley]

Remember that after you fully load your mh to have an alignment completed. The mh is aligned at the factory in a fully empty condition. Once it is fully loaded (propane, water and fill the black/grey water tanks) the alignment changes. I learned that the hard way once and it cost me $750.00 for two new front tires and an alignment.

[Oneilkeys]

Welcome to the forum. This thread is a great place to start. As far as the warranty, as long as the coach has not been previously titled, it is “new” and the warranty starts the day you buy it. I bought a three year old coach that had been tied up in a dealer bankruptcy and it still was “new”. For the upgrades, if you are buying from a local dealer, the might agree to do the upgrades you listed - if you agreed to pay for them, but most dealers do hot seem to want to perform major mods.

Many people have done the mods you listed and have been very happy with the result. Others of us have not modified the suspension system at all and have not had any problems. I have driven a Vegas and an Axis over 65,000 miles - including a 14,000 mile trip to Alaska - and have not seen the need for the mods. Just one man’s opinion.

[Oneilkeys]

I completely agree with having an alignment done as soon as possible from a trusted truck alignment shop that does them routinely. That and adding a tire minder or similar system are the best things you can do for tire safety and longevity.

[taylorbob1]

Warranty on a new RV...

The first “in-Service” date is the start date for all warranty.

So, in your case, you purchase the 2018-Vegas today and your warranty will start today

1 year from THOR
3 years or 36K from FORD

A 2018 FORD chassis is probably built in 2017
But that doesn’t matter.
The start date in this example will be today on a new RV

[Mr Sunshine]

Welcome to the forum, K2! You started off with some great questions.

We bought our 2016 Vegas new from a dealer in the spring of 2015, picked it up in June. We wanted leveling jacks, and worked that into the purchase. A friend worked the heavier front and back sway bars and worked that into his deal. So yeah, both our dealers were happy to do these modifications that we paid for.

I'd suggest you also price a 2019 unit. When I was shopping for mine in March, I didn't pay much more for the newer rig. It will always have more resale value than the older model.

We had a trade and couldn't get the deal we wanted from any of the local dealers. Total Value RV in Elkhart was good on the outright price, but we ended up with a dealer in Ohio who gave us the best deal with trade. Shop around, the closest dealer isn't always going to offer the best deal.

We put about 30K on our Vegas so far, and just now are upgrading those front and rear sway bars. Soon we'll be heading into some windy territory.

[The Gritz Carlton]

Originally Posted by taylorbob1

Warranty on a new RV...

The first “in-Service” date is the start date for all warranty.

So, in your case, you purchase the 2018-Vegas today and your warranty will start today

1 year from THOR
3 years or 36K from FORD

A 2018 FORD chassis is probably built in 2017
But that doesn’t matter.
The start date in this example will be today on a new RV

Make sure you verify the dealer actually files for the warranty with Ford and Thor. Registering with Thor is usually not an issue but many forget or don't take the time to go the route with Ford. You can ask the dealer for copies of the paperwork or emails and also follow up with Ford a few days after purchase to make sure they have it registered. Otherwise, it will be on file with Ford for the date they delivered it to Thor.

[Bob Denman]

Welcome to our side of the Kiddie Pool, and have fun shopping!

[K2Whire]

Thank you all for the great advice. The dealer says no problem with ordering and installing the mods and will roll it up into our financing. hopefully I’m picking the right parts # and sizes for the Thor 24.1 Vegas

DRIVING ESSENTIALS (parts only) $1819.10
sway bars:
Helwig
1 3/8 front (part 7718) 267.48
1 1/2 rear (part 7180) 307.86
= $575.3

Steering controller/stabilizer
Safe-T-Plus
part 4180 (white) $520
mnts 61$
= $581

Load Springs
SumoSprings
Front - (black) part # SSF-106-47 - $156.38
rear – (black) part# SSF-106-47 $516.38
= $672.76

Seen discussion on using the yello sumo on the front but is reall that big a differences as opposes to using the same black 37 on all 4
Front end alignment before the work is done. Totally don’t understand the logic here since your doing another front end alignment once the work is done and weighted down with all the tanks full.
________________________________________
Additional parts :
Water Pressure regulator system:
Valterra $51.86
Water filter $16.79
90 brass elbow $5
=73.65

Wired surge suppressor
Surge guard part #34950 (SG-hardwired) – $189.99 with $119.00 external monitor

Hughes Autoformer RV2130-SP 363$

Progressive Industries EMS-PT30C Portable $257
= 1002.64
MaaxAirCovers (have not determine which or part#
Improved sewer hose or entire system (undecided)

Flow-rite rv2000 battery quick fill

TPM monitoring system

Levelers undecided

The I will be ready for pre-inspection

That should cover the basics
Kristian White

[Muggs]

We have had our 24.1 3 years now and almost 24,000 miles.

Once the crown wore off front tires have not really done anything beyond set tire pressure to weight and add a reflex damper.

We are on an e450 chassis and frequently run towing a 5200 to 5500 lb open race trailer. Even at 18,500 lbs combined weight unit drives good and it is easy to pass, merge and cruise over 75 MPH. We seem to get same mileage whether towing or not. The generator has a bigger impact on mileage than trailer.

Unit gets out a minimum of twice a month to local races, frequently more.

I have thought about adding the bigger sway bars at some point but once used to handling, I can drive 10 to 16 hours without tiring. Same with the sumo springs, not needed yet even carrying a bunch of spares for racecar.

I hope you had as good of luck as we have had with ours.

[Pabs4]

Welcome and congrats! You will learn a great deal from the experienced people in this forum! We purchased our first RV a few months ago. If you can get the vin# for your chassis you can follow this link and get the specs for your specific RV chassis.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/vindecoder.php

Our Vegas is on an E450 chassis and it came with factory installed front and rear anti-sway/roll bars. It also came with factory installed HD shocks. When we test drove it there was a lot of play in the steering wheel. We also got shoved all around by wind and 18 wheelers on our way home with our new purchase. With all of the traffic and construction on I-10 my husband was exhausted by the time we got home. We had an alignment done after loading it and we added a steering stabilizer and a rear trac bar. The handling has greatly improved. Good luck!

[bevedfelker]

K2Whire -- There is a Ford FCS-900 Form process that your dealer should complete. This form sent to Ford readjusts your warranty start date. This process compensates the start date to the date you purchase (regardless of the Form chassis manufacture date). It also subtracts the delivery mileage that was put on your RV in driving it from the Thor factory to the dealer.

Here is the link to download the manual I compiled (as recommended by JamieGeek):
https://1drv.ms/b/s!AiYx6DLSeiiPgYBSfmvPhwGsR_0TkQ

This manual was compiled from all kinds of user suggestions, recommendations, ideas, lesson-learned, etc. It contains lots of info that you will not find in any manufacturer's manual. The thread with this link is in the Motorhome Tech Topic section of this forum. It has been viewed over 17.000 times. More than 3000 owners have downloaded it and I have forwarded copies in email to around 1600 other owners.

Welcome to the forum and enjoy your new Vegas. We have had ours for 4 years and we have about 19,600 miles on it. My wife & I (and our two bichons love it).

[Pabs4]

Originally Posted by bevedfelker

K2Whire -- There is a Ford FCS-900 Form process that your dealer should complete. This form sent to Ford readjusts your warranty start date. This process compensates the start date to the date you purchase (regardless of the Form chassis manufacture date). It also subtracts the delivery mileage that was put on your RV in driving it from the Thor factory to the dealer.

Here is the link to download the manual I compiled (as recommended by JamieGeek):
https://1drv.ms/b/s!AiYx6DLSeiiPgYBSfmvPhwGsR_0TkQ

This manual was compiled from all kinds of user suggestions, recommendations, ideas, lesson-learned, etc. It contains lots of info that you will not find in any manufacturer's manual. The thread with this link is in the Motorhome Tech Topic section of this forum. It has been viewed over 17.000 times. More than 3000 owners have downloaded it and I have forwarded copies in email to around 1600 other owners.

Welcome to the forum and enjoy your new Vegas. We have had ours for 4 years and we have about 19,600 miles on it. My wife & I (and our two bichons love it).

The manual is wonderful! I have it printed out and in a binder in our Vegas. Thanks so much for creating it!