I still had half a month already paid up at Kiki’s, and for the last several weeks I’d been doing what I always do, spending hours and hours online searching for a newer RV. I do this several times a month when the fancy strikes me or I don’t have any chores. As you can imagine, it’s not all that fun so I’ll spend a day searching, give up, then not search for a couple days, then back at it for a day.
Then came the day I saw on Craigslist what I thought would be a perfect 2nd, and possibly my last RV. A 2006 Coachmen Cross Country diesel, 2 slides, with only 55,000 miles. And at only $58,000. Right at average book according to NADA. Not overpriced like most RVs I’d found the last 2 years. And only six hours away in Mesa, just east and outside of Phoenix.
I mentioned I was looking for a newer coach to the neighbors here at Kiki’s and low and behold, my neighbor had a Coachmen, and wanted to sell. Only asking $35,000. OK, I did a short tour, listened to the slides go in and out, etc. and judged it good enough for a road trip in a couple days. And then the neighbor decided he’d not asked enough for it and the price was jacked up to $50K. The book was only $37K to begin with so he’d gotten greedy. I was already considering the Coachmen CC brand and the one up in Mesa started to look even better.
Here’s the 2004 Coachmen I was looking at, at Kiki’s. Didn’t look all that bad. At least on the outside. The guy’s single so as you can imagine, it was messy inside. Grungy even here and there as well. Engine was nice and clean though.
I didn’t tell the guy there was no way I’d buy it since he’d changed the price, but I did ask for a road trip. And of course, there was a chance the guy might come to his senses and roll the price back. I wanted to do the road trip to get a feel for the Coachmen brand and check out road quality etc. Turned out, this particular year Coachmen wasn’t very good quality and there was a lot wrong. Online RV forum searching indicated some major issues over the lifetime of the Coachmen brand as well. Drove OK, but nearly the entire dash gage system was burnt out so you didn’t have but a couple gages, the layout wasn’t really what I was looking for, the front window setup was pretty odd so if I had a big crack, a new window would cost a small fortune, there was some evidence of a water leak around the LR slide, I didn’t care much for the bathroom setup, the awning doesn’t have a hard cover, and the biggest problem was, to me at least, the stupid design of the drivers and copilot’s windows. There was a big ass bar running horizontally through the entire window frame right at the driver’s eye level! Even blocking a band though the backup mirrors. You’d have to bob your head up and down while trying to backup or view something behind you on the road. Dumb. What were they thinking? That design would be nothing but trouble, impinging on visibility, both when driving or especially when trying to park this big rig in the late afternoon with slanting sun, even worse in the dark, so after the road trip, I told him I wasn’t going to buy it.
And then I contacted the seller up in Mesa and made arrangements to come visit his RV. My searching of forums gave me a list of potential problems to look for with the unit and most issues I felt I could handle. Talked to the seller a bit and felt encouraged enough that I asked Kiki if I could suspend my unused days until I could come back in a couple weeks. Sure, he says, no problem. This is why people like staying at Kiki’s. He’s reasonable.
First I had to get up there of course so off I headed back towards the border. But that was after taking nearly 30 minutes inching my RV out of the tight space at Kiki’s with the guidance of two of Kiki’s employees. Yes, it’s that tight there. Not really a big rig RV park.
I could see from the maps that there’s a bypass at Mexicali that takes you to the east crossing, bypassing downtown and all that traffic, but I couldn’t get it’s address into the mapping program. It refused to take it. So I figured I’d just use road signs when I got up there.
On the way up to the border, it’s fun to enjoy the stark beauty of this area. Here’s some pics between San Felipe and Mexicali.
And as I got to Mexicali, I discovered there wasn’t a single sign that directed me to the eastern crossing. That I could figure out. Gah. But, I had plenty of time and was soon inching my way towards the western crossing with all the other traffic. There’s always lots of people selling crap along the road near the border. (After ending up at the West border crossing, I did figure out what turn off I missed, I’ll know where to go next time).
I love these. They’re $10 peso each ($0.55 USD) and I bought all 5 she had. They’re great as a snack or dessert as they’re peanuts and caramel but only about 1/3 as sweet as they’d be in the US. Much less sugar than what we ‘Mericans would have to swallow if an American company made them. While I was in San Felipe, I’d usually buy them in bulk but happened to run out just before I left town.
As I inched my way up to the crossing, my lane suddenly closed. Orange cone was put out to block it. I really don’t have much maneuvering ability in these close quarters, so had to wait 15 minutes while, it turned out, the border guard straightened out a glitch with his computer. Eventually, they let me through, did their walk through of my RV, (strangely, the border guard asked me to exit the RV…I did, but I’ve read several times you don’t have to and shouldn’t. And that I’ve read on the Immigration Service’s own website).
After passing inspection, checking and verifying that nothing important was missing, I drove into Calexico looking for diesel. Passed a couple stations as I knew it would be less expensive further on, found a station, filled up, then struggled to get out of their lot as there wasn’t much room to maneuver. Ended up slowly creeping into an alley behind the station to avoid having to back the rig up into traffic in front of the entrance to the station. Took my time and negotiated the poorly placed power poles without damage. And then 100 feet beyond that station was an even bigger fuel station where the fuel was even less that had plenty of maneuvering space. Hah! Could have saved another $5 and easily enter and exited. Well, I’ll remember it next time. Anyway, with a full tank, off I went heading due east on US-8. This picture is taken a few miles past Calexico.
Nice little lonely RV park at the base of that hill. Small buildup of businesses here but nothing much to do nearby except maybe desert hiking.
And then we get into Yuma. Whoa. This area is RV central for southern Arizona, I must have seen 10,000 RVs alongside the freeway at hundreds of RV parks. This is a picture of the sort of downtown area.
Soon I’m back in the hills. Yuma ends abruptly.
It had taken so long to work my way through to the border crossing in Mexicali that it looked like I’d have to spend the night somewhere along the way. No big deal, when I planned the trip, I learned of two or three places I could spend the night that would work for me.
And here’s where I stayed. Holt’s Shell in Gila Bend, AZ. I’d planned on stopping here at their full service RV park but that was full. So I boondocked in their big parking lot. They have a nice convenience store so that’s where I got dinner. It was all so damned convenient. No need to cook, just pull up in my RV, park, walk in the store and find there’s no room at the RV park so no need to move my rig, buy dinner and a couple beers, then twiddle my thumbs until bedtime. Well, I did have neighbors to talk to. Damn did it get cold fast after sundown. Yikes. Threw another comforter on the bed and slept soundly.
Across the street was another gas station selling Mexican art.
And back on the road next morning. Taking my time because I’m only a couple hours away from Mesa.
Pass through Phoenix, getting close to Mesa and spot this big canal. That’s a lot of water in a desert. Wonder where it comes from?
I head straight for the seller’s location and spend the next six hours inspecting the rig. They let me drive it and I drove it for over an hour. But, sadly, there were just too many big ticket items wrong with it. Although the price was high considering all that, the guy was firm, and there was too much I didn’t want to bother with. It also had that design flaw of the thick bar horizontally across the driver’s window (I’d thought that they’d done away with it by 2006 – but, no).
So, all disappointed like, late that afternoon I head over to the RV park I’d scouted online a few days before. Ambassador Downs on Main Street in east Mesa. They don’t have a web site so I think I found them based on a local review and the GPS guided me right here.
Turned out, the RV park was right in the middle of the main RV consignment dealer area of Mesa. Right across the street was a Camping World too. Dealer’s up and down the boulevard both directions. Nice and flat area so I could ride my bike to look for an RV easily. Since I’d seen all that on my way in, I went ahead and paid for a week here instead of just staying one night and heading back to San Felipe. I planned on spending that week here checking out the RV deals on Craigslist and maybe touring a few RVs at the consignment lots since they were so handy, but never really thought I’d find what I wanted. After all, I’d been looking casually for 3-4 years, and seriously for almost a year.
And that’s where we’ll pick up next time. With me roaming the area looking at used RVs. See you next time, thanks for visiting!
Jim,
We had the same stupid three piece windows on the driver’s side and on the passenger side they made the window to open with the joint right in the DW’s view. Since you’re up and down the west coast, go by Peninsula Glass in Vancouver, WA. they’ll build you a new window, frame and all for it. They’ll put in a new two piece window, frame and screen. If you like everything else on a MH, don’t let the bad driver’s window stop you.
Peninsula Glass
Jeff Kemp
6005 NE 121st Ave.
Vancouver, WA 98682
jeff@motionwindows.com
360/944-4446
Bill
Thanks for that info Bill. Maybe one of my readers can use it. I dropped the Coachmen line from my search list but not just because of the windows.
Oh, and thanks for the pictures you sent showing your new windows. That’s a simple fix (though probably expensive) for what amounts to be just an annoyance in some cases, and a safety hazard in others.
Your shower issue… sorry, but the door looks like crap without the knob, and I hate to think it’s worse with tape. Our shower is very much like yours, only chrome and with a smaller, less classy looking teardrop knob. But it works. I’m not sure why you’d think someone would yank so hard that the knob would break, because 1) ours hasn’t in spite of us occasionally forgetting to unlatch it, and 2) you’re basically the only one using it and should remember it’s latched or not muscle the door anyway.
I plan on coming up with something custom to replace it eventually. I think that there were several ‘tugs’ on the door when it was locked for travel over the 70K miles the previous owner drove it. Not just one tug caused the problem…at least I don’t think. The steel wire isn’t clamped at either end by the inner or outer knob so naturally, it’s going to slide off. After all, that’s how they got it on originally, just by pressing it together.
We have the same strip at the bottom of our shower door, but it never dumps water on the floor. It’s obviously there to direct door water back into the shower, and keep it from dripping outside when the door is open. Perhaps yours just needs rebalancing on its mounting screws; when the door is open, water should run to the end that should still be hanging over the stall floor.
In my shower, it ALWAYS dumps water on the floor when opening. It’s a poor design. The U shaped channel should be upside down from the way mine is. That way it would cover the edge of the door so water wouldn’t escape while you’re showering, and then wouldn’t give a channel for water to accumulate and spill when the door opened. I have used a rope caulking plug to prevent the problem for now. I like having my RV list a tiny amount to the left so if it rains, there’s less possibility of water accumulating on the top of the slides (as recommended by other owners). Listing to the right would solve the issue in the shower, I’m just not going to do that. I’ll find an appropriate extruded aluminum channel with rubber edge somewhere, someday. I’ll check my Ryerson Metal supplies handbook once I find it again.
Of course you’ve been around and know that water mineral content varies considerably from park to park and area to area. For that reason I’ve been using one of those small blue Camco inline filters. The problem with filters is they can drop your water pressure. So last summer I got a water softener-type at Camping World, and it worked great last fall on our 6 week trip. The smaller sized blue one is plenty for the two of us; we didn’t need to spend extra on the larger black model they also sell. My secondary motive was it can be used when I wash the cars and coach. The old Mr. Clean car wash system I have and like no longer has filters or soap available, but the filters did work to stop water spots; this softener will take their place. Perhaps if the previous owner of your Winny had used filters (properly), you wouldn’t have the lime problem. You should probably check and clean any other water devices you can get at, like the pump filter and faucet screens, outside “shower”, and toilet valves and any washing machine valves.
Only had a small accumulation of lime looking powder here and there. Not sure what it was other than soap scum. Not to worried about that after 12 years of full timing, there’s only been a few times I worried about mineral content. And then I always carried a 1/2 tank of fresh water and could use that instead of shore water. I do carry a blue filter that I throw onto the campground spigot if necessary.
Kinda wished you’d found a Beaver; the quality of materials is generally better, although the workmanship varied depending on model year and parent company at the time. Mostly you’d have a great resource in our club membership where if it’s broke, somebody’s been there and knows how to deal with it. The BAC Forum is considered one of the best.
I wish the same thing, Beaver was on my short list of desirable rigs, just didn’t turn out that way. And I’ve been looking informally for 3-4 years,, seriously for a year and I’d grown tired of the search.
A note of apology here, Jim. I went out to the coach for something yesterday and to my chagrin noted that the bottom of our shower door is not channeled, but rather it has a drip strip of slightly curved aluminum. You could add such an animal over the top of the channel stuff with Lexel or silicone, as long as it isn’t too wide and you round off the corners so as not to cut an ankle or toe, etc.
The drip strip routes all door water onto the shower floor, and only a little drips on the outside floor when the door opens, as long as you don’t open the door within a second of rinsing it or something. A shower rug or mat catches that anyway. Our habit is to squeegee at least the glass parts, if not the whole shower, before toweling most of the water off ourselves prior to exiting the shower, together with a roof fan mitigating moisture issues within the coach.
Hah! I knew it. See, someone at the stall manufacturer noticed they were doing it wrong and got it changed to what you have. What this tells me is that there is an extruded aluminum channel designed the way I want it. Any chance you have a users manual for your shower stall? And could let me know the name of the company and your model number?? Many thanks if you come up with something.
I’d just look for an aluminum strip at a hardware or home center, maybe up to an inch wide and preferably slightly curved. In fact I just bought one at Ace that’s made for entry door bottoms – found it in threshold/door section of store – to put on our outside 36″ garage entry door. Cut it to length and file any sharp edges and corners, and Lexel it over the top of the channel piece, with a bead of Lexel seal at the glass/drip strip interface, nicely worked with a wet, soapy finger for a smooth transition the door water will just neatly run over. Lexel is better than silicone, is used almost exclusively anymore on outside or inside sealant issues, where Dicor isn’t proper, by those of us in the Beaver club, and is available at Ace (and I think Lowe’s) in both a handy squeeze tube and a caulking gun tube.
Good advice. Right now the plug of caulking is working well as long as I don’t open the door too quickly, and over the next couple months I’ll stop and check out aluminum channeling when I pass a hardware store. Lexel never dried for me when I used it down in Mazatlan (bought it in California). Days after application under an external 4 foot corner piece it was still moist. And the humidity was only 35% with bright sunny days in the 70’s low 80’s and cool but not cold nights. Even stained/discolored my RVs siding! I’ve avoided it since.
I know you’re probably glad to be done RV shopping, but the next time you’re in Bend, just for the heck of it check out Beaver Coach Sales. Say Hi to the main owner, Ty, for me. Even though Beavers aren’t made anymore and they handle mainly Jayco Entegra now, since they’ve always been the “go-to” Beaver dealer next to the old factory, they usually have used Beavers they’ve pretty thoroughly gone through, and are one of the most reputable dealerships in the country.
I was thinking of passing through Bend in the near future. Maybe I’ll stop by there.
Addendum:
I hope by “Purple Simple Green” you mean Extreme Simple Green for Motorsports. It’s what you can safey use on the radiator and other cooler fins, and was a product generated in response to Boeing parameters for cleaning aluminum airplane parts. Regular Simple Green should never be used to clean radiators – you can never be certain you’ve rinsed it all out afterward. I was enthused to finally find Extreme Simple Green at Fred Meyer last year, where I could buy it with my discounts.
Yeah, that’s what I mean, couldn’t remember the real name. And I’m pretty sure the Extreme is purple in color. That’s what I bought years ago to clean my Bounders rad. Got a half gallon and only used a 1/4 of the stuff. At the same time, lowered the amount of oil I was putting into the engine. Stayed clean back there for years. Took me nearly 6 years to finally use up the rest of the Purple stuff. Freddies has it now? Great. Now I know where to get it back in Oregon.
Yes, I think the Extreme Simple Green is in a purplish pump bottle.
Also, I note our shower stall at home has a door like yours. The channel at the bottom has one end that hangs over inside the stall when the door is open, due to top and bottom hinge pins that are set a couple inches in from the frame stanchion. The other end of the channel has a simple smooth, gray, dense foam plug, maybe a quarter inch cube, set in it to stop flow out that end onto the floor.
If I can find any shower model info for you, I’ll clue you in, but you might pose the question to a Journey club or other similar owners’ Forum.
Ah, too bad your shower is the same as mine. I was hoping I’d be able to use your shower model number to get a part number of a workable extruded aluminum piece upside down from the way mine is made.
My shower door does not have any dense foam plugs like yours. I guess mine got lost somewhere along the line. I suppose if I could find a part number for them I might be able to find them online. Might be worth finding them as the rope caulking I’m using temporarily is kind of ugly. It does help though.
For those wondering what we’re talking about, here’s a link to the shower section where I talk about the design flaw: Corner Shower
Wild goose chase again? You gotta love it. I’m looking for a cheap fixup Az. property to park and then a small travel trailer to pull with a 1/2 ton pickup.
That sounds great, Sam. Let me know when you find it and I’ll come and help remodel and install a couple RV spots with services. That’s fun stuff for me…as long as the weather isn’t too severe. Not to hot, not too cold, but just right is how I like it when working: 68°F
Somehow I missed the part where you bought a motorhome.
That’s because I haven’t mentioned it in the narrative section of my blog yet. That’s going to be in the next narrative posting. You came and visited my latest postings in the RV Repair section. Different rules apply there. Heh.
Reading about tearing the bed frame out to get to the motor confused me for awhile. Then read your answer to the Fire! email. Glad you’ll be able to do it yourself. I don’t trust repair shops either. Subscribing to Yahoo P30 motorhome group and rv repair group gets help or assistance when posting or emailing. Some good campers there. Read an email about greasing bellcranks and had to wonder if mine were greased.
What are you going to do to treat rust? When working underneath it is a problem.
There is a inexpensive chemical carried by nearly all hardware stores that changes rust back into metal…Phosphoric Acid, generally with added ingredients to improve usability. Also, tannic acid is another name for it and accomplishes the same thing. I buy the Jasco brand. You can get it where it’s like water, or with ingredients that make it thicker so it’s easier to apply overhead.
With a foam brush, you spread it over rusted parts and it physically, chemically, changes the rust back to metal. It takes on a dark sheen, almost black, that looks like anodized metal. It can be painted or left raw. It appears to be resistant to further rusting but can be given a 2nd treatment if needed. I used it on some rusty spots that were flaking off big chips of metal off my Bounder the first year I owned it in 2004, and never had to do anything else to those places.
If you buy it from a brand name company like Rustoleum, or a brand that’s trying to be a brand name, it’s expensive. If you just look for the Jasco brand or any other generic brand, it’s usually under $4/quart. Ace, Lowe’s, & Home Depot usually carry it on a bottom shelf under all the very expensive, $100/gallon stuff. Often in the paint section of the store.
It will not restore structural integrity so you wouldn’t use it on a support member that was nearly rusted through. You would use it on a surface rusted propane tank (followed with fresh paint) so the propane guy doesn’t have a fit.
Thanks for your blog it provides good camping reading from the Southwest!
You are very welcome! Glad you’re enjoying it…and are getting some useful info from it.
Jim,
I have been following your adventures for about 2 years, read all the way back to the beginning. You convinced me to purchase my first MH, a 1998 Holiday Rambler Endeavor DP. I retired last year and my wife retires next year. I have taken the MH from MD to Florida and now plan on making one lap around the country this year. Keep up the good posting. Put up some photos of the new unit.
Paul
Thanks for visiting, Paul. I hope your RV gives you years of great memories. And hopefully, my advice didn’t lead you astray.
I will be putting up photos of the new RV here in a few hours…I hope. That’s the plan anyway.