B+ motorhomes

[Daniel_C_]

I just bought a Trail Lite B+ 211s with 8.1 Chevy
engine. This is my fifth motorhome (others range
from an old 20' Vagabond, and three Winnegagos, from 19 to 32'. This vehicle is fantastic. I am
using it as a mobile office (and sneaking in a fun
journey from time to time). It gets about 9.5mpg
and I believe I could pull a bus behind it if I wanted! I paid low $40's which is about what I had expected to pay for a five or six year old Chinook with a nicer interior, but fewer features
(slide). I am delighted thus far.

[Daniel_C_]

Br- and Wade:
I am following a sort of late summer ritual in Colorado. I used to work at the Air Force Academy and have several close friends in the mental health field who live near there. I plan to camp on the Academy grounds and visit some favorite haunts nearby, as well as getting some closure with them, since they were friends of my wife as well. So that part of the trip will be bittersweet. My mother moved to Payson Az a year ago to be close to my sister and her husband. Payson is about 90 miles northeast of Phoenix and southeast of Flagstaff. I have never been there, so that part of my trip will be an adventure. The friend who is going with me likes to drive hard to get to destinations, so we will be driving straight through on each leg of the trip, trading sleep breaks. I am frankly excited about having my B+ for this type of trip. It will be a different experience to have a rig that doesn't tire me out like a traditional motorhome (excluding the high dollar ones), but still has room to stretch out once parked!

[Br-]

Dan, where in AZ will you be going? We flew to Vegas last year, rented a car and drove into AZ, Flagstaff, Grand Canyon. Would like to take the RV there next year if all goes well with it, might consider retiring there in four years or so.
Haven't made any more trips, so can't verify about the engine light. Will probably go next weekend for a few days. Have a safe trip and enjoy!

[Wade_K_]

Nothing beats a good road trip! Highly recommend Hwy 50 from Pueblo to Salida then after touring Buena Vista area head over Monarch Pass and on to Durango and Four Corners. Excellent alternative is head south thru Alamosa and on to Taos and Santa Fe. Man I envy you! ;^)

Wade

[Daniel_C_]

Guess it's time for an update:
Looks like my average mileage is up a little from 10. It's hard to tell accurately, due to the extensive use of my generator presently (I am averaging about 5-6 hours a day during the summer temps). I am still having some minor problems with cabinets, microwave mount, etc. Those are probably due to the extensive urban driving I am required to do. Overall, I am still pretty happy with the unit. I am really getting excited about traveling cross country with it next month. I will be driving hard with a friend of mine (who is also retired military and in a similar situation), and my two boxers. Planning to stay on the AF Academy grounds for a few days, then to Arizona to see family. I may add some comments on the way, since I will have one of my laptops, and may have an interconnect device for my cell phone by then!

[Daniel_C_]

I guess I will keep it going for about a year. I should have about 27000 miles on my Trail Lite 211S by then! It rained hard today and the slide that leaked a week ago from the air conditioner condensate, didn't leak! For some reason, when the vehicle is tilted slightly towards the side with the slide, it leaks. I would have thought that it would be the other way, but I guess that there is some sort of "wicking" at the bottom of the slide that draws moisture inside at the bottom. Aside from that, I still have some drawers and the microwave support that need work. Overall, I cannot imagine anyone getting a more concentrated workout on their motorhome, so I hope that readers can anticipate problems from my experiences. I guess some of the other brands are getting aired out in this thread too. Oh yes, I just bought a Chevy Tracker to tow behind, so I will be changing my signature soon (replacing the Maxima - I need to slow down).

[AJRV]

Daniel,
You asked in one entry, if you should keep this thread alive for a while longer. I would vote yes, until a lot of us get "most of the bugs" worked out of the BT Cruiser. I looked under the drawer that is under the stove to check the water lines (must have been ESP) and found another water leak. We bought some Epoxy Putty at the Hardware store in Ardmore, OK. The E. Putty sure works well. Now, to include that with the sofa adjustments at the dealer next week.



*This Message was edited on 29-Aug-02 12:23 AM by AJRV*

[AJRV]

Thanks, Cluemiester.
I'll check into the loc-tite for my tires.

[Br-]

Just picked the unit up from the GM dealer. They said the wiring connecting the oxygen sensors to the main wiring harness was making a poor contact, a GM assembly problem. They seem confident this is what was causing the service light to keep coming on. Time will tell.

[Daniel_C_]

Br-:
I remain baffled about the factory mentality. They might not be big enough to be able to analyze the long term cost of poor quality control from a perspective of customer satisfaction, dealer satisfaction, and repair costs. Sounds like your dealer might not be getting pre authorization for work done (maybe he charged you enough to eat some of the costs!). I'm pretty sure my dealer is getting paid for everything. I have determined that the seal is indeed the source of my latest leak. The beat goes on. Yet, I still like it!

[Br-]

Just stopped at the dealer to pick up some paperwork, and looked at another Trail-lite B+ with a new floor plan they're putting out. 21 ft., has a rear/side entry, rear kitchen, rear bath w/tub, large sofa and dinette, sleeps 2. Saw a lot of visible flaws inside. The dealer said they are having a problem with the door retainer (holds the coach door open). It is screwed into the door with 4 screws and they are pulling right off the door. Again, another example of poor workmanship and quality control. Our dealer also told us that any work they did on our coach was at their expense, not reimbursed by Trail-lite. I find it a little hard to believe that a dealer would eat the cost of repairs due to poor workmanship.

[Daniel_C_]

A couple of items. One is that I intend to eventually take off the wheel covers and have the outside wheels chromed, eliminating the need for wheel covers, and extenders. I will have to put some hub covers on but that is not a big deal for me.
The other is that my 211S still leaks some in rain. I believe it is migrating from somewhere on top, but since rain in south Texas is a rare event in late summer, I am trying to wait until mid Sep to get it fixed. I have already consulted with the service manager at the dealership and he agrees with my plan to put a sprinkler on top and work my way back from the low point to the high point to try and localize the leak for him when I take it in. I must say that the combination of the relatively high output generator (4kw) and AC make the unit a pleasure to use in my work during the 100 degree days. I still enjoy commuting in it, and am confident that any remaining problems will be fixed well.

[Cluemeister]

AJRV said:

"We had the extentions put on the dual tires. They do loose air pressure easily. We have to put air in the tires every 2 weeks before we travel."

You might want to try putting loc-tite on tire valve threads and then screw on the valve extensions. The loc-tite has kept my valve extenders in place, and they don't leak air.

Heard about it from someone else on this forum.

Clue

[Br-]

Update: Well, maybe I spoke too soon. Took a short 300 mi. trip last week and the "service engine soon" light came on again. Will be taking it to the GM dealer on wednesday. They have to check with GM to see what to do since this is an ongoing problem. We only have 4,906 miles on it and this is the sixth time for the light since March. Will post more when I find out what's going on.

[AJRV]

Update on our Gulf Stream 24'B Touring Cruiser. It is now 4 mo. old and serving us well. Although, I love the Roadtrek, we enjoy the extra room that the Roadtrek didn't have. The V10 is a great motor. We had the extentions put on the dual tires. They do loose air pressure easily. We have to put air in the tires every 2 weeks before we travel. We are delighted with the size of the ref. and bathroom. I could use a bit more cabinet space. The kitchen in the middle has worked well for us.

The 2 sofa beds aren't the most comfortable. I use a l" foam pad under the sheets. The slideout makes a world of difference. We love the extra space that it provides. The sofa on the slideout needs to be reconnected. The back comes out from the wall a couple of inches and the foot section to the sofa slides out too easily during traveling. We would like to see Gulf Stream change the angle of the inlet to the fresh water tank. The water must go in slowly or the air sends it backward.

Our mileage is around 11 miles to the gallon. I forgot the awning. The screws came loose on one side of the awning over the slide. The dealer installed longer screws on both sides. It works well now.

We solved the foot pedal problem. Short people have difficulty reaching the gas pedal. The seat doesn't move up & down or foreward. We put a 2X8 board long enough to extend from the pedal to the seat to rest our heal on while driving. Over all, we are pleased with our purchase. Sorry, I took so long answering Crewcut, Daniel, Gary & SBW's questions. sometime ago. We were out enjoying the RV and meeting some wonderful people.

[Gary_Swanson]

Here is another great resource for purchase/competative pricing when considering the Trail-Lite B+ vehicles: World Wide RV in Mesa, AZ. You can "build" your unit with the options you wish and they will get back to you with their price, which I found to be LESS than Campers Factory Outlet. Clint Mock there is AAA: available, attentive and affable. Plus, when I told him of this forum he immediately went online/read it/forwarded it on to his Trail-Lite rep who was most interested. He is great; we just ordered the 2003 211S with the new Chevy chassis and 6.0 liter V-8, anticipate delivery by late Oct/early Nov. Find them at www.worldwiderv.com