Coach Net Tire Tips

TIRE TIPS from Coach-Net

SOUTHLAKE, Texas — Coach-Net is reminding motorists to follow tire safety practices. Tire maintenance plays a big role in RV safety and can make the difference when it comes to a safe and smooth drive, said David Ostlund, president of Coach-Net. “Eighty-three percent of U.S. motorists do not properly check tire pressure, and each year, there are nearly 11,000 tire-related crashes nationwide resulting in nearly 200 fatalities,” he added. “Now is a good time for RV owners and other vehicle drivers to perform checks on their vehicle’s tires, including the spare, and to get into the habit of taking five minutes every month to repeat those checks….”

Coach-Net offers the following tire maintenance fundamentals for all motorists, particularly drivers of RVs and other heavy-duty vehicles:

Check your tires’ air pressure – Check the air pressure every two weeks, or at least once a month and before any major trip. Look for over- or under-inflation. Proper tire inflation is essential for safe and efficient vehicle operation. Vehicles with properly inflated tires experience optimum ride and handling characteristics, shorter braking distances, longer tire life and improved fuel economy.

Inspect your tires’ tread – Inspect your tires for abnormal wear or damage. Look for fraying, scalloping, cupping or any kind of uneven wear, and take it as a life-saving warning sign. Inspect tires for uneven wear patterns on the tread, cracks, foreign objects or other signs of wear or trauma. Remove bits of glass and other foreign objects wedged in the tread, and be sure there are no leaks after removing any debris.

Rotate, align and balance your tires – Regularly rotating your RV’s tires will help you achieve more uniform wear. A bad jolt from hitting a curb or pothole can throw your front end out of alignment and damage your tires. Have an RV dealer check the alignment periodically to ensure that your vehicle is properly aligned.

Don’t overload your vehicle – Overweight RVs lead to axle problems, accelerated suspension wear and failure, and tire failure. Be aware of the recommended size and load range of your tires and whether they are suitable for your weight needs. If you are unsure, check your owner’s manual or tire information placard. Aim for even weight distribution throughout your RV. If for some reason that’s not possible, tires on the same axle should still be inflated to the same pressure.

Invest in tire covers – Over time, the sun’s heat rots your tires, creating cracks; tire covers are a great way to protect this damage from happening. During long pit stops, throw on the covers to give the tires a break and use them on your RV during the off season.

Keep track of your tires’ age – RV tires age out before they wear out in most cases. Once a tire reaches five to seven years of age, they should be inspected by a tire professional annually for signs that they’re failing. The industry generally agrees that after 10 years, especially when the tires are heavily loaded, they should be replaced regardless of wear.

Additionally, to help cushion the blow of those unexpected expenses, Coach-Net’s Hazard Protect product, part of the company’s Protect Suite, which is available through RV dealers nationwide. It provides comprehensive tire and wheel hazard protection.

With terms available from one to seven years, Hazard Protect covers all types of new and used recreational vehicles from common road hazards such as metal, nails, screws, potholes, glass and debris, the release explained.

For more information, visit www.Coach-Net.com.

 

Country Coach Radiator Charge Air Cooler Failure Issue

What Country Coach Motorcoach Model Years was there a potential of the Radiator / Charge Air Cooler Failure Issue to Occur?

Owners of the 2002-2007 model year Country Coach motorcoaches (also some 2000 and 2001 models) have experienced a Radiator (coolant/oil) failure issue and a Charge Air Cooler cracks causing a loss of turbo boost with accompanying loss of power/speed pulling hills.

Radiator - With the radiator failure issue, there is a likelihood of a failure occurring in the joint between the end tank and the core in the aluminum radiators installed in CCs in the 2002-2007 model year range.  The engine’s side mounted cooling fan kicks in drawing up to 45HP energy off the engine. Each time the engine reaches a certain temp the engine fan kicks on. As it is shroud mounted and bolted to the radiator core that vibration and energy from the fan is right against the tanks. It can rip apart at the faulty weld, if you have a radiator with this fault issue. A radiator replacement is the fix in this situation.

Charge Air Cooler – On a Country Coach the charge air cooler is between the radiator and the condenser and the oil cooler, all bolted together (looks like a box). Charge Air Coolers as originally installed in 2002-2007 models featured a bolt-together construction. When aluminum expands and contracts with heating and cooling, wear and tear and failure can occur. If the Charge Air Cooler is cracked and leaks, the engine runs hot, causing accelerated wear and potential engine failure.  A Service Center with knowledge of the Country Coach product lines and model year build processes will be able to help you assess whether your motorcoach may have this Radiator or Charge Air Cooler issue.

*Premier RV Services provided this basic overview. For full details, check with Premier RV in Junction City, OR or with your preferred highline service center. Several are Country Coach Friends Incorporated motorhome owners club Business Sponsors. Members may reference the Club Business Sponsorsinformation at the website. Many offer a discount on services to CCFI MClub embers.

Motorhome Broken Shock

Have You Experienced Broken Shocks?

A technical article by John Davis, JDRV Services

 

Have You Experienced Broken Shocks on your Motorcoach? The main contributing factor to this is the fact that the HWH system has the ability to over inflate the rear bags. This pushes the rear suspension beyond the travel of the shocks and breaks the center shaft. This also results in the ride height valve system being over extended and can break the valves and linkages.

I am finding that the main cause is the system is designed to increase the air to the drive axle bags when the tag axle is lifted to compensate for the weight increase to the drive axle airbags. The problem here is that the system does not stop pushing that air to the drive bags until the tag returns to its down position.

When driving in heavy traffic or sitting for extended periods of time with the tag lifted, this may cause this issue as the tag is designed to return to the down position automatically when the coach reaches 7 or 12 MPH depending on which program it has in the HWH brain (normally when shifts to 2nd gear under normal acceleration).

In my experience, there is no true fix for this issue but there are things you can do.

Remember that the reason for lifting the tag is to reduce wear on the tires and increase turning radius at low speeds. If you are not making tight turns or backing up in a tight turn situation the tag does not need to be lifted. Be aware that you don't allow the tag to stay in the lifted cycle while in gear for more than about 4 minutes at any one time.

You may have also heard of the shock limiting straps. These are not a foolproof fix and have been also known to break, but are an accessory that can be installed to help reduce the possibility of shock breakage.

Contact me to discuss this subject in more detail if you wish or any other coach questions you may have.  (I am pleased to extend a 10% discount to Country Coach Friends Inc Club Members.)

 

JDRV Services Inc: www.jdrv1.com/.

Ph:  541-306-6473

2001 Intrigue Toggle Switch Question

Hey What’s That Light Up Toggle Switch Do?

A gentleman called Premier RV of Oregon recently to ask a question about a toggle switch in the steering gear compartment under the driver seat. He owned a 2001 Intrigue and he’d always wondered what that switch is for?

These toggle switches are for testing and diagnostics purposes. ABS blink codes are displayed on one of the toggle switches. There is also a toggle switch for the generator codes you may find located there. The service tech can hold that toggle down for a bit and release and codes will light up. You can learn more about these toggle switches in the White Tab Appendix Section in your Country Coach Owners Manual. If you have questions such as these you may feel free to email premierrvservices at gmail dot com.

Premier Rv of Oregon, 325 E 1^st Avenue, Junction City OR 97448 www.PremierRVServices.com

Motorhome Fresh Water System Care

Sanitizing and Chorinating the Fresh Water System

as taught by RVIA/RVDA endorsed RV Schools and as seen in FMC 3/2014

Foul or stale tasting water can ruin an excursion; it also may be harmful. If foul water persists, you may need to chlorinate the fresh water system. RVIA published this method of chlorinating the fresh water system as taught in all RVIA/RVDA endorsed RV Schools.

1                     Drain/flush fresh-water tank; leave empty

2                     Mix ¼ cup liquid household bleach (sodium hypoclorite with one gallon fresh water.

3                     Pour directly into fresh water tank through the gravity fill.

Note: If the motorhome is not equipped with a gravity fill for the fresh water tank, use a funnel to pour each gallon of mixture directly in the fresh water hose prior to connecting it to the city water source. Some motorhomes may be equipped with an alternate method of pumping the chlorinated mixture directly into the fresh water container.

4                     Add one gallon chlorine/water solution for every 15 gallons of fresh water tank capacity.

5                     Top off tank with fresh water.

6                     Remove or bypass water purification equipment and/or filtering cartridges.

7                     Turn on water pump and open every faucet in the motorhome, including exterior faucets, and shower heads.

8                     Allow solution to pump through system into toilet, through water heater, to every hot and cold faucet at each sink until the distinct odor of chlorine is present at every fixture.

9                     If applicable, at the city water inlet, gently use the eraser end of a pencil to depress the check valve and briefly allow the solution to pump out the city water inlet until the chlorine odor is detected in the discharge.

10                  Close all faucets and turn off water pump.

11                  Allow system to stand dormant for 4 hours. This will chlorinate and disinfect the system, including fresh water tank, water heater, faucets, complete piping system, and all fittings to a residual level of 50 parts per million (PPM).

12                  At four hours, drain and flush system once again and top off water tank with fresh water.

Do not allow to sit longer than 4 hours. If 100 ppm residual concentration is desired, use ½ cup bleach instead of ¼ cup for each gallon fresh water; let it stand 1 to 2 hours. If the odor of chlorines it too strong after sanitizing procedure, drain, refill and flush tank until satisfactory level of taste/odor achieved. This process should be done after extended storage, winterization, as you detect stale water, not less than once per season.

 

COUNTRY COACHFRIENDS INCORPORATED motorhome owners club website lists all its past enewsletters and this is also a good sources of information about your motorhome care...  www.CountryCoachFriendsIncorporated.com

 

Bob Lee and Country Coach ...a Story of Entrepreneurship

Country Coach: a story of entrepreneurship

The story of Country Camper, all the way back to the Barbie toy of Bob Lee’s daughter for which the company was named, has always captured my imagination, my interest, and inspired me throughout my journey in this great industry.

Country Camper was founded in 1973 with two employees building slide-in campers. It grew to a corporation spanning over eight city blocks in Junction City, Oregon and employing 1500+ employees at Country Coach’s peak manufacturing years. Country Coach’s product lines encompassed both front and side door entry diesel pusher luxury motorcoaches from 32’ in length to 45’, with up to 4 slide rooms. Country Coach built at least twelve different Class A models (and even briefly a Class C Max)*, along with the custom-tuned proprietary DynoMax chassis. The motorcoach company became one of the industry’s premier manufacturers of luxury diesel pusher motorcoaches.

“There were definitely some challenges to overcome,” said company founder Bob Lee’s wife Terry Lee. “When we had the gas crunch in the late 70’s/early 80's, we also built trailers and park models too; we even put our employees to work fabricating stove inserts.....anything to survive the industry downturn.”

Terry worked in the company and served as corporate secretary and treasurer for the first 20 years of the company’s history. The Lees, along with brothers Ron and Lenard in early years and in later years, Bob and Terry’s daughters Kenda and Brenda, ran a family operation.

For many years, Bob and Terry logged 10,000 to 15,000 miles per year on their motorcoach, traveling to industry shows and club rallies, where they’d park beside Country Coach owners. “Motorcoachers are the best source of information as to what is most important to have designed into their home on wheels,” Bob always said. So he and Terry would listen, gather ideas; and then take that input back to his Country Coach team. The next model year debut usually found many of those motorcoachers’ suggestions incorporated into the new coach designs.

Pictured: Pat Mason, Bob Lee, Tom Slagle, Ron Lee, Gary Obermire, at Country Coach Friends Club Friendship Rally

Recognition came from many avenues. Country Coach was presented the Oregon Governor’s Award for Corporate Excellence in 1984, the Private Industry Council’s Outstanding Employer Award in 1987, the U.S. Senate Productivity Award in 1988, Oregon’s Private 150 Award in 1994, and RVIA presented Bob Lee with its “Distinguished Service to the RV Industry” award in 1995. Bob Lee was inducted into the RV/MH Heritage Hall of Fame in 2000 having held positions of leadership for nearly 30 years on the Commercial Council for Family Motor Coach Association, Recreation Vehicle Industry Association, and the Oregon Reinforced Plastics Association. Lee also chaired the Annual RVIA Manufacturers Shows, held each year in Los Angeles, CA and Louisville, KY, for many years.

Bob Lee was always one to share the credit with brother Ron Lee (VP of Engineering and Manufacturing for many years), Ed Read (then VP of Production), as well as the entire engineering, design and manufacturing team for the old world craftsmanship and significant product innovations Country Coach brought to the industry. Those innovations included a coach systems monitor with speech processor; air leveling for the motorcoach; HVAC control technology; and hydronic heating coach systems, as well as introducing code-compliant custom bus conversions built on a production line.

Bob Lee sold Country Coach to National RV Holdings, Inc in November, 1996. He continued to serve as Chairman Emeritus in an advisory capacity at Country Coach for several years. In November 2009 due to unfortunate economic factors, the company was forced into Chapter 7 bankruptcy and closed its doors.  In January 2011, Country Coach Corporation (CCC), a service and parts facility, opened within buildings on a portion of the original Country Coach campus in Junction City, Oregon. CCC company owner Ron Lee (Bob Lee’s brother) completed the manufacture of a new Country Coach Allure motorcoach in 2015 and sold the company to Winnebago Industries later that year.

 

*Original Country Coach lines included over the years Country Coach Prevost Conversion, Concept, Rhapsody, Lexa, Affinity, Magna, Intrigue, Allure, Tribute, Mystique, Max, and in the early days the Country Camper.        

 

Bob Lee passed away October 8, 2017 and will be sorely missed in the RV industry. Godspeed and blue skies to Mr Lee as he enters Heaven's Highway.                      

 

Bob Lee Heads Out On Heaven's Highway

On Heaven's Highway:
Bob Lee, RV Industry Pioneer

Bob Lee headed out for heavenly highways on Sunday October 8^th. We miss him already! I have a trove of memories and lessons learned from this man. We all have Bob stories to tell, don't we?! One of the smartest days of my life was the day I said “Yes” during an interview at Country Coach, Inc.  You know I took the original Country Coach job interview as a “favor” to a job placement manager at Trend Business College, whom I feared might not give me a “good job interview” if I didn’t’ go to this one. What a good thing this turned out to be!

The story of Country Camper, all the way back to the Barbie Toy of Bob Lee’s daughter for which the company was named, captured my imagination, my interest, and my journey began. Through the years, I met hundreds of Country Coach owners and other brand motorcoach owner friends. Among my most inspirational people I will say without hesitation was Bob Lee himself.

I remember a plant meeting, where Bob shared of his boyhood years on the farm and how when they were planting seed when they’d empty a gunny sack they’d hang it on a fence post. Over time there got to be a lot of seedbags on fence posts. He said we never really noticed the eyesore. He encouraged us to go back to our departments and look for gunny sacks. He encouraged us all to strive for excellence in everything we did. Another time he talked to us about building every motorhome as if our own mother would be driving it. His stories took root with me; I learned a lot from Bob.

Bob was a team builder. He came into the marketing wing late one December afternoon in the early 90’s and saw an assembly line of busy hands at work labeling postcards. It was the last day before a holiday closure and we had 17 different dealer mailers printed that we were attaching customer labels to. All had to be done and ready to post during closure for winter shows happening at dealer locations. He pulled a chair up next to me at that assembly line and started labeling postcards. It was the employee Christmas party that night and he wanted his employees out of there at a decent hour so we could get home too and ready for our Christmas party. He was a “rollup his sleeves” kind of guy.

Bob played hard too. I remember a show in Montana where a late afternoon water fight broke out just before show’s close. There were four or five salesmen against three marketing folks. Balloons were flying; then Bob got into the fray. He started filling water balloons for me and my team! Most likely in other companies, it might result in some heads rolling for not tending to the business at hand til the show officially closed for the day. In our case it resulted in the company owner himself taking note of the stacked numbers in favor of Sales staff …so he manned the spicket to fill the water balloons. No damage to coach interiors or exteriors occurred, but there were a lot of wet salesmen…They didn't toss balloons back with nearly the same fervor once Bob joined my team. For that few minutes we played just as hard as we all worked during that show!  The end of the show I learned, “We were going to be flying home on the private plane, not commercial.” OK, I thought, that will be fun! Well, that was until we got to the airport and I realized it was a little four-seater plane I could look over the top of practically (not nearly big enough to appease my apprehension of going from Montana to Oregon in a small aircraft). It took every bit of self control and "mind over matter" to load up in one of the two back seats of that little plane! I have to say the scenery was amazing. We landed safely in Eugene Oregon as scheduled with me none the worse for wear. In fact I consider it among the once-in-a-lifetime experiences I was only able to experience because of Bob Lee!

I regret a job I didn’t take. After the original Country Coach closed in bankruptcy one day I got a call from Bob. He wanted to talk to me about an idea he wanted my help with. It was to create a coffee table book on the story of Country Coach told in tandem with the story of the industry’s development during those same years. I wanted to say YES in the worst way. Who wouldn’t want to work with Bob on such a project.  I quite literally had made a verbal commitment to another offer of employment the day before. I kept my word with them but still regret not having collaborated with Bob on that coffee table book.

Thanks for so many memories, Bob, and Godspeed. May blue skies and sunshine greet you on Heaven’s Highway. 

A private service will be held at a later date.  In Lieu of Flowers, you may send memorials to Junction City Local Aid in Bob’s memory. JCLA , P.O. Box 493, Junction City, OR 97448