KGordon

Thanks for all the great info! That may be my next challenge . I just spent the morning on the roof replacing the Ventline fan. Went smoothly, and I'm glad to have a chance to get familiar with butyl, caulk etc before tackling windows and other big stuff.

I added a hard-wired combo propane/CO detector. Put it in the same place as Dan's - on the face of the sofa near the power converter. Rig came with an extinguisher, and I will be installing a smoke detector this weekend. These safety features may not have been required when Mosey was new, but I can't imagine spending a night in her without them.

I just got myself a 12v/120v multimeter and a circuit tester. Looks like I'll get to play with my new toys this weekend!

Argh, I seem to have a dead sensor panel. The water pump switch works (phew), but I can't get status readout on the black, grey and fresh water tanks or the coach battery. I know the wastewater sensors can be problematic, and I have no problem peering down the potty or under the rig to check the tanks visually. But it would be nice to know how much is in the fresh water tank, and even nicer to know how the battery is doing. Can these be repaired or replaced? Will a multimeter or something similar tell me how the battery is doing? Suggestions welcome.

Mosey! Mechanical work done, ready for a good cleaning and some interior upgrades.

Thanks for the great info! Will definitely follow up.

Derek is right, it was our maiden spin...first little trip. And I wifll definitely check out coach-net.com. Due diligence is clearly needed.

Took Mosey out for a maide spin from our home in NW New Jersey aiming for the Cabellas near Kutztown, PA. (About 1 1/2 hr trip). Loaded black and grey tanks with cleaner, and planned on using C's pump station to clean them out and reload with Happy Camper so they'd be ready for a real trip. Stopped to buy lunch, no problems. But when I stopped for gas, she wouldn't start. Turned key and' lick', even tho electrical all worked. Dead starter (and here we thought we'd taken care of all the weak points). Called AAA because I have Plus, which I believed covered any vehicle I was driving. They dispatched a man quickly. He told me that Plus didn't cover RV's, needed specific policy for that. Nevertheless, he was very nice. Even got a bar and tried the "whack the starter trick", and showed me where to feel cause he thought it might come back to life when things had cooled down. Then called my insurance company, Liberty Mutual, gave them the RV policy number and specifically told them I was driving a small class C. Two hours later, nothing. Called again, much embarrassment. My call had been lost in the system, and my vehicle misclassified as a passenger car. Tow promised. Waited an hour, called again, said I was getting worried because I needed to get disabled hubby home for meds. Apparently they were having trouble finding a company that had the proper towing capacity and could cross state lines. Waited, but was in communication with the friend who helped restore the truck part to see if it could be towed to his place. Destination confirmed, and he said he'd come get us rather than meet us, since the tow truck prob wouldn't have room for hubby, me and dog in the cab. Then two calls from a supervisor, my problem had been upgraded. Second one said a tow was coming from Allentown, and gave me the name of the company. When my friend arrived, we chatted a bit, and then he called the tow company. Was told they didn't have a driver and we were out of their area. While I called Liberty to update them, he decided to see if he could start the rig with a jump from his big SUV (by this time earlier tries had tired out the battery). Success! I told Liberty to cancel the call, and he followed us back to his shop and then took us home (that's what I call a FRIEND!). Whole adventure lasted from 5:30 pm to 2:00 am, and Mosey now has a new battery and starter. So, is there a consensus on which assistance service is best for our rigs? I'm sure there are horror stories about all of them (I've certainly had my share with AAA, especially back in the days when I had a 120 mile RT commute and was driving disposable Honda Civics and a 4WD Toyota Tercel wagon). But given the size of a Toy home, what do folks recommend? Must say this was the most comfortable breakdown of my life. Got takeout from the diner next door the the gas station where we were stuck, walked the dog, used our nice clean loo, and hung out in the breeze of out Maxxaire in the coach!

Im still learning the mechanical stuff, but my exhaust snakes from the drivers side by the rear wheels, around the black and grey tanks to the rear bumper on the passenger side.

Another newbie question. The exterior cover for my fresh water tank is pretty chewed up, and I'm not sure how it opens. Before I start prying with a screwdriver and possibly damage it irreparably, can someone tell me how it opens. I have a feeling it will need to be replaced.

Thanks! I'll look at it carefully in daylight tomorrow.

Stopped to fill up with gas bringing Mosey home for the first time and discovered that the sliding portion at the bottom of the big window on the passenger side of the coach was totally shattered. Nice station attendant helped me remove the pieces so I wouldn't spray glass everywhere going down the highway, and duct taped plastic over it as soon as I got home. Haven't a clue how it broke, it was fine earlier today, and I was super aware of turning radiuses on the way home. Only candidate is a gate leaving the place where she was parked, but I don't think it's tall enough. At any rate, what's my best bet for getting it fixed/fixing it? RV repair, auto glass shop or ????

To make it easier for my disabled husband an 89 yr old mother to get in and out of Mosey, I installed a Stromberg Carlson folding mini-rail by the coach door to replace the little handle. Wanted something they could grab easily while stepping out of the rig. And I also put together an interior rail using pre-threaded 1" pipe and mounted it on the side of the fridge cabinet so there would be something to hold as you took the final steps into the rig.

I had a similarly skuzzy cover, and thought about making my own replacement. But then I found this on Amazon. It has sliding feet to keep it in place, and a cutout so than you can run water when using the board.

Very nice! And I like the idea of removing the stove vent - it is intrusive and not very useful.

6 lug axle Age of the tires (look for the DOT code on the side, the first two numbers are the week of mfr, the 2nd two the year - tires over about 7 years old are unsafe, period, no matter how much tread they have), The tires on mine looked lovely, but were 17 years old. Was nearly $1k to replace all 7, even with a friend getting them for me at cost Leaks and rot especially in the cab over (and even more especially near the cracked window), round the windows and AC, and in the bath. Rotten plywood feels squishy or crunchy, and the cab over area is particularly vulnerable. Age of belts, hoses, timing belts etc -. There's a good maintenance checklist in the engine section of this site. Condition of roof and window seals Do all appliances, plumbing etc work Experts will probably add more things to check, but think of it as buying a truck plus a cabin. I found my best guidance on what to look for on this site - just scrolling through the various sections and reading about problems and solutions. Depending on your location and the rig's condition $13.5 seems high, unless it is absolutely pristine with zero issues. I paid $6k for mine (two months ago in NJ) and budgeted another $5 to bring it up to snuff (tho I will prob have $ left over). But remember, your Toy is about 30 years old, so don't blow your entire wad on the purchase. It's not like buying a new car, it will need work.

Pictures?

There's a good mechanical checklist pinned near the top of the engines section of this forum. My mechanic and I used it as the starting point when he worked on the '87 Mini-Cruiser I bought last month.

Good point! As soon as my mechanic is done with his end of things, I will be having an RV person recommended by a friend who's had RV's for years go over it and inspect the propane system, roof, plumbing, wiring, appliances, etc.. I know that the roof needs resealing and it's got to have a propane/CO detector, so I will add ventilation to my list of things to discuss. But looking at the roof, I would expect that the crank-up antenna supports must have been framed in somehow, so maybe we can tie into that somehow.

Derek, you're a genius! That's the exact vent....thank you so much!

Only one 14" vent, wired for AC, but with nothing in it and the little round "mystery" vent in the bath that will require further investigation and cleaning when I bring her home from my mechanic's (she's getting new tires, new rear springs, and lots of new belts, hoses, fluids etc.). So my thinking is to let the existing 14" vent await an AC, figure out what's up with the bathroom vent, and pull the crank up antenna and install a Maxxair 12v fan in the hole that I can use when 120 v shore power is not available. That can all be done before I reseal the roof, which is a priority. AC and 12v solar power would come later.

I like the look of that fan with the built in rain protection. I'm wondering if the place to put it isn't over the dinette, since I still have a crank up antenna that should probably be removed before it causes problems. Instead of patching the hole, enlarge it and insert a fan. That would leave the 120 v wired main vent available for an AC. I was thinking of removing the antenna as part of the roof job anyway. The historian in me likes things original...but not at the expense of safety and utility.

My mini-cruiser is not so lavishly outfitted. One 14" vent in the main ceiling just aft of the cab over. It is wired with 120v for AC. Another small round vent in the bath, that seems to be powered but I need to take it apart to clean and investigate further. And that's it. So at the very least a fantasticvent is in order somewhere!

I like that idea! I hate sleeping in stuffy spaces.

Great! Maybe I'll start there, then gradually upgrade. Big money this year is going for tires, roof reseal, propane/CO alarm and other critical safety stuff.