'06 Vectra Observations....She's HOME!!! - Page 4

rebelsbeach · 02-01-2006, 02:40 PM

There ya go 007 and Doug....will have to work on that "wide body" picture.

I'm thinking I need to just take it from a better angle so I can reduce it and not make it outta whack....

Back to the old standby for now...

rebelsbeach · 02-14-2006, 12:03 PM

One more thing....missed this the first time as the door was unlocked during the PDI...

Key doesn't open the manual water fill...

Will be at dealer's on Thursday morning to drop off the coach for the punch list items....

Various compartment doors out of alignment
Scratches on left rear of coach
Carpet/tile transition raised up near dinette
Key fobs and keypad misprogrammed
Dash lock/unclock switch inop
Pass side slideout awning sags
manual water fill door lock

That's it!

ichn2go · 02-15-2006, 03:18 AM

Ain't bad for the first go round Bob..
Now if they will just fix the things and in a timely manner...Jim

jafortune · 02-15-2006, 04:07 AM

Hi Bob,

I missed that you just got your Vectra last month and it looks really nice. Have not had much time to spend with the forum the last few months. I saw on another post that you recently installed your additional driveway and parking pad and used 6 inches of concrete. What strength of concrete mix did you use, 4000 psi? From the picture I am guessing it is 14 feet wide. I'm in the planning stages of adding driveway and a parking pad on the side of my house. Originally I was going with 5 inch thick since I have a gas chassis now but it makes sense to size it for a diesel chassis. Are you putting your jacks down on your concrete? What is the turning radius of your new rig?

Regards,
John

rebelsbeach · 02-15-2006, 04:56 AM

John,

Thanks for the compliments....

My driveway is poured 6" thick at 3000 PSI....The contractor gave me a "schooling" on concrete when it was poured.His thinking was that related to "repetitive stress cycles" and the type of usage my driveway was going to have,it was not necessary to use anything stronger than 3000 PSI.
We even discussed different variables,such as higher PSI and less thickness and such.
I had my pad poured TWENTY feet wide,as I had the space beside the house and I wanted "more than enough" room to park the coach and something beside it.
When I poured the pad originally I had the 2004 Journey and a 20' Haulmark enclosed trailer that I pulled....They fit nicely beside each other. Now with just the toad,it's not that big of a deal,so I "center" the coach.

My Vectra has a 56 degree wheel cut and at 40' has a 267" wheelbase.

(I saw on the Freightliner site that the 36' chassis has a 228" wheelbase and a turning circle of 53.9'. I'd imagine mine a little wider....)

I do put my jacks down when the slides are going to be out,I use the Jack pads from DICA under them. I bought the 12x12 version. The wife keeps one in the house to whack me with when I get out of line.

jafortune · 02-15-2006, 05:25 AM

Bob,

Thanks for the info. I only have 18 1/2 feet to the side lot line. I'll probably limit mine to 12 feet wide to allow 4 feet of planting area along the house and a couple feet to the lot line. We are only able to park for 48 hours before and after trips due to a restrictive covenant. We sold a house last year that was on five acres and we had built a pole barn with a concrete floor. I had 4 inch concrete with fiber added for extra strength. The barn is the only thing we miss. It had 16 foot high sidewalls and a 16 x 13 1/2 foot overhead door. It took too many hours cutting grass and other chores. We wanted more time to get out in the motorhome.

John

rebelsbeach · 02-15-2006, 05:59 AM

John,
As you might can tell in my picture,I have about three feet on the side of my pad closest to the lot line as well...There is currently a grass strip that runs from the street to the fence behind the coach,but one of the DW's job jar projects for me is to start at the front line of the house and make a mulch filled bed with plantings...That's a result of her listening to me complain about mowing the grass there by the coach and dirtying the coach.
(Note to self....remember not to complain to wife about things that cause me extra work!!)

Not sure if you read my posts about why we're in the "older neighborhood" with the "fixer up house",but the covenants you discuss are the MAJOR reason we decided to do what we did...
All new kitchen and baths,new carpet and tile,replaced both HVAC zones and converted to gas,20K in new driveways and sidewalks....WHEW!!
At least now we can park the coach at home.....

jafortune · 02-15-2006, 06:25 AM

Bob,

We thought about buying an older house where we could park the motorhome but decided for now we did not want to spend the time fixing up. We had done that over the nine years at the older brick ranch we moved from. Now if we could have found a house with everything done like your place that would have been different. We found a house under construction that we both really liked the layout and it was very near the storage lot where our rig is parked. It has a great layout for entertaining and it also is conveniently located between Dayton (where I work)and Cincinnati (where my wife works). When you start working on your planting beds you may want to consider what we have done in the past and will do here this year. We keep small areas with wood mulch around plants but then use different size and colors of decorative gravel for the rest of the mulch. We got tired of the several types of fungus on the mulch, especially the shotgun fungus, that would get on the side of the house when it exploded. I wouldn't want to try to remove it from the motorhome either. We also had to renew it each year and decided to spend the extra money one time for the decorative gravel.

John

rebelsbeach · 02-15-2006, 06:49 AM

Yikes....don't EVEN want to think about fungus on the coach.

rebelsbeach · 02-15-2006, 04:35 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"><STRIKE>Dash lock/unclock switch inop</STRIKE> </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

DUH!!

Happened to be out in coach today and started engine to move coach....Just for the heck of it I pushed the dash mounted "lock/unlock" button and the door locks operated....DUH!!

Key has to be on....

BigTrace · 02-15-2006, 04:42 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by rebelsbeach:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"><STRIKE>Dash lock/unclock switch inop</STRIKE> </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

DUH!!

Happened to be out in coach today and started engine to move coach....Just for the heck of it I pushed the dash mounted "lock/unlock" button and the door locks operated....DUH!!

Key has to be on....

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

NOTE TO SELF: LEARN FROM BOB'S POSTS

rebelsbeach · 02-15-2006, 04:50 PM

It's just a case of an ABUNDANCE of information to be remembered after reading the manuals.

After I did it,I went back to that big black abyss we keep our books in and found it in black and white.

I've been trying to find something else to keep those manuals in,although the black bag certainly is convenient with it's dividers....Haven't made my mind up yet.

Datastorm install tomorrow....means a new hole in the roof but I'm ready for it.
Procrastinated long enough about the darn hole,now I need to get it done.
F2 dish with D3/7000, for those of you that do SAT internet.

rebelsbeach · 02-16-2006, 06:54 AM

Looks like the hilarious "rf interference" saga continues....

Just received a call from the service manager going over my coach...
When I got there this morning,we "duplicated" and did a "hands on" of all the issues on the
aforementioned list,EVEN the key fobs not working....

Service manager just called me and the tech had come and gotten him,the key fobs are working.

They've obviously got some more checking to do....

rebelsbeach · 02-17-2006, 12:07 PM

All the warranty items except the slide topper sag have been fixed....

Key fobs and keyless pad was a pgrogramming issue....

Compartment leaks were fixed by installing new "beefier" gasket material....Supposedly this will be a retrofit too....(I know Tracey...I'll get picks taken ASAP!!)

Bedroom slide-1 My head-0
Won't do THAT again for a while,but was in and out of compartments looking at seals and such and stood up to turn and POWW!! Goose-egg City....

Also had F2 DataStorm installed....when my head's not hurtin' so bad I'll get some pics uploaded...

BigTrace · 02-17-2006, 12:15 PM

Bob,

Your humor "cracks" me up!!

BigTrace 1 rebelsbeach 0 Bedroom Slide 1

ON EDIT: Actually, this has happened to me a few times as well so.....

BigTrace 0 rebelsbeach 0 Bedroom Slide WINNER!!!

rebelsbeach · 02-18-2006, 09:43 AM

I had a new way to find me in a campground installed yesterday....

rebelsbeach · 02-18-2006, 09:45 AM

What's this guy doing with a DRILL to my new coach????

rebelsbeach · 02-18-2006, 09:51 AM

Thank goodness my wife didn't see these and only saw the "finished" product!!

cbeierl · 02-20-2006, 08:43 AM

Hi Bob,

Just fyi, on my 2005 the front door Lock/Unlock switch on the dash works all the time, ignition on or off (as does the one on the entry switch panel).

rebelsbeach · 02-20-2006, 08:48 AM

Thanks Chris.....mine does too now,after the reprogramming at the dealer.

I'd been remiss about posting some of the results of my warranty work,must be a result of the head banging I got when I hit my bedroom slide....

Everything "keyless" works now....just have to remember to hide my key when it's a little warmer to play outside.....These snow flurries in Virginia Beach are the pits!!