2016 Vista LX Newbie

[Beigebetty]

My wife and I bought a 2016 Vista LX with 8,200 miles from a local individual on September 8th, 2020. We had to do some initial repairs, but are very happy with our purchase at this point. We named her Beige Betty which is very fitting for this Winnebago color scheme! We pull a 2017, 2 door Jeep Wrangler.

We have about 10 trips and 16-18 different campgrounds under our belt and have traveled a little over 6,000 miles since we got her. All trips have been regional to the SE USA.

Probably like most newer RV owners, we now have a number questions. I appreciate any feedback and suggestions.

1. The house air conditioner drains out onto the roof and runs off on the lowest corner. It would seem that there should be a drain line that runs out the bottom of the unit. Any advice or experience with this??

2. I frequently get a shimmy in the front end at various speeds. I had to buy to new front tires after I purchased the unit, and had them high speed balanced and the front end aligned. Some of the initial service performed on the unit was supposed to have re-packed the front wheel bearings (though I don't trust the company that did the work.. Another story for another time...). Sweet spot for speed is 66-69 which works well on the interstates. Any thoughts to address this to get a smoother ride at ALL speeds??

3. The A/C in the front cab seems marginal to me. It can take a while to cool down and never seems to get all that cold. We had a guy look at it that told us to not expect any more than 20 degrees below the outside temp from this air conditioner. Is that true?

4. What are your recommendations for a service provider?? We tried 2 in our area that we won't go back to, and settled on Camping World. I have heard CW support can vary dramatically from location to location, but the folks at the Woodstock GA location have been good to deal with. Problem is, like everywhere, scheduling maintenance in a timely way is almost impossible (appointment 4 weeks out and then wait another 3-4 weeks to get the actual work done..). I would really like to find a local independent mechanic that could take care of our RV. Does anyone know of a network of independents and how to find them?? (I am in the Atlanta area)

5. What is your recommended service frequency and level for the slideouts? We get a certain amount of 'creaking' as we drive, depending on the side to side level of the road. Camping World recommended every year.

6. Does anyone have a recommendation for remote tire pressure monitoring for all 6 tires? What a huge difference keeping the tires properly inflated makes on mileage and performance!! I am keeping all 6 at 95 psi. Any insight/experience here is appreciated. Some of the get pretty expensive and we don't want to break the bank on this one.

7. Any advice on getting the sewer hose out of the hole in the bottom of the compartment??

8. This is a BIG one.. We have 2 cats that we want to take with us on longer trips. We have taken them on a 3 night jaunt which was pretty much a no sleep, disaster. Does anyone have experience and recommendations on traveling with cats in our size RV (31 ft).

Thanks in advance for any feedback and advice.

Thanks,
BeigeBetty!

[Eagle5]

Hi Beige Betty,
As far as item #2 is concerned, you stated that you had the front wheel bearings repacked. This normally does not need to be done so soon. If the repair shop didn't adjust the bearing play properly, that might be the cause of the shimmy. Another source of shimmy is a worn ball joint or steering gear. I would find a good shop to inspect and correct, as it should not shimmy.
Welcome to the Forum.
Eagle5

Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On

[RV-Travelers]

Originally Posted by Beigebetty

My wife and I bought a 2016 Vista LX with 8,200 miles from a local individual on September 8th, 2020. We had to do some initial repairs, but are very happy with our purchase at this point. We named her Beige Betty which is very fitting for this Winnebago color scheme! We pull a 2017, 2 door Jeep Wrangler.

...

6. Does anyone have a recommendation for remote tire pressure monitoring for all 6 tires? What a huge difference keeping the tires properly inflated makes on mileage and performance!! I am keeping all 6 at 95 psi. Any insight/experience here is appreciated. Some of the get pretty expensive and we don't want to break the bank on this one.

...

We purchased a 6-sensor TPMS system from EEZ RV Products for our 2016 Era 70A. So far we have been happy with it, but we don't have any experience with other TPMS vendors and products to compare it to. This appears to be the one we purchased.

https://eezrvproducts.com/shop/ols/p...-yeat-warranty

We paid $299 in January for it, looks like it has gone up $50 since then.

They also sell systems with a range booster if you have a larger RV and/or are towing another vehicle or trailer and want to install TPMS sensors on it.

We read a lot about potential issues with the stock rubber valve stems eventually failing due to the weight of the TPMS sensors. We decided to go with replacement metal valve stems from Borg on all 6 tires, although we probably could have gotten away with just replacing the stems on the rear inner wheels. A set of 6 metal stems and parts (seals, etc.) was around $100. We got them here:

https://yourtireshopsupply.com/index

Installation of the metal stems was not a smooth experience. We took the Era to a local 'Sprinter gurus' shop (the Era is built on a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 3500) and they installed the stems for $150. Drove home and found out the stems on both rear inner wheels were leaking badly. Aired up the tires and took it back to them. They reinstalled and tightened the stems. Got home and discovered they were still leaking.

We eventually took the Era to a truck tire shop. They removed the rear inner wheels and tightened the stems, charging $90 total. So far they seem to be OK.

[sundog964]

Let me start by saying that we have experienced some of the same issues.

1. Yes, the AC drains into the gutters, and drips right down the sides about a foot from the front. It leaves a mess on the paint, and on the windows. I am going to look into some way to either extend the front of the gutters, or redirect the flow.

3. Ours has the dual AC units. We have in the Pacific Northwest for the past week, and the average temperature has been over 100 each day. We were running just the front AC unit on a 20 amp circuit. It kept the cabin to about 78 degrees, but didn’t get much lower. Check that the unit is clean under the cover.

7. I had to use a Drexel tool to cut some of the plastic out of the hole, it wasn’t large enough to get the sewer hose out.

Good luck with the others. We are picking up a puppy in 2 days on our trip, and will take 2 days to get home. Hope we get some sleep.

[Beigebetty]

Excellent Info!! Will definitely pursue one of these!