Hi from SoCal. New Member with a 2018 Vista 29VE

[paparoscoe909]

Hi everyone. Just wanted to drop a quick post to introduce myself. I have been camping in various fashion through all the different stages in my life. We just recently purchased a new to us 2018 Vista 29VE. It's our first motorhome. The wife and I are excited to get away from the daily routine and start exploring the amazing places and meeting the awesome people this country has to offer.

 

[dkoldman]

Enjoy the experiences and learn your RV inside and out. I have 2019 29ve we bought brand new and it is just been awesome. If I had one wish, I wish it had full body paint and no decals.

 

[paparoscoe909]

Thanks dk. Definitely planning to understand as much as I can about the different systems in the MH. Already have a few things to figure out. I am a pretty handy guy that typically fixes my own stuff. Started that way out of need but now it's more out of piece of mind that it's been fix correctly. I hear you on the full body paint. Wish mine was painted too although the decals are still in pretty good shape. Decided on the one we bought because of the outdoor kitchen with dual AC and larger gen options.

 

[Noah4448-WO]

Do at search for vista. You will find lots of info. I have done many mods. Sumo springs, front and back heavier portion bars, and front end control spring you should do for sure

 

[Tillie]

I have a 2028 also. Love it, just beware of the Dometic 300 toilet. They leak internally and the smell is horrible. I am on the 3rd one. Dometic claims to have fixed the issue and so far third time is a charm. Sadly no other toilet fits.
I love the exterior kitchen and TV. The second A/C would be nice but they are hard to find. Good find.

 

[paparoscoe909]

Do at search for vista. You will find lots of info. I have done many mods. Sumo springs, front and back heavier portion bars, and front end control spring you should do for sure

Definitely have been scouring the forums for tips and tricks on these machines. A lot of good information and ideas to be had. the previous owner had upgraded to the heavier sway bars front and rear, a track bar, and steering stabilizer. Haven't logged many miles with it yet. So I'm not sure if it will be mild mannered enough for me. Drivability concerns seem to be a pretty common theme for the F53 chassis. Hoping for a relaxed cruising experience while traveling and having the white knuckle experciences with desert toys.

 

[paparoscoe909]

I have a 2028 also. Love it, just beware of the Dometic 300 toilet. They leak internally and the smell is horrible. I am on the 3rd one. Dometic claims to have fixed the issue and so far third time is a charm. Sadly no other toilet fits.
I love the exterior kitchen and TV. The second A/C would be nice but they are hard to find. Good find.

Thanks for the heads up. I will have to keep an eye on that. The better half was hoping for a dometic 310 upgrade. She will be disappointed if it doesn't fit. Crossing me fingers for her.

 

[Tillie]

I did not actually try installing the 310 but based on the dimensions, it doesn’t work. Like yours, The suspension upgrades were done by the previous owner and from what I understand from him I would have done it. I had a 24 foot class C on the Chevy chassis and the Vista handles just as well, with the mods. Also I tow a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited and did tow a Kia with a dolly. Flat tow is much nicer.

 

[paparoscoe909]

I did not actually try installing the 310 but based on the dimensions, it doesn’t work. Like yours, The suspension upgrades were done by the previous owner and from what I understand from him I would have done it. I had a 24 foot class C on the Chevy chassis and the Vista handles just as well, with the mods. Also I tow a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited and did tow a Kia with a dolly. Flat tow is much nicer.

That's good to know. I am going to try the 310. It looks like there's only a 1/2" difference for the center line of the flange from our current toilet. Thanks for the advice on towing. Hope to be flat towing our Ford Ranger in the future.

 

[Tillie]

That's good to know. I am going to try the 310. It looks like there's only a 1/2" difference for the center line of the flange from our current toilet. Thanks for the advice on towing. Hope to be flat towing our Ford Ranger in the future.

Good luck with the 310, if it fits, please post and let me know because that will probably be my next upgrade. I do not like a plastic toilet. I have made a number of upgrades and one of the suggestions I have is if you look behind the refrigerator in the outside kitchen, you will see there’s vent back there. That vent leads directly to the area below the bed and there is no screen on it so it is very easy for little critters to work their way up into the area under your bed and into the motorhome itself. My wife being very afraid of little crawly and flying things I put a piece of screen behind the vent to prevent insects from coming in when the kitchen is open.

 

[Morich]

Mention of vents on motorhomes brings up a good item to consider.
Most all areas do have some form of bug or animal that we don't want moving into our RV when we store it!
motorhomes are much more hazard than trailers as there are far more things to damage if something starts to chew!
One big thing newer folks may miss is that mice, squirrels, etc. do not chew on things because they want to eat but because of the way nature built them! Their teeth grow as long as they live and they are required to chew as a way to grind down the inner surface of their teeth to sharpen them! If they are not allowed to chew, they die! Industries like telco have spent a great deal of effort on trying to figure how to keep squirrels from chewing cables!
So do some hard looking at what and how you want to keep them out of both the living space and also the engine compartment.
It is not unusual for rodents of some type to move in, set house on the engine, and chew the wiring looms.
Some of this damage is also impossible to repair, so do some things to avoid the problem!
I do not flinch at killing rats and mice and find rat bars to leave in on the engine and toss back under cabinets works best for us! The bars dry them out and avoid smell if they do choose to stay in the RV but many seem to go somewhere to die!
Second sneaky damage to prevent is insects of various types like wasps. They are almost universal and you are very likely to have them move in if you don't add screens to vents. Frig and furnace vents are almost like an invite to them!
Things they do quite often are moving into the furnace vent and building a nest to either block the airflow or they may find the small micro-switch lever that hangs down to sense airflow! If they build on the lever, the furnace will not sense airflow and it will not light!
You don't want to block the airflow but a simple 1/8 inch mesh over any opening like this can save you a lot of grief later as they will likely find you at some point!

The other big issues for newer folks are how to avoid ruining the first set of batteries as they do not work like we might assume! Watch them carefully the first few years until you get the full idea of what to expect!
One shocker may be that the battery cutoff DOES NOT cut off all the sneaky drains, but they do often cut off the charger, even when we plug in while stored!

 

[paparoscoe909]

Good luck with the 310, if it fits, please post and let me know because that will probably be my next upgrade. I do not like a plastic toilet. I have made a number of upgrades and one of the suggestions I have is if you look behind the refrigerator in the outside kitchen, you will see there’s vent back there. That vent leads directly to the area below the bed and there is no screen on it so it is very easy for little critters to work their way up into the area under your bed and into the motorhome itself. My wife being very afraid of little crawly and flying things I put a piece of screen behind the vent to prevent insects from coming in when the kitchen is open.

I did notice the vent behind the fridge and wasn't quite sure why it was even there. Thanks for the heads up. I will definitely look into putting some sort of screen material there.

On the toilet front. The 310 did in fact fit. Center line of the flange was 9.5" like the Thetford Model 42169 that the unit came with called for. The 310 says 10" center line for the flange. Basically the 1/2" needed is at the rear of the toilet. So if your existing toilet is at least that 1/2" off the wall it should fit. The 310 is sitting tight to the wall but not putting any pressure or undue stress on the toilet or wall and the lid does open fully.

 

[paparoscoe909]

Mention of vents on motorhomes brings up a good item to consider.
Most all areas do have some form of bug or animal that we don't want moving into our RV when we store it!
motorhomes are much more hazard than trailers as there are far more things to damage if something starts to chew!
One big thing newer folks may miss is that mice, squirrels, etc. do not chew on things because they want to eat but because of the way nature built them! Their teeth grow as long as they live and they are required to chew as a way to grind down the inner surface of their teeth to sharpen them! If they are not allowed to chew, they die! Industries like telco have spent a great deal of effort on trying to figure how to keep squirrels from chewing cables!
So do some hard looking at what and how you want to keep them out of both the living space and also the engine compartment.
It is not unusual for rodents of some type to move in, set house on the engine, and chew the wiring looms.
Some of this damage is also impossible to repair, so do some things to avoid the problem!
I do not flinch at killing rats and mice and find rat bars to leave in on the engine and toss back under cabinets works best for us! The bars dry them out and avoid smell if they do choose to stay in the RV but many seem to go somewhere to die!
Second sneaky damage to prevent is insects of various types like wasps. They are almost universal and you are very likely to have them move in if you don't add screens to vents. Frig and furnace vents are almost like an invite to them!
Things they do quite often are moving into the furnace vent and building a nest to either block the airflow or they may find the small micro-switch lever that hangs down to sense airflow! If they build on the lever, the furnace will not sense airflow and it will not light!
You don't want to block the airflow but a simple 1/8 inch mesh over any opening like this can save you a lot of grief later as they will likely find you at some point!

The other big issues for newer folks are how to avoid ruining the first set of batteries as they do not work like we might assume! Watch them carefully the first few years until you get the full idea of what to expect!
One shocker may be that the battery cutoff DOES NOT cut off all the sneaky drains, but they do often cut off the charger, even when we plug in while stored!

Good advice. Bugs and rodents can cause some tremendous damage for being little suckers

 

[Morich]

There are two models of that year, make and floorplan. early model has a 1 as 7th digit of serial (not VIN!) number and later build has a 2There are small differences in each but the basic plan for this section is much the same. Outside near left side front, there should be space where the solenoid (relay) and a coach battery disconnect relay are hidden in and behind a fuse panel.
You may be able to peek in to see these parts. Early build is horizontal to RV side, while later build shows panel is vertical to side?
But both look the same for function and wiring.
This solenoid is what ties the two batteries together to let the engine alternator get some charge across to recharge the coach batteries while we drive to the next site! We can also use a dash switch to get a "jump start" from the coach to a weak chassis battery when we push and hold the dash switch!

When wire LR gets 12volt from engine running or switch pushed, it closes contacts in solenoid just like a light switch! those contacts connect chass (green line) battery to coach (red?)

Power from coach batteries is always hot at left side of the coach battery disconnect relay, This relay is controlled by the disconnect switch. Near door maybe?
Main point is that the blue marked items ARE cut off when this relay is open!
But see how the red coach battery is always left connected to the Wire marked GJ? GJ feeds safety items that are still left connected. That safety stuff will eventually run the coach batteries down if we are not alert and do something to stop it!
You may have a tiny little LED on the propane or CO detector? It may have to be dark to spot it! But it likely stays on when the disconnect is opened, so that can catch you!
Converter for charging is also in that blue group, so being plugged doesn't get charge if this relay is opened!

 

[paparoscoe909]

There are two models of that year, make and floorplan. early model has a 1 as 7th digit of serial (not VIN!) number and later build has a 2There are small differences in each but the basic plan for this section is much the same. Outside near left side front, there should be space where the solenoid (relay) and a coach battery disconnect relay are hidden in and behind a fuse panel.
You may be able to peek in to see these parts. Early build is horizontal to RV side, while later build shows panel is vertical to side?
But both look the same for function and wiring.
This solenoid is what ties the two batteries together to let the engine alternator get some charge across to recharge the coach batteries while we drive to the next site! We can also use a dash switch to get a "jump start" from the coach to a weak chassis battery when we push and hold the dash switch!
View attachment 1338934
When wire LR gets 12volt from engine running or switch pushed, it closes contacts in solenoid just like a light switch! those contacts connect chass (green line) battery to coach (red?)

Power from coach batteries is always hot at left side of the coach battery disconnect relay, This relay is controlled by the disconnect switch. Near door maybe?
Main point is that the blue marked items ARE cut off when this relay is open!
But see how the red coach battery is always left connected to the Wire marked GJ? GJ feeds safety items that are still left connected. That safety stuff will eventually run the coach batteries down if we are not alert and do something to stop it!
You may have a tiny little LED on the propane or CO detector? It may have to be dark to spot it! But it likely stays on when the disconnect is opened, so that can catch you!
Converter for charging is also in that blue group, so being plugged doesn't get charge if this relay is opened!

Lots of good information. Thanks for that. The previous owner has added a single solar panel on the roof. He told me it was primarily for keeping the batteries charged will in storage. My curiosity hasn't gotten the best of me yet to figure out how and where it has been connected to the system but I assume direct to the batteries. I have been turning the power relay off when storing it so far. Haven't had a weak battery issue yet but then again I haven't owned it very long and it has not been stored for an extended period of time.