While learning is a lifetime activity our “test drive” phase of full-time RV life is over. 2300 miles and our first loop up the east coast was a success and we have broken… broken in… the DillerTime Bus.

We are back to LaMesa Port St Lucie, FL for some issues we knew when we bought the RV and a solid list of road researched items.

Fleetwood Discovery 38N Repair and Inspection List:

engine coolant leak: a big deal and check engine issue that requires 2 stops for repair without finding the 3.5 gallon leak. This also seems to have stopped leaking the 4 days back to FL but loosing 1/4 of the 15 gallons of coolant isn’t a simple issue to ignore so need this solved. Also have a few gallons of coolant and a hand pump to get it refilled just in case.
Brakes: need them inspected. Leaning how to use the exhaust brakes (big fan now that I know how to use them right) resulted in a few more burning brake smells on some bridges and slow-long downhills. Seems to require a lot more brake pressure than when we started air this is a safety question and learning curve for the drivers for sure.
Kitchen Slide: the slide is stopping on both the in-out and at time wouldn’t move. Vince thankfully can shoulder it up/in while Michele works the switch but this also was known at purchase and supposedly a loose switch was fixed so back to LaMesa to really solve this one.
Bay Door Lock: The pull or “slam latch” evidently got slammed too much? The door lock has no resistance and seems the pull cable popped off or broke and the bay door with the pull-out drawer (our main bay) on passenger side is not accessible. Online searches say how to get it open but then without a replacement lock it can’t close so glad that broke the day before our repair appointment for the other stuff. Going to get some education on parts and how to fix for the road.
Window Blackout Shade: driver side blackout stopped working and after days of tweaking the adjustment screws (thanks Google and RV forums) I now can pull down and roll up manually. A alligator clip to the sun screen and it stays but likely a replacement coming.
Rear Left Leveling Jack: the foot bent up, apparently from sinking into the ground. Not sure if that was us or prior owner but we didn’t have jack pads and after some research we bought Snap Pads. snap Pads worked great but the rear left won’t “snap on” due to the cupping of the foot. highly recommend them from the start for any new owners.
Bath Skylight: just a corner screw issue on the side but I can’t find the hole or it’s stripped and I’m not sure how to manage screws into the walls/roof. Reading online it seems a tad tenuous so instead of putting a hole in my roof it’s LaMesa and some education on how it’s deigned.
Batteries: coach and house batteries are both running ok by seems to drop charge to 12.0-12.2 range when sitting for a bit. House battery respond to generator or bus running for a bit but boon-docking with AC and heat shut off still drops batteries below 12 by morning and we get a flashing red/green voltage warning on the bedroom panels. We plan to boon-dock a lot on the big trip west and need to solve the battery issue? Low water? 2 year old batteries should still be good and inspection checks out so need to figure if the recharge cycle isn’t sufficient or if there are issues with the inverter or other parts of the electrical system. Also want to find how to integrate or use our Jackery 300 Pro solar generator for boom-docking. It’s 30AMP and to my understanding should run the house fine with an adapter but need to research and get more educated with how that will work. If it works to pull in Uber night that solves our nighttime needs in no generator noise areas. 👍
Fresh Wayer Tank/Valave Leak: when hooked up to city water the fresh tank fills to 100% and over flows from the fill valve. All research points to a bad valve, so La Mesa is on the task. I’m not ready to learn plumbing on this thing quite yet. Just glad it’s not a leaking black tank/valve 😏
Vega Touch: We bought the RV, knowing that the Vega touch chip was damaged and had to be replaced. In some RVs of similar size design, the system is called firefly, but this is the touchpad system that controls all the house systems. On this trip, we couldn’t control zones for the heated floors or monitor tanks outside of that central panel interface. As we understand it once the chip is in place we should be able to use Bluetooth and connect through our phones for monitoring and management of the buses systems. The chip requires factory programming so that has been about a month waiting for the part and hopefully is a quick installation and then we learn how to use it properly. It’s good to know we can go without it, but definitely looking forward to learning how to use it.

Lessons from the Road and Quality Improvements:

after double driving our 2016 Honda Pilot Touring behind the bus this last 6 weeks we confirmed, we definitely want and need a tow vehicle, but definitely do not want to double drive the rest of this trip. Our Honda pilot cannot flat tow, something that we discovered along the way, but couldn’t resolve because we lost the Title between house sale, hurricane evac and storage shifts. We are looking to add Blue Ox flat towing, e-bike hitch rack behind the bus and will be trading in our Honda Pilot for a tow vehicle. On the hunt this week.
Tire Pressure Management System (TPMS) and Covers- seems tires are full-time RVs biggest fear and legitimate concern. Has been on my list and monitoring the tire pressure manually is a bit more counterproductive than expected. Our list of equipment included TPMS, but we cannot find the interface and aren’t sure if that runs through the Vega touch that is yet to be fully activated but we are sure we need to have a more accurate management system and will have that added at this stop if it’s not in place. With extensive travel coming, management is going to be essential.
Magna Shade: the front blackout is nice but even in winter weather it’s significantly hotter in front of bus than rest due to sun hitting that shade. After researching, there are different, external shades that can be applied to the front windows that significantly drop the amount of heat intrusion from sunlight. Externally fixed with hooks, but we have found a magnetically attached shade that is quite nice, although it’s a bit expensive. Researching and think this will be worth the money, anyone with experience welcome to comment.
Front Seats: probably the biggest surprise thus far is the poor quality of the front seats in the 2022 Fleetwood Discovery. The original upholstering is a faux leather That is peeling in multiple locations on both seats, the passenger side With significant peeling. The seats swivel and are part of the living room when parked so this aesthetic issue we want to solve either with a seat cover or reupholstering, but for the driver seat which also swivels it’s too soft for driving. Its great for a living room recliner but is quite rough on the back and legs of the driver. So we are going to spend the money to reupholster and firm up at least the driver seat as well as upgrade to some leather or more durable fabric. Big surprise given the cost of the rig we chose but something that I think we have a solution to.
Navigation: This one is one part, humble confession, and one part lack of clear information. Like most things you can find a ton on the web that say they’re the best or this product is a game changer. Systems are no different and even driving a car everyone has their preference in GPS. To safely navigate the height and weight of the bus does require RV specific navigation options. We’ve tried Roadtrippers, RV Life (both paid subscriptions) and AAA and few others via trail. While each has provided some benefits, I have yet to find one that really stands out and integrates well into a cell phone. After getting a mount for the cell phone for the bus, it’s clear that having clear navigation for the driver is really important. I must’ve taken at least a dozen exits early or wrong turns simply because my aging eyes couldn’t quite see the directions on my cell phone mounted on the dash. So we’re definitely going to research further and try to find a mounted system that can help the driver’s eyes and stress level. Have been told that Garmin seems to be a top choice. May also need to do a headset for the driver, the bus hands free speaker is hard to hear with all the road noise.

Welcome ideas from any other road warrior friends! Long list but RV life is proving to be an education so hope it helps others starting out or at least commiserates with those on the road ❤️

Looking forward to Thanksgiving in Orlando with family and friends and then December starts our trip west and circling the USA! 🇺🇸 🙏😎

#rvlife #rvwithkids #4boys