Our Winnebago is gone......

With some sadness, we traded our trusty and well-loved 2002 Journey this past weekend.  We had planned to keep it but have recently been blessed with an opportunity to trade up a bit without debt.  So we began a search for something gently used.  I have long lusted for a tag axle rig but did not consider one of the 42? Tours since most would have been more than we were willing to spend and, frankly, I think Winnebago goofed in putting that level of coach on a rear radiator chassis. 

We looked at Dutch Star tags, Mountain Aire tags, and even considered a 2005 42? Essex.  We found a beautiful one owner, well-care-for 2007 County Coach Allure 470 at Tom Johnson RV in Concord, NC.  DW fell in love with the floor plan and the otherwise beautiful interior (and the amenities) and I fell for the 425 Cummins ISL with side radiator.  Just to be able to look directly at the hind end of that diesel engine is a wonderful thing!

We made a killer deal and they sold our Journey as we were signing the papers for the Allure.  It was so clean and well maintained they knew it would sell quickly. 
After a few tweaks by the dealer (8 new Michelin tires, a new king mattress?DW insisted on a new mattress?a new clothes dryer and chassis maintenance), we left Monday and drove down to Myrtle Beach where we now sit and enjoy the coach.  If the VMSpc is accurate, we got 8.2 mpg on the trip down in spite of some strong cross winds for most of the trip.  I was very pleased and surprised.

So, while I continue to be a fan of Winnebago and will always help other Winne owners whenever I can, I will likely not be on Winnebago forums as much as in the past.  I appreciate all the help I have received from those here and other forums and am already getting similar ?newby? help from CC owners. 
The pic is at our first stop at DW?s favorite place, Walmart, to start the boosting of the economy.

    Use it in good health.

Ed

Congratulations on the Allure.

I will likely not be on Winnebago forums as much as in the past.

Click to expand...

We have a number of Country Coach owners here on The RV Forum, so you'll still be in good company.

Beautiful rig Gary!  While I am an unabashed fan of Winnebago Industries, I was very disappointed to see they dropped the side radiator a few years ago which I consider a hallmark of a high-end coach.

You keep on assisting the economy  .

John Canfield said:

Beautiful rig Gary!  While I am an unabashed fan of Winnebago Industries, I was very disappointed to see they dropped the side radiator a few years ago which I consider a hallmark of a high-end coach.

You keep on assisting the economy  .

Click to expand...

John, yes we are doing our part to boost the economy.  In fact, the day before we left for Tom Johnson's, we retrieved the Journey from the same shop who did our fridge swap.  They had just completed the removal of the old carpet and install of Allure Traffic master vinyl flooring.  It looked really nice.  The work had already been started when we made the decision to trade the Journey.  We were in the coach when the new owners did their first walk-thru and the first thing the wife said was 'oh, this flooring looks so nice.' 

I sent Bryan Funke a message thanking him for all his help over our years of ownership.  I hope to retire in about one year and on our first trip out West, we plan to visit the CC factory service center.  It appears that even though the original company went bankrupt, some of the original owners now occupy at least some of the facility and operate a service/remodel facility.  They also have parts, body panels, etc. so that made me feel somewhat better about buying an 'orphan' coach.

Gary - did Country Coach make their own chassis?

John Canfield said:

Gary - did Country Coach make their own chassis?

Click to expand...

Yes, Dynomax.  It uses some of the same 'stuff' as others; IFS parts, tranny, axles, rear diff, etc.  I've been crawling around, over and under this thing and I will say it is stout.  We had to remove one of the TV's to connect our Direct receiver and even the cabinet work that is unseen is very well constructed.  Other than a squeaking slide seal (remedied with a shot of silicone spray), there was absolutely no noise going down the road (other than some tire rumble on rough pavement).  Also, there is a conspicuous absence of rust which was certainly not the case with our Winnie.  So far, I am thinking we did good.

Hope she works well for you. WE NEED PICTURES  !

Having it washed and polished today.  Will take some pics and post. 

Congratulations and welcome as a Country Coach owner! That's a beautiful coach. Did you get all the manuals with it? (Ours had a big box of them, plus to large three-ring binders. Very helpful.)

If you get to Oregon, be sure to visit the CC Hq in Junction City. Also, you might be interested in joining Country Coach International. Among other things, it  gives us a discount on parts at a repair shop we use in Eugene.

Pierat said:

Congratulations and welcome as a Country Coach owner! That's a beautiful coach. Did you get all the manuals with it? (Ours had a big box of them, plus to large three-ring binders. Very helpful.)

If you get to Oregon, be sure to visit the CC Hq in Junction City. Also, you might be interested in joining Country Coach International. Among other things, it  gives us a discount on parts at a repair shop we use in Eugene.

Click to expand...

Yes, the coach had a big plastic container with manuals, service records, etc.  It must weigh nearly 30 lbs.  I spoke today to the folks at CC in Oregon.  When I retire in about one year, we will head out west and visit the factory service center.  I am sure by then we will want them to do something.  At this point, the remaining issues are I don't think both of my air horns are working and I am missing the left front CC logo hub cap.  The selling dealer has one on order for us. 

OK, John asked for pics.  The crew had just finished polishing the coach when a storm started into the RV park.  I got these just before the sky opened up.  At least, the water is beading nicely on the new polish job.

She's gorgeous Gary!  What system are they using for the tag axle?  Does it raise off the ground automatically below a certain speed or is it like Freightliner's tag where they just dump the air on the tag?

Make plans to take it to McKinney for your MCD shades  .

John, I'm still reading all the manuals but I believe the tag is Arvin-Meritor?  There is a switch in the cockpit to raise and lower the tag. 

The original owner left a cardboard tube labelled MCD in a storage bay.  He said it was the outside cover for the windshield, driver's window and door window.  I was not aware MCD made exterior sun shades.  I've not looked at it yet but the coach has the stainless snaps on it. 

The coach as the pleated strung day/night shades but they are of better quality that what we had in the Winne (which I replaced with MCD solo shades).  At this point, we will use the existing day/night shades until they need to be replaced then go with MCD.  The beast has Hydro Hot, heated tile floors, an 22 cu ft. Amana residential fridge with ice/water in the door, gps, stacked washer/dryer, huge and wonderful slide out trays in two of the pass thru bays, and air leveling.  One strange thing is three of the slides are HWH systems and the driver's side LR slide is Power Gear....go figure.  It has an electric flush john that has a water saver feature but it seems to use more water than what we had on the Journey.  So, the black tank is filling up in about 3 days instead of the 5 we are used to with the Journey.  No problem except maybe when we visit some family and 'dry camp' for 3 - 4 days.  It also has a Trac Vision dome which will be removed as soon as we get home.  We are used to the Winegard Trav'ler we had on the Journey which never failed to produce flawless HD with Direct TV.  We got a gift certificate from the dealer to use in their store so we combined that with my salesman's discount and left there with a Trav'ler in one of the bays.  So, I already have my first 'project' when I get home  .

Capacities of gray & black?  What about air leveling - does the coach rock around when you walk in it after leveling?  Not coach shopping, just curious  .

John Canfield said:

Capacities of gray & black?  What about air leveling - does the coach rock around when you walk in it after leveling?  Not coach shopping, just curious  .

Click to expand...

95 gallon fresh water, 69 gallon grey, 45 gallon black.  The air leveling works well but the manual notes that if you park on 'excess slope' you may be out of the range of the system.  Nowadays most of the places we stay have fairly level sites so we won't be raising the front tires off the ground with this one  .  It is the HWH auto system and you just leave the engine running and press the 'air' button twice and it auto levels.  It maintains level by checking status every 30 minutes, tweaking the level if necessary.  One early AM (4:30 or so) when I was taking one of our pups out, I heard the system hissing and saw the coach move just a little.  It has a 12V compressor that provides air for leveling after the big engine is shut off.

Yes, you can occasionally feel the coach wiggle but not that much more than the Journey did with the jacks. 

Almost...  by next week it will be gone for an Allegro Bus.  Our story is almost identical to yours(3 Winnies), and I agree Winnebago erred when they went to rear radiator AND dropped the IFS.  At least they brought back the IFS in 2012.  I'll miss Winnie and Gaffney, for sure!

Two major factors in our purchase decision of the Horizon was a side radiator and IFS.  With a rear radiator, your total cost of ownership increases due to added maintenance expenses.

Gary, your tank capacities are about the same as ours, very adequate for an easy week of boondocking.

John Canfield said:

Two major factors in our purchase decision of the Horizon was a side radiator and IFS.  With a rear radiator, your total cost of ownership increases due to added maintenance expenses.

Gary, your tank capacities are about the same as ours, very adequate for an easy week of boondocking.

Click to expand...

Not sure about a full week with the black tank.  This beast has a Tecma toilet flush system that has a 'water saver' flush for liguids and a more robust flush for solids.  What we have discovered is the black tank filled in 3 days.  With the Winne, we could easily get 5 days before needing to drain the black tank.  According to my new CC colleagues, this particular flush system puts more water down the tube than the pedal flush toilet we had.  Generally not an issue for us except when we visit some family and park in their driveway for up to 4 days with only electric hook up.  We are developing some 'flush' strategies.  The coach is also pre-wired for a macerator so if my SIL has an accessible clean out, we may get one of those for those visits and pump into the clean out.

John, this is our first with IFS.  It, indeed, makes a difference in ride. 

Kent, agree with the missing of Pat and the wonderful folks in Gaffney. 

2dalake said:

.. What we have discovered is the black tank filled in 3 days.  ..

Click to expand...

Three days - yikes.  Maybe it would be easier to change the toilet.