1998 Fleetwood Pace Arrow - a few questions.

[V2Neal]

Hi all, I'm looking at purchasing my first RV. w00t!
I have tent camped, then pop-up trailer, then 27' TT. Sold the TT last fall and am looking at a Class A. Found a 1998 Fleetwood Pace Arrow, 37', Chevy powered for $19,000. It has 70,500 miles on it and was owned/used by an older gentleman.
I've read through the checklists and have it printed, used the search feature on here and read the differences between the Ford v.s. Chevy chassis, tag axles, etc.
looking for a little reasurance that this model is a decent unit. Obviously maintenance, usage, care, etc will determine if this particular RV is worthy.

Any and all comments are welcome!

Thanks,

Neal

 

[Jeff]

We owned a Ford 460 powered 98 Pace and enjoyed it very much. We added a Banks PowerPack as we were in WA and climbing the Cascades and Rockies quite a bit. The coach never gave us any serious problems and the tag axle really helped the stability and steering.

I would check for any delamination from leaks around windows and the roof for any damage as well as insuring that all the systems are working.

 

[scottydl]

It looks very nice from the attached photo, of course you'll be able to tell more from the interior.  Make sure you check the price at www.NADAguides.com to see where it falls in their estimation of value.  Do not add in options, and you shouldn't be paying more than Low to Mid Retail on average.  The price does not sound bad, maybe a little high but certainly on the realistic side.  Check the tire date codes to see how old they are, and give it a good once-over with the checklists you have.  A/C, generator, fridge, tires, engine/tranny are all high dollar replacement or repair items so check them out in detail and get all the maintenance records you can.  Let us know what you find out!

 

[michelb]

We bought a 98 Pace Arrow Vision 36B on Chev a few years ago and are very happy with it.  Obviously, there are engines with more power but we are satisfied with it. 

My biggest gripe is that the GVWR/GCWR on the Chev chassis is not very good - if I'm not mistaken it's only  20500/21000 lbs.  Basically, if you have a toad, you'll probably be overweight.  Not sure if it's because of this but the former owner of ours had a toad and when I bought it, one of the rubber springs on the tag axle was broken as was one of the shock absorbers on the front.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Typically with that chassis the GCWR is 3500 lbs above the GVWR, but I've heard of a few where it was only 1500 lbs difference.

Chevrolet rated the chassis without the tag, which was added by Fleetwood after the bought the chassis.  The tag increased the GVWR but did not change the Chevy factory spec GCWR. It is arguable whether Fleetwoods addition of the tag increased the GCWR or not, but most would say not.  Your best bet is to weigh the coach when loaded for the road and see what the difference is between actual weight and GCWR. That's what you can tow.

We had a 1996 Southwind with a tag, based on a Ford F53 chassis. The original GVWR was 17,500 lbs but the tag increased it to 20,500, per Fleetwood. GCWR was 21,000 lbs.  We towed a 3100 lb Chevy Tracker and were right on the edge of 21k lbs. Probably a bit over it at times.

 

[V2Neal]

Interesting info, I'll have to take a look at that and weigh the coach. Thanks.

I have another qoestion about driving it back; What do I do about license plates/registration? In order to register it in my home state, I'd need the title. I'm not especially comfortable with sending a large check to someone I don't know, and being comitted to buying the RV sight unsean. Advice?

I talked with the current owner the other day, and have sent a deposit, so provided everything checks out, I'm buying it. The plan is to fly down and drive it back starting March 19th. I love road trips! 

I got a little more info while talking to the owner... It was his dad's RV, but he has gotten to the point in his life where he is not driving anymore, so his son bought the RV from him. Until then it was a 1 owner rig, and he has kept every maintenance item and reciept ever. Amazing! The current owner had the windshield replaced, the roof resealed, and a few other things fixed when he got it home. The RV spent it's life out in AZ, but is now located on the coast in SC. I was a little worried it may have lived in SC all it's life, and that the salty air may have taken it's toll on it. *whew* They are even having it winterized for me, and topping off the gas tank! Does it get any better???

 

[scottydl]

Sounds like a good deal!  As far as driving it back, just make sure you have title in hand and insurance in place.  You could have the seller type up a bill of sale that you both sign also, and that should be enough to get it home without any problems.  If you have the seller leave his plates on, you won't get stopped for no plates either.    Call your state's DMV or Secretary of State's office if you want to know the specific legalities, as it differs everywhere.  Good luck!