New to RVing in my own Bigfoot 29G after growing up RVing out of So. California

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tothetrail

Member
Joined
May 16, 2006
Posts
5
Thanks for all of the tips and ideas I have already gotten from everyone.? I am especially interested in anything on Bigfoot motorhomes, as it is the first and current one I own.? I was lucky enough to find a used '99 up in Idaho with only 12,000 miles.? I paid a fair price and am extremely happy with the product.? I bought this motorhome primarily for the garage area in the rear of the coach that is large enough for a large quad or two street legal Honda XL 80's along with two mountain bikes.? What a bonus that it is made for extreme heat or cold, and performs flawlessly.?

The only complaint would be the Ford V-10 engine.? It is not exactly over- powered, nor does it get exceptional gas mileage.? About 8 MPG without a trailer full of motorcycles and a dune buggy, and about 7.5 MPG with the trailer, so not much difference.? With no wind, and a relatively long, flat road, I have gotten as much as 10 MPG, but that's not very often. 

The problems I've encountered, so far, are as follows:  the gray tank was leaking.  I contacted Bigfoot, and they said where to look for the possible source.  They were spot-on.  It was leaking from a connection behind the front wheel well, on the driver side.  After making the repair, and finding that it was the spot of a previous repair, I've had no further issues.  The second problem was trying to find where the fresh water drain is located.  It turns out that the valve in an access panel, in the front basement storage area, on the driver's side.  The last problem was detected right before a week trip to Zion a couple of weeks ago.  There was absolutely no power in the coach.  No 12 volt, and no 110, when plugged in to the house.  I checked the circuit breakers in the electrical panel, and none seemed to be tripped.  I was puzzled.  I knew that the coach had been plugged in to the house through the wet Southern California winter, and the cord was laying in water many times, however, the house was fine, and the circuit breakers on the house never tripped, either.  I finally got the possible solution.  I checked the GFI outlet in the bathroom, and  that was it, it had been tripped.  I pressed the Reset button, and immediately the microwave clock started blinking, so I knew everything was fine.  What a simple fix.  I felt so silly for not thinking of that. 

We mainly use it for dry camping in the sand dunes in the winter for a week at a time,  2-7 day dry camping trips to the National Parks, and occasional RV park trips.?

The major modifications I have made, so far, are as follows:? door struts on all of the exterior basement storage bins, a fantastic fan above the cab, in motion tracking satellite dish which included running cable from the back bedroom to the front in order to be able to watch 2 different shows on each TV, relpaced the doghouse drink holder/storage cover with a newer model, replaced the entry door latch with a strut, replaced the kitchen faucet with a sprayer type that extends out, replaced the exhaust system with a Banks System (which didn't seem to make much of a difference in gas mileage,) and replaced the 2 coach batteries with 4 golf cart batteries.? I still plan to wire the TV to the coach and cab speakers, and replace the dashboard back-up camera monitor with an in-dash model, along with replacing the black and white back-up camera with a color model.

Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
 
Sounds as if you are going about things in the right manner.  As for the mileage, it's a truck carring a lot of weight, so don'[t expect good mileage.  The Banks it's won't make much difference  alone. However it does give you more power. The complete BANKS Pac may increase mileage somewhat but not much.  Also remember when driving a toy and, or or, a truck mileage can't be much of a factor.  Just as mileage on 4 wheelers, and bikes, boats, and etc., they are built for leisure and our entertainment.  I have the complete BANKS Pac on our MH With the load I pull and being 65 ft with MH, Trailer, hitch and tongue, I'm extremely placed at get  6 1/2 Mpg.  Also I don't baby it on the highway, when the traffic is flowing and plenty of distance between me and the guy in front of me.  I just  let her rip.  Good luck on you ventures.s
 

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