Road trip to Iowa - Printable Version
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Road trip to Iowa - BusNit - 06-06-2024
As many remember I had the coach painted last October at CDI. Over the winter the paint wrinkled in some spots where the horizontal trim meets the aluminum skin. I believed this to be caused by the different thickness metals expanding and contracting over the winter. I also believe the issue is where the paint and clear coat flowed from the side skin into the little shelf made by the side molding. CDI sent two reps to my house in January and we all confirmed that is what was going on. Fast forward to today where I scheduled a time with them to bring the coach so they could take care of this. There were around 20 spots where this happened which really warranted a trip to a professional place. Some of the defects were right in the graphic design or where the paint faded. Not something that I would let a local mobile guy try to fix. I drove from Phx to Iowa last Saturday and arrived on Sunday at 11:20am. On Monday they took the coach right in despite the rains that ensued overnight. I am staying at a local hotel which is about 3 miles away. I did not tow a car but instead brought my e-bike. CDI gave me a loaner car. They have been great to deal with and found some more spots I didn't see around the windows. Jason, the plant manager and I went to lunch and talked about family and business. He is just a really great human being and truly down to earth. I appreciated his time and lunch treat. Tom McCloud recommended some places to eat and one of them was Awe'z sandwich shop where they serve up an amazing ground beef sandwich. It is basically a sloppy Joe without the sloppy sauce. I was in heaven and ordered a second meal to go for the hotel. The people of Iowa are just so nice and friendly. I visited a few parks in the area and have been at peace with myself. Marie didn't come along on this trip since we need her to keep working! Incidentally, I forgot my TSD fuel card at home. Nonetheless I have been finding diesel is still cheap at mom and pop truck stops where it would cost about the same or less than the TSD discount. $3.29 and $3.11 have been my two per gallon price top offs along the way. There is another Newell here that has been painted that I will meet the owner of tomorrow. His coach turned out beautiful. His is a 2007 I believe.
RE: Road trip to Iowa - Richard - 06-06-2024
I hope you enjoyed the drive!
Is that Bluefire running on the tablet?
RE: Road trip to Iowa - encantotom - 06-06-2024
where simon is at is my hometown area. forest city is 30 miles from mason city where i grew up
the sandwich shop is a maid rite (was an official one when i grew up and then became a maid rite without the name) and is the first place i stop whenever i am in town. the place has not changed inside for 60 years.....
tom
RE: Road trip to Iowa - BusNit - 06-06-2024
I loved the drive except for the hail storm in Oklahoma. I haven't checked the solar panels. I probably won't check them until I get home so it doesn't bug me. The tablet is on Bluefire. There was an update which screwed up my gauge layout but the important ones are still there and functional.
RE: Road trip to Iowa - [email protected] - 06-06-2024
Would love details and a picture of the 2007. I am thinking of having ours painted.
Do they do repair work on older paint jobs?
Gary
RE: Road trip to Iowa - BusNit - 06-06-2024
The owner is Warren and his coach number is 804. I was holding back from showing his coach since he wanted to be surprised in seeing it. He picked it up today and I had a chance to meet him. He is such a nice guy that I felt like I knew him for a long time!
RE: Road trip to Iowa - arcticdude - 06-06-2024
In the 3rd picture of the 07, there’s a gold toned disc with a hose(?) coming out of it at the rear edge of the slide.
Does anybody know what that is? It’s painted like it stays there all the time.
It looks great, by the way.
Simon, I hope they get yours’ squared away. It’s a great looking coach.
RE: Road trip to Iowa - Jack Houpe - 06-07-2024
I wouldn't hurry home I see temps in Phoenix are a tad warm. You would be surprised how much those solar panels will take, I've had ping pong ball size hail and no damage to them.
RE: Road trip to Iowa - BusNit - 06-07-2024
I was going to head to the property we bought in SE Springfield/Ozark to see if I could manipulate the bus onto it. The property has a "moat" drainage all around except for the driveway which is all tree lined. From there I would like to see Dan Holt (newell owner) and then head off to Newell for giggles. CDI has been doing a fantastic job. I told them not to rush it. They found some other issues (minor) around the windows but are going to redo them.
Regarding coach 804, I personally do not know what that thing is. I was inclined to think it was a yard light but I do not think they removed them during the paint process. Warrens coach turned out very nice. It will definitely need a detail when he gets home to "polish" up the edges. Overall, it looks new and fresh. They did a spectacular job on the window appliqués. It's a new service they are offering.
Jack, I wholeheartedly agree that I have no interest in even going back to Phoenix. I miss my wife, but certainly not looking forward to those temps again. I've been basking in 70's weather with light breezes and enjoying walking trails in fresh air. I love this time of year in these parts. Just wonderful. Gods beautiful country.
I went to the facility yesterday around 3pm (Everyone goes home around that time) and plugged the coach into a 50 amp outlet. I reduced the load on the victron app to prevent any breaker tripping on their building since I am not sure what loads they have plugged in. Batteries were at 58% which is amazing considering it hadn't received a charge since Sunday. It's been cloudy and rainy on my final stretch to Iowa. Today it is at 100% with a load limit of 20 amps.
RE: Road trip to Iowa - kmeinke - 06-07-2024
(06-06-2024, 05:30 PM)BusNit Wrote: The owner is Warren and his coach number is 804. I was holding back from showing his coach since he wanted to be surprised in seeing it. He picked it up today and I had a chance to meet him. He is such a nice guy that I felt like I knew him for a long time!
Warren has a lot two away from me at Lake Greenwood SC. I can't wait top see his coach and hear of his experience. Thanks for the preview, it looks great. I bet he loves it