Purchasing a new Berkshire

[dan-nickie]

That's where I got mine. Drove from Texas

[BamaBob]

Originally Posted by gasman94

Great place. Good people.

Rich

X2 - AND they have their own RV pads with Water/Elect so you can "camp" there and check out your new Berk.

Again, Congrats!

[gordonsick]

Originally Posted by zimmnc

Pick up our 1st Berkshire. Next week. She is a 34 QS. Any experience or advice will be much appreciated. Thanks!

We have a 2015 Berk 34QS and like it a lot.

One thing that you can easily overlook is the yellow sticker on the door that gives you the weight of your unit and how much extra capacity you have. Our sticker indicates a dry weight of 22976 lbs and extra cargo (incl fuel) capacity of 4223 lbs. A lot of larger motorhomes don't have so much extra capacity.

If you are into reading manuals and documentation, you might want to download some of the manuals from online and read them before you pick it up. You'll absorb more information from the walk-thru and will likely have some questions to ask.

There are general Forest River manuals at
Download your Forest River, Inc., mobile app or visit our dynamic online manuals to enhance your ownership experience. These interactive options provide incredible ease and insight into use, maintenance and enjoyment of your Forest River product.

Freightliner Maintenance Manuals at
Downloads | Freightliner Chassis RV

[accumack]

DO NOT GO BY THE STICKER GET IT WEIGHED! And yes I'm shouting.

[gordonsick]

Originally Posted by accumack

DO NOT GO BY THE STICKER GET IT WEIGHED! And yes I'm shouting.

I weighed mine and it matches the sticker. I agree that you should check the weight. But the OP was asking what he could to do prepare for pickup. I assume that he is planning on how to use it, and reading before he picks it up is really valuable.

I could have done this all in lower case, but a lot of people object to that.

[BamaBob]

Originally Posted by accumack

DO NOT GO BY THE STICKER GET IT WEIGHED! And yes I'm shouting.

X2 -and I am SHOUTING TOO!

Your best bet when you pick your unit up is to look for the closest Pilot, Flying J or TravelAmerica truck stop -- all of them will have CAT Scales.

The "Closest" CAT Scale to Total RV is in Goshen: 18423 US 20, Goshen, IN 46528.

Here is a "how to weigh your rig" link:
How To Weigh | CAT Scale

Depending on the location, it will cost between $8-$12 to get weighed.

Best.money.you.ever.spent!

[accumack]

There are a bunch of thin Skinned folks here! But the point needed to be made as some of us were sold over weight coaches but the factory stepped up unlike some other manufacturers.

[BamaBob]

Not so much thin skinned as wanting folks to know what they are lugging around


One of the BEST $60 you will ever spend is the RV weighing service we kiddingly call the "Weight Police" They are at Goshen every year and they will do a complete weight analysis of not only your total rig, but the corner (wheel) weights as well. The report that they generate on site is pretty good and the detailed weight analysis they send you @ 2 weeks post rally is amazing!

[Phil57]

I think that the advice to get the Moho weighed is excellent advice. I would add that I would weigh it BEFORE you sign anything. If the dealer objects tell him to keep it. I will never ever buy a Moho or any RV with out getting a weight FIRST.

[CAT-RN]

Who was your salesman at TOTAL VALUE. Dave is mine. I've purchased 4 coaches from them. Great dealer.

For a great hamburger. Go to the Flippin Cow --For deli food go to Martin Market. Both of these places within a mile of Total Value. Just to the west
I have lots of info on that area if you need it. It is going to be cold is my guess. I think they have ice on the roads today.

Russell.

[zimmnc]

Well thanks very much. Chad was our salesman and dealing with Matthew as well-seem real good. They all have the coach on Friday and we will do a walkthrough with them all day on Wednesday. Will definitely go to those places as we will be in Elkhart for 2 days with not much to do until the walkthrough. Barry

[15berkxl]

Originally Posted by zimmnc

Well thanks very much. Chad was our salesman and dealing with Matthew as well-seem real good. They all have the coach on Friday and we will do a walkthrough with them all day on Wednesday. Will definitely go to those places as we will be in Elkhart for 2 days with not much to do until the walkthrough. Barry

Barry are you doing your walk through tomorrow or next week? I will be at total value tomorrow to pick up tickets for RV show this week in South Bend. If it's tomorrow bring snow gear as we are getting lake effect snow at the moment 6" +.


Wayne

[CAT-RN]

Down in Middlebury on HWY is the Essenhaus a great restaurant. Home cooked meals. About 15 or 20 south of total value. I post info pic.

Russell

[BamaBob]

Originally Posted by CAT-RN

Who was your salesman at TOTAL VALUE. Dave is mine. I've purchased 4 coaches from them. Great dealer.

For a great hamburger. Go to the Flippin Cow --For deli food go to Martin Market. Both of these places within a mile of Total Value. Just to the west
I have lots of info on that area if you need it. It is going to be cold is my guess. I think they have ice on the roads today.

Russell.

X2 on Dave

And Da Vinci's for some really GOOD Italian food!

[gasman94]

Chad was mine. Great guy...still keeps in touch.

Rich

[Ride_with_me.]

I got my 34 in October. I found out my class C driver license needed to be a class B. Back to the book. Have fun.

[gordonsick]

Originally Posted by Ride_with_me.

I got my 34 in October. I found out my class C driver license needed to be a class B. Back to the book. Have fun.

That's good for all of us to remember. I suspect some people let that slide, but it would be a disaster for them if they have an accident.

In Alberta (and I suspect most of Canada), you can use a regular car driver's licence, but need an airbrake endorsement. That means a mandatory one-day course, with a hands-on test involving slack adjusters (setting and checking), etc. And then a multiple choice exam at the motor vehicle office.

When we took the course, we got a nice manual on using air brakes and it turns out to be almost identical to some that are online in other provinces. I downloaded the online version and keep it with all the manuals for my RV. Here is a link to the online Manitoba version http://digitalcollection.gov.mb.ca/a...did=20528&md=1

[Phil57]

Originally Posted by gordonsick

That's good for all of us to remember. I suspect some people let that slide, but it would be a disaster for them if they have an accident.



In Alberta (and I suspect most of Canada), you can use a regular car driver's licence, but need an airbrake endorsement. That means a mandatory one-day course, with a hands-on test involving slack adjusters (setting and checking), etc. And then a multiple choice exam at the motor vehicle office.



When we took the course, we got a nice manual on using air brakes and it turns out to be almost identical to some that are online in other provinces. I downloaded the online version and keep it with all the manuals for my RV. Here is a link to the online Manitoba version http://digitalcollection.gov.mb.ca/a...did=20528&md=1

So that slack adjuster info come in handy yet? I can see a over the road truckers needing that info but when is the last time anyone needed to adjust theirs?

[gordonsick]

Originally Posted by Phil57

So that slack adjuster info come in handy yet? I can see a over the road truckers needing that info but when is the last time anyone needed to adjust theirs?

I agree that it is hard to get under our rigs and check the slack.

This is a case where there is some discrepancies between the manuals, so I follow the Alberta manual, of which I only have a printed copy. Page 83 of the April 2012 Air Brake Manual states:
"To be properly adjusted for a 100 PSI (690kPa) application, the automatic slack adjusters must regularly receive 100 PSI (690 kPa) applications."

In the margin beside this is a Road Sense Tip that says:
"Develop a routine of regularly applying full service brake applications to maintain the adjustments of the automatic slack adjusters.

"With the spring park brake released and the brakes cool, apply a full service brake application. A good habit is to apply one full application at each red light, stop sign, etc."

So, yes, I do follow the advice in the last sentence of the Road Sense Tip. Interestingly, the Manitoba and Newfoundland manuals aren't so clear on this. The right column of the Manitoba manual on page 72 comes close for this.

Interestingly, when I follow the "...good habit [advice] to apply one full application at each red light, stop sign, etc." I find that my shoes are so wide that I apply the throttle when I get to the point of making a full brake application, which means I need to be careful when I make hard stops.

To make a long story short, the Alberta Air Brake manual does have useful advice about slack adjusters for RV owners. It has a lot of other good information, so it is a good idea to read one of these manuals if you drive an RV.

[gordonsick]

BTW, on rereading your comment, I see the you wonder whether we might need to adjust our automatic slack adjusters. The documentation on this is clear that adjusting an automatic slack adjuster is a temporary measure for emergencies only. In general, it will damage the automatic slack adjuster.

So, I think we should all be trying to avoid these emergency situations by checking our slack adjusters when the rig is serviced.