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Old 03-31-2021, 09:04 AM   #1
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Question for fulltime/mostly fulltime Rv'ers

I was pondering this as my wife and I escaped for some sun in Nevada and California last week and had a string of things go wrong on our MBS. How do you guys do it for months at a time?

1st night lost another slider roller, this one sheared completely out thank goodness, and we survived on 3 the next 5 nights, praying it would extend and retract with just 3.

2nd day ESP error came on 3x, each time losing cruise control. I would have to pull over and stop and restart the engine. This seemed to go away after day 2 on it's own.

3rd day we almost lost a roller on the vinyl rollout above the slideout, but I spotted it, and climbed up and pushed the pin back in.

I just broke 14,000 miles on it. Are these still just teething problems, or just expect this kind of stuff to happen? I am realistic to know it is a house on wheels, and things break, but I feel like I haven't had good luck so far.
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Old 04-17-2021, 04:18 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by browser5031 View Post
I was pondering this as my wife and I escaped for some sun in Nevada and California last week and had a string of things go wrong on our MBS. How do you guys do it for months at a time?

1st night lost another slider roller, this one sheared completely out thank goodness, and we survived on 3 the next 5 nights, praying it would extend and retract with just 3.

2nd day ESP error came on 3x, each time losing cruise control. I would have to pull over and stop and restart the engine. This seemed to go away after day 2 on it's own.

3rd day we almost lost a roller on the vinyl rollout above the slideout, but I spotted it, and climbed up and pushed the pin back in.

I just broke 14,000 miles on it. Are these still just teething problems, or just expect this kind of stuff to happen? I am realistic to know it is a house on wheels, and things break, but I feel like I haven't had good luck so far.

Curious what type and year coach do you have?
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Old 04-19-2021, 07:36 PM   #3
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We only have 3,200 miles on our 2021 MBS but as I get close to retirement and we plan to be on the road several months a year, I wonder how it's going to hold up. I'm not too concerned about the Mercedes chassis (maybe I should be) but I do worry about the electrical (converter did go in first month), appliances, plumbing, full-wall slide, etc.

We had a trouble free camping trip last week but on my drive up from SC to NJ yesterday, the pounding on it from the bad highways around DC had me thinking the whole way what's coming loose or breaking every time I hit a bump. (And after spending nearly 100k should I have to upgrade suspension, etc. to lessen the pounding?)

So same question you have - are we past the break-in period or are things going to go wrong (and possibly get worse) as we use the coach more? Hoping the more experienced people out here who have put lots of miles on their Sprinters can provide their insight into (nearly) full-timing in an MBS.
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Old 04-20-2021, 09:13 AM   #4
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Perhaps you've heard this definition of a boat:
A hole in the water into which you pour money
RVs are very similar. Well, except the water part. It seems like there's always something that needs to be done, or fixed, or replaced, or whatever. Since many of us are retired we can do some of the work ourselves. The more work you can do yourself the less it will cost.

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Old 04-20-2021, 09:39 AM   #5
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I had pretty good confidence in the Mercedes chassis until January when we had a DEF sensor failure that resulted in the replacement of the entire DEF tank. By the grace of God, it was the last month for the warranty on it, so it was replaced for free. It could not have been a cheap repair.

Honestly the roller issue bothers me the most, this is the second roller we have lost. Can't head down the highway if you can't move the slide out back in. The first time my wife and I had to camp with the slide out stuck in all weekend, sleeping in the overcab bed.
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Old 04-21-2021, 09:42 AM   #6
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We fulltimed for 5 years and I've mentored/coached 5 or 6 new families now. The first year is the hardest when it comes to being rough on the rig. Especially if it's a new one as you have the new RV "quirks" to work out.

After the first year, things sort of smooth out. There's always something wonky about the RV or some kind of quirk that you live with. But, being back in a house now, it's not a whole lot different.

Fulltime RVing is all sunshine and rainbows, but you tend to learn to take the bad with the good. If everything works out, the good outweighs the bad and it's worthwhile. We absolutely loved our 5 years as traveling family of 4 and wouldn't trade it for anything.
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