GMC Motor Home, Travel with Teri and Dan

Maintaining a GMC Motorhome

Yea, I know we have a spot in some of our pictures. It is inside the lense so can not clean it off. It is the only camera we have right now.
Today Teri caught me on the roof. We had a tall Wilson Trucker antenna for the internet. Too tall for the roof. So, I got a shorter one and Teri and I swapped it out today. She was doing the ground work while I did the roof stuff. Also dusted off the solar panels as we will be depending on them for most of this month. The GMC is really easy to care for. As with every vehicle you must keep things maintained. Now, this is a 35 year old machine. Most things are simple. You have 2 systems going here, a house and a vehicle. Some of these coaches have sat for a long time. If you purchase one of them, be prepared to do a lot of work on it to get it up and in reliable condition. We bought a "rolling unit". That means, it was a club member who used it a lot. That made our job easier so we gave a little more for it than we would have for one that had been sitting for 4-5 years. We have done our best to keep this one rolling.
Now, when you get the coach, you need to pay real close attention to the running gear. Check it all out very closely. If it needs anything, replace it. Should this be beyond your abilities, take it to a reliable mechanic and have everything checked out closely. the drivetrain is basically from an Olds Toronado. Any good older mechanic can check it out for you. Once you have that reliable get to work on the house systems. Elec, plumbing, heat, cooling, etc. Any good RV store should be able to go through that for you if you don't want to.
Once you have everything up to snuff you can depend on your machine not to let you down. The coach should be as reliable as any other one on the road. I have more faith in our coach than I would have in a new one. I have either done the work myself or paid reliable folks to do what I did not want to do. We have circled the USA west of the Mississippi twice. We have been out to Az. 4 times. Been to the Smokies a couple of times. Never needed a wrecker nor have we had any real house issues. I am telling you that a good GMC is a great coach for a traveling couple.
When we first got our's I was pretty overwhelmed. What do I do with this thing to keep it trustworthy? I then located the GMC forum. From there I learned more about an rv than I ever knew there could be. We have parts and more parts. Jim Kanomata and Jim Bounds have every part or can get them should we need something. Manny Traveo builds great transmissions for our group. There are other shops scattered around the USA that cater to mostly GMC motorhomes. No other motorhome has the support that our's has. Just the way it is. Don't know why other than the people. The folks that own these things are mostly very educated. Lots of pilots, engineers, mechanics, and yea, even a retired parole officer.
If you are on the fence, think about a GMC. Like I have said before, now is the time to get one before the prices start creeping back up. The hardest part for me to get in my head was how the drivetrain works, front wheel drive. After 5 years I am now about to get it pounded into my brain. This is a slick coach, the GMC. We get lots of thumbs up as we travel. Even young folks wave when they see the 455 emblem with wings on the side of my coach. And, it rumbles when I start it. I can't wait to hook the newly painted vdub to it, with matching paint. It is going to look good.
Thanks again for checking on us. Life is good in a GMC in Arizona during January. Was 64 at dusk in the shade today.
Dan

posted by Dan & Teri Gregg @ 8:21 PM