Things I wish my rig did, or didn't do.

[Jim]

My rig is a 2016 London Aire and there are a things that it does that I don't understand. And there are things that I wish it did, that it doesn't. But I'll start with this one as it came to my attention last night.

• I can turn the headlights on/off with the toggle switch on the left of the dash. But if the headlights are on, and I turn the wipers on, the light switch no longer functions. Even after I turn the wipers off, the light switch will no longer turn the lights off, regardless of which position I have the switch in. I have to actually turn the key to the off position to regain normal operation of the light switch.

Is mine broken? Or is this some sort of "lights on in the rain" thing?

 

[Neal]

Welcome to 1976 @Jim, that's the era RV manufacturers live in. But with your issue, it's a learning curve, and that's why we have forums like this as the systems in these things take a long time to learn. I discovered things years after taking delivery and continue to learn.

Regarding your wipers, assuming all the latest "campaigns" (recalls) are done on your Freightliner Custom Chassis here is how it works.

If you turn on your wipers it assumes rain so it turns on your marker lights. If you turn the wipers off they remain on UNLESS you turn your headlights on and then off, that will reset them to all off. There was a campaign to add this logic around 2018.

I highly recommend, as stated in person, go to Gaffney (FCCC) annually and they will ensure your coach is up to date and also do what's recommended annually and they are very affordable on top of just being great people.

 

[Scooterfan]

That's easy...I wish we got 30 MPG...hmmm...wait, make that 40

 

[Neemer]

What @Neal said. It took me quite awhile to figure out why my headlights were on when the switch was in the off position. One swipe of the wipers is all it takes.

 

[Jim]

If you turn on your wipers it assumes rain so it turns on your marker lights. If you turn the wipers off they remain on UNLESS you turn your headlights on and then off, that will reset them to all off. There was a campaign to add this logic around 2018.

Well OK! One would think that it would have been so much easier to reset the switch automatically when the wipers were turned off.

 

[Jim]

Wouldn't it be cool if we could program one of the buttons on the array that controls the lights and day/night shades. I'd love to able to hit one of the buttons and have the salon lights, bathroom lights, and bedroom lights all turn on/off.

Or maybe hit the button and have all night shades come down, and all the lights except for maybe the accent lights turn off. You get the idea. I know I'll eventually memorize all the buttons and what they control, but still, it would be nice to let the end user decide what happens when that magic button is pushed.

 

[Webz]

This is our light panel just inside the door. If you push the top left and center left at the same time, it will turn on the ceiling lights throughout the coach. If you press the bottom left and center left at the same time, it will turn off all the lights connected to the system including accent lights.
Couldn't get the image to show up.

 

[Jim]

This is our light panel just inside the door. If you push the top left and center left at the same time, it will turn on the ceiling lights throughout the coach. If you press the bottom left and center left at the same time, it will turn off all the lights connected to the system including accent lights.
Couldn't get the image to show up.

Yep, mine does the same. Just thought it would be cool to do it with one button. Just dreaming. . .

 

[ARD]

Yep, mine does the same. Just thought it would be cool to do it with one button. Just dreaming. . .

I have one button. Guess they figured it out.

 

[Rich W.]

The one recurring thing that bugs me is that my brake lights come on with the engine brake. There’s pros and cons so I havent looked into disabling this function yet, but I think overall its a bad idea. When Im cruising down a gentle grade with just the engine brake on, the brake lights are on constantly, so if I then need to slow down suddenly here is no immediate visual indication of this to drivers behind me.

The only benefit, and its a marginal one, is that I can turn on the engine brake, let off the accelerator, and illuminate my brake lights without using the brakes. This is mildly handy when someone is following too closely and Im using the cruise control, but it doesn’t outweigh the negatives. So I’ll probably look into defeating this function. The engine brake on my Ford truck doesn't turn on the brake lights and overall I think this is better.

 

[Neal]

The one recurring thing that bugs me is that my brake lights come on with the engine brake

I have thought about this as well but you really do want the brake lights on vs off. 18 wheelers, whomever, you don't want them running up on you when they can't see you're decelerating so if anything getting someone to back off from behind you can't hurt.

 

[Rich W.]

I have thought about this as well but you really do want the brake lights on vs off. 18 wheelers, whomever, you don't want them running up on you when they can't see you're decelerating so if anything getting someone to back off from behind you can't hurt.

I considered that too but my engine brake is so wimpy it doesnt slow me down at all - at best it helps me maintain a speed on a gentle grade, and usually I have to help it quite a bit by using the service brakes. Having the brake lights on the whole time masks what Im actually doing and defeats the purpose of brake lights. If I had a 3 stage jake that actually slowed me down it would be different. The only benefit is that it allows me turn on the brake lights when Im not really slowing down, but this is much less important than drivers behind me knowing that Im actually on the brakes.

 

[Rich W.]

The other thing my coach does that I’d like to correct is all the flopping around at low speeds on uneven surfaces such as parking lot or fuel station entrances, pot holes, speed bumps approached from an angle, etc. It’s so bad that it has ejected stuff from my side-upper cabinets such as my D810, the glass plate in the microwave, and wine bottles.

I’ve certainly learned not to put anything heavy in those cabinets and I do my best to approach these conditions very slowly, just barely creeping over irregular surfaces. I had hoped that Active Air would help control this but it really seems to have no effect on low speed handling. Probably the only solution is a longer coach with a tag, but I really don’t have much desire to make that change.

I thought about adding an anti-sway bar kit to the rear but was advised not to do this by a Freightliner suspension guy. I also considered the SuperSteer motion control kit but I don’t know how that would interact with Active Air. I also thought about shocks but its been like this since I bought the coach with 17k miles on it. So I don’t know what can be done, if anything, other than creeping extremely slowly (1 mph or less) over uneven surfaces. Maybe I’ll revisit the rear sway bar idea.

 

[sheridany]

@Rich W. Have you talked to Lawrence at Sac Freightliner about this? He really knows this stuff well.

 

[Rich W.]

@Rich W. Have you talked to Lawrence at Sac Freightliner about this? He really knows this stuff well.

I haven’t yet, but I will next time I go. I’m working on a new list of things I either don’t want to do myself, or am not equipped to do, or in this case need an expert.

 

[AbdRahim]

Wouldn't it be cool if we could program one of the buttons on the array that controls the lights and day/night shades. I'd love to able to hit one of the buttons and have the salon lights, bathroom lights, and bedroom lights all turn on/off.

Or maybe hit the button and have all night shades come down, and all the lights except for maybe the accent lights turn off. You get the idea. I know I'll eventually memorize all the buttons and what they control, but still, it would be nice to let the end user decide what happens when that magic button is pushed.

I think you get this feature in the Prevost’s. Time for an upgrade already?.

 

[Rich W.]

I think you get this feature in the Prevost’s. Time for an upgrade already?.

I like my light switches and manual window shades. All the automated stuff just seems like an over-complication and more stuff to fail to me. I need to replace one of my windshield shade motors right now but I’m putting it off since it’s not critical. Fortunately it’s the screeny one, not the visor shade.

When I was shopping for my coach I was originally looking at New Aire but realized I couldn’t even turn on a light without reading glasses. There were lots of other reasons too that led me to look at older coaches. My 2016 Ventana is pretty much the end of an era and I like it. Its complicated enough for me without all the KIB/Silver Leaf/touch screen stuff.