JATOCA
RVF Newbee
- Joined
- Sep 24, 2024
- Messages
- 2
- Location
- Indiana
- RV Year
- 2022
- RV Make
- Coachmen
- RV Model
- Sportscoach SRS 354QS
- RV Length
- 34
- Chassis
- Freightliner
- Engine
- Cummins 340XCS
- TOW/TOAD
- Combo/Stacker PWC & UTV
Hello ALL!
My name is Jason, my wife (Tracey) and I are new to the Class A (and motorhome ownership in general) scene.
Although in our early 50’s
, biz owner, very tech savvy, lots of hobbies and a DIYer, I’ve not been one to join forums.
I’ve always been hesitant to ask questions to avoid the inevitable “use search function genius”, type replies I’ve seen throughout many forums over the years. The search functions aren’t always that simple in many of the “forum” structures, whereas Google searches are what typically leads to the forums. I tend to waste a lot of time “searching” knowing it’s likely out there somewhere, however the ADHD takes me down so many rabbit holes, it’s rare I stay focused long enough to keep on track…
All that aside, my wife & I, (married 25 years), have owned TT’s that primarily stayed at campgrounds year-around, so while I’m familiar with a lot of the basics while on-site,
not so much though with regard to the traveling, in-motion setups, “toads”, maintenance, or some of the best practices/hack aspects of the MOTORhome world.
With that said, background on how we got here. In early 2019 the campground, (@Raccoon Lake in Indiana), our TT had been at for years had sent everyone notifications that the land had been put up for sale and everyone was forced to relocate by Spring that year... Just before Spring we went to start packing/cleaning up and found a tree had fallen across roof and totaled our TT sometime in the month or so during off-season. Due to the circumstances, and after getting everything cleaned up and to the RV graveyard, instead of immediately replacing the TT, we decided to go without for the time being…
Long story/shortER, fast forward to EOY 2019, COVID hit, and in Spring of 2020 instead of a typical vacation via flying/hotels etc., we rented our first class-C MH via “RVShare” for a 2-weeks trip to travel up through MI, PA, NY, then into Canada to visit Niagra Falls (<not what we expected), then back into NY and up through Maine. The trip was absolutely AMAZING, and while we had travelled out of the country many times throughout prior years, there was simply nothing like driving through and stopping wherever/whenever in our own backyard (so to speak).
In 2022 we rented another Class C, loved it, then, over the past year decided it was time to get one of our own. We had spent several months researching and deciding what checked off most of our boxes. FF again to late August this year, we bought our first new, (to us), 2022 Coachmen Sportscoach SRS 354QS w/2150 miles on odo.
While it’s considered a “starter” RV, it seemed very nice, hopefully some of the bugs already worked out, and we figured 2-3+ years would give us ample time to learn and discover what we needed in the future. One thing we originally wanted was “under 32-ft., but due to the deal we got, we went a little bigger. We’ve spent the past couple weeks (Amazon loves us), outfitting it with everything we think we’ll need/want but realize we’ll have to also learn along the way. We hope to take a 1-2 week trip in the next few weeks before Winter hits, but haven’t decided on a destination yet (likely South/Southwest or Southeast).
Hopefully I’ll start asking some questions to those of you willing to offer some guidance/suggestions, as I’ve honestly learned so much here already just lurking in the background and taking notes.
I’m still trying to learn understand all the electric nuances with what works on 12v and/or 120V, and how it’s wired, so I can add certain things (like TPMS remote antenna, vent fans, additional cameras, etc. without disrupting the way it should be. Some 120V outlets/lights work on different sources, or have only half the receptacle available, so there’s a learning curve there trying to determine what I can/should & cannot do. I’ve done a fair share of basic home wiring and had also run a custom car audio shop many years ago, however there are some big differences with these setups. I can always just run direct to battery, but am also a stickler for clean setups and running everything all the way back is a bit of overkill with as much already going on.
Anyway, that’s our story so far, hope to interact with everyone at some point and can hopefully even help others when confident in my answers.
Take care all, and stay safe!
My name is Jason, my wife (Tracey) and I are new to the Class A (and motorhome ownership in general) scene.
Although in our early 50’s
, biz owner, very tech savvy, lots of hobbies and a DIYer, I’ve not been one to join forums. I’ve always been hesitant to ask questions to avoid the inevitable “use search function genius”, type replies I’ve seen throughout many forums over the years. The search functions aren’t always that simple in many of the “forum” structures, whereas Google searches are what typically leads to the forums. I tend to waste a lot of time “searching” knowing it’s likely out there somewhere, however the ADHD takes me down so many rabbit holes, it’s rare I stay focused long enough to keep on track…
All that aside, my wife & I, (married 25 years), have owned TT’s that primarily stayed at campgrounds year-around, so while I’m familiar with a lot of the basics while on-site,
not so much though with regard to the traveling, in-motion setups, “toads”, maintenance, or some of the best practices/hack aspects of the MOTORhome world.
With that said, background on how we got here. In early 2019 the campground, (@Raccoon Lake in Indiana), our TT had been at for years had sent everyone notifications that the land had been put up for sale and everyone was forced to relocate by Spring that year... Just before Spring we went to start packing/cleaning up and found a tree had fallen across roof and totaled our TT sometime in the month or so during off-season. Due to the circumstances, and after getting everything cleaned up and to the RV graveyard, instead of immediately replacing the TT, we decided to go without for the time being…
Long story/shortER, fast forward to EOY 2019, COVID hit, and in Spring of 2020 instead of a typical vacation via flying/hotels etc., we rented our first class-C MH via “RVShare” for a 2-weeks trip to travel up through MI, PA, NY, then into Canada to visit Niagra Falls (<not what we expected), then back into NY and up through Maine. The trip was absolutely AMAZING, and while we had travelled out of the country many times throughout prior years, there was simply nothing like driving through and stopping wherever/whenever in our own backyard (so to speak).
In 2022 we rented another Class C, loved it, then, over the past year decided it was time to get one of our own. We had spent several months researching and deciding what checked off most of our boxes. FF again to late August this year, we bought our first new, (to us), 2022 Coachmen Sportscoach SRS 354QS w/2150 miles on odo.
While it’s considered a “starter” RV, it seemed very nice, hopefully some of the bugs already worked out, and we figured 2-3+ years would give us ample time to learn and discover what we needed in the future. One thing we originally wanted was “under 32-ft., but due to the deal we got, we went a little bigger. We’ve spent the past couple weeks (Amazon loves us), outfitting it with everything we think we’ll need/want but realize we’ll have to also learn along the way. We hope to take a 1-2 week trip in the next few weeks before Winter hits, but haven’t decided on a destination yet (likely South/Southwest or Southeast).
Hopefully I’ll start asking some questions to those of you willing to offer some guidance/suggestions, as I’ve honestly learned so much here already just lurking in the background and taking notes.
I’m still trying to learn understand all the electric nuances with what works on 12v and/or 120V, and how it’s wired, so I can add certain things (like TPMS remote antenna, vent fans, additional cameras, etc. without disrupting the way it should be. Some 120V outlets/lights work on different sources, or have only half the receptacle available, so there’s a learning curve there trying to determine what I can/should & cannot do. I’ve done a fair share of basic home wiring and had also run a custom car audio shop many years ago, however there are some big differences with these setups. I can always just run direct to battery, but am also a stickler for clean setups and running everything all the way back is a bit of overkill with as much already going on.
Anyway, that’s our story so far, hope to interact with everyone at some point and can hopefully even help others when confident in my answers.
Take care all, and stay safe!
