new coach

[bill lambrecht]

Just bot my third prevost.It is a 99 xlv vogue conversion.It looks like a LIBERTY clone.SS tanks and completely loaded.First coach was a ROYALE,second was a MARATHON.I was a little apprehensive to buy the VOGUE but I am completely satisfied.Fit and finish is perfect.This was one othe last coaches MITCHELL built.Talked with HARVEY MITCHELL and he showed me all around the coach.Seems he took best of LIBERTY and put in the coach including OTR air.Does anyone have any words of wisdom about a VOGUE conversion?

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Welcome to the group Bill, sounds like you've found a good one.

Good luck enjoy and see you soon.

:)

[Danss]

I also have a 99 Vogue Conv. without . Great coach. Dan

[michaeldterry]

Welcome to POG, Bill! Post often, give as good as you get, have fun and you'll do fine with this bunch of misfits! Vita (the wife/boss) and I agree that our POG membership is the best $10 we spend on our bus every year. :p

[Loc]

Welcome to POG. There is a POG member in Houston with a 96 or 97 Vogue (Jim and Carol).

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Dan S has a Vogue and I have seen his coach and I can say it is very well done.

I think that model was exactly as you describe in that it was of excellent quality.

[joemcfarland]

Dan S has a Vogue and I have seen his coach and I can say it is very well done.

I think that model was exactly as you describe in that it was of excellent quality.

Jon, just purchased a 2000 Vantare & the game plan is to pull our 2005 H2 Hummer. Any suggestions? We have a quote from Camping World to do the tow bar/plate/lights for $2100.

Thanks

Joe

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Joe, I went to an on line Roadmaster hitch site. This is the first hitch that I did not make myself. I don't recall the price for the tow bar and base plate but I think with the brakemaster it was all under $900.

I did the installation work, including the Brakemaster air brake assist.

I use the tow bars that drop over the ball on the coach because ever since I have been towing the mantra is to keep the tow bar horizontal. I have an adjustable height ball rated 1000 lbs. tongue weight and 10,000 pounds towing weight.

I tow multiple vehicles so I adjust the height depending on what I tow.

As to the installation there was some disassembly of the front plate on the H2and the drilling of 2 9/16" holes. Other than that the installation was a bolt up affair. The front two ring or hook mounts were used for the tow bar receiver.

I made my own base plates for our Grand Cherokee and the Dodge Ram 1500 that we towed. I used Roadmaster tow bars on those also. Wiring of the lights is not very difficult, but since the newer vehicles have a lot of computers I switch off the toad electrics either at the fuse box (as in the Hummer) or at the battery (as in the Dodge) so the lights when towing do not backfeed. It might not be necessary but I do not wish to find out the hard way.

I have never had anyone install the wiring and tow bar so I have no clue about what is a reasonable price or how good the quality level of the work is.

[HarborBus]

Jon, just purchased a 2000 Vantare & the game plan is to pull our 2005 H2 Hummer. Any suggestions? We have a quote from Camping World to do the tow bar/plate/lights for $2100.

Thanks

Joe

Joe, $2100 seem pretty high to me unless you just have mountains of money. You can get a new Roadmaster Blackhawk 2 All terrain rated at 10000 lbs for $839. and new MX baseplate brackets part #2506-3 for $320. all from RX Exit

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Roadmaster-Blackhawk-2-All-Terrain-Tow-Bar-RM422-NEW-RV_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem5d2827024aQQitemZ400 105603658QQptZMotorsQ5fRVQ5fTrailerQ5fCamperQ5fPar tsQ5fAccessories

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Roadmaster-XL-EZ-or-MX-RV-Tow-Bar-Brackets-Baseplates_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem5d280f4ce3QQ itemZ400104049891QQptZMotorsQ5fRVQ5fTrailerQ5fCamp erQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

I have paid a tow bar supplier $100 to wire the lights on my last two jeeps. So $1159 for the tow bar and brackets even if you have to pay the same tow bar company $250 to wire your lights and install the brackets your still saving close to $700. Looking at the installation pictures on the Baseplate brackets it looks pretty straight forward to install them.

[bill lambrecht]

Want toinstall XANTREX echo charger on my 99 VOGUE XL.Problem is house batteries onRS bay 2-chassis batteries on CS rear bay.How do I hook up?Connection should be within 2 feet.Instructions sayground wire to neg. battery(neg. or load sideof shunt if abattery monitor is used)Whatis the battery monitor.Starter battery wire to the starter battery,house battery tothe house battery bank.Echo charger works very well.Have used before when batteries were close to each other.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Curious.......what did you just say?

Are you asking about installing a charger for the house batteries?

But regardless of whether you are asking about chassis or house my question would be "why?" If the chassis batteries lose their charge quickly something is wrong, and the house batteries are maintained by the inverter / chargers.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Just bot my third prevost.It is a 99 xlv vogue conversion.It looks like a LIBERTY clone.SS tanks and completely loaded.First coach was a ROYALE,second was a MARATHON.I was a little apprehensive to buy the VOGUE but I am completely satisfied.Fit and finish is perfect.This was one othe last coaches MITCHELL built.Talked with HARVEY MITCHELL and he showed me all around the coach.Seems he took best of LIBERTY and put in the coach including OTR air.Does anyone have any words of wisdom about a VOGUE conversion?
Reply With Quote

Want toinstall XANTREX echo charger on my 99 VOGUE XL.Problem is house batteries onRS bay 2-chassis batteries on CS rear bay.How do I hook up?Connection should be within 2 feet.Instructions sayground wire to neg. battery(neg. or load sideof shunt if abattery monitor is used)Whatis the battery monitor.Starter battery wire to the starter battery,house battery tothe house battery bank.Echo charger works very well.Have used before when batteries were close to each other.


Bill, can't help you with the information you have supplied.
If your bus is a clone of a Liberty you will not need your desired charger.
Since you know Harvey Mitchell I think he would be your best source for advice.

What is an RS bay and a CS rear bay, just wondering?

If your engine battery runs down between your periods of operation, then you are not running your engine frequently or long enough.

By the way are you sure you don't already have a battery charger for the engine batteries, Liberty does.

Standing by to help if I can.

JIM:)

[bill lambrecht]

JIM,CS means curb side and RS means road side.The echo charger charges the chassis batteries thru the inverters.I really do not know if my batteries will go down between usage or not.Just know the echo charger really works,no worries about batteries going down.Engine bay has battery equalizer 12v ,ground,24v connections.I believe it is a vanner(not sure cause not at coach).Dont know what connection inverter comes to.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Bill, sorry to say, I can not help you. I am only familiar with Heart inverters.

Did you get any documentation with the coach, such as an inverter manual.

It is not quite clear to me. Is there an existing charger you are trying to replace or are you adding an additional charger that you think might be nice to have because you had one before on a different coach?

I think it proper to assume that your coach was made with the capability of keeping the house batteries at proper charge without any additional equipment.
It might be more prudent to check out that which you have before you change anything.

JIM

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Bill,

Now I think I understand what you are asking. If I am correct you want to add a charger for your chassis batteries.

I recomend the following....

Monitor them before you do anything. My bus can sit for 3 or 4 months with no charging of the chassis batteries and start when I turn the key. If yours loses voltage over a period of time rapidly, like a week or even a month it may mean you have some loads on the chassis batteries, in which case I would seek to find them and determine if they can be removed entirely or at least put on the house side.

But if you do need a charger the folks here have had the greatest success with the Guest charger. If you do a search you will find the thread and the drawings for the suggested installation methods.

Your bus chassis requires both 12V and 24V power so the Vanner equalizer insures the 12V and 24V circuits maintain the proper relationship.

The monitor you mention is located above the Vanner equalizer near the voltage regulator. That is the device that lights the annunciator lights on the dash in the event the chassis electrical system has a fault such as battery balance, hi or low voltage, or alternator failure.

You may wish to check to see if your coach was built with a chassis battery charger. It may have been equipped with one.

[truk4u]

I'm still confused!:confused:

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Tom's always confused so don't let his comment influence you.

I need to back up a little. I stand by my advice above, but I was only thinking in the context of maintaining a charge for the chassis batteries.

Before anyone starts questioning the equipment and devices on board relating to batteries, such as you did when you mentioned equalizers, monitors, chargers, etc. it is necessary to go all the way back to the basics and that is to be certain that the perceived need for a charger for example is not driven by something as simple as a bad battery.

You mention the coach is new to you. Unless you are already familiar with your coach, its systems, the age and condition of its batteries, how everything is functioning, etc. start your new relationship with your coach by getting to know it. Really, really know it. A lot of owners have had their wallets vacuumed clean because they head off wanting to fix or replace or add devices to cure problems that don't exist. You can spend a lot of money chasing problems that do not exist and if you head off with a preconceived notion unsupported by facts you contribute to the financial pain you will experience.

With a good quality multi-tester you can start by monitoring your chassis batteries daily to see how well they hold their voltage. After being fully charged they should have a voltage of 12.7 or 12.8 (25.4 or 25.6) and it should take weeks before you see voltages drop to 12.4 or 12.5 (24.8 or 25.0)

If the voltages drop down to 12.2 (24.4) fairly quickly then the reason may be loads on the chassis batteries that should not be there, or perhaps bad batteries. Fairly quickly is subjective, but if the voltage dropped within a week then it indicates a charger will not solve your problem (if you have any) and you need to find out what is causing the drop.

I don't know if you plan on working on your own coach or if you will use the services of the many companies that do work on these coaches. If you intend to do your own work the best way to begin is to always go back to the basics.

[Steve Mitchell]

Thanks for your message Bill. I grew up in this business and I think we built one of the nicer conversions in the Vogue line back then. Parliament would like to "Thenk You" for giving us the opportunity to serve your recreational needs, and we will always do everything possible to merit the confidence you have shown in us. Parliament is the "only" authorized service and repair facility recognized by Prevost in Tampa Bay, and we have work extremely hard over several years paying our trained service techs. to travel to some of the POG events and work on POG members coaches of all models, and plan to be in Kerrville with our highly trained service techs. again this year to promote
your club.
Congrats to Bill and stop back in anytime.
Sincerely,
Steve MItchell
Pres. of Parliament Coach

[michaeldterry]

Mr Mitchell - I'm pleased to see your post here on POG! I am confident that I'm not alone in saying that we would like to have the POG sponsors more "engaged" and communicative with our group.