Starting Our Journey To Memphis, TN To Davis Motorhomes
Friday, March 14th, was our official day that we left the Tiffin factory and hit the road.
And by hitting the road, I mean a professional driver was dispatched to drive our new rig the short 2.5 hour drive to Davis Motorhome Mart in Memphis, TN while we followed in our Tour Master.
Alas, we’ve not been behind the wheel yet. Unless you count that one time that David backed the rig up and then moved forward again a whole 10 feet.
That doesn’t count in our book.
So the drive started out at 6:30am to a dark but clear morning.
Sun Rising Behind Us
Sure Does look Pretty On The Road
With the sun rising behind us and no wind or rain in site, it made for a beautiful driving day. Even if we were only going 142 miles.
It was a pretty uneventful. Until we reached Davis Motorhome Mart that is.
Arrival To David Motorhome Mart
Unfortunately when the driver got out of the coach he said the check engine light came on. That is a little disconcerting as the same light came on when a driver was test driving the coach at Tiffin. Tiffin had looked at the light and told us it really wasn’t anything and they cleared it. Now that it came on again, the dealership hooked it up to the computer and it came back as our ERG valve.
So unfortunately, once we take possession of the new coach we will be heading back to Tiffin to their mechanics shop and they can repair what needs to be repaired. We’re not happy that our first trip will be back to Tiffin to fix a problem that we feel should have been fixed in the first place. But oh well, we just need to do what we need to do.
The nice thing about Davis Motorhome Mart is that we were able to park side by side, door to door with our coaches. This made moving from one coach to another a lot easier. Not that moving is easy mind you. It’s long and exhausting. They also let us stay on the property while we were moving in. Which helped out a great deal as we were able to work at all hours, not just when they were open.
Door To Door Moving
First order of business…
David Moving His Coffee Machine In
Starting The Move
The coffee machine. (This one is dedicated to his big (little) sis Linda.)
Although we should have thought about that one a little better. Once the coffee machine was moved in it made for a longer commute to get that first cup of coffee.
First Meal Cooked In New Rig
Cat Area All Set Up Under Bed
It took us a couple of days of moving before we were ready to bring the cats over and start sleeping in the new coach. David and I were concerned that the cats really didn’t have any hiding places in this new coach. Our old Tour Master, no problem. They went under the bed and under the couch if they needed some alone time. In the Bus their was no going under the couch and under the bed was a closed off storage area. We couldn’t do anything about under the couch however David had this idea to convert the under the bed storage area to a cat area.
It think it turned out well and it took no time at all for all three cats to find it and claim it as their own.
Tour Master All Cleaned Up And Ready For Sale
Good Bye Tour Master
So it was finally time to say good-bye to the Tour Master. It looks so empty at this point.
Here is the last look at our 2008 Tour Master as shot back in June 2013 when we thought it was going to be traded in…
All Settled In To The New Coach
All settled in now.
Complete with sleeping kitty (BK) all stretched out on the couch.
Here is a time lapse of the drive from Tiffin to Davis Motorhome. 2.5 hours in 2 minutes 16 seconds.
How do your cats get under the bed? We have a cat who goes under our couch the minute we start the engine. We have been looking at Tiffin coaches and wonder what our cat would do without a “safe” place to go.
Hi Mary Ellen. In this particular coach, underneath the bed towards the top of the bed is open. This is where their are a bunch of wires which we wire loomed so they were all secure. Underneath the other part of the bed is a storage area. You lift up the bed and can use this area for storage. It’s all carpeted and nice. David ended up cutting a hole towards the top of this area where the open/wire area is. You can see in the picture the hole that David cut and you can see the wires on the other side.That way the cats can go under the bed and through the hole that David had cut. We placed their beds under there so they have a nice hiding spot. They can get to this area with the slide open as well as closed. Hope this helps.
Where do you keep your litter box?
Hi Jeannie. We have a large walk in closet in the back and their is a perfect corner nook, next to the washer and dryer, that fits the box perfectly. We also use all natural pine pellets for litter so it absorbs any smells and clean it out at least twice a day, as we have 3 kitties using 1 box.
Congrats! Tiffin makes a good coach. :)
Sorry to hear about the check engine light issue; hope it gets cleared quickly and you’re able to get on your way! They’re bound to make it their top issue once you get there (couldn’t resist! LOL).
Just what you wanted — a trip to the Tiffin factory :)
… I suspect you’ll get VERY personalized (and QUICK) service !!
Wishing you good times and Happiness in your new Allegro Bus. I will fallow you in about a year.
Bob F
Seriously we just missed you guys! We’re in spot 76 at the Tiffin Service Campground right now. Congrats on the new rig. Sorry we missed y’all. Unless of course you are back here to get that valve sensor fixed. If so, stop by and say hi!
Yup…we’re back again. Tiffin is right on the engine issue. It ended up being a bad sensor. While we are here we figured we’d get a couple other minor things looked at and get some improvements done. So we’ll be here, more than likely, a week or so. We’re in site 40. You can’t miss us with our custom paint job.
Lift up the king size bed? Like it’s an easy thing to do…so is it on pneumatic arms or something?
It has been my experience that cats will find a place to hide where you would not think it possible! It will be interesting to see how they figure it all out!
You will love living in that gorgeous new home! I am so happy for you both that you are realizing your dream in such comfort!
Love yas!
Yes Linda, it’s got pneumatic arms on both sides of the bed. So lifting really is a one person job. Plus, it stays open when it’s up, so no need to stand there and hold it.
Awww, you just love Red Bay too much to leave!
We also had(have) an EGR valve problem. I wrote about it a bit here: http://livingadream2.blogspot.com/2014/02/murphys-law.html
We are going to spend Sunday night at the Cummins repair facility near Phoenix and have an appointment Monday morning to address the issue.
I’m glad to hear that you are in your new home – I can’t wait to see what improvements you have planned!
The cats’ cave is awesome!
Hi…Turns out that the EGR value error we received was not the EGR valve after all, but the pressure differential sensor that was telling the value to stay open. So they replaced the sensor and now we will see how it goes. Glad you like the “cat cave”. They needed somewhere to call their own. :)
You are now discovering the joys of Red Bay, a second home to all Tiffin owners.
Hi…”Discovering”? Naw, we have been here from January…we are far past discovery. LOL It’s all good. Just a few things so we can finely get back to our “normal” life.
We have a Tiffin coach in production now, but the days of being on-site at the Tiffin plant during the build are over. Considering your Winnebago problem(s) and the fact that one can no longer be at the Tiffin factory to catch problems, would you hire an RV inspector to go over your new Tiffin coach at the dealership? Just wondering what you would do today?
Now we’re newbies and you’re very experienced. This is our first coach and we’ll be parttime. Although I’m very detailed and know how to punch out a building, I’m clueless about chassis, diesel, and mechanics. So if any of those circumstances would change hiring an inspector or not, it would be interesting to hear your thoughts.
Hi…Seeing I do most of the work on our coach ourselves, I/we would surely go through the coach personally before accepting delivery from the dealer. If you do not feel comfortable doing so, their are people that can be hired that will do so. We do not know of any personally as we don’t have the need nor would we want recommend someone as we don’t want the issue if something is missed and we did the recommendation. (Hope that makes sense.) You have to be able to trust the person will do their job correctly and not just do a “quick walk through” and take your money. I am not aware of anyone that would go to the extent of looking at a chassis or engine and would like only look at the “build” of the coach and test things to be sure they are working as they should. Not however a lot of things do not show up until after the coach has been used. Just driving it down the road for a few hours can shake things up enough to now show an issue where you did not see one before. Be sure to make a chek list of things you find and be sure to plan a trip to Red Bay AL to the Tiffin Service center as that is THE BEST PLACE to get things handled and also where you will find people willing to do work on your new home like front areas floor and step mats, adding storage cabinets, etc, etc. Welcome to coach ownership!!!! :)