Hi Everyone! New member here =) March 31, 2013, 05:59:08 pm Yahoo Message Number: 137899Hi everyone, I'm Cerin. My three boys and I are going to be getting our Lazy Daze this week (hopefully)We have been planning to get an RV and hit the road for a long time, and have finally decided that a Lazy Daze it what we want. Our ultimate plan is to RV fulltime, but right now we're calling it "take-off for the Summer and see how it goes" I worked for the airlines for several years, and travel is just in our blood. The LD we are hopefully getting has a lot of features that work for us, and some that I guess I'll need to learn how to upgrade. There's no generator, and I'd like one, or better yet, solar. I've been reading Andy Bairds blog today. Thanks for posting it Andy! I can see this is a slippery slope of adventure that I will be quickly sliding down! lol Nice to meet everyone! Cerin
Re: Hi Everyone! New member here =) Reply #1 – March 31, 2013, 06:44:53 pm Yahoo Message Number: 137900QuoteHi everyone, I'm Cerin. My three boys and I are going to be getting our Lazy Daze this week (hopefully)We have been planning to get an RV and hit the road for a long time, and have Hi Cerin Welcome to the cult. What style LD are you getting? Is your name pronounced like Kerin or Serin? Celtic? Tom
Re: Hi Everyone! New member here =) Reply #2 – April 01, 2013, 11:16:11 am Yahoo Message Number: 137917Cerin and company,Welcome to the LD Family! May your travels be fun and full of joy!See you on the road!Donna and Jim 1997 LD RB 26.5' Lazey Daizy
Re: Hi Everyone! New member here =) Reply #3 – April 01, 2013, 11:30:54 am Yahoo Message Number: 137919Hello Cerin, Welcome! If the unit you are getting doesn't have a generator. I would put getting one high on the list. Anyone who tells you you don't need one has never traveled with kids/family in hot areas. The cab a/c cannot cool the whole coach when on the road & the only way you can run the coach a/c is with a generator. Do yourself & your family a favor & get a generator.Good luck & enjoy the journey.VictorSent from Droid X
Re: Hi Everyone! New member here =) Reply #4 – April 01, 2013, 12:59:42 pm Yahoo Message Number: 137922"Do yourself & your family a favor & get a generator."Cerin Better and cheaper still, get a LD that already has a generator, they are very expensive to retrofit. A generator makes summer travel a lot more tolerable.Larry
Re: Hi Everyone! New member here =) Reply #5 – April 01, 2013, 01:25:33 pm Yahoo Message Number: 137927Hi Tom, Its a 1983 On a Chevy chassis, with a pop up 3rd level over the cab. Any thoughts...? I'm hoping to learn something from you guys, I'm pretty new to all this. Its a soft C, Yes I'm Irish, but the name is a meadow from Lord Of The Rings. My Dad is a Tolkein fan. You know, before that was made cool by some movies Cerin[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: Hi Everyone! New member here =) Reply #6 – April 01, 2013, 02:08:53 pm Yahoo Message Number: 137930Quote Hi Tom, Its a 1983 On a Chevy chassis, with a pop up 3rd level over the cab. Cerin Cerin, go to message 38090 and read about another owner with the pop-up feature. We don't hear much about the pop tops here.Chris
Re: Hi Everyone! New member here =) Reply #7 – April 01, 2013, 04:09:16 pm Yahoo Message Number: 137937Agree completely!Tessa
Re: Hi Everyone! New member here =) Reply #8 – April 01, 2013, 04:15:36 pm Yahoo Message Number: 137938Cerin, Be extra careful that no water damage has occured in a model this old. These models are prone to water leaks around the 2 overcab windows. I would pay a professional RV tech to inspect all aspects of the rig. Then have a mechanic inspect the engine, trans, all parts of the Chevy Chassis. If you don't do this you may end up with a LD that needs far more invested in it than it's worth. No generator is a big minus. If it was me I would be very leery dealing with something this old.Bob 01 23.5 TK, Jeep Cherokee Toad
Re: Hi Everyone! New member here =) Reply #9 – April 01, 2013, 04:50:19 pm Yahoo Message Number: 137941'If you don't do this you may end up with a LD that needs far more invested in it than it's worth. No generator is a big minus. If it was me I would be very leery dealing with something this old."Bob Wise words, it is easy to spend more on repairs than what a 30 year old LD is worth. Before proceeding, finding out the actual condition, with professional inspection, will let you know how much needs to be spent to make it a dependable RV. Unless it was owned by a very conscientious person, you could have many thousands of dollars in repairs needed to make it a dependable RV. Adding a generator can cost a few thousand more dollars. We just had a long discussion on the perils of antique LD ownership. http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/lifewithalazydazerv/message/137636 LDs are like old, collector cars, very few are ready to go cross-county, the rest are ready for restoration (read time consuming and expensive). Romance, infatuation and inexperience gets too many people in trouble when buying old LDs.Larry
Re: Hi Everyone! New member here =) Reply #10 – April 01, 2013, 05:15:09 pm Yahoo Message Number: 137945Thanks everyone for all the advice and pointers! I'm going to see the RV today and I will be sure to look for water damage near the overcab windows. I will also go back with a mechanic. The inside and outside have already been completely restored, which is why I was leaning toward this one. If I buy one that hasnt had the interior replaced, I would have to do that myself somehow. I have three boys and my youngest (4) has asthma. So old dust or smoke or pets, are all a no go here. I figured it would be easier to get a generator, or live without one, than to completely redo everything else... I still will probably rip out the brand new carpet, for hard flooring that I can mop instead. I can't even come close to affording a newer RV! Unless its something huge, which everyone seems to want to get rid of now that you can't park them anywhere! Trying to do the best I can with what I have. LOL. Isn't that just life Is it feasible to use the propane and 2nd battery, and not have a generator? Or is that just naive of me...?
Re: Hi Everyone! New member here =) Reply #11 – April 01, 2013, 08:26:03 pm Yahoo Message Number: 137956"Is it feasible to use the propane and 2nd battery, and not have a generator?" I traveled for five years (part vacationing and part fulltiming) in a 1985 Lazy Daze with no generator, so it can be done. BUT... my rig had 500+ watts of solar panels on the roof, four house batteries (in addition to the engine battery), and an inverter big enough to run the microwave oven. Those upgrades had cost several thousand dollars. AND... I still couldn't run the air conditioner unless I was in a campground with an electrical hookup. when it got hot, I had a choice of paying for hookups, driving a thousand miles north (which costs money) to get to a cooler climate... or roasting and being miserable. After a number of trips on which I roasted and was miserable, I decided it was time to upgrade to a newer coach with a generator. Now, if your plan is to only stay in campgrounds with hookups, maybe having a generator is not so important to you. But in that case you'll be missing the most beautiful spots... and you'll be paying a lot more in the long run. Otherwise, consider that hot, miserable kids are not fun to live with. And unless you have a couple thousand to spend on adding solar panels and extra batteries, you're likely to have hot miserable kids sitting in the dark with no power for their video games and iPods... well, I don't even want to think about it. ;-) So I'll echo what others here have said: think long and hard about the drawbacks of not having a generator. And did I hear you say that the rig you're looking at has "a second battery," meaning one engine battery and one house battery? That would be a 1983 or earlier model. In that case I'd just say "no," unless you're willing to spend even more on upgrades (and I think it would be wasted money). One house battery is nowhere near adequate in today's world of appliances and gadgets. This is just my opinion, but it's based upon extended travel in a 1985 and a 2003 Lazy Daze. There's a huge difference between the two. If I were you, I'd save my pennies until I could afford something with a generator.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: Hi Everyone! New member here =) Reply #12 – April 01, 2013, 09:29:28 pm Yahoo Message Number: 137958You have the pop-top version? I would have loved getting my hands on one of those!
Re: Hi Everyone! New member here =) Reply #13 – April 01, 2013, 11:34:48 pm Yahoo Message Number: 137961Okay, so I went and looked at the RV today. The owner has actually put a ton of work into it. Everything inside is new. It has new fans and air conditioner on top, new carpet, redone cabinets. etc. etc. The problem is, the guy redid it for his Mom to live in,
Re: Hi Everyone! New member here =) Reply #14 – April 02, 2013, 12:36:00 am Yahoo Message Number: 137964"Cerin, Be extra careful that no water damage has occurred in a model this old." Especially with the pop-top model! There's a reason it was discontinued: it was even more leak-prone than others of its vintage (almost all of which eventually developed leaks in the overcab front window, which is why modern Lazy Dazes have no window in front).Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: Hi Everyone! New member here =) Reply #15 – April 02, 2013, 12:46:50 am Yahoo Message Number: 137965"I checked the tires and all were good but one." Just a reminder: good tread isn't enough. You need to read the date codes on all the tires. More than five years old? They'll need to be replaced, and you can expect to pay $1,200 to $1,500 for a set (assuming you can find them; those old LDs used an oddball wheel size). How do you decipher date codes? See the "More Info" page of my Lazy Daze Pocket Guide: http://www.andybaird.com/travels/LD-guide-web/info.htm"It took quite awhile actually to get it jumped and then it revved high for another long while. Now admittedly, Im no mechanic. But a vehicle that has been sitting for a month, shouldnt be that hard to get started, right?" Yup. This is sounding more and more like a money pit to me. Let him sell it to somebody else in the mobile home park--somebody who doesn't intend to drive it anywhere. I think this rig's driving days are over. If I were you, I wouldn't even spend the $80 on a chassis/engine inspection, because I don't think it would be a good investment. My advice: walk away from this one, and keep looking. Sorry!Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: Hi Everyone! New member here =) Reply #16 – April 02, 2013, 12:48:28 am Yahoo Message Number: 137966Sorry for the double post, folks. Yahoo wasn't responding, so after half an hour or so I tried again. Should known what would happen!Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: Hi Everyone! New member here =) Reply #17 – April 02, 2013, 08:35:17 am Yahoo Message Number: 137967Cerin, I am here to tell you that if Andy Baird says, "Let him sell it to somebody else in the mobile home park....."; I would listen to him. Andy has been doing LD RVing a long time and he has a lot of sound know-how and know-when common sense when it comes to looking and buying an LD.JMHO,Donna ofLazey Daizy 1997 LD RB 26.5'REGARDING:
Re: Hi Everyone! New member here =) Reply #18 – April 02, 2013, 09:21:37 pm Yahoo Message Number: 137994Cerin, Andy is giving you excellent experienced advice. You can follow it or feel the pa
Re: Hi Everyone! New member here =) Reply #19 – April 02, 2013, 10:17:02 pm Yahoo Message Number: 137995Thanks so much everyone. Especially you Andy! I will be taking your advice. I'd be a fool not to listen, since you all clearly have experience and knowledge that I don't have yet, on this one. I appreciate your time in advising me. I will keep looking =)Cerin[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: Hi Everyone! New member here =) Reply #20 – April 07, 2013, 05:32:44 pm Yahoo Message Number: 138116In a recent post I said this about the popup "roof sleeper" Lazy Daze feature: "There's a reason it was discontinued: it was even more leak-prone than others of its vintage (almost all of which eventually developed leaks in the overcab front window, which is why modern Lazy Dazes have no window in front)." Turns out I was wrong about the reason this feature was discontinued. A member of this group wrote to me privately to say that he has owned one of these coaches and looked at a number of others, of vintages from 1975 onward, and that "I have never seen any leaking coming from the *installation* of the roof sleeper. My opinion is that older coaches with the roof sleepers were better sealed when installed by the factory than coaches without them of the same era. You know of the propensity of the 'patchwork' older LD roofs [mid-1985 and earlier] to leak from any (and many) of their roof seams if these seams were not regularly re-sealed. The deterioration that I have found with the roof sleepers is nearly always in the spring mechanism that pops them up and holds them down or in the molding and tearing of the 'canvas' sides and back. When closed properly the roof sleeper seals up very tightly." So why *did* LD discontinue the roof sleeper option? My informant says that "after much hemming and hawing, Lazy Daze finally admitted that they couldn't make another roof sleeper because Ed Newton had gotten into a dispute over ownership of the roof sleeper mold with the man (company) who cast the fiberglass roof sleeper tops for them." (Those of you who've met crusty old Ed probably won't be surprised. ;-) Furthermore, "they didn't think there was a sufficient demand for the roof sleeper option to warrant their having another mold made. So no more roof sleepers." Finally, he mentioned that he had looked at the particular coach Cerin was considering when it was "in a field in San Diego, where it was decomposing prior to its acquisition by the person now trying to sell it," and that in his opinion the subsequent restoration was mainly confined to cosmetic items to make the coach look good for the seller's mother, but that there was a lot of underlying leak damage, especially around the windows (the most common spot). So Cerin did well not to buy it. I'm passing all this information along with permission of the member. But I want to say something here. Occasionally people will write to me privately to correct something I posted. I guess they don't want to hurt my feelings by contradicting me in public, which is sweet of them. But hey, people--when I say something wrong, for heaven's sake feel free to speak up here! I'd much rather be corrected than be guilty of disseminating wrong information.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: Hi Everyone! New member here =) Reply #21 – April 08, 2013, 12:52:00 am Yahoo Message Number: 138126Thanks again for all the info and help! I definately got the same impression initially (and I think I made a comment as such), that all the work done was cosmetic rather than mechanical. I'm glad that although I'm not mechanically knowledgeable, I could at least recognize that much. lol. Thank you so much for confirming, and to the person who gave the information privately, thanks to you as well. =)[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: Hi Everyone! New member here =) Reply #22 – June 04, 2013, 06:36:37 pm Yahoo Message Number: 139884Welcome. Generators are nice, but we only run ours when we need the microwave. This site will teach you about led lights and solar power. Depending on your and your family's needs, you can get by just fine without a generator. Ed
Re: Hi Everyone! New member here =) Reply #23 – June 04, 2013, 06:47:42 pm Yahoo Message Number: 139885Welcome to the LD family! Hope you and your family enjoy the LD lifestyle in RVing. It will be a blast.Sincerely, Donna and Jim 1997 LD RB 26.5' Vaughn, WA
Re: Hi Everyone! New member here =) Reply #24 – June 04, 2013, 07:33:01 pm Yahoo Message Number: 139886Quote "Generators are nice, but we only run ours when we need the microwave...Depending on your and your family's needs, you can get by just fine without a generator. EdWell Ed, it's obvious from your post that you haven't encountered any seriously HOT weather. Come out and spend some time in the Central Valley of California when the temperatures are running triple digits. You will thank your lucky stars to have AC then. It's far better to have to listen to the AC noise all night than to have your brain set on 'broil'. I have five (5) roof vent fans (MaxxAir/MaxxFan) nearly identical to the FF and still that is not enough to cope.Steve S. Lazy Bones & Jiggs
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