Need informations, want to buy 7,3 Diesel 03 Concours

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Safari997
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Joined: July 25th, 2015, 6:30 am

Need informations, want to buy 7,3 Diesel 03 Concours

Post by Safari997 »

Hello!

I'm from Montreal Quebec, we want to buy a Chinook 2003 Concourse 7,3 Diesel on Ford chassis.

We plan to drive it from Montreal, Alaska to Ushuaïa, and coming back. One year trip.

We already did 6 months in South West and Baja in 2013 with the kids (9 and 11).

The Chinook is a serious choice we are looking for. I don't find important informations on the web.

The concourse with dinette and coach, what are the dimension of the coach bed? I'm 6,3 and it is not easy to find a bed! i need a bed of minimum 75 inches long.

second info, what is the milage per galon a 7,3 liter can do? How many miles with a tank. ok let's say we are on small road and we go 50-60 mph.

Here where i live a man sale one 1989 7.3 liter 16 500$ Can dollars. But inside there is no stove! he change the refregirator for a new one but very smal. And have two sofa beds.

So my question, i think his price is very toooooo high!
And can i find stove, kitchen fan and frig that they put in the Chinook?

It's a lot of question, but you are the folks who know all those answes!!!

If you want to get an eyes on my last trip:

http://www.safari997.blogspot.com

Thank you for helping us!

Sébastien

;)
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Blue~Go
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Posts: 3716
Joined: July 31st, 2014, 1:01 am
Location: 1999 Concourse

Re: Need informations, want to buy 7,3 Diesel 03 Concours

Post by Blue~Go »

Bienvenue, Sébastien.
Safari997 wrote: I don't find important informations on the web.
We can try to help you here. First of all, I will attach a couple of owner's manuals. If you look through these, you can find measurements for the beds, details of the plumbing and electrical systems, etc. I don't have 2003, but I will attach 2000 and 2004, which I do have. Many things stayed the same - especially the basics. I also have the 2003 Premiere brochure, which is not as detailed as the manual (and is also for the Premier not the Concourse), but maybe it will help too.

What I don't know is when they stopped offering the diesel. I'm not sure whether or not it went to 2003 with Chinook - perhaps it is mentioned in the manuals, or someone else knows.
2000 Chinook manual.pdf
(1.48 MiB) Downloaded 134 times
Note: Well shoot, I can't upload the 2003 Premier brochure or the the 2004 Chinook manual because apparently the upload limit is 2MB and they are both larger (2.4 MB and 5.6MB respectively). Unless Manitou might change the limit (?). I guess the 2000 will have to tide you over for now.
Safari997 wrote:The concourse with dinette and coach, what are the dimension of the coach bed? I'm 6,3 and it is not easy to find a bed! i need a bed of minimum 75 inches long.
The couch bed is always the same length (in all layouts), if you are going to sleep on it lengthwise. It is 72" long and 48" wide (I see the 2000 Manual says it is 50" wide, but I don't know that that is correct).

The dinette bed is somewhat short - it is 68-1/2" long.

There are a couple of options though:

1) I don't have the dinette layout (I have the Club Chair layout), but I think you can make the whole thing "one big bed" by combining the dinette and the couch into one bed. Then I think it would be around 84" long (you would sleep across instead of lengthwise).

2) In my rig (1999), if I wanted to, I could make the couch bed at least 6" longer by putting the driver's seat all the way forward and adding a filler piece. Or even without a filler piece, one's feet could hang over into the space there.
Safari997 wrote:second info, what is the milage per galon a 7,3 liter can do? How many miles with a tank. ok let's say we are on small road and we go 50-60 mph.
I don't have the 7.3, so can't answer for sure. If I had to guess, I would say 15 or so? I also don't know what size fuel tank that would have. If it's the same tank as the gas model, it would be 37 US gallons (140 liters). I get around 11-12- with the gas engine, and I can go just about 400 miles (tho I usually fill up sooner).
Safari997 wrote:Here where i live a man sale one 1989 7.3 liter 16 500$ Can dollars. But inside there is no stove! he change the refregirator for a new one but very smal. And have two sofa beds.
Hmm, that is about $12,600 US dollars right now. I don't closely follow the value of diesels or of the "old school" body style, so I can't say for sure. I suppose the diesel adds a certain amount of "just try to find one" value.

There was a factory floor plan that had two twin beds (one of three possible layouts). One thing to know is that each of the three rear-door layouts could theoretically be changed to any of the other two (and many people have). Basically everything is the same except for the furniture on the passenger side, which is either a bed, a dinette, or two club chairs. The furnace is under the forward end of the bed, or the forward dinette seat, or the forward club chair (in same exact position though). There is nothing else major underneath (unless you have a central vacuum, that might be under the rear area). The kitchen (stove side) is the same on all three. So there might be some flexibility if you find one that is just right, but has the club chairs or twin bed (and you want the dinette). Of course you would have to make/buy/trade for dinette furniture, but I mean there is nothing different in the Chinook itself to keep you from changing.

Safari997 wrote:And can i find stove, kitchen fan and frig that they put in the Chinook?
The stove - or a similar one - should not be hard to find as they are not Chinook specific, but an "Atwood" brand that is still made (or if not the exact same one, a very similar one). Some Chinooks had a three-burner stove top, and others had that plus an oven (propane oven). Most RV appliances are "off the shelf" things made by other companies.

The fridge may be a bit tricky. Not that you can't find one - again, they are still made (Dometic brand). But, in the case of the Concourse, the original 3-way refrigerator will not fit in or out the back door. Apparently Chinook brought them in through the dinette window "hole" before the window went in. So you might have to remove the window to get one in. I just removed mine, and I sawed it in half (!) for that reason. It was a shame because it was in nearly new condition and worked fine - but to get it out the door I had to cut it in half. One possible advantage to a smaller refrigerator (and a big reason I removed mine) is that the big refrigerator they put in really crowds the entryway/hall. You do get a really big refrigerator/freezer though.

Safari997 wrote:If you want to get an eyes on my last trip:

http://www.safari997.blogspot.com
I will check it out - sounds pretty neat!

BG
1999 Concourse
Manitou
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Re: Need informations, want to buy 7,3 Diesel 03 Concours

Post by Manitou »

Limit increased to 5meg (have to draw the limit somewhere or we'll run out of space)
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Blue~Go
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Posts: 3716
Joined: July 31st, 2014, 1:01 am
Location: 1999 Concourse

Re: Need informations, want to buy 7,3 Diesel 03 Concours

Post by Blue~Go »

Thanks Manitou. The 2004 manual is 5.4 MB, and I don't know how to reduce it. I tried making a a .zip file but that was still 5.3MB.

The 2003 Premier brochure I can upload as is now because it is under 5 MB.

Also, I have an idea. I don't know if this is possible (or if you would want to), but if we could have one sub-forum that was something like a "document center," then there'd be a handy place to put (and look for) manuals etc. And then maybe if you wanted to (and if it's possible) you could raise the limit for just that one sub-forum. So maybe everyplace else a 2MB limit (or whatever) and then maybe 7MB in the document center? Or...?

Okay, so, 2003 Premier brochure:
2003 Premier Brochure.pdf
(2.29 MiB) Downloaded 135 times
1999 Concourse
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