Just Bought a 2001 Concourse - What Have I Done!
Posted: June 11th, 2017, 3:42 am
A good friend down the road advised me that we always have a "buyers remorse" stage when we make a major purchase. He was helping me not to freak out, kind soul. I'm still darned worried. I fell in love with this Chinook that is in amazing condition with only 53K miles. It has a 350 V-10 Triton engine (maybe they all do).
Upon driving home from Pennsylvania to Maine this week with my new wonder camper, I had some problems: a shimmy in the front end, a slight exhaust leak smell in the cab, and the engine sometimes but not always skipping when there is a load (uphill). With the bubble of magic "great condition" popped, now I'm facing repairs and feel like a sitting duck waiting to get ripped off by the Ford Dealers. I have an appt. this week, but am looking for an independent mechanic now to keep me away from dealerships. This one already went off on how it could cost $2500 to replace the exhaust manifolds, as did another mechanic at an RV place saying how notorious the 350 Tritons are for expensive manifolds.
I am looking around this website and getting more alarmed by the minute by how naive I am with such a fancy dooded-up camper. I'm about to retire on a fixed income and know that I'm over my head here. I can see that the maintenance is BIG and I am clueless. I'm thinking I may not be able to keep this incredible find.
I could use some voices of reason, and advice! Sorry my first post is a call for help, wish I'd posted when I was still in la la love land. I'm trying to get back there.
Upon driving home from Pennsylvania to Maine this week with my new wonder camper, I had some problems: a shimmy in the front end, a slight exhaust leak smell in the cab, and the engine sometimes but not always skipping when there is a load (uphill). With the bubble of magic "great condition" popped, now I'm facing repairs and feel like a sitting duck waiting to get ripped off by the Ford Dealers. I have an appt. this week, but am looking for an independent mechanic now to keep me away from dealerships. This one already went off on how it could cost $2500 to replace the exhaust manifolds, as did another mechanic at an RV place saying how notorious the 350 Tritons are for expensive manifolds.
I am looking around this website and getting more alarmed by the minute by how naive I am with such a fancy dooded-up camper. I'm about to retire on a fixed income and know that I'm over my head here. I can see that the maintenance is BIG and I am clueless. I'm thinking I may not be able to keep this incredible find.
I could use some voices of reason, and advice! Sorry my first post is a call for help, wish I'd posted when I was still in la la love land. I'm trying to get back there.