01/13/2021
For Sale: VEGICAT: 2004 Thor/Four Winds 39C Toy Hauler Motorhome - 91k miles
$25,000
Up next is my grease-converted motorhome... again, I'm posting it here first, since it allows me conveniently skip all of the "wait, it really runs on grease?" type questions.
This motorhome has been a solid part of our lives for the past 10 years. It has served as our clubhouse during Squirrels of Fury racing adventures... it has carried our dirt bikes through various summers of camping adventures. It has been a mobile garage during my son's go-kart phase. And it has taken us on more cross-country adventures than I can immediately recall... I would have to remind myself through the tons of photographs we've recorded as part of our journeys, many of them here on this particular FB group.
We even lived in this RV for 11 months while our house was being built.
It's literally done everything we've asked of it... including helping us move.
But... kids grow up... and life is always changing.
We've been outdoor adventurers for a while... and we were getting tired of the weight restrictions placed on us with our Weekend Warrior toy hauler... so we sought out this unit with it's 33,000 pound GVWR, and stopped fretting about whether "one more sandwich" in our cooler would blow our trailer tires.
We purchased the unit with 50k miles on the odometer... and the first 5000 miles of our travels were done on diesel to make sure we knew the personality of the vehicle before we started throwing grease variables at it.
One of the first things we did was to install a Kelderman Air-Ride suspension in the rear... which made a HUGE difference in the comfort during travel.
I had custom stainless steel belly tanks fabricated and installed for grease, mounted just behind the rear differential. They are tucked/hidden out of the way, with the filler port located in the rear basement compartment. These tanks hold ~180 gallons of grease... and for long trips we would also take an additional 175 gallons of filtered grease in a tote (not included). At roughly 7 miles per gallon, it gave us a range of 2400 miles on grease.
Anyone who has had an RV knows that as a UNIT, you're really talking about two different things: the VEHICLE, and the HOUSE.
The VEHICLE has been solid... I've had no issues with the Cat 3126 engine, the F-750 chassis, the Allison transmission, or any of the other "things" that have to do with the vehicle.
(The only exceptions to these are the annoying "ABS" light in the dash... which I got tired of throwing money at and just lived with), and the diesel fuel gauge not working. (An issue that I understand is common for the F-750).
Neither of these has ever worked for us in our history with it... and neither of them has been a show-stopper for us...
That leaves the description of the HOUSE...
I'm not sure how to classify the condition of THE HOUSE... it's NOT fair to say that it's in ROUGH shape... it's not... it's in GOOD shape... but like anything 16 years old that's seen some miles, there are many small "paper cut" issues that tend to add up.
It's for that reason that we're putting the price at $25,000... because I think to address some of the issues, it will take a few thousand worth of HIRED SKILL or raw ELBOW GREASE to solve.
First... the slide. There's no way around the fact that the tip-out (pop-out?) slide is a poor design. The "push button" design has never worked reliably for us, and finally several years ago we just pulled the chain links from the hydraulics and now (literally) just push it out when we want to use it... and push it in when we're ready to pack it in. It doesn't take a lot of leverage or force to move it. We manually brace it to keep it locked in place during travel, and have left it at that. To get it working again would require some skills in hydraulics (I believe the pistons have seized)... but honestly... I've stopped putting time and energy into it. Once we proved to ourselves that we could manually operate it, I haven't put a lot of thought into it. When the tip-out hydraulics decide they're not going to work, it can destroy a vacation (either by locking the slide IN (bad), or by locking the slide OUT (worse)... 5-6 years ago, we opted to keep it MANUAL. BUT... it's a THING... and it's the primary reason why we've lowered the price to where it is.
Second... the interior. The interior is actually in great shape... with the exception of the fact that we removed the dinette seating about 2 years ago. It was constructed with cheaper plywood, and was starting to fall apart... and at that time we wanted additional room/options while we lived in it during our home construction. The missing dinette is the secondary reason why the price is where it is.
Leaks? We've had a few minor ones over the years... as far as we know we've addressed them all quickly. Anyone who has an RV that says they've never had a leak is lying. (Yah, I said it... fight me).
Certainly there are other paper cuts that have accumulated along the way... a few electrical gremlins (grounding issues, I'm sure), a crack in the windshield... things like that.
Generator? Onan 7500W. ~20,000 hours. Works.
Bathroom? Works.
Hot water heater? Works. (Both propane and 110V).
TV? Works. (With an Xbox 360).
Backup Camera? Works.
Retractable Awning? Works.
Retractable Steps? Works.
Rear Lift-gate? Works. (Though I think the controller unit for it could use cleaning on the electrical contacts).
Microwave? Works.
Propane stove? Works.
Observation Deck? Yes.
I'm not sure how else to detail or document this unit, so I'll let random questions or requests for particular pictures fill in the gaps.
