Eagles International Forum

Hi all,
Finally, I am set to make my trip east with the model 7.  You can see the unit I am talking about here. viewtopic.php?t=4986&sid=faeba82fdbae67 ... ab42670863

I did a short shakedown run in last fall when purchased (Palm Springs to Hemet and back).   General maintenance is fresh on the running gear but, I am planning for some odds and ends to be needed before I get it home to my shop.  I will be leaving Palm Springs early next week and will target the Quartzsite, AZ area for my first stop. 

I am looking for recommendations of Eagle friendly folks should I want some assistance in systems or repairs before the long haul to the east coast. Any and all connections or input appreciated from the great people here.

I will be heading I-10 to Phoenix.  Then up 17 to I40 or through Payson if I am feeling confident and sporty by then.
Planning to run mostly at night in the heat.
Thanks All!!!  Looking forward any great suggestions to know about along the way.
Cheers!!!
Matt

Matt, I see that you plan to travel at night.  Stock Eagle headlights are terrible.  You can improve them with best quality halogen bulbs and install relays to get all the power to the light.  There are some aftermarket replacement bulbs (like Cibie) but they are pricey.  For a quick cheap fix, I would think about mounting good LED lights wired to high beam.

Also be sure to subscribe to a good roadside service that can deal with your bus.  Our buses are unique when it comes to towing.  First, the wheels are back further than a truck and secondly many companies do not know how to hook up to an independent suspension.

Lots of us out here that might be able to offer advice or help if you get in a jam.

Jim

Further on headlights, on the website side, I have posted several articles.  One of them is on headlights and how to improve them.  It talks about the headlight technology at that time and also has a diagram of a relay setup.  Since that article was written, the market has been flooded with LED and HID conversions.  These are often controversial, since the cheap ones tend to blind on-coming traffic, no matter how they are aimed (aim limited by the headlight bucket).  The aftermarket LED units I referred to above (in the forms of light bars and square mounted headlamps) will also blind folks, but at least they have more adjustment to allow the aim to be very low.

Jim

Jim, Great comments! I have looked at this site (https://www.danielsternlighting.com/home.html) and bookmarked some other options to explore.  The bus has several upgrades from the last refit but, I did not inspect carefully the head light systems during the purchase and did not use them running in the day on the shakedown run. It is definitely on my list to assess these.

Your thoughts are greatly appreciated on Stern or any other solutions you like for headlight upgrades.  So you know, I am a master mechanic though unfamiliar with the bus as of yet. So simply, I have the skills but not the specific experience.  You can certainly speak frankly and technically about solutions and I will, most likely,,, understand.
Thanks again!!!
 

Jim, Please also advise if there is a good membership for roadside/towing that the club likes and respects.  That is a great suggestion.
Thank you again!

I have always had Coachnet only used it once in all these years and they did a great job.If you are going through Payson from Camp Verde to I 40 you will need some good headlights at night 

Clifford, thanks for the recommendation. 

Over the years, I have had Progressive towing and AAA heavy duty towing.  Mixed results with both.

As I said above, if you need the service be sure to make it clear that you need a semi type towing rig with a long reach.  One time they sent out a one ton tow truck!

Another option is Good Sams, but I have heard mixed reviews.

JIm

Jim I have had my Coachnet ever since it was offered by FMCA lol and that has been awhile 

I have heard such bad things about some of the road service companies, so it is good to hear of one that folks are happy with.

Jim

Jim I got a notice CoachNet sold to a large RV dealer  so it will probably go to hell too