new member/new 1996 Cutter

[Scott Mitche]

Hi, name is Scott. Wife and I retired in Alaska, drove to Seattle to buy an RV and start a new lifestyle. Bought a 34 foot 1996 Cutter in California last week and being totally new to RV'ing, I am reading everything I can and after 6 days of learning, we are almost ready to go. I have a few questions which hopefully I can get some help with here. The two batteries for the coach won't hold a charge. They are HD-M-24. A friend raves about the Optima BlueTop but it is a 36. If it fits in the battery tray, can I use a different rated battery? Secondly, the coach seems very short on power when climbing hills(ford 460). Is this just the way it is? Would a Banks Power upgrade(they claim 10-20 percent increase) be very noticeable? Thanks in advance, scott

[Robfike]

Scott,
Welcome aboard! My wife and I have only been RVing for 11 months and are we hooked.
I don't know about your lack of power, but on the battery question the bigger the better. As long as they fit in the battery tray. Just make sure you get Deep-Cycle type batteries for the coach, and a normal Starting type battery for the engine side. The bigger the battery, the more use you will get before you need to charge.
Rob

[Serena]

Check out the section on using Overdrive or not. I don't use it, as I much prefer manually shifting when driving hills or under wet conditions. I'm not exactly wild about the gearing, but it does its job. I don't have a Banks system so can't say anything about that, except that this thing drives like a bus, because...it's a bus. If it was a truck, my expectations would be entirely different.

I won't be changing this one until or unless I find some reason to be driving in those conditions consistently enough to matter. But if you do decide to do it, please let me know your opinion! never let it be said I ignored a possible mod .