Back to Red Bay!

We woke up on Wednesday morning and left the campground in Lawrenceburg, TN and traveled back to Red Bay for our noon appointment at Brannon’s Custom RV.  We got there about 11:30am, and Brannon pulled us into a work bay right on time at noon. 

While there, I was able to visit with an old friend, Joe “Buck” Barack of Hixson, TN (near Chattanooga), who I met when we were first visiting Red Bay to get information for ordering our Bus, and he was watching his Bus being built.  I also met an ‘09 Bus owner, Al Ruben from Memphis.  Al and his wife, Rita, will be attending the TRVN rally in Telico Plains, TN that we are headed to during the week of Oct 19—23.

We had Brannon to make three modifications to our coach.  He installed a new omni-directional TV antenna (a Winegard Roadstar RS-2000) on the roof.

We also had him to install a controller for the Engine Brake (similar to Jake-Brake) called the BrakeSwitch.  I have driven with it now from Red Bay to Cherokee, TN, and I really like it.  To explain what it does, there is a switch on the driver’s console to turn the Engine Brake on, and when it is on, the engine brake begins to slow the coach to a stop as soon as I let off of the accelerator.  With the brakeswitch, I can turn the engine brake on, and it only activates when I hit the brake pedal, and de-activates when I accelerate again.  It essentially allows the coach to coast down hills when I want it to!!

The last modification was an upgrade to the driver’s control panel on the left of the driver’s seat.  In the ‘09 models, Tiffin ‘angled’ the switches so the driver could see them easier.  I did not like the overall design of the new panel, because it put the transmission shifter way up front where I put my Pressure Pro readout.  Brannon got the guy that cuts the panels to make a custom panel for me that kept the transmission and leveler pads at the back of the panel where they were (See the following picture – The transmission pad is the black rectangle and the leveler pad is the light gray rectangle):

Here are the before………

and after pictures of the panel setup…

It is easier for me to read the switches when driving.

I am very satisfied with all three modifications.

Brannon finished the work, and we were on the road by 3:30pm.  We drove to Cleveland, TN (a short way north of Chattanooga), and spent the night on a  Wal-Mart parking lot.