Coast Resorts Open Roads Forum: How many of us are there? Owners of Dodge based RV's?

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Topic: How many of us are there? Owners of Dodge based RV's?

Posted By: Trish Davis on 04/17/09 05:40am

Frugal Freak:

1) Eric is 79Powerwagon.

2) Yes, the radiator is toward the "front." You have a 440 ci big block engine.

3) Having the decoder and figuring it out are separate issues. Really.

4) Outta business doesn't count, stuff in the coach is shared between several manufacturers. Almost all of us have stuff from this or that coach in ours, doesnt' matter if it came that way or not. Only matters that it works.

5) Assume the frt end is stock. Assume every 'rubber bit' in the engine and on the drivetrain is rotted and replace them all. ALL.
New parts don't look as greasy /rusty /'road-dirty as original parts.
Is the steering loose --can you feel wobble that can't be attributed to old shocks (count on replacing shocks)-- that's how you'll know.

One thing at a time, it will get done.

Posted By: 79powerwagon on 04/17/09 06:44am

Trish Davis wrote:

Frugal Freak:

One thing at a time, it will get done.

Here Here! [emoticon]

She ain't purdy, but at least she's slow!

Posted By: Leeann on 04/17/09 07:18am

Best way to check the steering is jack up the front, safely support it with heavy-duty jackstands, and wiggle/wobble the tires and see what moves, if anything. Tie rod ends, ball joints, etc. Then have someone wiggle the wheel while you watch and see what does and doesn't move - if wiggling the wheel doesn't cause any movement in the steering components, it might be time to adjust the steering box.

'73 Concord 20' Class A w/Dodge 440 - see profile for photo

Posted By: Spectramac on 04/17/09 10:16am

I'm curious how often our rigs loose a lower ball joint? I've seen this once in a high passenger Dodge Van. It was pretty scary looking, the front tire has nothing left holding it down and just flies up into the wheel well until it hits the floor. I hope our C's have a little stronger joints at least... Kind of a bad design to have the full weight of the front end pulling on the ball socket.

Malcolm

Posted By: Leeann on 04/17/09 10:57am

I don't know, to be honest. I've never seen one with that failure. I'd be curious, though (even though I have an A, not a C).

Posted By: overdrive75 on 04/18/09 07:38pm

CFarrar77 wrote:

I have A question for Overdrive75.

I just took my rig on a short trip to the beach and I noticed while driving down the freeway my rig sways back and forth after hitting a small dip in the road. It may not sound that bad but it is. I will make your backside pucker if you are riding in the back. I plan on getting new shocks before my next trip, so my question to you is, do I need new leaf packs? Or should I go with air bags vs shocks? which is more stable? And reliable? Any help is greatly appreciated.

I don't have an easy answer. I know everyone knows about my rear leaf packs. On my right pack 2 leaves were added in at some point. Up till Thursday I was thinking I was going to have to get 2 leafs added to the right, I still may have to. What is interesting is I finally put my new Monroe Gas Magnums on the front, and this doesn't make sense to me, but the left rear is now equal to the right from the ground, this is the side with less leafs. I did move the RV too, so maybe the front was influencing the rear.

I can't anwer easily answer that question. I would maybe check weight distribution.

I am going down that road, I am going to talk to the local motor carrier officer, my brother is friends with him and see if he can bring the protable scales over, I am going to weigh all 4 corners and see how well I am loaded. If the weight distribution makes sense, I will look at ride heights and go from there.

Posted By: goreds2 on 04/20/09 11:57pm

If we ever get down about our old Dodge, look at this.

I feel better now. [emoticon]

See Picture In My Profile
I have a 1989 Dodge XPLORER RV Class B - Purchased 10/15/10 IN CASH
Fiance' purchased a Class C 2002 Dynamax Carri-go on 5/1/15 IN CASH
We've got the best of both worlds

Posted By: Leeann on 04/21/09 07:07am

Oh my god

...that's only good for the engine & tranny at this point...

Posted By: eyeteeth on 04/22/09 06:46pm

Being unemployed, I probably shouldn't have... but... it's the last big purchase... and the item looked really good, and had just been refreshed.
[image]

I spent more than I was hoping, but... I know it won't need any work for a while.

I may just get it installed, and rebuild that side of the RV, and the Generator box compartment later. Not 100% sure just yet.

[image]

Posted By: Leeann on 04/22/09 07:35pm

sweet-looking Onan - a whole bunch newer than ours.

You won't regret it. They're just about indestructible and just keep hummin' along.

We keep a set of plugs and a qt of oil with us. We have a set of points and a condenser, but we haven't needed them yet. I have replaced the air filter, but I'm keeping the old not-so-used one as a spare.

Just check the oil and the plugs every so often and you'll be fine.

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