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zidjan's avatar
zidjan
Explorer
Jul 05, 2018

New 2004 Thor 5K E350 Chassis with AC question

Hi folks, I've been a a lurker here for a while absorbing what I can regarding becoming an RV owner...and finally I am a new owner of a 2004 Thor 21ft 5K e350 chassis....we live in CA but bought it from Oregon, rent a one way car and drove the RV back hoping nothing happened along the way...nothing happened but I learned what "white knuckles" meant...basically I can't drive it on one hand at all...the wind feels like we're going on our side at anytime.....anyway, we are back home and spent the whole day of July 4th tearing things out to repaint and make the MH ours..while on the road we use our AC and noticed that it is very noisy, so I took off the cover and found a lot of duct tape and it seems the previous owner at one point what trying to use the paper plates as ducts...I saw there's a part of the Styrofoam ducting that got ripped....so what do those things called and where can I find them.

Thank you guys

I'll visit here more often now with questions I am sure.
Class C

4 Replies

  • midnightsadie's avatar
    midnightsadie
    Explorer II
    Jul 06, 2018
    just slowing down your speed will help in the handling of your rv, the ac is something you,ll have to work out on your own .
  • zidjan's avatar
    zidjan
    Explorer
    Jul 06, 2018
    Yeah I have been reading about steering stabilizers, shocks and sway bars...since we're remodeling the interior, I'll have sometime to plan and budget things out....I'll get more info on the AC, model and pictures later tonight...it's not the noise that I was talking about but rather the section of the ducting that seems to be missing.

    A lot of things to learn for sure...the RV world is a totally different world.
  • ksg5000's avatar
    ksg5000
    Explorer II
    Jul 06, 2018
    RV air conditioners are inherently noisy - probably the most common complaint from RVers. The duct work issue you discovered may not solve the noise issue. Picture may help others provide assistance.

    RV aren't cars and will be impacted by wind/passing trucks etc. With that said it's a good idea to take your rig in and have it aligned (ask outfit if they have experience aligning Ford RV's) - correct tire pressure also will help. Also - OEM shocks on many rigs are cheap/terrible and yours are likely 14 years old. When I upgraded my E350 to Bilstein it made a nice difference in driveability. Should be lots of threads on this subject if you use the forum search feature.
  • j-d's avatar
    j-d
    Explorer II
    Jul 06, 2018
    Hi, Welcome!
    Can't help much with the A/C issue without more info or pictures. Is it actually ducted through the coach ceiling? Make/model of A/C?
    Can you furnish info about the Thor Coach? I can't make sense of "21ft 5K."
    The Chevy Lovers are gonna have a field day with "white knuckles!" As a rule, the handling issues with E-Series aren't too bad with the smaller (shorter) RV's. How many miles on this?
    What Tire Pressure did you run? FRONT tire pressure is critical. If the tire sidewalls say 80 and you run that, it's gonna handle like a squirrel on espresso.
    Single or dual rear wheels?
    Load it as you would for a trip, and drive, crew and all, to a truck stop and weigh it. Post back.

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