Newbie questions

[Neracoal]

I bought a American 27' by cobra. It is on a ford e 350. Everything but hot water heater works has 62 k on it. I payed 2 k for it. Oh and it is a 88.
Questions I have is this. How much up and Down movement is normal of the cabover? I had to rebuild the bunk since it water totally rotted.
Question 2. Since I haven't finished the trim work off inside I noticed there is side to side movement like a twist between the cab and the rest of the coach. Is this normal as well?
Thank you so much for any advice you could give a newbie to rv's
Neil

[Mudshovel]

I agree, but motorhomes are a huge was of money new, I myself couldn't just buy a 100- 200k unit use it to 30k miles and then let it sit on the side of my house to rot under a bunch of trees 😞 I've found very few people take care of these things, sure they are built a little bit better but seams and openings need to be check and renewed often I can't push this enough. The guy I bought my Shasta said in his owen words that it was in really nice shape and he paid over 5k for it a few years ago and loaned it to his buddy and he ran it into a tree and they never did anything about it. I saw only a little shreaded tarp and a bunch of weathered tape over the damage, parked the rear down hill so all the water just leaked in and worked it's way back, humm I wish I could have bought it right after it happened.
Anyways Neacoal good to hear that it got tight after you got some screws in.
And a little tip I foud to make cleaning that putty up is a wire wheel in the drill, you don't need to get it super clean could just give it a once pass with a putty knife as long as the old stuff is somewhat dirt free and still soft and sticky.
Glad you fixing a older unit instead of blowing the bank on a new one. 🙂

[Neracoal]

True but in maintain shape it still wouldn't be 20k. Maybe worth 4 or 5k.

[jamesa403]

"I hate when people just use things and don't maintain them" - If people maintained things, then you wouldn't have gotten your MH for $2K. More likely $20K or more, IMHO

[Neracoal]

Just wanted to give a update. I put the screws back in thru the cab into the bunk and now there is no cab to coach twist and the only movemt in the bunk is what I would expect from a over hang which is very very minimal.

Thank you for all the help on this.

Next task is gonna be taking off all the trim, reputty and install new screw trim. While I am at that I will do the roof , vents and such. Then comes the windows.

I hate when people just use things and don't maintain them.

[Mudshovel]

Neracoal wrote:
That's us great help. Thank you for taking the time. Now that I have the bunk rebuilt I know where the studs are at. I imagine that not having those screws in is my problem right now. When I get back home with it tomorrow I will fasten the heck out of it. Maybe I will even stop at menards and get screws, I have the cordless drill with me right now.

Thank you again for the huge help.

Anytime.

[Neracoal]

That's us great help. Thank you for taking the time. Now that I have the bunk rebuilt I know where the studs are at. I imagine that not having those screws in is my problem right now. When I get back home with it tomorrow I will fasten the heck out of it. Maybe I will even stop at menards and get screws, I have the cordless drill with me right now.

Thank you again for the huge help.

[Mudshovel]

Neracoal wrote:

Mudshovel wrote:

Neracoal wrote:
Thought about it and I think it is because I haven't screwed the cab to the bunk yet. That should make it move more as one piece. Thoughts?

Use a whole box of screws!:)

Serious?

Well I was being funny but I've gone by my rule of thumb on old units, if the factory use 10 screws, but left out 12 add that together and multiply it by 2, ie 44.

I noticed on my Shasta the factory only secured the RH corner at the cab, and didn't put one screw on the LH side, get the idea? these thing were thrown together very fast and cheap so sometimes you kinda have to re-engineer the assembly process. And again not seeing what you are I suggest a # 10 or #12 washer head sheet metal screw every 2" to 3" around the van roof into the bunk floor but keep in mind where the support/ stucture (studs) are in the floor so your screwing into something other than thin plywood, again unknown what your working with.
My Shasta has 1" thick studs sandwiched between two sheets of 5mm plywood with faom board insulation in the middle all glued and stapled. When I did my Cobra M/H in the past it used a 1" sheet of plywood wich was very strong but twice as heavy.

This is what my bunk floor structure looks like less the insulation.

And this is how mine was attached, not very well as all my fastners had rusted away and fell out, but it looks like there was a screw every inch or two for the most part and a few down from the top side into the side wood going from cab to outer wall and several screws going up from bottom into the wall frame wich is aluminium. and I have to say my M/H wobbles like a wet noodle right now with this floor out. Make sure if it means much to you to square up your wall to your cab before screwing down and check to make sure the cab has not racked itself buy looking at the fitment of the cab doors and how well they open and close. If adjustment is needed now would be the time to do so.
I hope this has been some help for you.

[Neracoal]

Mudshovel wrote:

Neracoal wrote:
Thought about it and I think it is because I haven't screwed the cab to the bunk yet. That should make it move more as one piece. Thoughts?

Use a whole box of screws!:)

Serious?

[Mudshovel]

Neracoal wrote:
Thought about it and I think it is because I haven't screwed the cab to the bunk yet. That should make it move more as one piece. Thoughts?

Use a whole box of screws!:)

[Mudshovel]

Neracoal wrote:
Think the screws up thru the cab into the bunk not being there yet is my problem maybe.

Well that does sound like your problem, like I said before all trim and screws are all part of the structure strengh. I like to do on older units is remove exterior trim, clean old butyl off and replace all the fastners to get the best seal possible and often find many screws loose and/ or rusted away so I go from the original screw of a # 8 to a #10 etc. You would really notice how much stronger and quieter and more leak free you rig would be.

[Neracoal]

Thought about it and I think it is because I haven't screwed the cab to the bunk yet. That should make it move more as one piece. Thoughts?

[tenbear]

I'm not aware of any movement of the cabover but I don't use it as a bed, just a storage area.

[Neracoal]

Think the screws up thru the cab into the bunk not being there yet is my problem maybe.

[Mudshovel]

Well Im with you on this question on how much movement is ok between van body and camper body, I myself have concluded that there may be some but you really shouldn't be able to see or move it around and I figure this because the van is rubber isolated to the frame and the frame is super long, there is going to be flex or twisting. Now with that said and like in the case of my Shasta, both van and camper bodies are mounted via rubber mounts......... So I figure the van and camper should be tight and flex free as much as possible at least that what I'm going for on my Shasta rebuild. As far as the overhead bunk, you should not have any movement but remember and from my own experience all the parts need to be there like the outside trim channels etc in order to maximize strength. Might want to post some pics for us and maybe we could get a better idea of where your at.
I also reccomend. Checking out my 84 Shasta motorhome rebuild, may give you a good insight on how motorhomes of that vintage were put together (poorly)
One last thing and I really hate to say this but it kinda sounds like you have more structure damage than you think or repaired, water is a funny thing comes in at the front marker light and rots the kitchen floor out. And most I've looked at that seemed to be leak free turned out to be really bad.
We're ( I'm) here for ya, we will get you through this 🙂