SoCal RV Mechanic?

[monchichi6]

Hi. Can anyone recommend a good RV mechanic? I have an 89 Born Free on a Ford Econoline 350 Chassis and it's a bit of a "wanderer" on the highway. Needs alignment and possibly some after market suspension upgrades but need someone HONEST, and prefer to avoid 'chain' service departments.

If anyone has had a good experience in the Los Angeles or Santa Clarita area, I'd love to hear about it! Or any bad experiences too.

Thanks!

[j-d]

Kinda what a teacher said: "Teach'em a little more than you know."

[monchichi6]

...even when I don't know what I AM talking about! 🙂

[monchichi6]

That's good to know. But I did buy a phone because it was Lavender once. Horrible phone but was "pretty"! lol

I'm so appreciative for this forum and for everyone's input and sharing their experiences. I feel a lot better knowing there are people out there that know what I'm talking about.

Happy Wednesday all!

[j-d]

When we first got that 1983 E350, under a 24-ft Holiday Rambler rear bath Class C, it was simply treacherous. I drove it with the armrests up, both hands clenched on the wheel, both elbows wedged into the armrests. Like 4x4, One Hand once I did some simple, inexpensive changes. You want, I'll tell you how I adjusted the toe on that front axle. Works on any front end, by the way.
We now have a 31-ft on 2002 E450. I've had it aligned, replaced both front and rear sway bars with heavy duty ones, added a rear track bar, and literally replaced the whole front axle assembly with a later model one. The 1983 STILL drove better.
You don't have to be a girl to like the squared style. We did too, and still like it when we see a nice "classic." The exhaust in ours was a cobbed-up collection that must've been assembled over a few years. Exhaust manifolds also leaked. I was able to fix the manifold leaks, and installed a Flowmaster exhaust. From California if I recall, and that 460 engine ran SOOO good! For an RV, at least not when towing our car, it was fast!

[monchichi6]

Thanks so much! This is invaluable information and much appreciated. I believe we adjusted the air pressure in the tires to 55psi but plan to check them again, keeping the above in mind. I also need to weigh the beast. I can only carry about 900 lbs and that's not a whole lot.

By the way, I'm SUCH a girl because I preferred the squared off look and was stoked to find a Born Free with it. But it's definitely harder to drive than ANY rig I've driven (including 38' Class A, 32' Class C or 19' Chevy Transtar).

[j-d]

Glad 4x4 mentioned weight and pressure. Great place to start, and I got down the mechanical trail, I guess because that's where the topic started. Excess REAR tire pressure will just make the ride worse. Excess FRONT pressure will let it wander.
A neighbor worked for a scale company and brought a portable scale home, so I got to weigh all four corners of the '83 E350. Been so long ago I imagine I adjusted tire pressure, but I also remember the rig was pretty close to max. We had 8.75R16.5D tires on it, so max pressure was but 65PSI. Front axle weight could have been close to that. If the '88 has 16" wheels and 225/75R16E, anything over about 60 is probably too much. If somebody looked at the sidewall and saw "80-PSI Maximum" and aired up to that, it's WAY too much.

[4x4van]

I have a 1988 (1987 chassis), and it was always a white knuckle, E-ticket ride at anything over 60mph. Then, after weighing the rig, front and rear, and looking at a tire pressure chart, I realized that while I was running about 55psi in all 6 tires, the chart recommended only 45psi in front (rear was good at 55psi). So I dropped the front tire pressure by 10 psi. Wow! It made a huge difference! While still not great, I can actually drive with one hand, comfortably now.

My point is to start with the cheap and easy things first (it doesn't get any easier or cheaper than air pressure!). Make sure those are taken care of before spending money on alignments, steering boxes, bushings (unless obviously worn out of course), sway bars, etc.

[j-d]

All the way to 1991, E-series was Kingpin. 1977-91 was the squared-off look, and Kingpin. Starting 1992, the rounded look began Ball Joint. Your kingpins COULD be worn out at 110,000 but ours were not.
As I mentioned above, I put bushings in ours and I'm sure it helped but was not the Night/Day difference that the Hard-Bushing Sway Bar End Link Kit (from NAPA in my case) and adjusting the toe setting did.
My neighbor did side jobs as a mechanic and brought home an E350 cargo van that was all over the road. Had a set of kingpins to put in it. We inspected carefully and found the Axle-to-Crossmember Bushings were SHOT! No rubber left in them. He returned the Kingpin set and got Axle Bushings. Replaced them and the steering and wandering were all cleaned up. That E350 axle is massive. Hard to knock out of alignment.

[monchichi6]

Thanks everyone! Wow, I was just at the Saugus Cafe a couple weekends back. Small world!

And the info on the axle is super helpful! My rig didn't come with ANY manuals (I was spoiled as the previous Transtar I used to own was original owner and had every manual for all components, chassis, you name it.

I thought about the fact my chassis may be a '88. It says 89 on my registration but it also says I have 10K miles (when it's really 110K). Rut ro!

[j-d]

I cannot help locating a mechanic or alignment shop in SOCAL, but I wanted to mention that a "1989" Ford E-Series is Twin I-Beam but it's a Kingpin axle, not Ball Joints which began in the 1992 Chassis Model year. Most of the wandering complaints come from the Ball Joint Axle. I put "1989" in quotes because the Chassis Year may be different from the "Year" assigned by the coach builder, and either year might be on your title/registration. We had a "1984" coach on a 1983 E350 and it wandered. At 100,000 miles the kingpins were NOT worn out. Steering box leaked and I replaced it. Replacing the front Sway Bar End Links with a hard bushing kit made a huge difference and so did adjusting the toe-in. I also replaced the bushings where axles mounted to the crossmember and radius arms mounted to chassis rails, but that gave me less improvement than sway bar and toe. Steering box was probably loose.
The Kingpin Axle drives better than the Ball Joint one. I never took the old E350 to an alignment shop. Ball Joint axle needs the Caster increased. It can be done on Kingpins, a whole different way, but does not seem to be needed on most of the RV's.

[kalynzoo]

I found Always-On-Time auto and RV. They are a block over from the Saugus Café across the train tracks. Gary used to run Accurate Auto (or was it Action Auto) where they built the carwash. Anyway, the number is (661) 255-2896

[SCVJeff]

You don't need a mechanic, you need a good tire and alignment shop.
Call Mikes Tire on Soledad in Santa Clarita. He's a bit gruff but if you get by that he's the best around. They work on everything from VW to Semi's including motorhomes

[IAMICHABOD]

I have used B&D alignment for many years,on all my heavy duty vehicles,and both of my RVs.with great results.

They specialize in RVs and will do an honest and complete job what ever your needs.