Starflyte ford v10 e350 chassis

[cbigham]

Ok,
Just bought a starflyte ..coachmen. Handles fairly well for what it is. Sold the coachmen bubble top van I drove for a few years, bought the starflyte. Seems a major improvement on road and camping.

I had only one glitch. Clearly the brake fluid needs replacing, probably original. Boiled over in heavy traffic, cleared up a bit later.

Anyone know about these?

[cbigham]

I got an impact wrench, not skerd!

How well did the house to frame joint hold up, and general waterproofing? It doesn't seem constructed of one solid piece of fiberglass like a coach house or chinook but does seem well built.

I do have faith in coachmen fiberglass. On my van a few years back late at night in a storm I hit a roof overhang at a hotel on the top. Not too fast but heard a thump, and it literally forced the van down an inch or two, I backed up, expecting to see major damage. Nope. Scratched gel coat was all. I was impressed.

[j-d]

Front pads, calipers and hoses are common parts, likely to be in stock or next day at O'Reilly, NAPA, so on. Other than a little extra front axle weight to jack, and more lug nuts that are also tighter (7/8", 140-ft/lb), changing those parts is very easy. Caliper Slide Bolts may be Hex or TORX, 10mm tubing wrench for the brake line at the frame, I think 14mm for the banjo bolt at the caliper.

If you want the Rotors off for replacement, surfacing, or to pack bearings, the Caliper Bracket is in the way. Those 21mm bolts are TIGHT and might be rusted. Best have a breaker bar.

[cbigham]

J-d,
Thanks, I'm pretty mechanical. ..,will get on that. I don't have a problem with how it brakes now. I also need to get the thing registered in CA. Then,
..the side door rattles like a bucket of bolts in a washing machine,
..the caulking is bad in the shower bath area ..I may eternabond tape or attempt dicor. Haven't decided, this is a 1998 so doesn't have the one piece wall. Looked like some leaked out and down to the storage, pump access area on passenger side rear. I'll deal with that,
..check all seals, re caulk, body looks decent but some dicor couldn't hurt
..fix a faulty vent in the bathroom seller put the wrong size cap on
..install a emergency start solenoid, switch between house battery and car for emergency
..service generator
..install 100 watts or so solar
..clean out carpet, cushions.
..check, fix tv not at all urgent

I want to weigh it when I get a chance also, to ensure it can handle a motorcycle off the back trailer hitch. Do you recall the hitch weight ?

So far I dig it, wife has dreams of putting it on the Alaska ferry and fishing, camping here, there. Drives much better than the van, which surprised me .

[j-d]

Good looking coach! I miss the compact size, even though we really enjoy the space we have in our 31.

I may have missed it, but what are the Model Years of the Coach and the Chassis?

Would like to know how many miles, too, but I think your front brake calipers are sticking, and that's more from age and DIS-use than from miles driven. Miles actually help prevent that.

It's an easy DIY job to replace front Calipers, Pads, and HOSES.

But FIRST, suck/siphon all the fluid out of the Master Cylinder, refill and Bleed Bleed Bleed Bleed the Front and Rear Brakes till fluid runs clean.

Following that, do your front brake replacements.

Or... If your chassis year is 2007 or earlier, call John at Northwest QuadVan in Portland OR. See if he's got a late model take-off set from a van he's converted to 4x4. He'll do the work at his shop if you want to take the drive up there. 2008 and later have much better front brakes. Your coach'll brake like a Corvette.

Whatever you do, do SOMETHING with those front calipers. That lockup is not a fluke. The cause is still there and it'll jump out at you again.

[cbigham]

Thanks,
I did drive it on a long drive, got stuck in heavy traffic, the front pssenger brake started to seize. ..fluid boil over. I will refill and bleed. After it cooled off drove fine again! Surprisingly good handler, foes not seem to have a emergency start solinoid to connect both batteries. A few niggles to fix but seems nice, got 11.5 mpg, not too bad. Band les better than my coachmen van on a gmc chassis which surprised me.

Same color, model plan as yours, door rattles something fierce!

[overbrook]

cbigham wrote:


Anyone know about these?

I've owned three of these. Two of the B+'s and one of the B vans. All three were well put together, the B+'s were on the Ford e350 with the v10 - a good combination. The B was on the Dodge chassis.

The B+ handled well. The only problem I had was I needed to replace the brake lines and fuel pump on the first one I bought. It had sat unused for two years . . .

You can see photos of the B+ at http://exf1.com/starflyte/

The B at http://exf1.com/starflyte1/

I no longer own these and they are not for sale.

Bill

[cbigham]

An, may try that

[My_Roadtrek]

I know it's a Class C not a B, and you will find owners over there.