oldusedbear
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Re: AIR SUSPENSION FOR RV
I totally replaced the rear leaf spring suspension on my Ford E450 - - Which is not the same chassis as yours, but the challenges are much the same. This is a big, and difficult procedure - - fairly pricey too. The system I installed is made by Reyco Granning. If you are interested, I have written up a detailed explanation of the whole procedure. You can reach me at rhaag11@charter.net oldusedbear - - aka Roger632Views0likes0CommentsRe: Suspension Improvements - Best Order
I have a 2001 Coachouse - - 23 footer on an E450 chassis. It rode like a skateboard on cobblestones. I completely removed the rear leaf spring suspension, and replaced it with a Reyco Granning air suspension. Big improvement but still not what I wanted. Replaced all four shocks with Konis. This was before they had the newer FSD shocks. Still not the ride I was looking for. Had all four shocks revalved at Koni - - spendy, and still not happy. By that time, the FSD shocks had become available so I replaced all four with them. Pretty decent ride now I think. More info available for anyone interested. oldusedbear352Views0likes0CommentsRe: Ford Spark Plug Problems?
In case someone is interested - - I have a 2001 E450, and elected to install the Timesert steel spark plug thread inserts. It took me a couple of days, with the help of one of my sons. There is a considerable difference between the different thread kits available for this job - - so do your research carefully. The van chassis is a sort of booger for this operation. You do about half the cylinders from the front, and about half from the doghouse side. Absolutely critical is having both intake and exhaust valves CLOSED when you do the insert placement in one of the cylinders. If you hit a valve with the tooling, you get to remove THAT cylinder head to make repairs. I bought a little optical/TV type viewer snake to make sure I could see the valves. I rigged up a small piece of plastic tubing to clean up any shavings or junk from the cylinder after doing the insert. Threads were almost non-existent in the head - - don't know how they could have built it like that. Not surprised they would blow out or easily strip. Paid around four hundred bucks for the Timesert installation kit (well designed and built) and sold it after the job for three hundred. It helps to have some machine tool type of experience before trying this kind of job. Not everyone will find it a breeze. oldusedbear363Views0likes0CommentsRe: OOPS! Dry house batteries
On switching over to AGM batteries - - AGM's are fussy about how they are charged, and more expensive if you DO overcharge them. When I switched over to them in my motorhome, I had to buy a different charger system that was compatible with the AGM technology. Just a thought.575Views0likes0CommentsRe: Air Bag suspension
Dunno if I can give you a useful answer or not, but - - First, we need to clear up the semantics. When you talk about an air bag suspension, I'm assuming that you mean a REAL air suspension and not the funky little bags that are found on many coaches that are primarily there to help you level it up some and maybe handle the weight. A real air suspension is going to replace some or all of the leaf/coil springs on your RV. I have a fairly small Class C on a Ford E450 chassis. The ride was just awful - - a real bone grinder. I completely removed the rear leaf spring suspension and the Firestone air bags, and replaced it with a Reyco Granning suspension that has its own compressor, ride height adjusters etc. Cost about 3K for the parts and took me a couple of weeks to install it - - a BIG job for an old man. Then I installed new Koni shocks - - which didn't help all that much. Sent the Koni's back and had them revalved - - about 150 bucks each - - still not happy so by that time, the Koni FSD shocks were available and I installed four of them. The coach now rides quite decently - - It was a lot of work and a lot of money, but I think it was a good investment. Anyone who wants a complete writeup on my project can get one by emailing me at rhaag11@charter.net - - will try to answer questions too.454Views0likes0Comments
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