OOPS, She Did It Again

[sgtjoe]

In June 2008 the Power Gear Hydraulic Reservoir for my levelers fell off my 2001 TradeWinds. I found out it was a design flaw from National and they had a mod to prevent it from happening again. On the 2001 7390 the mod would not fit between the Tank and the extended frame, so I made my own using metal plumbers tape and Foam in A Can. Well, it worked until the other day when I pulled into Yuma for the Winter. It has vibrated two of the screws out and this caused it to break the lip so only one screw and the straps I put on are all that is holding it from falling off. I either need to see if the tank can be repaired or order another one at $386.00 again.
I need some suggestions as to how to prevent this from happening again. I would like to hear from TradeWinds Owners that have the 2001 model 7390 to see how your Tank is mounted.
Yes, the screws were mounted with Lok Tite.
Anyone up in Quartzsite, that would check out the Gambler to see if he might have a new or used Tank, P/N 800036s and then let me know? I'll drive up if he has one. Really hate to give Power Gear another $386.00.

You know, it's kinda funny, I had just recently told a new Tradeswinds owner to make sure his had the mod to prevent what just happened to me for the second time. DUH ME

[Vegasdan]

Joe, I have a 7370 and here is a picture of my tank. I've checked and the brackets seems to be fine, secure. Where does the failure affect the bracket.

[hardy1000]

Joe,

This is a Power Gear flaw and alot of us Monaco owners have had our tanks break also. Alot of us have built support for the tank.

[sgtjoe]

Dan, your's is identical to mine. Where they fail is the M-8 screws can vibrate out and cause the tank to vibrate itself off. Does your Tank have a strap around it running thru a 1/2 inch bracket holding it tight to the frame peice it is attached to?

[sgtjoe]

DEL, your tank appears to be laying length wise, is that true?

[hardy1000]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgtjoe DEL, your tank appears to be laying length wise, is that true?

Hi Sgtjoe,
Yes it is laying length wise. They need to be braced because the neck will crack due to lack of support. It is good that you put locktite on the mounting screws but it will still move because it is not supported. Since I have built a support for my tank I have not had anymore problems.

[Vegasdan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgtjoe Dan, your's is identical to mine. Where they fail is the M-8 screws can vibrate out and cause the tank to vibrate itself off. Does your Tank have a strap around it running thru a 1/2 inch bracket holding it tight to the frame peice it is attached to?

I'm checking today, thanks.

[sgtjoe]

After finally finding a few empty milk cartons to drain the oil in I'm going to start on the tank. I'm hoping I can get it welded instead of parting with another $386.00 plus to Power Gear. It's nice to have a lot of folks around who offer some pretty good thoughts on how to brace this puppy so it doesn't happen again. Still, it would be nice to see what another 2001 TradeWinds 7390 has to prevent the tank from failing.
Today maybe I'll check out some of the RV dealers here in Yuma to see if they have one.
I called the Gambler Sat. and he doesn't have a Tank.

Anyone know a good welder here in Yuma, AZ? Would like one that someone has had experiance with.

Dang it, almost forgot, need to run to Harborfreight to get a cheap funnel.
Anyone got any thoughts or suggestions send them on.
Before anyone says it, NO, we're not trading her in, we like her too much.

[Richard S.]

Joe,
you might try Al's they may be able to help you.
Al's RV Service & Repair

[sgtjoe]

Thanks, I'm heading up to Als now. That's just east of me.

[sgtjoe]

Got lucky today and found an excellent welder at the Yuma Harley shop. His weld looks real good and saved me a lot of money. Now all I need to do is get the sheared bolt out, with my luck this will be the one that the Lok-Tite really worked on.

[hardy1000]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgtjoe Got lucky today and found an excellent welder at the Yuma Harley shop. His weld looks real good and saved me a lot of money. Now all I need to do is get the sheared bolt out, with my luck this will be the one that the Lok-Tite really worked on.

Sgtjoe,

I got mine welded also and then built the support, that was over a year ago no problems. Glad you saved the $$$

[TangoDancers]

Hi SgtJoe,

Funny, we have some very similar photos to yours. We just had a similar experience on our 2000 Fleetwood Flair. Our leveling system was a Kwikee, now owned by Power Gear, but I'm not certain which of them made the tank. We were traveling through Colorado when this happened. It was a huge disaster.

We brought the tank home and took the tank and RV to two different shops and immediately called our insurance company (Foremost) to see if they would cover it. It took over a month of either of the shops to get a response from Powergear and they sent an estimate to the insurance company for something like $4000 to replace it. So, the insurance company just sent us a check for $4000. We ended up selling our RV and buying a Dolphin.

I never expected to hear someone with a similar story. Had we not rec'd the money from the insurance company we were definitely going to research having it welded. I wish I had some helpful information I could share. Is there any possibliity the design flaw is actually that of Power Gear and not National?? At least Power Gear is still in business and apparently none of the shops like doing business with them.

Best of luck!!

[sgtjoe]

Finally, the tank is back on. The other day I was ready to install when one of my helpful neighbors noticed that the whole pump seemed to move up and down without much force. I slide under and found two bolts going into the pump block had become loose. Tightened those up and there was no up and down movement. I pulled one out and there was no lock washer, so off to Lowes to purchase longer Grade 5 bolts and lock washers. Got those in and the pump was pretty solid except for the vibration that seems to be the folly of National for how and where they installed it. I put the tank on and tightened the 4 new longer hex head bolts with flat and lock washers and then measured the gap between the Tank and metal bracket the whole pump unit is attached to. It was only 3/16th so my helpful neighbors come up with a solution to hold the tank and pump unit from vibrating by screwing a 7" hose clamp into the extended frame centered behind the tank, then sliding a 10" length of hose between the tank and the screw head and tightening the clamp. We will see how it holds up when we hit the road in late March.
If this dosen't work I told my friends I just might pull the #^&(&%%$# Power Gear junk off my MH and use regular hydraulic jacks.
After looking at the Tank mfged by Power Gear, you have to wonder what the heck they were thinking when they made the mounting bolts 1/4" and the lip where it is mounted less then a 1/16th of an inch thick and expect it to hold 2 gals of fluid traveling down the road. When and if I buy another MH it will not have Power Gear levelors.