Ahhhh, if only it were that simple I'd have all these darn pics upside down, sideways, pixilated, monotoned, whatever it took.
We have two sofas also, one is a straight sofa and the other is a J sofa.
I was looking at your work and saw you'd installed a motorized awning, which I desperately want (need). I told the factory to do it during restoration but I got push back. They said they couldn't install one because there wasn't enough support steel where the arms would be located. I was bummed to say the least but I didn't challenge them. Think I should ask again? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
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Ahhhh, if only it were that simple I'd have all these darn pics upside down, sideways, pixilated, monotoned, whatever it took.
We have two sofas also, one is a straight sofa and the other is a J sofa.
I was looking at your work and saw you'd installed a motorized awning, which I desperately want (need). I told the factory to do it during restoration but I got push back. They said they couldn't install one because there wasn't enough support steel where the arms would be located. I was bummed to say the least but I didn't challenge them. Think I should ask again? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Not true. The weight and stress is all at the top, and there is a roof beam behind that top rail (same place the manual one is screwed in. Unlike the manual awing the electric one uses no support down low, the channel that is vertical is just a place to store the arms when the awning is withdrawn.
The top of the awning pulls out just as a manual awing does, the bottom support pushes in just as a manual awning does, but it is spread out over the wall by the channel that hides the arms when the awning is retracted.
I can think od absolutely no reason why you could not put an electric awning on. I love ours, no more hitting you head on the bottom braces!
The only thing I would do different is I would get the auto retracting model so that if a strong wind comes up while away from the MH it will wind itself in. What we do is retract it whenever we are away from the MH
As far as pictures go I like to up load the pictures to my gallery here and than us the link option to link the picture to my posts. This allows me to intertwine the text and pictures.
Sorry it took a few hours to reply - I was recovering from smashing my head again on that damned awning support!
Thx for that great info. The awning on your coach looks fantastic. I just don't understand why they told me what they did but now I've got some ammo in the form of you actually doing it so another discussion we will certainly have. I'll let you know how it develops.
The exterior grab handle had some hairline cracks in the clear piece. It wasn't noticeable unless the handle light was on. We had the factory replace the assembly.
The air conditioning belt needed replacement. After removing the belt I spun the tensioner pulley and it was anything but smooth. Bad bearings. Now the hunt begins.
Not knowing which vendor installed that tensioner when it came out of the factory, my first stop was to Cummins. Yep, it wasn't their part. Cummins suggested it looked like a Freightliner part and sent me to their truck center. Thirty minutes later the parts guy at Freightliner said "no way" it was their part, and directed me to a wholesale parts supplier across town. Thirty minutes later the same story - don't have that part. My only solution was to call Spartan.
A call to the Spartan parts department, after sending them a pic of the pulley and my VIN number, revealed they had the part, but would only sell it to me as part of a larger kit, which I didn't need. My search continued.
Heading to lunch, and just for grins, I pulled into a NAPA store. I had that "'Im sure you don't have this" attitude when a young lady steps up, takes one look at the part, leaves, and returns in a couple of minutes with what she thinks will work. She confirmed the dimensions with a caliper, found a compatible belt, and I was on my way, although in shock. Whoever thought NAPA?????????
Installed the new pulley and belt and all is good. The pics show the old pulley prior to removal, the new pulley installed, the old pulley removed, and the new pulley replacement part number from NAPA. The belt is a NAPA XL 25 9500.
Awesome. I too had to replace my tensioner assembly about a year or so ago when performing a major service on our Dynasty. NAPA was my first stop as they generally do a great job of getting me what I am after. Luckily my tensioner had the remnants of the original part number on it and the counterman was able to do a direct cross reference and they had the part in stock. Hell of a lot cheaper than my local Cummins dealer as well.
NAPA comes through sometimes. I had to replace the circuit breaker panel that the circuit breakers plugged into (it melted), they had the exact replacement.
I also had problems with my A/C belt, my tensioner looks nothing like yours, turned out that Caledonia RV had installed a belt that was to long and the tensioner was adjusted all the way out., Got a smaller belt and it does not flap around any more.
As part of the overhaul process, the factory inspected the roof for replacement, but it didn't need replacing. I'm not sure why, it's the original roof. I do clean it annually and apply Aerospace 303 protectant every 2-3 years. I was of the opinion that the roof was going to be replaced, but the factory says it has a lot of life left.
That left the sealants, both on the roof and sidewalls. I never realized what a big job it is to strip and reseal a coach, as evidenced by the 40 hours or so in labor required. I am convinced that the coach has held up as well as it has because the seals have been inspected twice annually and retouched as needed.
After the resealing was complete, the factory rain bayed the coach to insure everything was sealed properly.
As part of the overhaul process, the factory inspected the roof for replacement, but it didn't need replacing. I'm not sure why, it's the original roof. I do clean it annually and apply Aerospace 303 protectant every 2-3 years. I was of the opinion that the roof was going to be replaced, but the factory says it has a lot of life left.
That left the sealants, both on the roof and sidewalls. I never realized what a big job it is to strip and reseal a coach, as evidenced by the 40 hours or so in labor required. I am convinced that the coach has held up as well as it has because the seals have been inspected twice annually and retouched as needed.
After the resealing was complete, the factory rain bayed the coach to insure everything was sealed properly.
Does the American Dream of your vintage have a TPO roof or fiberglass? I was under the assumption it was fiberglass but I could be wrong.
As far as sealants what does American use as a sealant to caulk the sidewalls?
Since new, we never felt the chassis AC blew very cold. It was cool enough, but not really cold. We found out why 17 years later.
While at the factory, I asked the chassis folks there to take a look at the AC to see if it needed charging and to take a look at a noise occurring when the chassis AC was running, and I casually mentioned it never had really blown cold since new.
I got a call letting me know that the fan attached to the condenser behind the front axle had a bearing going bad, but that wasn't the shocker. They told me they figured out why the air didn't blow very cold - the fan was wired (and thus spinning) backwards! It was that way from the factory when new.
All those years, all that heat. The thing freezes you out of the front seat now. So, if you have a setup like mine and it hasn't ever blown super cold, you might want to check to make sure the condenser fan is blowing in the right direction.
NAPA comes through sometimes. I had to replace the circuit breaker panel that the circuit breakers plugged into (it melted), they had the exact replacement.
I also had problems with my A/C belt, my tensioner looks nothing like yours, turned out that Caledonia RV had installed a belt that was to long and the tensioner was adjusted all the way out., Got a smaller belt and it does not flap around any more.
Glenn, isn't it interesting that your tensioner pushes the belt "out" and mine pushes the belt "in". It's the same setup. Wonder why.
Mike, it's a rubber roof. Regarding the sealants, they use Alpha 1021 (in the blue tube) and Sikaflex 221. They used a different sealant around the skylight on the roof - not sure what it was. I can tell you this - there were a bunch of empty sealant tubes (cases) when they were done, and I don't even have a slide. I would suspect a double slide 40 footer would go through much more sealant.
The television in the living area is on a lift, which is in the middle between the captain and co pilot chairs. Its a great arrangement, except it provides no "shelf" space for food, drink, storage, etc. while under way - had to fix that problem.
Getting storage seemed easy enough, build a box. The problem came with accessibility while driving. Most of the area on top of the tv was out of reach at 70 mph. The result, eating on my lap while driving, can't easily reach gps, etc.
The solution was to build a base atop three drawer guides, which is attached to the stock top. We would also need a way to secure the piece when under way, so I decided to use a two position pin that could secure the piece by drilling two holes in the top base. Now a new problem - the 12 volt outlet mounted to the existing top - if you inserted anything into that plug the sliding drawer would interfere and nothing would be right. The solution was to relocate the outlet to the back of the drawer box and run sufficient wiring to provide travel when the slide was extended. American Coach had a corian drink holder that was perfect for the front, and it even had the eagle logo carved in. That was placed on top of a riser walnut piece, on top of the slider base, so it would be level with the storage box, which is covered with a custom made corian cover and lined inside with the standard RV felt material. Both corian pieces match the counter corian countertops in the coach.
Now when under way, the drawer is extended to its first position, which is close enough for an easy reach to the gps, refreshments, and a paper plate full of goodness at lunchtime. When parked, it is secured in its parked position, where both the drawer front and tv molding are parallel.
Pic 1 shows the finished product, pic 2 shows the drawer extended, pic 3 shows, from the top, the drawer extended with the corian top removed, and pic 4 shows the pin inserted (two positions) to secure the drawer when moving.
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