MH Newbie

[jreyno11]

Hi All

After many years of looking, wishing, hand wringing my wife and I finally bought an MH.

Its already been an adventure of little nagging problems and it hasn't even left the driveway. I've been reading alot of the forums and there seem to be a few common issues with the Workhorse Chassis.

I have a P30 under my 1997 Cruise Master. What should I be looking out for. It seems like brakes are a big issue.

I have noticed on mine that it has a really heavy brake pedal, and it is slow to return. Should I look at the linkage, or the Booster?

If there are any other things as a new, un-educated, mechanically useful owner should be looking for as issues. Thanks for your time and I'm sure I'll be back often.

I did learn on thing. If you buy a RV close to winter check to see if the holding tanks are empty because you may have to drive a piece to dump the old owner's "leftovers" when some of the dump stations winterize for the season.

[jreyno11]

Hi All

After many years of looking, wishing, hand wringing my wife and I finally bought an MH.

Its already been an adventure of little nagging problems and it hasn't even left the driveway. I've been reading alot of the forums and there seem to be a few common issues with the Workhorse Chassis.

I have a P30 under my 1997 Cruise Master. What should I be looking out for. It seems like brakes are a big issue.

I have noticed on mine that it has a really heavy brake pedal, and it is slow to return. Should I look at the linkage, or the Booster?

If there are any other things as a new, un-educated, mechanically useful owner should be looking for as issues. Thanks for your time and I'm sure I'll be back often.

I did learn on thing. If you buy a RV close to winter check to see if the holding tanks are empty because you may have to drive a piece to dump the old owner's "leftovers" when some of the dump stations winterize for the season.

[Easyrider]

Hi J! Welcome to the forum, I see you have your first post! I don't have any answers for you but I am sure someone will respond with some useful tips and ideas for you. One thing you will want to do is to edit your profile in the signature area to include the year, make, and model of your rv as well as any aftermarket modifications you may have done with it in order to enable others to be more helpful in their responces to your questions. Glad your aboard and enjoy this website. I've gotten a lot of good information from it.

[Argosy]

Do you have any service records?

If not I would go thru the brakes, bleed, pull the calipers, make sure they are free to move on the slides, pistons are free, pads are good, rotors are good, hoses aren't hardened. Excellent time to repack the bearings also.

As a new owner of an older unknown vehicle I change every fluid, oil, trans, rear axle, antifreeze, already mentioned bleeding brakes. Chassis lube time; I take my time when I do this to watch for movement in components, that isn't good. I also look at everything carefully while I am under there for signs of problems, take a good light and really look everywhere.

Go thru all the belts,hoses, everything rubber carefully, check tire manufacture date.

Go thru the electrical wiring looking for corrosion or loose connections. Check the water in the house batteries and cable connections.

Change the gas and air filters, do a complete tune up. Look for leaks, wires and hoses fouling, burning, cracked. Check the exhaust manifolds for signs of leaks, check the plug wires.

Without records of maintenance I really try to get a good base line to start from. I would also rather do maintenance at home than on the side of the road. Nothing spoils a trip like a break down, no matter now minor.

And make sure it is winterized if the holding tanks weren't emptied.

[jreyno11]

Good info guys. According to the old owner, who is a family friend, it was professionally maintained. However that professional wasn't too professional. One of the "nagging little things" I was talking about was the house batteries were boiled dry.

So that little bit of info made me start to go through things one by one. Thanks for the info, if there is anything else I should know please send it along.