Community Forums

David Bott · 12-25-2010, 09:49 AM

Yes, I went though 5 of those NEW units as mentioned above. All with a solenoid issue. And even after they "fixed" it again, being told a supplier issue at one point, I still had 2 failures. The last be being a DOA sent right from the CEO. So much to testing before sending.

I hope your new one does well. If if ever stop hearing the CLICK from under your coach when you press the button, you will know it failed.

RVThere · 12-25-2010, 07:47 PM

Have not been able to try my 'new and improved' TruCenter on the roads. With 10+ inches of snow predicted for tomorrow and all three boys home today, we finally put the cover on for the winter. It will be wrapped up until late March...

David Bott · 12-25-2010, 08:23 PM

Sorry to read that.

I am set to have the Henderson Trim Kit installed at the Indio, Ca. FMCA rally Jan 12-16. Will let you know how that goes just in case you need a back up plan later.

David Bott · 02-27-2011, 06:41 PM

Ok, I finely got the Henderson Line-up SuperSteer Trim kit installed. We went out to Henderson Line-Up in Grants Pass, OR and I will just say....WOW! I was so impressed by the simple design of this unit that I offered to go on video about it. Not sure when that will be out, but this trim kit is just great.

It's main part is one that is also already found on your coach...an air brake air canister. Now the trim kit is just that, a trim kit. What you also need is long used, trusted and proven, Safe-T-Plus bar. The trim kit more or less allows you to adjust the position of the Safe-T-Plus bar on the fly using air pressure supplied to the canister. Thus with air in the canister, it pushes down on a brass rod that comes in contact with metal shaft (that normally can slide.). As such, the pressure that is made from the canister locks the Safe-T-Plus into place and this sets a new center line.

When you need to adjust the center point of your coach, you press a button that opens a solenoid that releases the air pressure and this allows the shaft to slide. Once you release the button, air is allowed back into the canister which locked the new position into place. The solenoid is inside your coach compartment and thus is protected. It is also an industrial design made for air movement.

All in all, a simple design that uses parts you more or less already know of. And most important, it works!!! Simplicity

Just so happy to have a way to just my coach again.

So, if you have a Safe-T-Plus already, look into the trim kit. If not, you can always add both. They now have a universal bracket that will fit most class A coaches.

RV and Truck Parts and Service - Henderson's Line-Up

(This was not a paid endorsement.

)

RickO · 02-27-2011, 09:05 PM

Thanks for the follow up.

Rick

David Bott · 05-16-2011, 06:03 AM

For those of you who do not know what a Trim Kit or the TrueCenter does, I have posted a little description and a video on our blog. The video allows you more or less to see how it helps in a 15-20mph side wind.

SuperSteer Trim Unit « Outside Our Bubble

wa8yxm · 05-16-2011, 08:15 AM

There are a few issues with the Blue Ox True Centers however their customer support is fantastic.

The weld issue I suspect is only a limited number of units, but of course if you are one of the "lucky" bad weld owners.....

The other issues are solenoid burn out,, I actually "Fixed" that one for them as it turns out.. (The problem is really a SUE (Stupid User Error) and the solution is to put a timer in the line so that if you lean the button for more than 30 seconds it simply turns off for a while to let it cool down. That timer was my suggestion.

Next: We have a valve faliure, the blasted thing locks up and you can not turn. I got lucky, happened to me at near zero MPH.. I managed to get it on site (I could only turn right, not left) and once on site disconnect it and ship it back to Blue Ox. They shipped me a new one.. The "Look and feel" of the new one is vastly superior to the old one.

I'm told my old one was not one of the batch known for that failure.. Yet it still had the very same failure covered under the recall.

David Bott · 05-16-2011, 08:35 AM

Their support was nice but I had to go to the CEO after they wanted to CHARGE ME for shipping and would have to pay for remove, install, and shipping back. This was after my second unit. All of my units had the timer, this was not user error. But then as it came clear of a part issue, well, I would have expected more to take place from such a company. NOT what should have happened at all.

The big beef I have is that they STILL SOLD THE UNITS EVEN THOUGH IT WAS CLEARLY DOCUMENTED THEY STILL HAD BAD PARTS INSTALLED per the emails. Right down the the last one that was for me, that was sent to a dealer, for the rep to install, that came in DOA with the SAME ISSUE. The rep was speechless. So, what, no one checked the unit before it went out the door? No one checked to see if they the so called "new and corrected" parts in it?

I am sorry but I am not, and was not, alone with the issues (as clearly seen above). I just happened to document it complete with dates of what seems to be when they already know they had an issue . Yet, still shipped units months after. TO THIS DAY I have not heard that they have a fixed product. Last I head, from the CEO, they were working on a "new" unit. Yet, they are still being sold.

Maybe they are fixed now, but surely was not the case when I was told they had the new "correct" parts and yet the unit was DOA out of the box.

I should never had been asked to pay for shipping or RR for an issue like this. Even more so when they KNEW their was an issue with the internal parts.

RVThere · 06-06-2011, 02:52 PM

My TruCenter saga continues...

Put the new one on last November but did not give it a good workout until March.

After three trips this spring, I noticed there was no 'clicking' when I pushed the button. Finally had my sons/helpers home so we could test the voltage. Getting 12 volts at the connector right next to the TruCenter when you push the button but no clicking of the solenoid.

Spoke to Blue Ox and they are sending a new unit (as soon as I return the two units I now have in my possession...)

David Bott · 06-06-2011, 03:08 PM

Tom...Sorry to read that Blue-ox still does not have this fixed. 100% same issue I had on 5 units. And yours is even WELL AFTER they were aware they had an issue with the solenoids based on my email trail.

Your last note you put yours on in Nov 2010, yet the last unit I had that arrived DOA was March 2010. That's 8 months between the two and still the same issue!!! (Not even counting they know about well before that seeing my first issue was in 2009) Yet, they still sell these and still ship these to people. AMAZING!!! IMHO...They all should be recalled and the FMCA and others should be on them.

Now look where you are, you will need to pay to ship back 2 units, which are not light, and then they will ship you a replacement. Glad you are doing the work yourself or you would need to pay labor rates as well. You may care to consider seeking a full refund, including all shipping costs inured as well as any labor you had paid.

Bummer Tom, a real Bummer. On a side note, my Henderson Trim Kit is doing fine in all regards.

blackf3504dr · 06-07-2011, 04:01 AM

Makes you wonder if they out sourced production to China... Blue Ox is a better company then this, makes me wonder if they are in financial trouble.

RVThere · 06-08-2011, 05:16 PM

Son #3 and I took off the 2nd TruCenter today and the box with the solenoid had a distinct rattle. So I opened the box and, surprise surprise, the welds on the solenoid cracked just like the original TruCenter. Remember that Blue Ox told me that they had ‘redesigned’ the solenoid so that a bracket went around the solenoid instead of using a weld that evidently cracks from the bumps in the road.

We’ll see what Blue Ox says when I call them tomorrow…

David Bott · 06-08-2011, 05:40 PM

Yes, it will be interesting to hear what the "say" this time. Oh my! I again do not think you should be paying for shipping etc. Outrageous.

RVThere · 07-03-2011, 06:23 AM

After a few discussions with BlueOx and sending pictures over, they diagonsed that the shock mount was coming in contact with the TruCenter 'box' that contained the solenoid and that contact was cracking the welds. BlueOx stated that they had not seen this problem before.

So they sent me a third TruCenter and son #3 and I installed it but had to make a few minor modifications. As can be seen by the picture below, we had to add some washers to the mounting bolt to lower the TruCenter so it did not come in contact with the shock mount. After tourquing to 180 ft lbs, we still had about a 3/8" gap so I hope that will suffice.

Sent the install pics to BlueOx so that they approved of the install in case the welds cracked on this one.

Driving from NJ to Wyoming this coming weekend so that will be the true test once I hit cross winds in SD on the way out and NE on the way back.

PS - in order to install the first one, I invested in a 3/4" drive ratchet set, a 3/4" drive breaker bar, some 1-1/8" + combo box wrenches, and a top of the line digital tourque wrench. With all these installs, having the right tools turned out to be a God-send (along with my son's extra set of hands!).