1973 Winnebago Brave

[cfcitywide]

I just purchased this 22' and I did not notice until I got on the highway that it is difficult to control. It handles well but veers from left to right. I took it to my mechanic and he can't locate parts anywhere. First off can someone tell me a little about this motorhome? I don't know what class it is perhaps someone can tell me. There is a plate on the door where you enter the home it's as follows
Dodge Fargo Desoto
model R30
vin R39CA35095334
GW 11,000
max frnt cap 4100
max rear cap 7280
TON 1038869
Then there is a number that is in black that is 0648. My mechanic says that he is not familiar with the suspension type. I tried to find a chassis manual and all I could find were model that began with RM300. Any ideas what this chassis is and any other info would be a great help. We are anxious to get it fixed. This is our first motor home.

[Lorna]

I had difficulty driving my GMC chassis Midas Mini Class C (hard to keep on the road, lurched around something awful, bottomed out the rear shocks everytime I hit a seam in the road). We bought some Firestone Air Bags from http://www.jcwhitney.com/FIRESTONE-A...e%20air%20ride. It took David only a couple of hours per side to install. We run 58lbs air in the bags.

[JWT]

22' should be a class c and I would think it's on a Dodge chassis.

[Lorna]

My Midas is also a 22 footer on a GMC Vandura 3500 chassis (also some places list it as a "mini motor home"). All my "parts" for the chassis are bought for the Vandura van or a 3500 (or 35) van.

[TXiceman]

You need to find a truck suspension and front end shop that has an older front end man there that has seen this chassis before.

Ken

[cfcitywide]

Thanks folks. It's definitely a Dodge chassis I found out. I did some looking around and found the 2 inner tires of the dually rear axle flat. I replaced them with the drives that were in good shape and put new rubber on the front. 8-17.5's . Cost around $360.00 for the rubber and labor. It handled a lot better but I still would perfer to keep at around 55mph otherwise it starts to drift a little. I jacked up the front end and checked the suspension and everything was solid/tight. the alignment looked about 1/4" out on the back side of the steers so I guess they just were not built for speeds over 55mph? Went through a lot of the system today.Got he generator fired up... Only has about 460 hours oil was honey colored and clean. Needs a muffler though. any thoughts on where to purchase? Looks like about 1.5" diameter. Put water pressure on it and found several leaks. One at the tank in the back which I will weld tomorrow. It's already on the bench for the morning and the other leak was the hot water heater which I was surprized to see was aluminum. So it looks to be unrepairable. I removed the water heater housing and plan on using the new area for firewood. Was unable to get the fridge propane pilot to stay lit. It did cross lite up to the pilot but then it seemed to be floating around and perhaps leaking at the pilot connection not allowing it full pilot flame concentration on the sensor. Hard to see way back there. I forget the name of the fridge but if you said the name I'd know it. Plugged in and the fridge worked when I switched to electric. It took at least an hour for the fridge ice box to start slightly iceing. Changed all the running lights front and back... bought them at harbor frieght for $2.50 each, not bad I thought. I need some 12 volt screw in type mogules that look like regular house incandesent light bulbs but again are 25 watt 12 volt so I will try a local camping supply house monday. Neeed 2 for the bathroom and 1 for the exhaust hood. I also need a small circular flouresant light for above the table. The roof has been redone with what looks like modified torch down rubber. It does not leak at the moment and we had some heavy rains recently but it was bad at some point and has done some extensive cieling damage on the inside. I have seen some threads here and looks like I'm in for a project. It also appears that the rooftop AC unit may have been post 1973 because it dips down about 5" where the unit is. It looks as though it may have been added in later years with NO SUPPORT. Did these come with the rooftop ac units in 1973? Tomorrow oil change, filter, air filter, valve cover gaskets, lube job, and painting the faded stripes and bottom secction. Plan to use high gloss outdoor house paint, mask it and brush it on. Thanks for all the help . This is a wonderful site.

[Dave78Chief]

Google Classic Winnebagos and you will find a lot of information about the ole girl.
VIN R39CA35095334 is a standard Dodge MH chassis VIN.

1st/2nd Digit - Model Code
R3 = RM300 - Dodge used M3 (M300) from 69 to 72. They went to R3 for 73/74. In 75 Dodge reverted back to M3 (M300) to the point their documentation says to use M300. The result is you can use M3 or R3.

3rd Digit - Body Style
9 = Forward Control&Motor Home Chassis, Incomplete chassis

4th Digit - Gross Vehicle Weight
C = 10,001 lbs to 14,000 lbs

5th Digit - Engine Code
A = 440-3

6th Digit - Model Year
3 = 1973

7th Digit - Assembly Plant
S (not a 5) = Warren Truck #1

8th - 13th - Serial Number
095334

Front end problem - Most likely your king pins. You have to use a large pry bar to move the weight of the wheels to observe the looseness. Dodge king pin set P/N for all M3 chassis (4500lb axle) is 2275522. You can get nylon replacements at NAPA. Also http://www.stemcokaiser.com/literatu...l_kpsc_01.aspx. Nylon sets do not require the reaming.

Yes they had AC that year. Winnebago has model brochures available back to 1969 at (http://www.winnebagoind.com/products/previous-models/)

Dave

[cfcitywide]

hey Dave Thanks for the info.VERY informative! I had the front end up with a jack (one side at a time) and everything seemed tight but I did not check the king pins in the manner you described. Can you discribe to me again the prper way to inspect the king pins? Thanks again Dave

[Dave78Chief]

King pins are nothing more than a pin (approx 1" x 6") inside a cylinder (i.e. hinge pin).
The weight of the wheel, rim, disk/rotor is typically to heavy to move by hand. With the front raised, place a large pry bar under the wheel and check for movement. Should be no more than 1/8" play.
Download chassis manual @ http://www.megaupload.com/?d=dlj1jkb1
Download Parts manual @ http://www.megaupload.com/?d=62DUJ27S
I have a lot of Dodge MH chassis information posted @ http://davesplace.freesitespace.net/DodgeChassis.html

Dave

[cfcitywide]

Thanks for the info I'll check it out as described and post