Underbelly Rust

[Junior 913]

Hi All,

I am the proud owner of a 2002 37Tradewind with a 300hp cummings,6speed allison trans,Spartan Chasis. I am very pleased with the coach which I purchased at a very reasonable price a year ago last July. At the time of purchase, the motorcoach had only 12K miles and was spotless save for some minor rusting cabinets in the basement.(Inside....all painted and solid with little maintenance)

I immediately had the entire coach undercoated.I was concerned with advancing rust.

LAst week I had the coach serviced and they put it up on a lift so I had the opportunity to carefully inspect the entire underbelly. I was disheartened to find two problems. One was a slight powersteering fluid leak on the low pressure line. THe other was rusting through of the very thin steel skin which lays between the basement floor and the cross members aupporting the basement. I further noticed that they used a tape on the joints where this sheet metal butts up together. Ny problem now is what to do if anything about this problem. Structurely and moisture wise I see no problems. It is solid as can be but this very thin sheet metal skin is rusting out. Got any suggestions?

[Junior 913]

Hi All,

I am the proud owner of a 2002 37Tradewind with a 300hp cummings,6speed allison trans,Spartan Chasis. I am very pleased with the coach which I purchased at a very reasonable price a year ago last July. At the time of purchase, the motorcoach had only 12K miles and was spotless save for some minor rusting cabinets in the basement.(Inside....all painted and solid with little maintenance)

I immediately had the entire coach undercoated.I was concerned with advancing rust.

LAst week I had the coach serviced and they put it up on a lift so I had the opportunity to carefully inspect the entire underbelly. I was disheartened to find two problems. One was a slight powersteering fluid leak on the low pressure line. THe other was rusting through of the very thin steel skin which lays between the basement floor and the cross members aupporting the basement. I further noticed that they used a tape on the joints where this sheet metal butts up together. Ny problem now is what to do if anything about this problem. Structurely and moisture wise I see no problems. It is solid as can be but this very thin sheet metal skin is rusting out. Got any suggestions?

[Blue Ribbon]

Our coach is 2 1/2 years old and all the metal trim around the basement doors and the large (4" X 4") tube that supports the rear jacks, look like they come from a car that has been next to the ocean for years and years. (By the way, we've only been to the ocean a couple days.)

I had a problem with the ABS a while back, and there was a problem with the exciter rings and sensors, but while there were working on that part of the coach, they said the disks were distroyed from rust! They impressed on me that it was purely a good will gester to replace the rotors, but I still had to pay for new pads, which was $250 all the way around.

I've decided to buy a very small sand blasting unit, and on warm days, just clean off the rust and paint with Hammerite paint, then when I get enough done, have it undercoated.

I can see the coach lasting for a long time, but having the basement lockers just drop off. 100% of the screws which is the bottom latch portion (for latching the basement doors) are badly rusted. I am progressively replacing those with stainless. Also the sheet metal screws that go through the sides (front) of the plastic basement compartments (into the door jam frames) are badly rusted. They are probably # 8 self tapping SMS, but once the head goes, it is next to impossible to get them out, so I'm replacing those also. The bottom of the hitch looks like crap also.

We are planning on keeping the coach for many years to come, but my concern was how long the engine will last, now my concern is if the whole basement will just drop off one day.

Anyone else have this problem?

Thanks