I love my Thor | Damon Outlaw!

[RVroadblock]

just read this in another place, on a 2018 Newmar, Ford chassis:

Tow/Haul on cruise on -- downshifts
Tow/Haul on cruise off -- downshifts

Tow/haul off cruise on -- does not downshift
Tow/haul off cruise off -- does not downshift

[JimW_az]

wwayda,

I also have a 2016 Outlaw LS with the 6 speed tranny... Driving downhill in the rockys is even more exciting than the smokeys... But, in my experience the F53 does what its supposed to... Hit the brakes doing 70 and the tranny drops a gear, stay on the brakes and it drops another gear, and it continues to downshift depending on road speed and braking pressure... Yes the RPM's can go above 4000 and yes that gets noisy.. Does it hurt the motor?? no Does it hurt the tranny?? NO... Does it save your brakes?? YES!! I typically carry a car and lots of "stuff" - I've never smelled my brakes even after going down 8% grades in Colorado... Let the tranny do its job and stop worrying about some extra noise coming from the engine compartment.. Just don't ride your brakes.. you really shouldn't have to... limit your speed going over the crest of the hill and have fun in the smokeys...

[JeffAZ]

Does the F53 not allow you to manually shift the transmission? Just curious.

[JimW_az]

Hi Jeff,

Yes, you certainly can manually shift the tranny on the F53... And (coming from driving a chevy astro) that was my MO for the first 6 months.. Then I got lazy and just started letting the ECM do the work... It's actually pretty good as long as you (or your better half) don't worry about pistons coming thru the floorboard (they won't.. really.. take my word for it...) 4000 RPM (even 5000 RPM) is not a problem for the 3V V10...

[JeffAZ]

Alright, thanks Jim. I thought maybe I had read somewhere that you couldn't manually shift the F53 tranny when in the Tow/Haul mode, or something like that.

Welcome, good to have another OTL in AZ Us Arizonans get to perform a lot of mountain driving in the summer, trying to get out of the desert to attain higher elevations!

[ScottnKat]

2007 Outlaw. Can you tell me, when I remove the carpet and linoleum, is the subfloor going to be plywood or osb? Thanks.

[Scarab0088]

Originally Posted by ScottnKat

2007 Outlaw. Can you tell me, when I remove the carpet and linoleum, is the subfloor going to be plywood or osb? Thanks.

Under the Damon era, it is a special plywood.
Special in that it was acquired in 8'x20' sheets and very thick...like more than 5/8" thick (but not confirmed)

The garage floor is two pieces with a joint at the rear kick-down.
The salon piece is also 2 pieces...that being a run over 20', there is a joinery at about a point right inside the entry door, or 20' forward from the interior garage wall.

I am not sure what TMC is currently using.

Best luck

[Scarab0088]

While I cannot say with certainty what the GenII Outlaw Floor is made of...
I submit that this 2014 factory tour video looks to show that TMC has not dropped the Damon era plywood flooring in the garage, but I am not able to ID the salon flooring.
The video really shows how the entire floor structure is a well insulated and stout assembly:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL4p9eX4wzI

Safe Outlaw Travels

Video credit to "Extreme RV's" on a cable TV channel near you ;D

[RVroadblock]

A quick pic to show how much room the dinette sucks up vs a credenza "shell" from Amazon. I moved the back of the shell up 6" to clear the hoses and wires along the wall. New switches mounted vertically fit nicely on the side. AIMS inverter controller above the switches. Thor bless their #%!!! Mounted the seat belts right over the grey tank, so the bolts may be hanging around for a while.

The floor appears to be a plywood/styrofoam/plywood sandwich.

[Scarab0088]

RVroadblock,

Great modifications! Relocated switch panels look OEM
Gonna link this post to the Mod/Fixes thread page one list.

I always gotta look at the floor plan for models other than ours to visualize...click to enlarge:




So, you removed the entire "dream dinette" (w/ the rail mounted eze-drop table)? What was under the seats?

TV looks like is was moved/changed(?)

Is that the original flooring?

Good to know the sub-floor is ply and not OSB. But, too bad the seatbelts mounts are covered underneath by the waste tank.

Thanks for posting

[2bjr]

I've been told by the ford service that my 2013 f53 will not rev over 5200rpm

[Scarab0088]

Originally Posted by 2bjr

I've been told by the ford service that my 2013 f53 will not rev over 5200rpm

Great Point...but...
The computer controlled rev-limiter's cut-off should not be confused with the RPM placed into the engine under a downhill situation (AKA downshifting or engine breaking).

A rev-limiter will decrease the fuel delivery and/or retard ignition fire at a pre-set speed or RPM to avoid over-rev on acceleration.

However when going downhill, there typically is no throttle input (no fuel and possibly less spark)
When the transmission downshifts or is down-shifted by the driver, the engine RPM increases as mechanical input from the drive-line is ever faster.

Conceivably, there is no limit to the RPM possible during engine-breaking. And, since there are very different pressures within the engine during downshifting, there is a greatly decreased risk of damage at pulling high RPM's to decelerate.

Hope that makes sense.

Safe Outlaw Travels

[RVroadblock]

So, you removed the entire "dream dinette" (w/ the rail mounted eze-drop table)? What was under the seats?

Yep unbolted the entire thing - 'dream dinette' LOL . Besides space, under the dinette was:

-lots of wiring for the switches
-water fill hose to fresh water tank
-some pex for the shower I think
-cutout behind the shower
-seat belts and attachments

TV looks like is was moved/changed(?)

You bet, we moved it down and put it on a pull out mount

Is that the original flooring?

Original for sure, vinyl

[RVroadblock]

This may sound like a pipe dream but I would like to have an electric helper-motor on the driveline. It would add say 200 foot-pounds of torque for the upside of hills, regen/retarding for the downside of the hills. Run it off of the house batteries.