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Daveinet · 08-10-2022, 02:06 PM

They probably don't have any idea what they are shipping or what the part looks like. They are only a parts dealer. They don't have any real mechanics on duty. They are not going to know the difference from one part to the next. They probably just grabbed one out of a box and shipped it. If the box has the correct label, they don't know anything more than that.

Yes, that is unfortunate. but it is probably the fault of someone at Kodiac that stuffed the wrong box. With everyone still getting paid to not work and stay home, there are going to be issues.

I had a similar issue with Amazon. What sucked was Amazon couldn't help me and the OEM refused to help me. Amazon just took the return, but I couldn't get the part I needed. The OEM was just a bunch of jerks.

sploke · 08-11-2022, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daveinet

They probably don't have any idea what they are shipping or what the part looks like. They are only a parts dealer. They don't have any real mechanics on duty. They are not going to know the difference from one part to the next. They probably just grabbed one out of a box and shipped it. If the box has the correct label, they don't know anything more than that.

Yes, that is unfortunate. but it is probably the fault of someone at Kodiac that stuffed the wrong box. With everyone still getting paid to not work and stay home, there are going to be issues.

I had a similar issue with Amazon. What sucked was Amazon couldn't help me and the OEM refused to help me. Amazon just took the return, but I couldn't get the part I needed. The OEM was just a bunch of jerks.

After spending some time on the phone with another rep yesterday, and doing some research on the Kodiak site, the issue was that somewhere along the line in etrailer's system, someone had marked the two parts as interchangeable, and went on to reclassify all the 1388DI parts into 1388DD. So they showed zero stock of the 1388DI (the one I need). I sent them pictures showing no, they are NOT equivalent parts. The last packing slip they sent me had the correct part number on it, but someone on the floor is getting an order pick, seeing that part and seeing none in stock, then seeing the other part is an equivalent and shipping that instead.

Anyway, I finally convinced them to get another kit of the one I ordered, pull the bracket out of it and ship it. Should be here tomorrow...and we're supposed to be hitting the road first thing Sat morning. It's going to be a busy couple of days here.

sploke · 08-11-2022, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sploke

Ran into a major setback on the suspension tonight...started taking the torsion bar adjusters out to adjust the ride height and realized one of them completely broke when I let the weight down on it. I need to call Suspension Maxx first thing tomorrow to straighten this nonsense out...extremely disappointed in this product.

On a better note, I do need to update this situation and give a shout out to Larry at Suspension Maxx. He's really gone above and beyond to help me out. I've gone back and forth with him a few times now on the cracked adjuster gear. He fabbed up some reinforced gears for me and got them overnighted to replace the broken one. Looking forward to getting these guys installed later today.

sploke · 08-12-2022, 10:42 PM

Ran into a major issue today on the bus. I was installing the new torsion bar adjusters. Got them set and the ride height adjusted. Pulled out of the driveway and *BANG* the front right side dropped about 4". After some investigation, the hex socket in the lower control arm where the torsion bar sits, has a crack in it and it's allowing the torsion bar to spin when it gets enough weight on it. I was supposed to be on the road heading home tomorrow, instead, I'm pulling the control arm off to see what can be done about this. 😬

Daveinet · 08-13-2022, 09:32 AM

WOW. In the 20 years I've been around Revcons, I've never heard of this happening. That seems very odd. That is a pretty heavy piece of steel, so its hard to think it could crack. Hopefully it can just get welded up and be OK. How are the lower control arm bushings?

sploke · 08-13-2022, 01:19 PM

The bushings are in good shape, I don't think they're original

Pics of the socket...the crack is in about the worst possible place to repair.

sploke · 08-14-2022, 08:53 PM

We have a plan of attack. We cut an access hole in the bottom of the control arm. Next step will be heat and beat the blown out side back into shape. Then weld up the crack, and weld in a backing plate to reinforce it. The hole will get a new panel welded over the top, and I'll shim the hex socket as needed to get food fitment of the torsion bar.

sploke · 08-14-2022, 08:55 PM

The left side was still good but we shimmed anyway for a nice snug fit to avoid any excess rotation in the socket.

Daveinet · 08-14-2022, 09:26 PM

Its all very interesting. I had mine apart a long time ago. The torsion bar was very tight in the lower control arm. It actually took some playing around to get it out. I know the '85 and newer are heavier coaches. It would be interesting to know how much the front end weighs. I don't think the load rating for the front end changed. Most of us were right at the weight limit, or a few hundred lbs over the weight limit on the front axle. I use to carry my motorcycle on a frame I welded up on the rear. That seemed to improve the ride and handling in the front.

sploke · 08-14-2022, 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daveinet

Its all very interesting. I had mine apart a long time ago. The torsion bar was very tight in the lower control arm. It actually took some playing around to get it out. I know the '85 and newer are heavier coaches. It would be interesting to know how much the front end weighs. I don't think the load rating for the front end changed. Most of us were right at the weight limit, or a few hundred lbs over the weight limit on the front axle. I use to carry my motorcycle on a frame I welded up on the rear. That seemed to improve the ride and handling in the front.

Both of mine have a lot of slop at both ends. We measured.060" of gap at the front of the socket. The shims I used at the front are .026" on three sides, I had to drive the bar in but once it was in I can get it out again so there's still plenty of space. I used .015" stock at the back in the torsion keys on all six sides to tighten those up as well. The only time I had a real problem getting a bar out was because it was halfway rotated in the LCA socket. After it popped the rest of the way around it came right out....they were also totally slicked up in anti-seize so someone had been in there before.

At some point I'd like to get it across some cat scales to get axle weights, just out of curiosity.

Daveinet · 08-15-2022, 06:53 AM

I wonder if you could call your local polices department and see if they have scales setup somewhere. That is not something they advertise, but around here, I stumbled on a set of police scales. I asked a cop one time if they care if I just drove on it with my motorhome. He stated as long as they weren't using it, sure go ahead. He also seemed pleasantly surprised that I actually cared about the weight.

sploke · 08-19-2022, 10:01 PM

Well this week has been an ordeal with the Revcon. We thought we had it fixed and shimmed up nicely. Dropped it down and the damn torsion bar turned again. I was done messing around at this point. I dropped the whole LCA with the bar stuck in it, cut off the cap on the end of the torsion bar socket and violently smashed the bar out of the arm. The bottom of the socket was all rounded out so even after repairing the crack it wasn't holding. So we laid a ton of weld on all 6 sides of the hex, filed them down to get it true again, interference-fit the bar into the socket and welded the end of it in place for good measure. It holds now.

At some point I will need to give this further attention, but this will get us home. Only about 5 days behind schedule...

sploke · 08-19-2022, 10:11 PM

So, after all that nonsense was said and done, we left SoCal on Thursday morning, made it though Phoenix yesterday, and we're in Albuquerque tonight. I have to say all the work this summer is paying dividends now. Transmission runs beautifully, the suspension feels great, the brakes are amazing and having the front end up where it belongs just makes a huge difference.

I still feel like we're underpowered going up some of the big hills, straining with my foot to the floor in second gear barely maintaining 35mph. But other than that it feels great cruising at 75-80. The temps ran between 220 and 240 all day yesterday crossing the desert, even with the secondary fan, but it was 105 by late morning. Today was closer to mid 80s and it stayed between 200-220 most of the trip.

Daveinet · 08-20-2022, 10:07 AM

So my first thought on the lower control arm would be to cut/drill out the whole socket and buy a deep well socket in the right size and weld it into the hole. I have also wondered if coil overs could fit. That would reduce some of the strain on the torsion bar. Sorry to hear of the your struggles.

Are you running headers? Also what mufflers are you running? Thoreleys and Magnaflows make a proven good combination for that engine. That woke up the 454 quite nicely. It will also make it quieter in the cockpit and run significantly cooler. I once towed my Grand Cherokee up and down some steep hills in southern Indiana. As long as I could get a run on the hills, I could keep it over 60. If I didn't get a run, I'd fall below 60 too quickly and get out of the power band. Once you got below the power band, it was a lost cause. I was running an odd combination of gear ratios. The transfer case was a step down instead of a step up, because a previous owner had swapped the gears in the chain case. So when I had the diff rebuilt the first time, I had taller gears put in it. I think it was 3.54 instead of the 3.73 gearing.

If you want a quick fix, you can swap the chain case gears. It only wakes a couple of hours. A good set of snap ring pliers, a socket set, and some "Right Stuff" RTV sealer for when you put it back together. Its a relatively easy job and should not take more than a Saturday afternoon to complete. The only bad part, is the engine turns a higher RPM. Unless you have good engine breathing, it will hurt the efficiency.