Community Forums

David Bott · 07-03-2011, 07:33 AM

Seeing the shock mount is the same mount more or less that the TruCenter was mounted to, I can not buy the reason for the failure. This I based on if the should mount was moving, well, you got more of an issue then the TruCenter failures. It is not like it was smashing into the case.

Maybe they sent you one this time that was reinforced and I HOPE they have working solenoid that does not fail over time.

I think the answer is no, but by chance, did you open the new one to see what it looked like inside?

RVThere · 07-03-2011, 08:12 AM

Did not open the new case to see the solenoid. Since I had both the old TruCenters and sent them back together, they saw a common mark on the top of both TruCenters where the shock mount was coming in contact with the box. The Trucenter is attached to a mouting braket that is separate from the shock mount. However, with the spacer they give you, the box did come in contact with the bottom of the shock mount. Now with the extra washers, there is a gap which will hopefully alleviate future problems.

RVThere · 09-24-2011, 11:53 AM

Been dealing with other MH problems so I have not kept everyone up to date on this saga.

Put TruCenter #3 on in July before a trip from NJ to WY. Got to WY and looked under the coach and to my surprise the box that contains the solenoid was MISSING! (notice how the mounting bracket is to the left of the shock mount - keep this in mind for later).

Don't know if it fell off from vibration or road debris. We did go through a bunch of construction sites in WY but did not notice running over a big rock or retread.

Call my now buddy Paul at BlueOx and made arrangements to visit their factory in Nebraska on the way home. However, blew an AC compressor in Casper (that's another post...) and had to get to NJ for a work meeting so could not stop at BlueOx.

Paul at BlueOx and his tech could not figure out why I have such a problem with the solenoid boxes. I even made a video of the underside of the coach and put it on Youtube for the tech to look at. No ideas on what the problem was but BlueOx was willing to try again and sent me a new TruCenter.

I looked under the coach and suddenly had the idea to flip flop the mounting bracket so the TruCenter would mount about 5 inches closer to the center of the chassis and out of the way of the shock bracket which is allegedly causing the problems.

So this morning son #3 (who is probably qualified to be a TruCenter tech after all these installs...) and I took off the mounting bracket and reversed it.

Now the bracket is on the right side of the shock mount instead of the left side (as it was in the first picture).

We then put the TruCenter on and the solenoid box is well clear of the shock mount!

Hopefully #4 is a charm. We won't be taking a trip until the end of October so we will see how it works. Doing some college visits and heading up to Paul Smith College in upper NY state.

David Bott · 09-24-2011, 12:30 PM

Well, I went through 5 of them before I gave up on the excuses from the company. Still no issue at all with the Henderson solution and we just got back from 6500 miles where we went to Newfoundland.

And looking at your photos, I really can also not see how you would have had contact from anything. (Only looking at the photos mind you.)

Yes, and I know how your son must feel when I went though all of them. I could only help but wonder how many people have these and are not even aware they may not be working. (Though that last one with the box that came off is, well, strange.) Usually it is just the insides that are no good.

Good Luck!

paz · 09-24-2011, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RVThere

...Put TruCenter #3 on in July before a trip from NJ to WY. Got to WY and looked under the coach and to my surprise the box that contains the solenoid was MISSING!...Don't know if it fell off from vibration or road debris...

The box on our Tru Center almost fell off twice. Fortunately, I saw it hanging loose both times and put it back on. The screws had simple worked their way loose. The screws are too small to get them tight enough for the weight of that big box cantilevered out in the air as you bounce down the road.

The last time I reinstalled the box, I used Locktite red on the screws. That was over a year and 8-9,000 miles ago, and no more screws coming loose.

Check the box every so often. If you notice it coming loose, try the Locktite approach.

RVThere · 09-24-2011, 03:16 PM

Paz,

Was your solenoid still OK in the box? My first two TruCenter's had the welds break on the solenoid but the box was still attached securely.

sdennislee · 09-24-2011, 05:26 PM

Glad I stumbled on to this post. Was going to order a TruCenter Monday. Won't be doing that now.

blackf3504dr · 09-25-2011, 04:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdennislee

Glad I stumbled on to this post. Was going to order a TruCenter Monday. Won't be doing that now.

If there's enough feed back like this and the manufacturer reads it, maybe something will be done to fix the problem(s)...

Personally, after the second one I would have wanted my money back and gone with another product, but that's just me.

I hope they can resolve this for good RVThere, maybe the fourth time IS the charm!

David Bott · 09-25-2011, 06:33 AM

blackf3504dr...Not sure you read the entire thread or not, but the CEO himself was involved with me and STILL bad product was being shipped to me to replace dead products. Even the last one, the 5th one, that the CEO setup to have sent out himself right to a dealer, for his manufacturer rep to have installed, arrived DOA with the SAME ISSUE of a dead solenoid.

Get this...even that manufacturer rep did not test it before they installed or OR AFTER. I was called and told it was all set. Got back to the coach and called out the door to them asking...Did you test this before you put it on? As it is dead. He did not know what to say at that point. It clearly was not tested before it was installed at the plant, after the units was fully assembled for shipping and before they installed it on my coach. A solenoid just does not go bad in transport IMHO.

So sorry to say that is is kind of like..."Issue, what issue?"

paz · 09-25-2011, 07:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RVThere

Paz,

Was your solenoid still OK in the box? My first two TruCenter's had the welds break on the solenoid but the box was still attached securely.

The box was still being partially held by one of the screws - it was just loose. I got lucky and caught it both times just before the last screw came all the way out.

The solenoid was fine. As far as the welds go, there was no problem. This Tru Center was replaced about 2 years ago after the recall. Aside from the screws coming loose (I used Locktite) and a bad electrical plug (I eliminated the plug and used waterproof butt-splice connectors), I have had no problems with my Tru Center.

blackf3504dr · 09-26-2011, 04:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Bott

blackf3504dr...Not sure you read the entire thread or not, but the CEO himself was involved with me and STILL bad product was being shipped to me to replace dead products. Even the last one, the 5th one, that the CEO setup to have sent out himself right to a dealer, for his manufacturer rep to have installed, arrived DOA with the SAME ISSUE of a dead solenoid.

Get this...even that manufacturer rep did not test it before they installed or OR AFTER. I was called and told it was all set. Got back to the coach and called out the door to them asking...Did you test this before you put it on? As it is dead. He did not know what to say at that point. It clearly was not tested before it was installed at the plant, after the units was fully assembled for shipping and before they installed it on my coach. A solenoid just does not go bad in transport IMHO.

So sorry to say that is is kind of like..."Issue, what issue?"

Yeah David, I have been following your thread.
With enough negative information sooner or later Blue Ox will eventually fix the problem or get out of the market. So far it doesn't seem they really know what to do about the problem.
Personally I wouldn't purchase the TruCenter based on this thread.

mrschwarz · 09-26-2011, 07:27 PM

I just installed one. Any recommendations to prevent this problem from occurring?

David Bott · 09-26-2011, 07:34 PM

Sorry to say you can not prevent it. At this point in time, if you can hear a loud "click" when you press the button, then it is working. If a time comes that you can no longer hear the "click", well, you will know it has failed. I would then ask for a full refund and not try again. But that's me.

Make it part of your pre-departure routine to try the button and listen for the "click". When it works, it works well. But I am just glad Henderson had a solution for me as I did miss it when I was without it. (be it during the failures or after I gave up on them.)