Aluminum Camper Forum

Quote from: Merlin on October 01, 2017, 09:24:05 PM
My 16TBS came with the single speed Hengs Vortex I fans. Noisy and not at all versatile. Since I wanted multiple speeds and reversible flow and didn't want to mess with the roof, I just bought 2 of these Hengs Vortex II fan upgrade kits and did a straight and easy swap, all from the inside.

https://www.amazon.com/VARIABLE-MOTORHOME-CEILING-REPLACEMENT-90046-CR/dp/B017C0RLP2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1506903474&sr=8-1&keywords=Hengs+vent+fan

Thanks for sharing Merlin!

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Capt J-rod: Wow, this is really a find and so helpful!  I appreciate your dedication and focus on resolving the situation!

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I'm very interested in part numbers and phone numbers as there is a high certainty I'll be where you are some day.  I've read where someone forgot to lock their windows and got home with no window at all.  He couldn't find any information or replacement.  So I am definitely going to monitor your progress and wish you the best of luck!

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We purchased 10 in. Gel Memory Mattresses on our CL 16TBS and absolutely love them.

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Quote from: DavidM on June 08, 2017, 05:20:17 PM
We went on our spring shake down campout to a near by state forest and returned home early in the morning so I could work on three years worth of maintenance items: tires, bearings and wheel wells. Here is the story:

The camper had gotten very wet inside several years ago while towing in a heavy, long rainstorm. I had heard of two causes on this forum: aluminum floor members not sealed (do they seal them now?) and the wheel wells not sealed to the box. So I tackled the later since the former is covered with tanks and plumbing for 80% of its area.

I first took off the wheels on one side. I was still hitched to my TV, so I just blocked the opposite wheels with chocks. Then while the wheels are still on the ground I loosend each bolt with a 1/2" breaker bar and a 19 mm deep socket. Then i jacked up that side with a floor jack and a foot long piece of 2x4 to distribute the load. BTW, Dexter says to never jack directly on their axle, always jack up the frame. Then I finished unloosening and took the wheels off.

So with the wheels off I looked inside. On that side I just saw a seam with little beads of weldment holding it together and some sort of rubber gasket that didn't look like it was doing much. See the first pic. So I ran a bead of caulk along that seam. Lots has been said about the right caulk to use but i just used a $4.00 tube of window acrylic caulking I bought at the hardware store. The second pic shows the bead of caulk over the seam.

Then I saw at the two ends gaps where the aluminum floor terminates at the wheel well. If water were flung forward into that area it would flood through the gaps in the floor members. The third pic shows this. I decided to fill that with urethane foam filler/sealer to block this source of water. The fourth pic shows this sealant.

The opposite side had a 1/2" wide gap where the first side did not. So I filled that gap with foam sealant and did the ends the same as the other. Sorry but I don't have a pic of that wide gap.

Then I looked closely at the tires. Three of them are original and have about 10,000 miles on them and looked like they might go another 5,000. The fourth was replaced after the tire wore completely out after maybe 7,000 miles. I was pleased to see that the replacement (sorry can't remember the brand i got at Town Fair Tire) looked pretty new. That tells me that the failed tire was just bad and I don't have an alignment problem.

I pumped all of the tires up to 50 psi and then tackled the bearing grease. Dexter has a simple system which can even be done with the wheel and tires in place. Just pop off the chrome cap and dig out the rubber sealer. Then there is a zerk fitting that you pump up with grease until it starts to ooze out the end. Simple and it takes just a couple of minutes or so. The last pic shows this operation with the wheels off.

So this maintenance should keep the running gear ok for another three years, although i suspect I will have to replace the tires before then. When I tackle this again in three years I will pull one of the brake drums off to look at the shoes.

David

Thank you so much for sharing (especially the pics)!!!

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