From IL to NY and back again

[Just Lou]

Gary, my '97 F53 has the emergency/parking brake on the rear wheels by virtue of being on the drive shaft.  I think this is normal for all older and current F53's...

 

[KodiakRV]

Nice looking rig!  I really like the extra large window area on the side...

 

[scottydl]

The emergency/park brake on  a Ford motorhome chassis is indeed on the rear wheels. But Scotty mentioned having the rear air bags serviced and a Ford chassis doesn't have any air bags, front or rear.  Maybe there were aftermarket helper airbags added? Or this is some other chassis using a Ford 460 engine?

I believe this airbag system was indeed an aftermarket add-on.  The valves are mounted in the front of each rear wheelwell.  Seller also mentioned the original owner installing a steering stabilizer, but I can't find a manual or receipt on it.  How would I know if it's actually there?

 

[chaajoad]

Scotty -

WOW! What a report! I read every word and truly appreciate you posting it. I'll be totally honest with you - every single second I spend in the MH, I'm fighting the thought that something bad will happen with the beast, leaving us stuck. So I actually felt anxiety as I read your posts. I don't think I could have done what you did, handling all the problems and figuring out problems. Mechanically, I'm fairly helpless and would have had to find a shop someplace. And that brush you had with a car gave me the willies, too. Glad that was resolved.

I think back - I walked aboard our rig with zero experience and the seller gave me a 10 minute walk-through. And I'm off, rolling down the highway. And the first thing I notice - and I never checked it -
was it was the gas gauge reading nearly empty. Now what? I took an exit and found myself going down narrow neighborhood streets with no chance of turning around, low on petrol and - to be honest - I'm really sweatin' it.

I love the photos. The rig looks nice and you'll make it nicer, project by project. Scotty, you come off as an All-American guy with a great family and it's cool that you're still stoked. I look forward to more posts and photos. We're about to take our first trip of the year and I'll post photos as well. And an honest run-down of what happens.

 

[scottydl]

I love the photos. The rig looks nice and you'll make it nicer, project by project.

"Project by project", not THAT is definitely true so far.  Literally every free moment we have had lately has been spent in the MH, working on something or other.  Lots of little stuff that we are doing to bring it up to our standards & desires.  My wife just finished the bedroom yesterday, removing wallpaper, filling in holes, priming, painting.  And I had already torn out the extra wall and closet framing installed by one of the previous owners, and reinstalled the original cabinet doors and other trim that had been removed (but luckily kept and passed on to me).  But every direction I look there's something else that needs to be done... fridge won't fire up on LP, electric step not working, exterior clearance lights out, etc.  All small projects on their own and hopefully easily solved, but seems daunting when I think about it all.

Scotty, you come off as an All-American guy with a great family and it's cool that you're still stoked.

Sounds like you don't know me at ALL!  ;D  J/k, thanks for the comments.  This forum and the people I've met here have been more outstanding than I could ever express in mere typed words. 

 

[Shayne]

electric step may be turned off by one of the 3 switches by the door or could just need lubricated.  Also check for bad connections and if power is coming to it.

 

[Ron]

Could be a simple as what Shayne mentioned , a fuse, or even a bad motor.

 

[scottydl]

Re: electric step, I called the Kwikee tech support and they suggested I remove the motor from the assembly and apply an outside source of 12v power to test it.  The tech said the motors are known to seize up in place but can be worked loose again that way.  I think it's probably a weak ground like the other lighting issues on my coach, because the under-step light doesn't come on either (i.e. nothing down there is getting power, and before it completely stopped it was only working sporadically like a wire was loose).  I know there are some archived threads on this so I'll check them out.

 

[chaajoad]

Aw, c'mon man! Don't disillusion me! I'll just pretend you're a good guy, okay?

I went through a lot of your stuff and it still goes on. My electric steps just started only opening about 1/2 way and won't retract all the way. I'll use some of the tips here to try and fix.

BTW - I'm determined to take a few trips on older than recommended tires. Short jaunts, 100-150 miles. There's a chance I'll be doing a journal similar to yours.

Keep the posts coming and any photos you care to share -

Danny
Poulsbo WA