Two Month Update-A Major Problem

  May 2010
Here goes another $1,200.
We had noticed that the motorhome was leaning to the right and we had a good idea where the problem was but we weren’t sure of the exact cause or how it could be fixed so we took it to a suspension shop so that they could look at it. The shop owner crawled under and said the words that you never want to hear from any shop –   “No ,no , I can’t believe that he did this. This is not right. I can not fix this.”  He told us that the only way to fix the motorhome would be to remove it from the chassis. But after he looked some more , asked some questions about how it was constructed and thought about it , he decided that he could fix it after all –big sighs of relief :)!     (Tony wrote the next part)
Ken started building the frame before the chassis arrived. When the truck was delivered he found out that one of his cross members was hitting the spring overload bracket.
 
We discussed this and I suggested then that the bracket be removed but Ken assured us that it would fit just inside the bracket and everything would be fine. This was a lie. Rather than move the cross member or remove the overload springs and brackets and place another leaf in the springs directly, or make new mounting brackets for the coach to raise the frame above the overload bracket Ken did nothing and then covered it over leaving us with the problem, leaning to the right and making some pretty nasty noises on bumps.

This is the overload spring bracket.(picture above) Not only was the overload spring hitting the underbody of the coach, one of the flooring beams sat directly on this bracket causing direct pressure on that single beam and distorting the basic framing of the motor home.

Here, at the bracket, there was a one inch gap between the underside and the truck frame.(picture above)

Here, away from the bracket, there is only 1/2 inch.(picture above) This is correct because of the body isolators. This also shows that the framing hitting the bracket above is distorting the framing of the coach.

This is a properly installed body isolator. Notice the 1/2 inch clearance. (picture above)

Here, the isolator nearest the overload bracket is not even installed.(picture above) My guess is that Ken realized that compressing this isolator would place even more pressure on the floor beam and bow the floor above so he chose not to tighten it at all.

This shows how the overload spring was smashing into the underside of the coach. (picture above)

This is the removed overload bracket. It shows where the floor beam was hitting causing direct impact from the frame of the truck. (picture above)                                          
To fix the lean and to allow the motorhome body to sit solidly on the chassis frame the overload spring leaves were removed from both sides and the brackets were also removed. Two new leaves were inserted on both sides ,with heavier ones on the right side to level the motorhome. Longer shock absorbers were also installed. The original equipment shock absorbers were too short after the lifts had been installed and should have been replaced by Ken.