Removing Alante Doghouse

klspahr · 08-16-2017, 06:55 AM

I did a search and found info on removing the doghouse on the Precept but nothing specific on the Alante. I imagine they are similar...

Anybody have specific information on the Alante (2016 ideally). The fasteners seem really well hidden.

I want to reduce the noise & heat level. We have a break in our schedule in the beginning of September so I'm formulating my plans now.

Allen_C · 08-16-2017, 09:58 AM

Subscribed to thread since I want to do the same!

klspahr · 08-17-2017, 03:11 AM

This thread about the Precept has great info:

http://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f3...9ur-34059.html

My Alante looks pretty much the same. It even has the same stupid passenger side "box" on wall - what a ugly waste of space. That will be replaced when I get to work on the cab.

klspahr · 08-30-2017, 05:36 AM

I decided to put some sound deadening material under the dash and see if I could stop it from bouncing (and making noise too) while going down the road. WOW - what a rat's nest under there. It must take practice to install things in such a tangle. Heater hoses were smashed, with so much extra material that they doubled back on themselves. The wiring looks like it was installed with a roto-rooter. The supports for the dash were not properly fasten and had fallen over. There were some good sized holes into the engine compartment and a place where you could see the road. I could go on and on but you get the idea. It is clear there is no planing or craftsmanship involved in the construction. What a shame, I would be embarrassed to put my name on something built in this manner. I don't think being sloppy produces the best profit, forethought and efficiency are two of the best business partners. Like Click & Clack use to say: "Un-encumbered by the thought process."

Now that I'm done ranting, I'm eager to find out if it makes any difference. I started looking for the screws that hold down the doghouse - I didn't even find one yet! I'll look some more today.

sitchintime · 08-30-2017, 02:17 PM

Thanks for sharing. Keep us posted

klspahr · 08-30-2017, 08:19 PM

Well I got it off.

There is a 1" angle iron screwed to the floor. Self tapping screws are screwed through the fiberglass doghouse and into the angle iron. The screws could not be felt in the carpet. So I used a small 90 degree pry bar and lifted the carpet glued on the doghouse up about an inch off the floor and looked for screws as I worked my way around the perimeter of the doghouse. I found two screws on each side for a total of 6 screws that were drilled into the angle iron. There was one screw into the top behind the center console. I believe these screws are located "Willy-nilly" so the number and location of the screws on your vehicle may be different.

The doghouse is 3/16 inches thick fiberglass with black paint coating the inside. No wonder these vehicles are loud! There is no insulation under there.

There are some areas around the floor and some plywood construction under the dash that I am going to try to cover with the Fatmat too. These can be worked on while the doghouse is removed.

I plan to use some nice stainless steel washers and screws when I reattach the doghouse. They will be plainly visible for the next time doghouse needs to be removed.

I'm using "FatMat Hood-Liner 34" x 54" x 3/4" Thick Self-Adhesive Automotive Sound Deadening Hood Liner - Aluminum Face" for the doghouse area that I got from that tribe of big strong warrior women in South America. I ordered two pieces, I should have some leftover to stick elsewhere.

klspahr · 09-01-2017, 01:50 PM

I finished the Doghouse insulation yesterday and we drove 3 hours to this weekends job and the difference in noise was huge. I plan to add more Fatmat above the front wheels to cut down on the tire/road noise.

Another thing I noticed was how cool the Doghouse remained, it use to get hot. I couldn't notice any heat while driving and after stopping, it is barely warm.

The wife loves it too!

JesseS · 09-30-2017, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by klspahr

I decided to put some sound deadening material under the dash and see if I could stop it from bouncing (and making noise too) while going down the road. WOW - what a rat's nest under there. It must take practice to install things in such a tangle. Heater hoses were smashed, with so much extra material that they doubled back on themselves. The wiring looks like it was installed with a roto-rooter. The supports for the dash were not properly fasten and had fallen over. There were some good sized holes into the engine compartment and a place where you could see the road. I could go on and on but you get the idea. It is clear there is no planing or craftsmanship involved in the construction. What a shame, I would be embarrassed to put my name on something built in this manner. I don't think being sloppy produces the best profit, forethought and efficiency are two of the best business partners. Like Click & Clack use to say: "Un-encumbered by the thought process."
Now that I'm done ranting, I'm eager to find out if it makes any difference. I started looking for the screws that hold down the doghouse - I didn't even find one yet! I'll look some more today.

I feel your pain, I have the same project to do, Daynamat extreme under the dash cap as well as the doghouse, and the airbox and hoses (acts as a conduit for the engine noise), plus I want to put anti-chafing tape on all dash contact points. Just finished a 6K mile trip and getting tired of all the noise. I also noticed the extreme lack of any planning in the under dash layout, looks like it was installed by a six year old. Not only did I find the dash supports fallen over, but the audio/video out from the TV was just laying loose, not connected to anything.
I am not a bit surprised as I had already had an issue with the outside TV HDMI over Ethernet cable being un-shielded, and bundled with the AC lines, causing massive interference, had to run an entire new line. While I have the dash cap off I will clean up all of the hoses and wiring clutter.

JesseS · 10-01-2017, 04:51 PM

Well, I got the doghouse off thanks to the post from Klsphar, can't believe the sloppy work, screws into nothing, wire, connectors, bullet connectors, and all manner of junk under there. I am going to make Velcro flaps for the screws so it will be easy to remove in the future. Only 4 screws on mine, two in the front, one on each side, and the tag screws for the center console. I guess how many screws they use depends on how tired the worker is that day. Waiting on the Daynamat, then on to the dash cap removal.

klspahr · 10-07-2017, 05:16 AM

I added a digital temperature display for the water heater by all the other controls. Inside the wall was six feet of surplus wire hanging from all the control connections. A giant ball of extra wire jammed into a tiny wall cavity. I shorten all the wires and supported then properly providing enough slack to work on the removed wall panel. Next job is a huge pile of extra wiring under the bed. I would weigh all the extra wire I remove from this rig...

In case anyone was wondering why I have a temperature display for our hot water: We boondock quite a bit. We can save lots of water and LP gas by only heating the water for what we need. If we want to take a shower we heat the water to 100 degrees and then shower with all hot water - there is no need to constantly adjust the faucets between cold and scalding. It only takes a couple minutes for the gas water heater to bring it up to temperature.

I also have a temperature display on our fridge, I love knowing that our food is at the proper temp. If we’re parked so that the sun is hitting the fridge you can adjust the fridge temp accordingly. When it’s cold outside, that also calls for a change to the fridge temp settings.

JesseS · 10-07-2017, 09:25 AM

We also boodnock a lot, we don't turn on the water heater unless we are going to take a shower, for morning clean up or dishes I heat a small pot of water to boiling and use that with some cold, uses much less gas than letting the water heater run to temp. We have a large propane tank and even after 5 weeks on the road we came home with it 1/2 full. Our toad is a small suv and I have a 45 gal water bladder for water runs without moving the rig, I rigged a small pump to transfer it to the coach. On BLM land I trickle drain the grey water into a small hole and cover it before we leave (this is allowed) just be sure to use bio-degradable soap. We can camp for 2 weeks before we need to dump the black as the tank is large. With the 650 watts of solar and a 2500 watt inverter we have plenty of AC power for everything except the Air conditioner. I know what you mean about the excess wiring, seems they have a set length, too long, and just stuff the extra in anywhere. I have spent many hours fixing, repairing, or modifying the stuff Jayco did to either make it work better, or just work. I have not had one 3rd party item fail on me, only work Jayco did, what does that tell you.

Steve Pease · 10-07-2017, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by klspahr

I decided to put some sound deadening material under the dash and see if I could stop it from bouncing (and making noise too) while going down the road. WOW - what a rat's nest under there. It must take practice to install things in such a tangle. Heater hoses were smashed, with so much extra material that they doubled back on themselves. The wiring looks like it was installed with a roto-rooter. The supports for the dash were not properly fasten and had fallen over. There were some good sized holes into the engine compartment and a place where you could see the road. I could go on and on but you get the idea. It is clear there is no planing or craftsmanship involved in the construction. What a shame, I would be embarrassed to put my name on something built in this manner. I don't think being sloppy produces the best profit, forethought and efficiency are two of the best business partners. Like Click & Clack use to say: "Un-encumbered by the thought process."

Now that I'm done ranting, I'm eager to find out if it makes any difference. I started looking for the screws that hold down the doghouse - I didn't even find one yet! I'll look some more today.

My Precept experience too. Jayco is all about outward appearance, but under is a bit flimsy and put together too "efficiently", too quickly and apparently without oversight. Found a 20 foot coil of interior cable laying on top of the engine, snipped wire ends everywhere, wrapping paper under the carpet. Everything is put together with the same one to 1 1/4 inch self tapping screws. There are no "latches" Access to the engine apparently isn't high on their list. There will be hidden screws behind the facia and entertainment stack too. Maintenance is also not on their list.

JesseS · 10-07-2017, 06:59 PM

After I removed the doghouse I had to re-glue the carpet that was pulled up to find the screws (good job Jayco.... NOT!) I sliced the carpet on both sides of the mounting screws up about 2" as a 'flap' that wasn't glued. These flaps will press down and not be visible, but will pull up easily to expose the screws when I need to remove the doghouse for smog.

mountaineyedoc · 11-07-2017, 11:44 PM

Here is how I removed my doghouse from my Alante 31P. I was doing a sound deadening project and needed to remove all the carpet and the doghouse. I had to pull away the carpet trying to search for screw heads. The carpet is glued down so this isn't easily done. I found 2 large screw heads at the rear edge of the doghouse. These screws attached the DH to a angle bracket as seen in the last photo. I then had to remove the radio, switch facia plate and this revealed a single screw that attached to the top of the DH as shown where my finger is pointing. The front of the DH is attached with 3 screws which can only be accessed when the radial/switch panel is push to a side along with the wiring and hoses. I found the wiring harness to be such a mess that I used a lot of zip ties to organize and clean it up. The screws were under the carpet which was glued over them. Jayco sure did not make it easy for removal or service. Photo 3 shows where one of the screws was located about 6" in from the right front of the DH. (Note the front of the RV is facing to the left in this photo). The other screw was about 12" in from the right front and 6" in from the left front. I could only access these through radio panel opening. As I mentioned this project was sound deadening adventure. When I replaced my DH I put insulation on the inside and outside and re-carpeted with better quality carpet. I glued it down but left access points unglued for future removal. I will post a few more pics. I hope this helps and I am putting more info on a sound deadening thread. BTW my project really quieted my noisy rig so we can relax on the voyage. It was a lot of work but so worth it!

mountaineyedoc · 11-07-2017, 11:54 PM

Here are a few more photos. I will tell you the supports for the dash board are 2 pieces of thin plywood that easily broke loose. I braced them with more more screws. They had a ton of staples that worked their way loose.
Photos show the access cuts that simply lay flat with no need for glue. Now I can remove my DH anytime I want.

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