Time for Some 2015 185RB Baja Repairs & Upgrades

[Bob K]

My local Jayco dealer had no luck finding replacement window gasket for my front window.

Over the last year, the gasket has shrunk and pulled out of the bottom corners.


I decided to try revitalizing it with a wintergreen oil & alcohol soak. 3 parts isopropyl alcohol to 1 part wintergreen oil. I've had really good luck re-plasticizing other rubber components. A good soak can soften and expand the rubber, but it's a bit of an art. Depending on the type of rubber and thickness, soaking for too long can cause the rubber to bloat and subsequently not fit in or on what it was originally in or on. It will shrink a bit after soaking, so there's a balance there.

I soaked the gasket for 24 hours and that did o.k., but the gasket began to shrink a bit again after reinstallation. I soaked it for another 36 hours and that seems to have done the trick. I'm hoping it'll hold up for several more years, but this will at least buy me some time until I can find the correct replacement gasket.

[Bob K]

Like many, I replaced the original shower head with an Oxygenics shower head. The Oxygenics shower head comes with a plastic shutoff valve, but for "safety reasons", that valve is designed to allow a pencil stream of water to continue leaking out of the head even in the "off" position. I've had problems with the shutoff valve leaking around the slider as well.

I replaced it with a nice metal & ceramic shutoff valve. The tab comes off by removing a small hex set screw, so I had juuuust enough room to install the valve next to the wall. It's much smoother than the original and completely shuts off flow. No, I'm not worried about Oxygenics' "safety" concerns about there being an imbalance of hot and cold water if the shutoff valve doesn't permit a small amount of flow in the off position.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RL6F9HQ


The original water pump, after 7 years, started getting clacky and running weirdly at low flow rates, so I installed a SEAFLO water pump. I like it so far. It does seem to be a touch quieter than the original and, when combined with the SEAFLO accumulator, delivers a nice, smooth flow of water throughout the trailer. Dimensions were the same, too, so I didn't have to fuss with repositioning it. It was a direct replacement.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CQ7DD0S


All of the receptacles and covers in the trailer are screwed into nothing more than the thin paneling. The screws for the cable/12v power outlet finally pulled out, so I glued a couple pieces of lightweight poplar to the back of the paneling in order to give the screws something to bite into. Worked like a charm.


Lastly, I found some LED bulbs to replace the wedge style (T10 or 921) incandescent outside bulb and the bulb under the stove vent hood. They are much brighter than the original incandescent bulbs and only draw about 300ma. Since they're flat-faced, they don't waste lumens by lighting up the back of the housing but instead throw it all out the front. I got the "natural" tint and it still looks pretty good after going through the orange plastic cover. If I want to retain more of the orange color from the cover, I'd need to go with the warm white tint.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NT2M6MW...roduct_details

[Bob K]

Originally Posted by Bob K

My local Jayco dealer had no luck finding replacement window gasket for my front window.

Over the last year, the gasket has shrunk and pulled out of the bottom corners.
Attachment 84412 Attachment 84413 Attachment 84414

I decided to try revitalizing it with a wintergreen oil & alcohol soak. 3 parts isopropyl alcohol to 1 part wintergreen oil. I've had really good luck re-plasticizing other rubber components. A good soak can soften and expand the rubber, but it's a bit of an art. Depending on the type of rubber and thickness, soaking for too long can cause the rubber to bloat and subsequently not fit in or on what it was originally in or on. It will shrink a bit after soaking, so there's a balance there.

I soaked the gasket for 24 hours and that did o.k., but the gasket began to shrink a bit again after reinstallation. I soaked it for another 36 hours and that seems to have done the trick. I'm hoping it'll hold up for several more years, but this will at least buy me some time until I can find the correct replacement gasket.
Attachment 84415

Well THAT didn't work. The wintergreen oil soak just didn't expand the old gasket enough to stop whatever leak I had, so I dug a little deeper. Once I got the old gasket out, I realized the glass had come unsealed from the metal window frame in the lower corner. Water would get past the old gasket and then pool in the corner...eventually working its way underneath the glass pane & into the trailer and dripping down onto the bed.


The glass pane was originally sealed to the metal frame with a bead of silicone. I cleaned and dried the area and then caulked the gap with new silicone.

I then immediately put the new rubber gasket in place on the outside in order to hold the glass pane against the frame so that the silicone would cure.

The new gasket I found on Amazon works nicely. My local Camping World had it in stock as well for over TWICE the price ($90 for 12 feet). It's a tight fit and laborious to get in, but a little soapy water spray helps a lot.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BCWPLGTW?th=1


A socket driver seemed to be the perfect tool to push the gasket into place without damaging it. No sharp edges but could put a lot of point pressure on the gasket.

[vwnut]

Did your 2015 185RB Baja come with a flipped 3000 lb or 3500 lb axle? I see the old springs were 4 leaf. My 2013 non Baja has a 3000 lb axle with 3 leaves in the springs.

[Bob K]

Originally Posted by vwnut

Did your 2015 185RB Baja come with a flipped 3000 lb or 3500 lb axle? I see the old springs were 4 leaf. My 2013 non Baja has a 3000 lb axle with 3 leaves in the springs.

It came with a 3,500lb axle with 4-leaf springs on top of the axle.

[Bob K]

I've used the Fastway e2 8K trunnion style WDH for about 30,000 miles now. I'm so glad I got this style rather than the chain style.

Because of the hitch's purposeful design, it makes some noises while in use. Mine especially wanted to make popping noises while turning. I was under the impression that this interaction/binding between the L-pin and the trunnion was designed to stop abrupt sway: You know...if the trailer quickly swayed, the L-pin and trunnion would bind up and resist that sway. I noticed recently that those pops were getting rather severe.

Turns out it was caused by wear on the original L-pins and the square hole in the L-bracket. They wore to the point that the L-pin was really binding on the trunnion during turns.


In fact, the L-pin was sitting cockeyed in the L-bracket hole.


I contacted Fastway to see if using the "new" style of L-pin with the integrated quick snap retainer was acceptable for the e2 hitch. Since the "new" style L-pin sits above the trunnion, I was concerned that I was defeating the binding action that helped prevent sway.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GBRWMSE


Fastway told me, however, that the anti-sway function of the hitch comes solely from the metal-to-metal friction between the trunnion and the L-bracket and that the L-pin binding is not part of the anti-sway function. The sole purpose of the L-pin is to prevent the trunnion from sliding sideways off of the L-bracket.

That means all of that noise and wear caused by the original L-pin design (that rests on the top of the trunnion) is completely unnecessary. Grrr. I'm rather perturbed that Fastway would, as recently as 2020, continue shipping the e2 hitch with those inferior L-pins despite the fact that the quick-snap style L-pin existed long before that.

The hitch is now nearly silent during operation.

If you have a Fastway e2 hitch (other than the 4.5K model, which uses smaller L-pins), I recommend you make this "upgrade" immediately.

[skids]

Not to rain on your parade, but I have flat bar type 10K e2, and it does not exert sideway forces on the L retainers. Your square spring bars don't extend too far rearward do they? I mean, they can't contact the A-frame due to a tight turn?

[Bob K]

Originally Posted by skids

Not to rain on your parade, but I have flat bar type 10K e2, and it does not exert sideway forces on the L retainers. Your square spring bars don't extend too far rearward do they? I mean, they can't contact the A-frame due to a tight turn?

Great question. No, the L-brackets are properly spaced and the trunnions only make contact with the L-brackets. My "original" L-pins have always sort of leaned in an outward direction from new rather than resting flat on top of the trunnion.

Do you have the "original" style L-pins that rest on top of the trunnion/bar? If so, how much wear have you experienced?

[Bob K]

Originally Posted by skids

Not to rain on your parade, but I have flat bar type 10K e2, and it does not exert sideway forces on the L retainers. Your square spring bars don't extend too far rearward do they? I mean, they can't contact the A-frame due to a tight turn?

Your question made me think more about the cause of this wear. There is no wear on the L-bracket outside the width of the trunnion, so I don't see indications that the trunnion is sliding laterally toward the square L-pin hole.


After looking at the wear patterns, as best I can tell, the binding between the L-pin and trunnion caused the L-pin to torque/rotate clockwise and counterclockwise as the trunnion slid backward and forward. This forced the L-pin into the outside corners of the square hole and caused the most deformation in those locations.


I'm going to reshape the square holes and paint all the wear marks so I can see the wear patterns with the new quick-snap L-pins.

[skids]

Originally Posted by Bob K

I'm going to reshape the square holes and paint all the wear marks so I can see the wear patterns with the new quick-snap L-pins.

Bob, with the hitch disconnected from the truck, have you moved the hitch side to side to check the spring bars (trunions?) for abnormal movement or frame contact?

[Bob K]

Originally Posted by skids

Bob, with the hitch disconnected from the truck, have you moved the hitch side to side to check the spring bars (trunions?) for abnormal movement or frame contact?

Do you mean keep the trailer connected to the hitch ball, keep the trunnions in place, but remove the entire hitch from the truck and move it around?

No, haven't done that. The trunnions will not be under pressure in that condition, so I imagine they'll move around quite easily. The trunnions are beneath the frame and are not long enough to reach the first frame crossmember -- even at full jack knife -- so there's really no way for the trunnions to contact the trailer frame without obvious problems. I've seen zero indications of any contact between the trailer and the trunnions.

How much mileage do you have on your e2 and what kind of wear have you experienced?

[skids]

Originally Posted by Bob K

Do you mean keep the trailer connected to the hitch ball, keep the trunnions in place, but remove the entire hitch from the truck and move it around?

No, haven't done that. The trunnions will not be under pressure in that condition, so I imagine they'll move around quite easily. The trunnions are beneath the frame and are not long enough to reach the first frame crossmember -- even at full jack knife -- so there's really no way for the trunnions to contact the trailer frame without obvious problems. I've seen zero indications of any contact between the trailer and the trunnions.

How much mileage do you have on your e2 and what kind of wear have you experienced?

I know there wouldn't be any pressure between the L-brackets and the spring bars. That is what allows to to move the hitch around to look for interferences. I probably have 6000 miles on my WD hitch. I wonder if the square bar is rotating with the tow vehicle with respect to the A-frame because of an abrupt transition (steep to flat with a hard turn) at the bottom of your driveway? Just a thought.

[MrKABC]

Checking in with you Bob! How goes the trailer? I'm getting ready to do my solar panels and wanted you on tap for wiring and other fun things.

[Bob K]

Originally Posted by skids

I know there wouldn't be any pressure between the L-brackets and the spring bars. That is what allows to to move the hitch around to look for interferences. I probably have 6000 miles on my WD hitch. I wonder if the square bar is rotating with the tow vehicle with respect to the A-frame because of an abrupt transition (steep to flat with a hard turn) at the bottom of your driveway? Just a thought.

No, I haven't done that. I can't perceive any scenario where normal turns, driveways, etc. would cause the kinds of forces that would result in this wear. I've watched the hitch as I enter and leave my driveway, and all components flex normally.

I towed it another 1,400 miles. Still operates almost silently now with the new quick-snap L-pins in place and exerts no torsional forces on the L-pins.

[Bob K]

Originally Posted by MrKABC

Checking in with you Bob! How goes the trailer? I'm getting ready to do my solar panels and wanted you on tap for wiring and other fun things.

I wondered where you went. Must've been nice weather, so you were enjoying the RV rather than working on it.

I am hunting a leak, unfortunately. I thought my front window saga was over when I resealed the window glass and installed the new gasket, but alas, it is not.


My father has helped me troubleshoot this time around and I think we have it narrowed down to leaks around the rivets that hold the front window cover and gutter onto the window frame. It leaks bad enough for about 2 cups of water to get into the window frame through a 24-hour rain and saturate the inside paneling on one side of the window.

As soon as the weather at my current location warms up enough, I'm going to silicone seal that hardware and go from there.

Good luck on the solar panel install! I'm looking forward to learning from you.

[MrKABC]

Originally Posted by Bob K

I wondered where you went. Must've been nice weather, so you were enjoying the RV rather than working on it.

I am hunting a leak, unfortunately. I thought my front window saga was over when I resealed the window glass and installed the new gasket, but alas, it is not.

Good luck on the solar panel install! I'm looking forward to learning from you.

Went out boondocking in November, my new LiPo setup was a complete success! Barely needed my generator - it was very nice not having to worry about whether the battery would last the entire evening or not, now I can go for days!

Sorry to hear your leak continues. Are you sure it's actually coming from the window? I wonder if it could be from the roof membrane where it ties in to the front wall? On mine, I see a lot of "aging" Dicor comprising the front seal, I wonder if yours has failed.

It's been raining a lot here in Cali the last few days, so I went out and took a look at mine, so far no leaks but in looking at the way the front of the trailer is constructed it seems weird to me that you'd get "that" much water inside from a window leak.

Maybe it might be worth it to pull the Dicor and go with some Eternabond tape for the front seal? I am thinking of doing this later this year since I am wondering how good the Dicor actually is after a few years. What do you think?

[Bob K]

Originally Posted by MrKABC

Went out boondocking in November, my new LiPo setup was a complete success! Barely needed my generator - it was very nice not having to worry about whether the battery would last the entire evening or not, now I can go for days!

Sorry to hear your leak continues. Are you sure it's actually coming from the window? I wonder if it could be from the roof membrane where it ties in to the front wall? On mine, I see a lot of "aging" Dicor comprising the front seal, I wonder if yours has failed.

It's been raining a lot here in Cali the last few days, so I went out and took a look at mine, so far no leaks but in looking at the way the front of the trailer is constructed it seems weird to me that you'd get "that" much water inside from a window leak.

Maybe it might be worth it to pull the Dicor and go with some Eternabond tape for the front seal? I am thinking of doing this later this year since I am wondering how good the Dicor actually is after a few years. What do you think?

We've been over the roof with a fine tooth comb. We've gently poked and prodded every seam with a flat blade screwdriver and the Dicor appears to be in terrific shape everywhere. Through judicious application of a tarp, we're pretty certain that the leak is happening somewhere other than that front Dicor seam between the rubber roof and the aluminum siding. It's either coming from the window or it's coming from the black corner trim pieces that are sealed to the vertical front corners of the RV with putty.

[Bob K]

I've been hunting an ignition problem with my Atwood G6A-7 hot water heater for a couple years now. Gas would ignite at the air shutter and act like a pulse jet engine. No bueno!

Video: https://tv.gab.com/channel/robertkno...049d87d2a5a946



It seemed to become a self-reinforcing problem: When gas would ignite there, it would make the tube hot and dirty in that location, which made subsequent ignitions at that location much more likely. I'd clean the combustion tube with a wire brush occasionally but the premature ignition would still sporadically happen. I also adjusted the air shutter so that the gas wasn't burning so lean.

Then I happened to notice one day that, after the thermostat tripped and started sending gas down the tube, it would take too long before it would ignite. This would result in a mini explosion of all the gas in the hot water tank passage and create a mini backdraft back into the combustion tube. As an experiment, I held a lighter right next to the end of the combustion tube and turned the thermostat up. With the flame right next to the combustion tube opening, the gas lit immediately and very gently.

So I think I've cracked the case: The pilot flame was too far away from the end of the combustion tube. Too much gas was filling the area before it finally got to the pilot flame and ignited. The mini explosion and backdraft were enough to cause ignition at the air shutter.

I rotated the pilot light bracket and bent it slightly so that it is right next to the end of the combustion tube. The gas now lights immediately and gently.

[MrKABC]

Nice! I always follow your stuff, since you seem to have more than your fair share of interesting technical issues.

Gotta check my leaf springs too to see if my mounts are damaged like yours were...

Got my solar panel wiring port for the roof, Sikaflex 252 today. Waiting on the no-drill solar mounts, Victron solar controller, Eternabond and primer to arrive in order to get cracking. Jayco sent me the framing schematics for the walls and roof of my trailer, so I now know how to run things! Got my borescope and wire chasers handy. That 10g wire is going to be a bear to pull through the wall.

Starting with the two 100w panels I got for Christmas.

Any recommendations on tire dealers for new OEM Goodyears? The OEM ones are now 3 years old out in the sun, not sure if they are trustworthy anymore. Don't want Chinese "willpop" ones either.

[Bob K]

Originally Posted by MrKABC

Any recommendations on tire dealers for new OEM Goodyears? The OEM ones are now 3 years old out in the sun, not sure if they are trustworthy anymore. Don't want Chinese "willpop" ones either.

Permanent solar sounds awesome! Though at this point I'd settle for an inverter to power at least the microwave and an Instant Pot while boondocking.

I always try to purchase my tires through a national chain with lots of outlets (usually Walmart) so that warranty service away from home on the RV or tow vehicle, should it become necessary, is easy to access. I usually check tirerack.com or walmart.com to find the tires and then call the store directly to see if they can order that tire in.