New Greyhawk 29MV!

[pconroy]

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

So he went to the transfer switch and opened it up to find some melted wires. Fantastic. At least he found them before they caused a fire.

Seems to be a running theme this week!
This is Case #3 of a melted wires in the ATS.


One was a 2009.
Mine was a 2016.

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by don_kleinschnitz

Thanks @Camper_bob,
Very interesting.
I crawled under and checked the suspension items;

• Front anti sway bar: stock ford part
• Rear stabalizer: stock ford part
• Springs: Hellwig Helper Springs

Seems that Jayco's Jayride Plus is just helper springs.

So I took a look at the helper spring adjustments. As you suggested they are wide open. Not only that, one of the Ubots near the axle is not properly seated on the lowest spring leaf and one ubolts locking nut is loose. Jese that looks dangerous.

I am going to contact Jayco and see if they will fix the bolts and adjustment under warrenty. If not I will have some grunting to do .

So if I get this right I need to tighten down the Ubolts to about a 11/2" gap right?

Have you added front and rear stabalizers (hellwig) to to your new RV?

Thanks again for this help.....

Spring gap:

Improper Ubolt Mount:

Loose locking nut:

Actually the J-Ride Plus is supposed to include upgraded rear sway bar, upgraded shocks, upgraded "jounce bumpers" (rubber isolation mounts between frame and house) and helper springs.

While correctly installing and adjusting your helper springs is something that needs doing, you'll likely not notice a whole lot of difference.

Anyway, the most worthwhile upgrades people have done are

1) upgrade the FRONT sway bar (Ford OEM is barely adequate for a cab & chassis, let alone a MH that's always loaded to GVWR),

2) Steering stabilizer: again, Ford OEM is completely worthless. And you should install an actual stabilizer (like Saf-T-Steer, or Roadmaster Reflex) as opposed to an upgraded damper. But at least one other member has installed a Bilstein damper that apparently made a good improvement.

Originally Posted by Dgibbster

I just added the front steering stabilizer myself, installing front helwig sway bar and adjusting helwig springs to 2” gap between bottom of saddle for u-bolt to top of factory spring pack which i was just told was the max setting from Helwig technician.

I went looking for the printed instructions and went by that AND the fact that Hellwig support is telling people 2". Whatever the "max" adjustment is, that's where you want to be since chances are pretty high (especially if you're in a longer rig) that you're consistently traveling at or near GVWR.

Originally Posted by Florida Ranger

Camper Bob YOU ARE THE MAN,,,,Thanks so much for the Generator info. Onan would Never give anybody this good of information . Concerning the step if it ever starts making strange noises and gets real jerky moving, after 2 new motors did this I took 1 of them apart on the drive gear side and found out that the drive shaft was slipping in the hole where the flat drive plate is pressed on. Cleaned grease off of it and spot welded plate to shaft. Problem solved ,,now I welded 2nd motor shaft and have a spare step motor assembly. (if you have any questions Please E-mail me at a125b@bellsouth.net). Two RV repair shops told me I needed a new motor assembly $300, after repairing them I went and told one of the shops how I fixed it, he said good for me...I believe in repairing problem not just replacing parts...

To be fair, I believe part of the Onan trouble shooting for this error begins with checking the voltage at the generator output. That's what I SHOULD have done in the first place, but I got side-tracked and wasted a lot of time and money based on an inaccurate assumption.

As for the step motor, ours lasted over 2 years of HARD use. I fully expect this one to go at least that long, assuming I can train myself and my family not to step on it unless it's all the way open, and not to hit curbs with it. When this one fails, I'll probably take it apart and see what I can see.

Originally Posted by pconroy

Seems to be a running theme this week!
This is Case #3 of a melted wires in the ATS.


One was a 2009.
Mine was a 2016.

Problem is they're junk. At some point I think I'm going to put an upgraded ATS in, but right now I'm just trying to get back on the road.

With everything that's happening, I'm learning. I ask LOTS of questions of the technicians who work on my stuff, and that at least will give me a more narrowed focus for information gathering next time something happens.

[don_kleinschnitz]

Thanks @Camper_bob,
Jayco authorized the dealer to fix/adjust my springs.

Drive down from high mountain camping in alot of wind. Was not fun, the front stabilizer is on my list .

Don.

[Camper_bob]

I figure it's about time to put up another update. The last major issue we had unresolved was the auto-leveling system (LCI Hydraulic 4-point levelers).

I futzed around with it for a while testing this and that. Had DW helping me while I took resistance and voltage readings at the pump. Based on what I found, everything seemed to check out okay, but still couldn't get it to work. I thought it would be the diverter valve itself.

So I took it in to the the shop I've been using for quite some time. He took some readings, basically found the same things as me. So he took out the pump and sent it to a hydraulic shop locally. They said nothing wrong with the pump (including the diverter valve ).

So he went back at diagnosing again. He bypassed everything and applied separate power to the pump and he could get the jacks to work. So it wasn't the pump, or any part of the pump (solenoids, valves, switches, etc) because he could get everything to work. So he located the control box and ohmed out the wiring harness between the control and the pump; all checked out okay, so it wasn't the wiring harness. The control pad inside was not throwing errors or having trouble communicating, so concluded it was the control box - no good. Ordered new control box, took about a week longer than expected to get here (thanks COVID), but installed it and all is well.

The "zero" needs to be reset; it's a little nose down right now, but it's working!

Next problem is the water system. I have algae in at least some of my lines, and likely in my tank. This is totally on me; I got lax about flushing and sanitizing the system, and now I may have to pay for it. I'm in the process of sanitizing everything right now with a heavy bleach solution, so we'll see if I can recover this without too much trouble. I was trying to fill the tank after I had removed the filter and forgot to turn the valves back on. Spent about 15 minutes trying to troubleshoot that little oversight. We don't consume that water anyway, and it's run through a filter, so it's not the end of the world, I just have to catch up and stay caught up on maintaining that system.

While I was sanitizing the water system, I removed the bathroom faucet (OEM Jayco garbage) and ordered a new one. Should be able to get that installed this week.

Upon close inspection of my seals, I discovered I have some hairline cracking in some of my seals, so after I get the rig all cleaned up, I'll be going around touching up all the seals...

The rig will go into the shop one last time for an O2 sensor. The exhaust shop was so rushed to get us back on the road, they didn't install that. My RV shop ordered it and it should be here this week and they'll install it.

After that, it's back to the stuff I had in line to do before all this other crap: Regular maintenance including oil change, generator oil change/scheduled 100 hr maintenance, seal check/maintenance, start capacitors in the AC units, hatchlift on at least one of the compartment doors, sewer vent, and getting back into decreasing some of the noise in the cab area while under way.

Last weekend we took a trip to see my dad and stayed in his "camp driveway". I haven't slept as good as I did those 2 nights in months. DW and I both commented how nice it was to be in the camper again. Already have reservations for November to a place DW went when she was a kid, and I'll be looking for something between now and then that will get us out again. This is "high camping" season for us, and I intend to take advantage every chance I get!

[Camper_bob]

So since I was futzing around under the bathroom sink dealing with sanitizing my water system anyway, I decided to see what I could do about the bathroom faucet. I've hated that thing from day one. This last trip out, I'd finally had enough. The worst thing about it was the cheap quality; the handles squeaked and it drove me crazy, and the faucet didn't reach out into the bowl enough for a good, decent hand wash.

So while I was down there, I reached up to see how easy/difficult a job it would be; had the old faucet out in about 2 minutes. Ordered a replacement off Amazon, got it yesterday, and installed it last night. Took about 5 minutes? Maybe?

LOVE it! Don't know why I didn't do it sooner. Flow is better, no more squeaky plastic build (new one is all brass inside), and the faucet swivels. SUPER nice upgrade IMO.

I also drained out my bleach solution and refilled the tank and lines with fresh water, and drained again. Will re-fill everything and rinse one more time tonight and install a fresh filter under the sink and call that project done for the season. Just have to not skip that item on the checklist any more...

[fgingras]

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

So since I was futzing around under the bathroom sink dealing with sanitizing my water system anyway, I decided to see what I could do about the bathroom faucet. I've hated that thing from day one. This last trip out, I'd finally had enough. The worst thing about it was the cheap quality; the handles squeaked and it drove me crazy, and the faucet didn't reach out into the bowl enough for a good, decent hand wash.

So while I was down there, I reached up to see how easy/difficult a job it would be; had the old faucet out in about 2 minutes. Ordered a replacement off Amazon, got it yesterday, and installed it last night. Took about 5 minutes? Maybe?

LOVE it! Don't know why I didn't do it sooner. Flow is better, no more squeaky plastic build (new one is all brass inside), and the faucet swivels. SUPER nice upgrade IMO.

I also drained out my bleach solution and refilled the tank and lines with fresh water, and drained again. Will re-fill everything and rinse one more time tonight and install a fresh filter under the sink and call that project done for the season. Just have to not skip that item on the checklist any more...

Hi CAMPER_BOB,

I also want to replace that bathroom faucet which is much too low for washing hands. Could you please send me the model / part # / manufacturer of the one you have installed?

Thanks!

[RetiredOne]

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

Will re-fill everything and rinse one more time tonight and install a fresh filter under the sink and call that project done for the season. Just have to not skip that item on the checklist any more...

Nice faucet, I hate mine for the same reason. Might be another project to do.

Question, why are you still using the factory filter under the sink, and not removed it and bypassed it, like many of us have, and just gone to the blue external Camco filters?

[Iamdrdream]

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

So since I was futzing around under the bathroom sink dealing with sanitizing my water system anyway, I decided to see what I could do about the bathroom faucet. I've hated that thing from day one. This last trip out, I'd finally had enough. The worst thing about it was the cheap quality; the handles squeaked and it drove me crazy, and the faucet didn't reach out into the bowl enough for a good, decent hand wash.

So while I was down there, I reached up to see how easy/difficult a job it would be; had the old faucet out in about 2 minutes. Ordered a replacement off Amazon, got it yesterday, and installed it last night. Took about 5 minutes? Maybe?

LOVE it! Don't know why I didn't do it sooner. Flow is better, no more squeaky plastic build (new one is all brass inside), and the faucet swivels. SUPER nice upgrade IMO.

I also drained out my bleach solution and refilled the tank and lines with fresh water, and drained again. Will re-fill everything and rinse one more time tonight and install a fresh filter under the sink and call that project done for the season. Just have to not skip that item on the checklist any more...

We changed our faucet to this one also. Great upgrade!

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by fgingras

Hi CAMPER_BOB,

I also want to replace that bathroom faucet which is much too low for washing hands. Could you please send me the model / part # / manufacturer of the one you have installed?

Thanks!

This is the one I picked. There were a few reviews from people who had installed it in their own camper, so I felt confident it would fit, and I was not disappointed.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have no idea what the durability will be like, but I think it would last longer than the POS OEM one it replaced.

Originally Posted by RetiredOne

Nice faucet, I hate mine for the same reason. Might be another project to do.

Question, why are you still using the factory filter under the sink, and not removed it and bypassed it, like many of us have, and just gone to the blue external Camco filters?

Faucet is too easy NOT to do IMO. It's totally plug & play, no special tools, and literally only takes a few minutes. If you're anything like me, you'll kick yourself for not having done it sooner.

If my filter were as difficult to access as yours, I'd probably bypass it too. But mine is right under the bathroom sink, so it's SUPER easy to access. I still use a blue Camco in-line filter on the hose at the CG, and I replace the element in the built-in one every year. Filter runs like $6, and it's easy enough to change, so I just keep running it.

Every now and again, I'll run an unfiltered garden hose into my camper (only at home though), so it's nice to know I still get filtration in those situations.

There's probably a decent chance I won't replace the blue Camco one this year, and will just go to the on-board filter all the time... Don't know yet...

And like I've said many times, we don't drink the water from the camper taps; we carry RO water from our S&B home for consumption.

[Camper_bob]

So we got the rig back from the shop for the O2 sensor. And ... it threw another code. I put the reader on it last night and I'm getting P00402 (catalyst error bank 1, or something like that). So I looked underneath at the cat and the O2 sensor to make sure they hadn't done something stupid. Didn't find anything obvious to me (like an unplugged sensor ), so I'm researching it now so I can figure out what to do.

I also finally picked up a surge protector. I went with the Hughes Power Watchdog 30A unit. I chose this because it does what I need it to do, has a user replaceable surge module, and is bluetooth connected. Well, and the price was right...

I plugged it up last night and all is well at my house, but that's what I expected... It's neat to see exactly how many volts and amps are going through, and it has a power usage tracker so I can see how many KWH I'm using. Not that I really need that info, but it's neat.

I intend to use/store the unit in the power line cubby. It's not a great fit, but it works. The box itself is bigger than I expected. It should keep from growing legs if I keep it locked up...

Got a trip coming up, and I'm SUPER glad to finally have this piece of kit. The peace of mind will do me good.

[don_kleinschnitz]

I went ahead and deleted the safety feature that disconnects the 110V outlet in the cabover so the boy can watch his movies in transit.

Can you tell me how you did this as I would also like to disable this interlock?

[seastonemtn]

Hi All,

Popping back in with another question.

We had been having some trouble with the oven in our 2020 Greyhawk MV. We spent a little over 2months in the RV late summer and I spent some time making sure it really wasn't working right.

So we took it in for the warranty work on the oven as well as a problem with the caulk coming completely off almost all the way around in the sink. (Is that typical?...Basically the whole counter top appears to peal off!)

My question is while we were there they STRONGLY encouraged us to do a roof maintenance. They basically said that if we didn't and had a problem with the roof Jayco warranty wouldn't cover us. This roof maintenance is a $500 charge!

I know most of you do almost all if not all of your own work. My husband is really good and goes up on the roof a lot and checks and lubricates seals. But they said that that wasn't enough....

Is this true? Is this necessary? Were we taken for a ride....

Thanks so much,
Chris

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by don_kleinschnitz

I went ahead and deleted the safety feature that disconnects the 110V outlet in the cabover so the boy can watch his movies in transit.

Can you tell me how you did this as I would also like to disable this interlock?

There is a 110V plug inside the cabinet above the door in my rig. Take the panel inside the cabinet to gain access to the back of the plug. There is a relay interlock wired into the back, mine was a purple wire and stuck out like a sore thumb. I cut it and secured both ends so there would be no "naked" wires or cables.

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by seastonemtn

Hi All,

Popping back in with another question.

We had been having some trouble with the oven in our 2020 Greyhawk MV. We spent a little over 2months in the RV late summer and I spent some time making sure it really wasn't working right.

So we took it in for the warranty work on the oven as well as a problem with the caulk coming completely off almost all the way around in the sink. (Is that typical?...Basically the whole counter top appears to peal off!)

My question is while we were there they STRONGLY encouraged us to do a roof maintenance. They basically said that if we didn't and had a problem with the roof Jayco warranty wouldn't cover us. This roof maintenance is a $500 charge!

I know most of you do almost all if not all of your own work. My husband is really good and goes up on the roof a lot and checks and lubricates seals. But they said that that wasn't enough....

Is this true? Is this necessary? Were we taken for a ride....

Thanks so much,
Chris

Your rig should have a fiberglass roof, so the roof membrane should be relatively durable. You will want to look it over, but any breaches are typically caused by some kind of trauma (think hitting a branch); fiberglass roof is unlikely to naturally degrade at the rate of a rubber (TPO or EPDM membrane) roof. But you still also have the same breaches in that roof that every other roof has (vents, skylights, etc), and they're sealed the same way regardless of the roof membrane material, and that's usually where the problems happen.

So short answer is yes, you need to inspect the seals on your roof AT LEAST annually. After 2-3 years you will likely notice the surface of the sealant begin showing signs of weakness like cracks. Some will be surface cracks that don't pose a problem yet, some will be deeper and likely to cause problems. You may even have bubbles from installation (I had this). Have a couple tubes of Dicor Self-Leveling Lap sealant on hand in a caulk gun and touch up the seals wherever you see a potential weakness. And don't be stingy; if you think you've used enough, go ahead and use a little more. And you want to look VERY closely as it doesn't take but a hairline crack or pinhole for moisture to enter and cause problems.

Also pay close attention to marker lights as those are a VERY common leak point as well as window seals.

You also want to inspect the seals around the "picture frame" on your slideout walls, as well as the seam where the bottom of the cabover meets the vertical fiberglass right behind the driver/passenger door. I have some small cracks there on my rig as we speak that I'll be repairing "on the road" this week. For horizontal surfaces (roof seals), the generally recommended product is Dicor Self-Leveling Lap Sealant (as I mentioned before). For vertical seals or around your slideout frame, it's OSI Quad or a handfull of other sealants. DO NOT USE SILICONE. It won't last, and it won't stick.

IMO, $500 is pretty steep for a simple roof seal inspection. It should take no more than about 20 minutes if there aren't major issues. And that includes some level of "touchup".

Jayco warranty does indeed require inspection of the roof, and your dealer's documentation of that inspection would help in a warranty claim situation. This requirement should be outlined in your owner's manual. If you have some kind of extended warranty, those inspection requirements may be stipulated in that contract.

I would "shop" that price, and don't discount mobile RV technicians.

Of course, if you never want to worry about it again, you could add RV Roof Armor or something similar. It typically comes with a lifetime warranty, and people who have done it swear by it, but it's pretty darn spendy. Some people even have it applied the first day they own the unit. You could also consider an Eternabond application. Basically, you cover all the seals with a layer of Eternabond tape, and essentially don't have to worry about your seals again.

[rodpod]

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

Your rig should have a fiberglass roof, so the roof membrane should be relatively durable. You will want to look it over, but any breaches are typically caused by some kind of trauma (think hitting a branch); fiberglass roof is unlikely to naturally degrade at the rate of a rubber (TPO or EPDM membrane) roof. But you still also have the same breaches in that roof that every other roof has (vents, skylights, etc), and they're sealed the same way regardless of the roof membrane material, and that's usually where the problems happen.

So short answer is yes, you need to inspect the seals on your roof AT LEAST annually. After 2-3 years you will likely notice the surface of the sealant begin showing signs of weakness like cracks. Some will be surface cracks that don't pose a problem yet, some will be deeper and likely to cause problems. You may even have bubbles from installation (I had this). Have a couple tubes of Dicor Self-Leveling Lap sealant on hand in a caulk gun and touch up the seals wherever you see a potential weakness. And don't be stingy; if you think you've used enough, go ahead and use a little more. And you want to look VERY closely as it doesn't take but a hairline crack or pinhole for moisture to enter and cause problems.

Also pay close attention to marker lights as those are a VERY common leak point as well as window seals.

You also want to inspect the seals around the "picture frame" on your slideout walls, as well as the seam where the bottom of the cabover meets the vertical fiberglass right behind the driver/passenger door. I have some small cracks there on my rig as we speak that I'll be repairing "on the road" this week. For horizontal surfaces (roof seals), the generally recommended product is Dicor Self-Leveling Lap Sealant (as I mentioned before). For vertical seals or around your slideout frame, it's OSI Quad or a handfull of other sealants. DO NOT USE SILICONE. It won't last, and it won't stick.

IMO, $500 is pretty steep for a simple roof seal inspection. It should take no more than about 20 minutes if there aren't major issues. And that includes some level of "touchup".

Jayco warranty does indeed require inspection of the roof, and your dealer's documentation of that inspection would help in a warranty claim situation. This requirement should be outlined in your owner's manual. If you have some kind of extended warranty, those inspection requirements may be stipulated in that contract.

I would "shop" that price, and don't discount mobile RV technicians.

Of course, if you never want to worry about it again, you could add RV Roof Armor or something similar. It typically comes with a lifetime warranty, and people who have done it swear by it, but it's pretty darn spendy. Some people even have it applied the first day they own the unit. You could also consider an Eternabond application. Basically, you cover all the seals with a layer of Eternabond tape, and essentially don't have to worry about your seals again.

I agree with everything said in the post. I do annual maintenance on my roof and clean it every few months. Don't pay to have this done, you can do this easily. I would make one additional suggestion. get a 50' roll of 4" Eternabond ($60) and tape every seam on the roof including the skyiights and tv antenna.. No need to continually caulk and will last a very long time. The exception is the running lights on the front cap, you'll still have to caulk them annually. Eternabond works exceptionally well and doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

[Camper_bob]

So we always stay in the camper when we go to my dad's house. It's our own bed, and my dad doesn't have to worry about cleaning up after us. And he has 30A plug in for the camper. It's actually really nice; close enough to full hookups, gated spot, pool, quiet neighborhood etc etc...

We went to storage yard to get the MH the night before departure. Went to open the cab and get the engine started first thing as is my process. Key didn't go all the way in the lock cylinder. ??

It was dark, so I double checked I had the right key, yup. Walked over to the passenger side, same thing. Pull out my flashlight and shine it at the lock cylinder in the door and it is clearly and visibly damaged!! It looks like some jack wagon jammed a screwdriver into the lock cylinders and tried to pry them out!!

Took a deep breath, showed DW what happened, checked the rig over; no other damage, nothing missing. Got to dad's house, and step mom (who maintains rental fleets for a global car rental company) said "that's how they get into Fords like that; they pry the cylinder until it breaks, falls into the door, then they just poke their finger in and pop the lock".

So, thankfully that didn't happen. Owner of storage lot is checking cameras, and plans to install an additional 24 cameras on premises.

Why why why??!! There are at least a dozen EASIER ways to break into an RV than through the Ford doors!!

Silver lining: Now I have an excuse to take the door panels off when I replace the lock cylinders and insulate the doors and install upgraded speakers.

I'm also going to install an additional idler pulley on the motor that I'll order from Ford at the same time I order my lock cylinders. SMH.

[Camper_bob]

Turns out they did do something stupid on the catalytic converter replacement. They installed the CAT backwards!

The bung for the O2 sensor is on the upstream side of the catalytic converter. I'm no exhaust expert, but I'm PRETTY SURE the O2 sensor works by measuring the exhaust gasses AFTER the catalyst to make sure it's doing its job. No way it can measure the effect of the catalyst if the sensor is UPSTREAM!



I'm probably not going to give them another chance to screw this up. I'm just going to have it fixed on my own dime so I know it's done right...

[Bullitt6283]

I wouldn't be surprised if you popped a P0420 or P0430 check-engine code after a bit of driving. The upstream and downstream O² sensors are expected to see non-similar readings.

.

[Click_here]

Originally Posted by seastonemtn

Hi All,

Popping back in with another question.

We had been having some trouble with the oven in our 2020 Greyhawk MV. We spent a little over 2months in the RV late summer and I spent some time making sure it really wasn't working right.

So we took it in for the warranty work on the oven as well as a problem with the caulk coming completely off almost all the way around in the sink. (Is that typical?...Basically the whole counter top appears to peal off!)

My question is while we were there they STRONGLY encouraged us to do a roof maintenance. They basically said that if we didn't and had a problem with the roof Jayco warranty wouldn't cover us. This roof maintenance is a $500 charge!

I know most of you do almost all if not all of your own work. My husband is really good and goes up on the roof a lot and checks and lubricates seals. But they said that that wasn't enough....

Is this true? Is this necessary? Were we taken for a ride....

Thanks so much,
Chris

Know just how you feel. We have had ours in for an annual "forever" warranty check 3 times in 3 years. Two of those we needed to reseal the roof in various places, done by our RV technician (local, not the original dealer). Honestly, I got up and looked the first time and the most recent and in fact, the caulk (or whatever the gunk used is called) was dry looing and cracked obviously in places. While I agree $500 is a bit steep, it is likely needed.

I also agree with the person who said to clean your own roof once in a while. We used some stuff recommended from here that cleaned the grunge and back stuff off the roof. Much cheaper than having the dealer do it.

[16WhiteColly]

An RV will be expensive if you pay to have roof inspections and/or repairs. That’s one thing you have to become handy.