Class C Maintenance Issues

[Griswald One]

Good Day All,

I am looking for some feedback on what type of maintenance I should be looking at on my Class C equipment. I was pretty comfortable doing all the required work on my previous TT's but this rig has some toys that are new to me.

1) Bigfoot Levellers - The manuals that came with this are garbage. There is no section in my book on maintenance and the online resource I found was the same.

2) Generator - I have never owned a generator before, these clowns instead of sending a manual ship the equipment with a CD Rom... I don't know about you but I don't keep a full size computer tower in my MH... Heck with tablets these days I barely have a Computer at home

3) Slideouts - the 29ME has three slides. The bedroom is the Wormgear style of slide and I am used to thier maintenance or really lack of maintenance but the two living room slides are far more robust and I am not sure what maintenance they require.

4) The Truck - the Ford portions of my MH don't overly worry me. I actually adverage about 7500 miles a year so it should be fairly easy to follow Ford's recommended service schedule.

Beyond those items I am more then open to any other suggestions for items which might be unique or unusual for those of us new to the MH side of camping.

 

[TX_Arvee]

I will say this, I have owned my rig since 2012, a 31FS. I have done very little to the slides except keep them clean, only operate them with the engine running and use the seal conditioner spray on it once a year. Lubrication is needed, but very very little or it ends up in your carpet.

Generator. Run it often. The more the better. They do not like to sit. If you are going to store it, put fuel stabilizer in your tank. Go to the storage and run it for 30 minutes every couple of weeks.

Learn how to change the oil in it and do so regularly. The fuel filter is pretty easy to replace as well.

E450: Change the oil yourself and do so every 3000 miles. These rigs work hard. Oil is cheap insurance. I use pure synthetic valvoline. 5w20. dont second guess Ford. Just change often. Keep your suspension components lubed.

TIRES: KEEP YOUR TIRE PRESSURE AT RECOMMENDED ON THE DOOR STICKER FROM JAYCO. BUY QUALITY TIRES. DID I MENTION KEEPING THEM INFLATED TO PROPER PRESSURE?

 

[djtho1]

For the manuals now coming on CD-ROM, I have always, while at home, found the file on the CD ROM (it's usually a PDF), copied it to the computer, then either keep it on the computer or dropbox, or just email it to my kindle account. As long as it is a compatible format, it then shows up on all your kindle devices and is easily accessed. You may also be able to view it online, but I always keep a copy in case of being in an area with no service.

 

[reitrof]

Generator, according to the Onan manual, if not used should be run 2 hours per month under load, I usually either run the AC or a portable heater.

 

[Griswald One]

Genny in the winter!

Generator, according to the Onan manual, if not used should be run 2 hours per month under load, I usually either run the AC or a portable heater.

What would be recommended for winter storage then. I assume the Genny needs battery power to start. I had planned on removing the truck battery at the same time I take out the house battery. Bringing them both home and maintaining on a trickle charger.

 

[Griswald One]

I will say this, I have owned my rig since 2012, a 31FS. I have done very little to the slides except keep them clean, only operate them with the engine running and use the seal conditioner spray on it once a year. Lubrication is needed, but very very little or it ends up in your carpet.

Why only operate with the engine running? How do they differ from TT slides which dont have the benefit of an engine?

 

[carlb]

Because the GreyHawk only has one battery and tasks like slides and levelers are high amp draw.

 

[Griswald One]

Power Draw

Because the GreyHawk only has one battery and tasks like slides and levelers are high amp draw.

I will be honest.. I don't get it... One battery was sufficient to operate the slides on my previous TT's (as well as almost every other TT and 5th on the market) and I was moving similar size slides with similar equipment (ie fridge, sofa), in fact the bedroom slide on the 29ME is the smallest slideout on either unit. I am not trying to be argumentative... Just want to understand.

There seems to be competing priorities here since the Bigfoot levellers have a built in alarm should you try and start the engine while they are deployed. I know my habit (very early in my MH ownership) has been upon arrival to park, turn the vehicle off, deploy the levellers first and then the slideouts. When I leave the levellers are the last thing to be pulled in. This seems logical for several reasons to me. So are other users turning the engine back on for the purpose of deploying the slides or do you just leave the engine running and let the Bigfoot alarm blare away??? Can shore power replace the engine as the source of battery support?

 

[NC Roamer]

I rummaged about online to locate PDF manuals for all of the components in our Greyhawk and downloaded them into iBooks on my iPad. Much more convenient than the stack of paper manuals.

My Onan generator came with a paper manual, not CD.

 

[Griswald One]

Answer one question...

Found the 2015 on line manual... They recommend shore power where possible when operating the slides, I don't boondock so that works for me

From the manual -

1. The auxiliary battery (customer supplied) must be fully charged and connected. If possible, the RV should be hooked up to 120-volt AC power so the converter operates.
2. The RV must be level and the stabilizer jacks in the extended position.
3. Locate the slideout room control switch. The main slideout switch is located in the command center. The bedroom slideout switch may be located in the command center or on a bedroom interior wall depending on the model.

 

[Sbadocko]

So there we have it. Drop the levelers on battery. Plug in the coach. Open up the slides.

 

[Greyhawk Pilot]

It's my understanding that the slide out operates off 12V motor. Hense it shouldn't matter whether it operates from the house battery or from the AC converter (which supplies you 12V). The only issue with using the house battery is that it needs enough charge to support the motor current draw. With multiple slides, it's even more of a draw. Using the A C power simply insures enough current source for the motor. I can't see any damage from running it from the battery other then it may not have enough juice to fully extend or retract it.

 

[Sbadocko]

Exactly right. It needs enough charge. I've never had levelers before so I was wondering how much charge was left on a single group 27 batt after the levelers were deployed. I like the idea of plugging into the pedestal (or running the genny if boondocking) to deploy the slides post leveler deployment.

 

[Fey Family]

Check with your local Jayco dealer and see if they have workshops. I went this year and learned a lot. We run the generator at least once a month for an hour. If you store it close to home drive it once a month and run generator we drive to state parks in the winter just to keep all fluids moving and change generator oil no more then 100 hours of use.

 

[Sbadocko]

The Onan manual states the generator should be run for 2 hours w/ roughly 1/2 load monthly if not used frequently.

 

[Griswald One]

Check with your local Jayco dealer and see if they have workshops. I went this year and learned a lot.

That is a great suggestion. My dealer is the only Motorhome dealer really close to my location. Unfortuneatly that lack of competion breeds a certain complacency and at this time they do not offer any such service. But I emailed them a today to put the bug in thier ear, maybe it is something they will look at.

Otherwise, maybe I get lucky and they have couple of maintenance workshops at the fall RV show in Toronto.

 

[Stargazerandu-JAY]

I will say this, I have owned my rig since 2012, a 31FS. I have done very little to the slides except keep them clean, only operate them with the engine running and use the seal conditioner spray on it once a year. Lubrication is needed, but very very little or it ends up in your carpet.

Generator. Run it often. The more the better. They do not like to sit. If you are going to store it, put fuel stabilizer in your tank. Go to the storage and run it for 30 minutes every couple of weeks.

Learn how to change the oil in it and do so regularly. The fuel filter is pretty easy to replace as well.

E450: Change the oil yourself and do so every 3000 miles. These rigs work hard. Oil is cheap insurance. I use pure synthetic valvoline. 5w20. dont second guess Ford. Just change often. Keep your suspension components lubed.

TIRES: KEEP YOUR TIRE PRESSURE AT RECOMMENDED ON THE DOOR STICKER FROM JAYCO. BUY QUALITY TIRES. DID I MENTION KEEPING THEM INFLATED TO PROPER PRESSURE?

Great advice!! I have a question, have your slides ever gone out of alignment? I have read and heard some issues with the slides not going in all the way, i.e., the bottom will be snug and then the top has a gap. Is this an alignment problem and can it easily be calibrated? thank you in advance!

 

[NC Roamer]

I have a question, have your slides ever gone out of alignment? I have read and heard some issues with the slides not going in all the way, i.e., the bottom will be snug and then the top has a gap. Is this an alignment problem and can it easily be calibrated? thank you in advance!

Our slide was not quite square with the RV wall. We had a small amount (2~3 tbsp) of water come through in a heavy rain one night with the slide retracted. When I looked I could see that the rear vertical gasket was not compressed as tightly as the front gasket. The dealer adjusted it so it was square and we've not had a problem since.

 

[Stargazerandu-JAY]

Thank you!!

 

[MFalcon]

Hi all, on my 2015 greyhawk 31ds, I have a single group 27 coach battery. I can deploy the bigfoot levellers an open both my slides on the coach battery but it uses 30% of the battery capacity. My capacity goes from 100% full to 70% when deploying these on coach battery alone. What I do when at a serviced campground is plug in to shore power first, then deploy the levellers and slides, in that order, to avoid frame twists around the slides, and then the opposite before departure. When I dry camp I power up the genset first to deploy the levellers and slides by using the current available from the converter charger, leaving me with a fully charged battery to start dry camping with. Hope this helps. Cheers.