For all Intents and purposes

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by YGoHom

I had my 26m weighed again today.

The last weigh was April 2019:
Consisted of a full tank of gas and full fresh water tank,
Loaded as usual for camping, but the Bunk was removed and I had not added the rear track bar or additional rear sway bar. I also had only 2 propane bottles and hadn’t moved any weight from under the bed yet.
I believe I had the spare tire and bumper.
10,640 lbs on the rear axle.
4800 front
Total was 15,300

Today:
Full gas, near empty fresh, 1/4 black tank,
Bunk has been reinstalled
4 full propane bottles
350 lbs of steel added above transmission
New track bar and add’l rear sway bar
10,640 rear
5400 front
Total 16,220

I’m just posting because I thought it was an interesting comparison.
From purchased weight, to the addition of the rear bumper and spare tire, front and rear sway bars, rear track bar, front Sumos, 2 add’l propane tanks, steel over the trans...all of that stuff really adds up.

It’s night and day difference in ride quality, completely losing the white knuckle death grip on the steering wheel.
Front Sumos made a drastic improvement.

I’m still not done. My coach has always sagged in the rear, even with empty tanks. I’m thinking of putting on 18k rear leaf springs. That’ll fix the sag and increase the rear capacity for a more evenly matched weight bias.

We’ll see.

As I calculate it, your black tank, if your guesstimate of 1/4 tank was correct, that would only account for about 65#.

The full tank of gas, 480#.

Propane added 30#.

Of course then there’s the 350# of steel you added to shift weight forward. As you know, these two axels have their respective limits, and your front seems within tolerance.

Dial back on the gas, and you’re within limits... thoughts?

[JLUSoCal]

Originally Posted by YGoHom

I had my 26m weighed again today.

It’s night and day difference in ride quality, completely losing the white knuckle death grip on the steering wheel.
Front Sumos made a drastic improvement.

I’m still not done. My coach has always sagged in the rear, even with empty tanks. I’m thinking of putting on 18k rear leaf springs. That’ll fix the sag and increase the rear capacity for a more evenly matched weight bias.

We’ll see.

I just finished on my 29ve putting in rear sumos and had the fronts on for my prior trip. They were not that hard to install so maybe try that before springs for the rear? I'm heading to Carlsbad State beach this weekend so first time on the road with Sumos on the rear, we'll see as you say .

I have NOT weighed mine yet - did you by chance use Eckerts scales? That's the only local place I have used.

[YGoHom]

I tried to install the rear last weekend but had some snags. Will do it next week.
I had air bags on the rear last year, but they didn’t work well, other than dampening the jarring bumps.

Sumosprings should not increase ride height if installed properly. I want them to enhance the ride. That’s why I stopped the install. Instructions said to locate the upper bracket 6” below the top of frame. Even with only 1/2 tank of gas and not fully loaded for camping, that location would have put the Sumospring under 2-3” of compression. Add fuel and stuff, then another 1” plus of compression. That equals harsh, bumpy ride. Sales rep agreed. I’m putting them on closer to “at rest” when nearly loaded. Then add’l load will squat a bit and have a nicer ride.

It’s common to add spacers to the rear leafs to correct for lean. I thought about adding to both sides to compensate for the sag, but then read a lot about replacing spring packs instead. That’ll cure the sag and increase capacity.
I’ve done it plenty of times with my trucks, the RV is no different.

Enjoy Carlsbad. We got to San Mateo (San Clemente, not northern CA) yesterday.
Where do you live?

There’s a place in Oceanside that has a scale. Harvest Time Produce.

You have an 18k chassis, is that a 4 leaf pack?
The 16k has 3.


-Robb

[JLUSoCal]

Originally Posted by YGoHom

I tried to install the rear last weekend but had some snags. Will do it next week.
I had air bags on the rear last year, but they didn’t work well, other than dampening the jarring bumps.

Sumosprings should not increase ride height if installed properly. I want them to enhance the ride. That’s why I stopped the install. Instructions said to locate the upper bracket 6” below the top of the frame. Even with only 1/2 tank of gas and not fully loaded for camping, that location would have put the Sumospring under 2-3” of compression. Add fuel and stuff, then another 1” plus of compression. That equals harsh, bumpy ride. Sales rep agreed. I’m putting them on closer to “at rest” when nearly loaded. Then add’l load will squat a bit and have a nicer ride.

It’s common to add spacers to the rear leafs to correct for lean. I thought about adding to both sides to compensate for the sag, but then read a lot about replacing spring packs instead. That’ll cure the sag and increase capacity.
I’ve done it plenty of times with my trucks, the RV is no different.

Enjoy Carlsbad. We got to San Mateo (San Clemente, not northern CA) yesterday.
Where do you live?

-Robb

Morning Robb, live in O'side as well!

The version for my motorhome had the bottom bolts at 4.5" from the top. Yes, they are compressed at load like you were observing. After I dropped the axle back down after alignment for the bolts for putting the tires back on I can see the stretching of the sumo so there's that side of the equation too. If they'll be rough don't know but I followed their directions. The videos I saw of them installed (when you could see them under load) look like mine so we'll see. I installed the SSR-184-40-1, I think they're the taller of the two that are used with that chassis. I worked directly with Sumo guys to confirm as I wasn't sure which model. I might reach back to them today to ask about the compression. I took measurements of all the wheel wells and it did lift roughly 1" all-around more or less. That's OK for me, I have a fairly steep entrance to my parking on the side of the house that I'm always nervous about bottoming out - wife says I have plenty of room. On the last trip to the beach, I filled the water tanks and still had room so I'm good for now.

The 18k springs I have are 3 full-length leaves - it's a 2017 model built on the 2016 chassis (6 speed).

Here's a pic prior to drilling. I don't have any compressed photos - it's very tight in there! https://www.amazon.com/photos/shared...NftbTxDSJTq3TI

[charlescho]

Originally Posted by YGoHom

While crawling around under the rear corner/generator area scouting the land for an upcoming project, I found a problem that would no doubt leave me stumped later.
Both ends of the ground cable had never been tightened. Only the tension of the cable ends kept it and the nuts in place. WTF?
Reminded me of my first oil change where I found the filter body hose clamps loose, inches away from where they belonged.
That’s Ford AND Winnebago quality control!

My battery connections were loose in the battery bay. Two points actually. One on the battery itself, and another loose nut (I forgot for what) on the right-side wall.

The inverter kept turning off. Been working fine since double checking all the connections in the battery bay.

[charlescho]

We took our 26M out this week and stayed at a HipCamp farm near Warren Dunes. We were boon docking, so running the generator for 1.5hrs every day seemed to charge the stock house batteries just fine for running the fridge and accessories for our 4 day trip.

On the last day, the house batteries were low, so I figured instead of running the generator, we were about to take off soon, so I'd have the alternator charge them during the drive home.

When we got home, the batteries were still low.

During our walkthrough, I swore he told us the house batteries get charged while driving. Is this actually not the case?

In summary, are the house batteries supposed to get charged by the alternator while driving????

Also, side question: Which batteries start the generator?

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by charlescho

During our walkthrough, I swore he told us the house batteries get charged while driving. Is this actually not the case?

In summary, are the house batteries supposed to get charged by the alternator while driving????

Also, side question: Which batteries start the generator?

My 26m house coach and engine batteries both get charged from the alternator while the engine is on.

You didn’t mention how long your drive home was. Perhaps they were low enough they didn’t have sufficient time to get completely charged?

And as I recall, the generator gets started from the engine’s battery.

[theSane]

I was able to install the rear SumoSprings with help from my Dad during last month's trip. The installation was not bad at all, and having an extra set of hands was nice.

I noticed a lot less front-back rocking over road irregularities after installing them. The ride was not any worse, and could be described as potentially a little better. The front-back rocking was already dampened by the tow dolly. It was significantly more pronounced without the rear SumoSprings when we were not towing.

On the leg home after getting them installed, we traveled a lot of state routes. While on the whole no worse for bumps and jolts than the interstate, there was significantly more side-side rocking than we had experienced previously. None of it left me feeling like we were going to lose control. It was well dampened due to the SumoSprings and the Roadmaster supplemental anti-swaybar in the rear and beefed up swaybar in the front.

On the first leg of the trip, (without SumoSprings in the rear) we hit several "bad" spots on I-10 in Texas which nearly threw us perpendicular to the road. One instance of which has me looking for an alignment shop. Nothing like that happened on the leg home, but I cannot yet attribute that to the rear SumoSpring installation.

[K9AEG]

Originally Posted by Wyatt

My 26m house coach and engine batteries both get charged from the alternator while the engine is on.

You didn’t mention how long your drive home was. Perhaps they were low enough they didn’t have sufficient time to get completely charged?

And as I recall, the generator gets started from the engine’s battery.

Didn't know the generator starts from engine battery. Sweet.my last coach it was house batteries. If house batteries very low, guess generator was not going to be of any help.

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by K9AEG

Didn't know the generator starts from engine battery. Sweet.my last coach it was house batteries. If house batteries very low, guess generator was not going to be of any help.

Well, as I said, as I recall...

Today I went out and turned off the coach batteries at the disconnect, and tried to start the generator. I heard a loud clicking noise like a solenoid, but it didn’t start, (I was connected to shoreline power).

When I disconnected from Shoreline, the generator did nothing When I tried to start it, with the coach batteries disconnected.

Then I turned the coach disconnect back on and it started right up. All batteries—coach and engine are fully charged.

So, apparently it does use the coach batteries, not the starter battery as I had recalled reading on this forum. My bad.

Now why did the Generator solenoid get any power if the coach disconnect was shut down when connected to shoreline Moriich?

[Wyatt]

Another Intent specific question?

Does anyone have any idea as to why this back Winnebago trim piece would start to warp right about in the middle?

We live in the Bay Area, so a rather moderate climate, so I can’t imagine that being the issue.

And no, I’ve never backed into anything.

Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks.

[K9AEG]

Originally Posted by Wyatt

Well, as I said, as I recall...

Today I went out and turned off the coach batteries at the disconnect, and tried to start the generator. I heard a loud clicking noise like a solenoid, but it didn’t start, (I was connected to shoreline power).

When I disconnected from Shoreline, the generator did nothing When I tried to start it, with the coach batteries disconnected.

Then I turned the coach disconnect back on and it started right up. All batteries—coach and engine are fully charged.

So, apparently it does use the coach batteries, not the starter battery as I had recalled reading on this forum. My bad.

Now why did the Generator solenoid get any power if the coach disconnect was shut down when connected to shoreline Moriich?

Ok thanks for your update. Too bad. I really would have to liked the believe that you stated previously.. It just would make more sense.

[YGoHom]

Wyatt, I think mine is also warped. I remember pushing on it like it was falling off, but it was pretty solid.

-Robb

[K9AEG]

Wyatt maybe the middle fastener is too tight. Just a guess as my trim is quite loose against the body. My back end faces the Arizona south for 6 months and I don't see that problem as yet... Three bottom screws to remove. Maybe something going on inside.

[theSane]

Originally Posted by Wyatt

Another Intent specific question?

Does anyone have any idea as to why this back Winnebago trim piece would start to warp right about in the middle?...

Ours is warped as well, but it was warped before we bought it this spring.

[YGoHom]

Well, I did it. Sumosprings front and rear.
I did the front first and after about 250 miles, I can say it has made difference for the better!
I just completed the rear and "think" it's better, but it may be the placebo effect. You spend $1000 on parts you NEED to feel a difference
I haven't noticed any decrease is sway, but the harshness of bumps is softened. That's what I was looking for. I already have fat sway bars and trac bars. I just want to smooth the ride a bit at this point.
I'm done. Next stop would be Kelderman.
https://kelderman.com/shop/?vehicle_...hicle_model=78

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by Wyatt

Another Intent specific question?

Does anyone have any idea as to why this back Winnebago trim piece would start to warp right about in the middle?

We live in the Bay Area, so a rather moderate climate, so I can’t imagine that being the issue.

And no, I’ve never backed into anything.

Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks.

So I took off the “Bumperette”, (such a cute name), and used some clamps and DW’s very expensive hairs dryer (I asked permission first), used some clamps and some shims to disperse the pressure and heated it up for about two minutes. Took three tries, but it’s noticeably better, not perfect, but better.

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by YGoHom

Well, I did it. Sumosprings front and rear.
Next stop would be Kelderman.
https://kelderman.com/shop/?vehicle_...hicle_model=78

Congratulations. Big job I’ve heard.

I saw your link. I’d like to get an air lift kit just for the rear, that I can inflate when needed to get out of my driveway. Right now, I have ramps I have to put out and it’s a pain. Keeps me from moving it as much as I’d like to. Thoughts? Thanks.

[K9AEG]

Wyatt, good job. I was going to suggest next a heat gun... But DW came to the rescue.
Yep, does look better. ...

[broseguy]

recently got a Winnebago 29L.
I got a front sway but need more.
debating between sumo springs or rear sway.
Giant RV is suggesting new Koni shocks. from what I read the stock shocks arent bad.
any suggestions..?