Mystery piece from '04 Journey

corprimo · 05-03-2014, 04:29 PM

We finally got our "new to us" 2004 Winnebago Journey up the Alaska Highway from Portland, and I'm going through it thoroughly in our driveway before dropping it off at Freightliner in Anchorage on Monday to go through brakes that froze up in a blizzard in British Columbia (at their special motorhome rate of $150 per hour!). Also had a rock break driver side windshield north of Prince George ($500 deductible), and 1 yr old House batteries (Walmart "maintenance free") gave up the ghost - traded for new ones yesterday. Anyway, in cleaning out storage bays I came upon this piece of metal - anyone know what it is and where it goes - assuming I can repair the broken off corner on lower right next to the 12 inch ruler?

tomsm · 05-03-2014, 05:01 PM

I believe that's a rock guard that mounts in the forward end of the passenger side rear wheelwell. It's to protect the aft end of the LP tank and has a bad habit of flexing backward and rubbing on the tire. Previous owner probably just removed it to stop the rubbing. Also possible that it was replaced because of the broken corner and they kept the broken one because "it might come in handy someday". That's our excuse for hanging onto all kinds of useless stuff...

tomsm · 05-03-2014, 05:11 PM

If I'm wrong with my first guess, it may be a panel that mounts under the water heater. You lay on your back to remove that panel so you can replace the one-way check valve on the back of the water heater.

Sammie · 05-03-2014, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by corprimo

We finally got our "new to us" 2004 Winnebago Journey up the Alaska Highway from Portland, and I'm going through it thoroughly in our driveway before dropping it off at Freightliner in Anchorage on Monday to go through brakes that froze up in a blizzard in British Columbia (at their special motorhome rate of $150 per hour!). Also had a rock break driver side windshield north of Prince George ($500 deductible), and 1 yr old House batteries (Walmart "maintenance free") gave up the ghost - traded for new ones yesterday. Anyway, in cleaning out storage bays I came upon this piece of metal - anyone know what it is and where it goes - assuming I can repair the broken off corner on lower right next to the 12 inch ruler?

On my 2006 Journey 36G there is a piece of metal that looks like yours just forward of the right rear wheel. Looks to be some sort of protection for the propane tank that is located just forward of that same wheel.

Sammie

corprimo · 05-03-2014, 06:50 PM

Eureka,we have found it. Thanks - you are both right on. The broken off corner is still there, between the propane tank and right rear tires. During our BC blizzard, that whole wheel well was packed full of ice, engulfing the propane tank. I'm hoping all that ice caused a wire to be pulled resulting in our ABS light to come on. I've driven the Alaska highway 21 times now, but you never know what weather you're going to hit, and that storm from Ft. St John north past Muncho Lake was a doozy (Apr 23-25). Road was closed for a day and a half while we waited in Ft. Nelson.

tomsm · 05-03-2014, 07:00 PM

Enjoy your new Journey! Glad to hear it will handle that kind of weather, but I don't think I'll test mine.

Ray,IN · 05-03-2014, 08:22 PM

Frozen brakes may be moisture in the air system. The dryer filter is supposed to remove virtually all moisture from the air, when changed per schedule. If moisture gets past the dryer and into the storage tanks, it then passes into the air chamber at each wheel where it can freeze and block braking. Most HDT applications include an alcohol injector to prevent freezing in cold weather.