Bulkhead work in Nac.

Topic: Bulkhead work in Nac. (Read 1131 times) previous topic - next topic

Bulkhead work in Nac.

October 16, 2017, 05:14:11 pm

We arrived at Nacogdoches last night and parked at FT until this morning when we went into Old Town Motorcoach to have our bulkhead repaired. We were down to three bolds holding it up, but they found that the corrosion was limited. They've replace the Rolocks with grade 8 zinc coated bolts and will finish up the work tomorrow With the saved money, we may add hose and cord reels.

If anyone is familiar with the area, is there a recommendation for someone who can fix our entertainment hook ups? Bose and incoming cable line are not working.

Sven

Re: Bulkhead work in Nac.

Reply #1 – October 16, 2017, 05:46:40 pm

Sounds like you got lucky Sven. If anyone deserves to get lucky it's you.

Re: Bulkhead work in Nac.

Reply #2 – October 16, 2017, 06:35:44 pm

One of the best is Clyde over at MOT.

Re: Bulkhead work in Nac.

Reply #3 – October 16, 2017, 06:39:29 pm

Yes, Clyde at MOT is very talented - he has done many things for us...super place to go.
Jim

2002 U320

Re: Bulkhead work in Nac.

Reply #4 – October 17, 2017, 09:40:44 pm

Bulkhead work was done after a day and a half. Total cost was less than $1500, much less than we originally budgeted for the job. Very happy with the work and I appreciated them for not making any attempt to pad the bill. Since they had worked for FT for years, I was able to pick their brains on a number of issues. They have been very helpful and friendly. In the morning the owner, Lance Hayes, will check my Bose system to see if there is a simple fix or if I should replace the system - no charge for this.
I would recommend them to anyone needing bulkhead work - since this was my experience with them.

Re: Bulkhead work in Nac.

Reply #5 – October 17, 2017, 11:24:10 pm

On bulkhead, did that repair require any rebuilding of the frame square tubing box beams?

You mentioned many loose bolts. Was replacing them alone able to solve whatever was wrong?

Re: Bulkhead work in Nac.

Reply #6 – October 17, 2017, 11:27:20 pm

And, did they pull the FG "underbelly" to inspect the box beams?

Re: Bulkhead work in Nac.

Reply #7 – October 20, 2017, 10:47:22 pm

Any further info on what was done this repair, wonder too if this was new bolts in two bulkheads? Trying think thru the cost, if included box frame then great deal. If not, then maybe it was drilled and some new fasteners to replace the old bolts?

My repair that had frame work was a bit more than double the $1500. I did not know of any others doing that repair here, so if so, that means there is a heck of a better deal than I found.

Bet many would like to know on this for having frame repairs at lower costs, for more tepairs of this type have been found necessary when only a couple years ago they seemed unknown.

Re: Bulkhead work in Nac.

Reply #8 – October 20, 2017, 11:31:56 pm

Sven,
Any photos you can share?
jor

Re: Bulkhead work in Nac.

Reply #9 – October 21, 2017, 09:00:07 am

Michael,

MOT did a great job replacing 2 feet of my rear bulkhead floor. A 1st class job using Brandon at Thompson Welding to remake that section.
Jim

2002 U320

Re: Bulkhead work in Nac.

Reply #10 – October 21, 2017, 11:40:33 am

Ours too but trying understand scope what we had vs this one,

Thanks

Re: Bulkhead work in Nac.

Reply #11 – October 27, 2017, 12:03:39 pm

Sorry for the late reply - we've been busy with Ladies driving school and classes. I've had a lot of other work done here which I wrote about in another post. Brett, they did remove about 2' of the fiberglass and showed me what needed to be done. Other than the bolts being rusted and needing replacement, it looked pretty good. The exception was the tubing around the utility bay trap door, which they welded. Grade 8 bolts were used on the bulk head and the area was undercoated. Sorry about no photos, they buttoned it up earlier than I thought, while I was in class. Wayne Mussy, formerly from FOT and is highly regarded, did the work. He recommended Hoskins Truck Alignment in Lufkin to check my alignment, but we could not make an appointment prior to our having to leave the area - we ran out of business days. Anyone have a recommendation around Abilene, TX? We're headed through there on our way to Santa Fe and Monument Valley.

Re: Bulkhead work in Nac.

Reply #12 – October 27, 2017, 12:11:26 pm

Sven,

Alignment on Foretravels with solid front axles (the vast majority of Foretravels) is pretty simple.

There is no camber adjustment (without bending the front axle). EXTREMELY rare for camber to be a problem.

Caster is fixed by solid metal shims. Again, not likely to change.

Toe-in is easily checked with tape measure after "scribing" line on each front tire. Sure, it can be done with more modern equipment, but not sure they are any more accurate.

Do you have evidence that the front ends needs alignment?

Re: Bulkhead work in Nac.

Reply #13 – October 27, 2017, 12:33:46 pm

Quote from: wolfe10 – October 27, 2017, 12:11:26 pm

Sven,

Alignment on Foretravels with solid front axles (the vast majority of Foretravels) is pretty simple.

There is no camber adjustment (without bending the front axle). EXTREMELY rare for camber to be a problem.

Caster is fixed by solid metal shims. Again, not likely to change.

Toe-in is easily checked with tape measure after "scribing" line on each front tire. Sure, it can be done with more modern equipment, but not sure they are any more accurate.

Do you have evidence that the front ends needs alignment?

Wayne said it was 4 degrees out of adjustment. I didn't ask him how he determined that. Since we have not had it done since owning it, we thought it would be a good idea to have it done.

Re: Bulkhead work in Nac.

Reply #14 – October 27, 2017, 12:55:01 pm

Wow, 4 degrees out of spec of caster, camber or toe is ALOT!

If camber off 4 degrees, expect one side of the tire to wear much faster than the other.

If caster off 4 degrees, expect the coach to pull to one side /no go straight down the road when hands off the wheel.

If 4 degrees of toe (toe can be measured in either degrees or inches), tires would be badly feathered.

Interesting to know which he thinks is out and why.

Re: Bulkhead work in Nac.

Reply #15 – October 27, 2017, 01:10:23 pm

Wayne suggested to the PO of my coach that the return springs on the calipers were not necessary. The springs were in hand. Just sayin'.

Re: Bulkhead work in Nac.

Reply #16 – October 27, 2017, 01:37:36 pm

Caliper slide/pads hanging up and overheating is THE #1 killer of air disk brakes on RV's (actually on any vehicle not driven frequently).

Meritor (the manufacturer of your brakes) developed the springs to help address this. These are NOT aftermarket products of unknown quality or function).

Wonder what Wayne sees as the drawback to installing them.

Re: Bulkhead work in Nac.

Reply #17 – October 27, 2017, 06:04:18 pm

Quote from: toyman – October 27, 2017, 01:10:23 pm

Wayne suggested to the PO of my coach that the return springs on the calipers were not necessary. The springs were in hand. Just sayin'.

Quote from: wolfe10 – October 27, 2017, 01:37:36 pm

Caliper slide/pads hanging up and overheating is THE #1 killer of air disk brakes on RV's (actually on any vehicle not driven frequently).

Meritor (the manufacturer of your brakes) developed the springs to help address this. These are NOT aftermarket products of unknown quality or function).

We had the same experience when he was at FOT. We insisted they be installed for exactly the reasons Brett mentions.

At the time, we thought Wayne may have confused these with anti-rattle springs, which they are not.

He also incorrectly recommended lower tire pressures than the manufacturer advises per load/inflation charts as well as inflating hot, which is also wrong. Check your tire pressures if they were mucked with and compare to the charts for your tires and actual weights.

We like Wayne and he does good work, but he was given bad information somewhere along the line on these 2 items and I would hate to see it propagate.

Re: Bulkhead work in Nac.

Reply #18 – October 27, 2017, 09:19:13 pm

Wayne gave me a Michelin tire chart to take with me to the scales. Regarding the 4 degrees, I have not felt anything at the steering wheel other than with heavy side winds.

Re: Bulkhead work in Nac.

Reply #19 – October 27, 2017, 09:28:39 pm

Ditto Michelle

Re: Bulkhead work in Nac.

Reply #20 – October 27, 2017, 09:34:52 pm

Last year was at OTM getting some work done, I mentioned to Wayne my coach wandered a bit. He printed up a Goodyear tire inflation chart, {I have goodyears] and said to weigh coach and use recommended pressures. Did that, no more wandering problems.

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