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Working Safely around your Foretravel

Quote from: sgkarnes –
Remember!
      Safety block your air springs BEFORE you go under it , for any reason.

Good point, and a good reminder.  Anyone want to take on writing a "Working Safely on your Foretravel" FAQ/document that we can make a sticky? 

Michelle

Re: Working Safely around your Foretravel

Reply #1 –
I was thinking "A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing".  So I googled it and came up with this site which will help you waste some time.  http://secondsightresearch.tripod.com/cattales/id22.html  And then you can click on Home and waste a lot of time.  No really, everyone needs chocks (I have 4).  And if any of us that have air suspension plan on going under the MH for any reason we need safety blocks (I have 8, some say you only need 4).  But, you must use them every time you go underneath.  Eye protection is probably next on the list, but I have to admit, I don't always use it. 

The basic problem seems to be that every week or so a new owner buys a Foretravel and most likely it will be a used one.  I would say that most are like me and couldn't afford a new one or the expensive maintenance of having someone else do it.  But, many of us just like to do our own maintenance.  When I found my FT, I didn't know about this group.  I drove happily off knowing very little about air brakes, except wait for the pressure to build up and don't pump them.  I wasn't entirely green, having rented several times and owned a Some Other Brand.  Getting it home wasn't without incident even though we spent several days at LazyDays in Tampa having fluids changed and fixing things and just getting used to it.  What's this in the manual about oil in the front wheels, don't the bearings have grease like cars. Uh-oh, the oil level is low on a front wheel, add some oil, a few miles later the brake is covered in oil, what the heck, must have a bad seal, reason for the oil being low in the first place.  I also manged to hit a stump with a lower right door while avoiding a tree with the left mirror.  Just a branch hitting the roof said the wife.  Could have missed the stump by raising the suspension, had I known. 

A little knowledge has gotten me into trouble more than once.  Like on the SOB.  The exhaust headers are leaking a little on the Ford V8 engine.  I took it to a truck shop that had done some work on it before.  We don't want to work on that engine because the bolts are hard to remove and tend to break off.  Now what, sell it, junk it.  Maybe if I spray all those bolts with liquid wrench or rust buster, and turn them back and forth, but not too hard, I can get them out.  I can get to them over the top of the front wheels.  Did the right side first and it worked, replaced the gasket and bolts.  Now the left side, there is a problem here, the bracket that holds the shock is in the way, remove that, only a couple of bolts holding it to the frame.  I'm parked in a driveway with a little bit of slope, but the transmission is in park and the emergency brake is on.  Got one bolt out, now the other, ping, uh-oh the wheel is turning, I'm stuck in here, I'm going around with the wheel, it's rolling backward down the drive.  I can' t get out, I'm bent over 90 degrees, good thing there is some room behind the wheel.  My previous life is not passing before me, but all I can see is the thread on the tire and I'm thinking this thing is going to roll over my HEAD!  I'm trying to keep my balance and not fall down. By now the wheel is picking up speed and my head comes out below the fender and I jerk back enough to miss getting caught between the pavement and tire.  Now it's going to roll over my left arm; I snatch it out of the way just in time.  It's rolling toward the street with me hanging on to the front bumper like that was slowing it down.  Will it cross the street, go up the neighbor's drive and hit his house?  As luck would have it the drives were offset enough that one rear wheel hit the curb and stopped it with the rear corner about 2" from a wooden fence.  What happened, the shift linkage was held to the frame on the other side of the shock bracket by the same bolts I was removing.  I didn't know it was there.  The emergency brake was a drum affair on the drive shaft and hadn't been adjusted in years, or tested either.  I always put the transmission in park and applied the brake by moving the lever from off to on. It felt the same adjusted as not adjusted. 

Part of the air brake test is to set the parking brake and apply some power to see if it holds.  It doesn't take a lot of power to move my vehicle.  On a steep slope, I'm not sure the parking brake could hold it.  I recently made a stick that I can jam between the dash and brake pedal for such a situation, until I can chock the wheels.  A slightly shorter stick can also apply the brakes for checking slide pin length to determine brake pad wear. 

Maybe others can pass along some safety stories.

Re: Working Safely around your Foretravel

Reply #2 –
I'm not sure I understand. When the park brake is activated, aren't all four wheels brakes activated on our Foretravels?

Re: Working Safely around your Foretravel

Reply #3 –
Quote from: Kent Speers –
I'm not sure I understand. When the park brake is activated, aren't all four wheels brakes activated on our Foretravels?
Look at the air chamber attached to a wheel brake,  If there is only one air hose it will not have parking brakes, this is usually the case on the front wheels.  If there are 2 air hoses to the air chamber at a wheel it will have parking brakes on that wheel.  Air must be applied to the parking brake to release it (override the spring that applies the brake).  Air is released when the parking brake is set and why it stays set with no air pressure.  If a spring is weak or broken you won't have much parking brake. 

My coach has 3 air tanks, the one near the rear axle is the supply tank (wet) with a drain near the left rear wheel.  there are 2 tanks near the front axle, one for the front brakes the other for the rear brakes, called a dual air brake system.  FT may have built some vehicles with only a single service brake system.  Don't know when the dual system came into use on trucks and buses. 

Re: Working Safely around your Foretravel

Reply #4 –
Great info. Mine is a dual system and its a 93. I will check on how many hoses to the front brake.

Thanks!

Re: Working Safely around your Foretravel

Reply #5 –
The issue with the parking brake was with an SOB that was gas powered.  Not all hydraulic brake vehicles have the parking brake on the rear axle.  My 1957 Fiat Spyder had the brake on the driveshaft also.  How did I know?  Drove off with it on and smoke started coming out of the gearshift hole!

Re: Working Safely around your Foretravel

Reply #6 –
RV Electrical Safety
RV Safety | No~Shock~Zone
We've been trying to locate a survey on just how many RV owners have been shocked by their recreational vehicles, but search as we might, nobody seems to have done a study. So last July we asked RV Travel - News, information & advice for RV enthusiasts to run a simple 10-second survey directed to their 85,000 opted-in newsletter readers, and this is what we found.

We asked this basic question: Have you or anyone who has traveled with you been shocked by your RV or another recreational vehicle?

    * Yes, seriously:  0.68% (7)
    * Yes, but not seriously:  21.10% (218)
    * No: 78.22% (808)

The results of the survey were alarming. More than 1,100 readers responded, with 21 percent reporting they had been shocked by their RV at some time. A few readers claimed being seriously injured.

The magnitude of the problem isn't obvious until you apply the 21 percent shocked number against the total number of families who use recreational vehicles in the USA alone. According to RVIA.org, more than 8.2 million American families own an RV: that's nearly one RV for every 12 households who own a car. This means perhaps 1.7 million families have been shocked from an RV, with up to 500,000 being "seriously" shocked. Now, we're not even counting the times RVers have burned up a power plug or have blown up a microwave due to an improperly wired or worn campsite pedestal outlet.

So let's get something straight — every shock is potentially "serious." It's just a matter of circumstances coming together that can then kill you or a family member. If your hands and feet are wet, it can take as little as 30 volts AC to stop your heart. How many times have you walked back from the shower and touched the side of your RV while standing on the damp ground? Ever felt a tingle then? If so, you dodged the bullet that day, but the next time could kill you or a loved one.

With that in mind, RVtravel has partnered with the nationally-recognized HOW-TO Workshops and its chief instructor Mike Sokol, a technology instructor with 40 years experience in the professional sound industry. Together, they have begun an electrical safety program called the No~Shock~Zone, and are instituting a series of online articles and training videos on RV electrical safety, which we'll post first at RVtravel.com and then at the blog NoShockZone.org. These how-to safety articles will cover everything from how to use a digital meter or non-contact tester to confirm the campsite power plugs are wired correctly to how to check your own extension cords for proper wiring. The articles will provide quick ways to confirm you don't have the silent but deadly Hot-Skin problem, where your entire RV is electrified.

The No Shock Zone blog will ask for your continued comments about getting shocked by your RV or the times your gear was damaged at campsites due to incorrect wiring. You can contact Mike Sokol directly at mike(at)fitsandstarts.com or visit No Shock Zone for more information.

A few comments from the RVtravel survey:

    *  OURS CAME IN OUR FIRST FIFTH WHEEL due to an improperly installed wire in the bedroom area. Due to vibration when we were towing, the insulation slowly wore through but nothing was noticeable for about five years after we had it. Finally it shorted out all together when we had it stored for the winter and water got in through the roof and hit the weak spot. Fleetwood admitted the error and gave us some reimbursement, but we were receiving shocks from the frame for two years, and I was blaming it on a faulty switch box that I was hooked into.

    *  My issue was due to a improperly spliced extension cord.

    *  Several years ago we were plugged into a spot for RV visitors in a mobile home park. At 9 p.m., with only a couple of lights on, I begin to hear electricity arcing and the lights blinking. Next the plug for the microwave caught fire and then the bottom of the cupboard caught fire. The 110 breaker box was close by and I killed the juice and got the fire out. The plug at the pedestal was wired wrong and consequently defeating the auto operation of the breakers. That park paid for the damage.

    *  One of the problems that I have experienced while work camping is that one improperly wired RV can make every RV on a common loop hot skinned. This improper wiring is not always the result of some shade tree mechanic doing something stupid. Found this problem at a CG and the offending rig was a brand new unit that the owner was using for the first time. It was wired reverse polarity.

    *  I connected with a 50 amp at a campground that tested O. K. but when a load was applied one leg dropped off due to a loose connection and my inverter/converter relay tripped off saving damage. Here again the box was well worn and the outlet was way beyond when it should have been changed.

    *  Bad plug at a KOA in Springfield, daughter got a shock going into our camper. It also messed about with the power. Called the campsite owner over and he said, "Oh yeah, was planning on replacing that plug." He brought power to us from another outlet. After that I now check.

Re: Working Safely around your Foretravel

Reply #7 –
Barry, I have been following the NO SHOCK ZONE info.  It is thourough and well written.  I agree that every one that has a MH needs to read and understand what electricity is all about, you don't have to be an expert, just cautious around things that you don't understand completely, and then you can still get in trouble.
On my old Executive I never gave a thought to the tingle that I got any time I touched the metal bumper.  I know now, I was lucky.

Re: Working Safely around your Foretravel

Reply #8 –
Since we're all climbing underneath now to check our bulkhead bolts, what is the proper place to put the jacks, and what happens with the level system that it will suddenly let the coach lower.  Is it a matter of just running low on air?

Re: Working Safely around your Foretravel

Reply #9 –
Hi Gayland,
  Our coach seems to hold the air, in the air bags, forever. It can read zero air pressure for a few weeks, and never let the bags down. Whenever I go under the coach, I raise the bags to the max, then I put my oak blocks between the frame rails, then lower slightly to set on the blocks. If the bags ever lost air, the coach could not drop. There are some pictures of some adjustables, homemade, between the frame jacks somewhere on this forum. They are real nice. I hope this helped. Be safe

Re: Working Safely around your Foretravel

Reply #10 –
Quote
what is the proper place to put the jacks,
I use some 11" square tube steel and lower the coach on them as Raymond mentioned.

Re: Working Safely around your Foretravel

Reply #11 –
Barry, the old saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" is so true for me. Thanks for the picture on the air bag blocks.

Re: Working Safely around your Foretravel

Reply #12 –
X 2 what Jim said, but another question, do you do them in pairs (one per side) or is one sufficient?

Re: Working Safely around your Foretravel

Reply #13 –
Quote
X 2 what Jim said, but another question, do you do them in pairs (one per side) or is one sufficient?
You should use 4,  1 per side front and back.

Re: Working Safely around your Foretravel

Reply #14 –
Hi Gayland,
  If you go to page 16 in the photo/files section, there are a few pictures of the safety bars we are talking about. These are adjustable. I should add that Bill Willett, longtime member here, made these. And thanks for adding the photo link!

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Re: Working Safely around your Foretravel

Reply #15 –
The pictures show a safety jack near an airbag.
Would it not be better if the safety jack in each corner of the coach were put on the frame to the inside of the tire, centered (front to back) between the airbags. This would more evenly distribute the load normally carried by the airbags.

Re: Working Safely around your Foretravel

Reply #16 –
Hi Wyatt,
  I think they safety jacks were being used two per wheel, one at each air bag. Two would be the better way to do it.

Re: Working Safely around your Foretravel

Reply #17 –
Here's another one that's maybe obvious, but I'm always aware of the exciting things that can happen if I'm wearing a ring or a watch while working around the batteries or the 12v distribution panels.  Lots of current is available there to rapidly heat up any metal that happens to short out, and if that metal is your ring...

Re: Working Safely around your Foretravel

Reply #18 –
Dave
Quote from: Dave Katsuki –
Here's another one that's maybe obvious, but I'm always aware of the exciting things that can happen if I'm wearing a ring or a watch while working around the batteries or the 12v distribution panels.  Lots of current is available there to rapidly heat up any metal that happens to short out, and if that metal is your ring...
Excellent point ! ... Recently I met an RV tech, who while wearing his wedding ring accidentally bridged it between a positive post and ground, bunt the ring down to the bone  :o  Now it looks like he is wearing a ring even when he is not.  Take off the jewelry when working on your coach.

Re: Working Safely around your Foretravel

Reply #19 –
Tried out using the spacers to hold up the coach in case of air loss and something came to mind.  Be careful when putting the spacers in that you aren't laying over the tire.  Reach around the tire.