A tale of sorrow, but hopefully with a happy ending

Topic: A tale of sorrow, but hopefully with a happy ending (Read 1820 times) previous topic - next topic

A tale of sorrow, but hopefully with a happy ending

May 26, 2012, 11:45:37 am

It was time to bite the bullet and begin the upgrade process on my completely original 1994 U-240 Foretravel. First step would be to replace the old reddish-purple carpet with LVT planks, so I made an appointment with Ernie Eckberg in Weatherford, about 300 miles from my home in Southeast Texas. This would be the first time to take the coach further than the 100 mile trips to Meccadoches. I checked tires and oil, hooked up the new-to-us Chevy HHR toad, and headed to Weatherford.

About 10 miles down the road a quick check of the toad connections and a walk-around says all is well. The next check about an hour later reveals a low tire. The left rear outside dual has only 30 psig! Now I knew my tires were older than I liked, and a new set of tires was already on the horizon. I aired it up and found no obvious leak, but I stopped every 30 miles or so to check the air until I finally got to Weatherford late Sunday evening.

Monday morning, the tire was almost flat. It so happens that there is a tire store only 2 blocks from Ernie's. I aired it up, and drove it to the tire shop. After we parked at the shop we saw oil under the coach. Sure enough, the hydraulic pump was leaking oil badly. We back-tracked the oil leak to see that it had just started about a block up the road. The tire shop fixed my tire, and the store manager, a friend of Ernie's, sent a mobile mechanic to Ernie's house to help with the pump.

The pump was shot. The shaft fell out when we removed the idler pully. I'd seen a thread by OldMattB discussing this pump, so was not surprised when Jeff at FOT told me that the Vickers pump is no longer available. I WAS surprised to hear that the replacement pump might cost well over $2000!

I took the pump to a hydraulic repair shop in Fort Worth. They told me that it would be a couple of days before they could tear it down and diagnose, but assured me that it was just a pump, and they could repair it. It was Wednesday evening when I left the pump with them.

During this time Ernie and I had been doing the doing the demo on the floors, and I of course had been sleeping in the coach. The standard-issue Dometic refrigerator had never done well, but it finally called it quits. Tuesday night, my ice cream had melted

, and the refrigerator was just cool. Oh well, a residential fridge was on my list of future upgrades anyway, so no great loss there.

After leaving the pump to be repaired, there was no reason for me to hang around and be in Ernie's way during the install process, so I went home to await the call to pick up my repaired pump. When the call came in, it was bad news. The repair shop had found that the end plate was made specifically for Foretravel, and is no longer available. I rode my motorcycle up to Fort Worth Friday morning to get the pump and work on Plan B. While there, I took it to Motion Industries, another nearby but larger repair shop. After I gave them the history they did their homework, and I think that all will be well. They are rebuilding the pump with a different backing plate. They assure me that the only change necessary on my part to make it fit will be hose re-routing requiring new hydraulic hoses and fittings. The rebuild cost will be about $300. It'll be toward the end of next week before I get the pump, but at least I think we're making progress.

While in Fort Worth I rode over to Ernie's. The coach is looking great! Ernie and I went to Lowes where I bought a Whirlpool 9.6 cu. ft. refrigerator that should fit perfectly. I then rode back home late Friday evening. I'm heading back up to Ernie's Sunday evening, and we'll install the Whirlpool Monday while y'all are drinking beer and eating barbecue. I think that Dave and Dolly Cobb are coming over Monday morning to check out the remodel and lend a hand with the fridge work.

Finally, I've ordered a full set of Michelin 255/80/22.5 XRV's from Powers Tires in Nac. They are on back-order until the middle of June, for Michelin is just about to start a new run of building this tire. At least I'll be guaranteed of getting the latest build date.

If the pump works I should be able to get my Foretravel out of Camp Ernie by the end of next week. He's a very gracious and understanding host, but I know he'll need the room. If for some reason the modified pump doesn't work I guess if will be time to spend some Foretravel Bucks for the high-dollar official replacement pump. Fingers are crossed. I wanted to remodel my coach, but I didn't intend to do it all the same week!

Glen

Re: A tale of sorrow, but hopefully with a happy ending

Reply #1 – May 26, 2012, 12:15:27 pm

Glen, Ernie didn't say whose coach it was, only that he had a Foretravel in his yard. He posted some pictures on the Wanderlodge forum, and it sure does look nice. By all accounts he does excellent work.

Re: A tale of sorrow, but hopefully with a happy ending

Reply #2 – May 26, 2012, 01:36:03 pm

Quote from: kb0zke – May 26, 2012, 12:15:27 pm

Glen, Ernie didn't say whose coach it was, only that he had a Foretravel in his yard. He posted some pictures on the Wanderlodge forum, and it sure does look nice. By all accounts he does excellent work.

Here's the link (Did someone say "Foretravel"? - Wanderlodge Owners Group) - it IS beautiful! And I liked Ernie's comment about Foretravels: "the coaches with that fantastic walnut cabinetry"

Re: A tale of sorrow, but hopefully with a happy ending

Reply #3 – May 26, 2012, 01:48:37 pm

Many of these hydraulic pumps are destroyed by too much tension on the belt. It pulls the bushing out of the front of the pump. Because both crankshaft and hydraulic pump pulley have belt contact over 50% of their surface, tension does not need to be that high.

Easy solution-- remove the automatic belt tensioner and drill a new detent hole in the bracket 1/2" to 3/4" "detensioned".

Brett

Re: A tale of sorrow, but hopefully with a happy ending

Reply #4 – May 26, 2012, 02:28:09 pm

I did a total remodel of my current coach and I feel your pain.....

Re: A tale of sorrow, but hopefully with a happy ending

Reply #5 – May 26, 2012, 04:46:02 pm

We are just back from Weatherford and Ernie's place. Ernie has done a beautiful job re-flooring Glen's coach. We have the same carpet and are in need of doing the same to ours.

Anyone who is looking at redoing their flooring, should consider contacting Ernie. He does almost any type of flooring, and plan a trip to his place or get on his traveling schedule. He has 30 years of flooring, is a long time coach owner, presently a Wanderlodge owner.

Re: A tale of sorrow, but hopefully with a happy ending

Reply #6 – May 26, 2012, 06:55:27 pm

Hello folks, it was great to meet Dave and Dolly, today. I have talked to Dave in the past. I found out that I had joined this forum back over a year ago. Where does the time go? I'm here to help. If I can guide you in the correct materials for flooring, I'd be happy to do that. And Dave- its 40+ years in the "bidness"
Ernie - in Texas

Re: A tale of sorrow, but hopefully with a happy ending

Reply #7 – May 26, 2012, 07:13:03 pm

Ernie, I think you might find a number of Foretravelers might need your help. You might want to change your membership to a commercial member. Steve and Michelle will be the best ones to communicate with in that regard.

Who knows, if Peggy gets her way we might even come to see ya. She hates our carpet.

Re: A tale of sorrow, but hopefully with a happy ending

Reply #8 – May 26, 2012, 08:09:08 pm

I miss read Ernie's card, and yep he has only been doing flooring since 1972! And he has parking and power, and storage for the things removed to do the remodel.

If Peggy does get her way, you are going to be in good hands, once you arrive.

Re: A tale of sorrow, but hopefully with a happy ending

Reply #9 – May 26, 2012, 08:14:36 pm

I guess I could be a commercial member. I did own a Grand Villa but wife is short, commode is elevated- she could not reach the floor- either me or coach had to go- I'm just a one horse "commercial person" and at 64, don't want to work on every coach, but willing to help out when I can. There are some folks on here that I have communicated with in the past. Hope to renew those acquaintanaces

Re: A tale of sorrow, but hopefully with a happy ending

Reply #10 – May 26, 2012, 09:06:51 pm

We are more than glad to have you among us either way. Regarding the toilet, the one on my U225 Grand Villa was very tall the one on my U300 is really short. So if you ever want to come back to the fold, I'm sure a Foretravel can accommodate you. If not, Oh Well!!!

Look forward to meeting you. Watch out for that Cobb guy. He's got my old U225 with the tall toilet, but Dolly has long legs as I recall.

Re: A tale of sorrow, but hopefully with a happy ending

Reply #11 – May 26, 2012, 09:22:32 pm

Quote from: erniee – May 26, 2012, 08:14:36 pm

I guess I could be a commercial member. I did own a Grand Villa but wife is short, commode is elevated- she could not reach the floor- either me or coach had to go- I'm just a one horse "commercial person" and at 64, don't want to work on every coach, but willing to help out when I can.

Ernie,

Welcome to the forum! Steve and I are not far from you here in north Texas.

If you wish, just check the terms and conditions here Vendor Forum & Posting Standards

Commercial Member status lets you start topics in the Commercial Listing board (rather than the Classifieds, where we don't have commercial advertising). There's no charge, no consideration expected or given to any of us moderators or Steve and I. It's just an option we offer to those who have a FT-related business interest they may wish to advertise and who can be identified as "in the business" when they post ("Commercial Member" will appear below your Avatar). Our commercial members' insight is very welcome as so many of us try to do what we can on our coaches, and it helps when those who have "been there, done that" can keep us from heading down the wrong path.

Michelle

Re: A tale of sorrow, but hopefully with a happy ending

Reply #12 – May 26, 2012, 09:29:18 pm

I'm cool with all kind of guidelines. I belong to the rvforum.net. There is a guy from route 66 rv repair that goes into a disertation about what his company does and then has ads about all this "discount stuff". I'm no hype, for sure, just someone that would like to help. I have a yahoo website- cause I'm cheap- but I bought the URL cause its easier on folks to remember. And- when you call my phone-- before 8 at nite- you talke to me. Thanks, guys- I'll be around ~

Oops- blew the seat fuse

Reply #13 – May 27, 2012, 11:20:09 am

When I installed the captains chair, one of the wires got pinched and blew the fuse. I repaired the wire and finished installing the chairs. I looked under the dash and did not see on the 2 charts any mention of the electric seats. I could use a little guidance on this. Thanks, folks, Ernie- never blew a fuse before in my life

Re: A tale of sorrow, but hopefully with a happy ending

Reply #14 – May 27, 2012, 12:31:59 pm

Just talked to Ernie, and sent him 15 pages of wiring diagrams from my owner's manual. He says Glen's coach has some reset breakers where mine has fuses. He is still looking for the fuse or breaker that tripped.

Re: Oops- blew the seat fuse

Reply #15 – May 27, 2012, 09:28:42 pm

Quote from: erniee – May 27, 2012, 11:20:09 am

When I installed the captains chair, one of the wires got pinched and blew the fuse. I repaired the wire and finished installing the chairs. I looked under the dash and did not see on the 2 charts any mention of the electric seats. I could use a little guidance on this.

Ernie,

Ours is obviously much newer, but some of our resettable 12V breakers are in the electronics bay. It might be worth looking in some of the storage bays to see if there are any 12V fuses or breakers there.

Michelle

Re: A tale of sorrow, but hopefully with a happy ending

Reply #16 – May 28, 2012, 06:33:54 pm

Dave Cobb and Glen worked on the electrical dilemma while my friend Bim and I worked on the new refrigerator. Seems that there was a breaker that went bad. Maybe I didn't do it after all~ New Whirlpool installed. I'll do some finish out of trim in am. Ernie

Re: A tale of sorrow, but hopefully with a happy ending

Reply #17 – May 28, 2012, 07:55:15 pm

Got lucky with Ernie's volt meter, and found a bad circuit breaker and swapped out for an unused one. The breaker had killed the seat, the Audit, the waterpump relay, and who knows what else. Now those items work as they should. We used the wiring diagrams from the 93 model, and found fuses have been replaced with circuit breaker in the same location on this 94 model.

It was a pleasure to see Ernie at work, and he has some really neat tools, now on my list of "must have soon". The new refer. and the install look great, fun to watch someone who knows how to remodel.

Was a fun day with sawsall, and new wood installed.

Re: A tale of sorrow, but hopefully with a happy ending

Reply #18 – May 28, 2012, 08:37:42 pm

The Foretravel is looking great! Ernie and friend Ben installed the Whirlpool refrigerator while I mostly watched Dave troubleshoot the electrical systems. Dave found and replaced a bad circuit breaker, and suddenly the electrical problems went away. Ernie and Ben continued slogging away at the fridge, and it now looks like a factory install. Ernie is planning to install a little trim to finish dressing it out tomorrow while I go to Motion Industries for an update on my hydraulic pump repair. As of now I'm expecting it Thursday.

I guess I'll point the Honda south tomorrow and ride home until the pump is ready to install.

Ernie has been in the flooring "bidness" for over 40 years, and it shows. The level of detail which he has shown during this install is outstanding. Yeah, anybody can slap in a new floor, but Ernie has the skills and experience to do it right. It looks so much better than if I had tried to do it myself. I had actually planned on doing the fridge install myself at some later date, but because of where and when it went out I asked Ernie to handle the install since he'd done it before and the coach was going to be here anyway. I'm SO glad I did!

Also, I want to publicly thank Dave Cobb for coming over to "lend a hand", as he says. Dave's knowledge, troubleshooting skills, and "can-do" attitude saved my bacon today. After repairing the electrical problem, he showed me a bunch of things on my coach that I did not know. Dave, I owe you big-time.

Glen

Re: A tale of sorrow, but hopefully with a happy ending

Reply #19 – May 28, 2012, 10:17:55 pm

More pictures please, floor job and refrig. would be much appreciated!

Ernie, I think we need to talk about a new floor and refrigerator in my U-320 (2000) single slide unit....

:-)

Re: A tale of sorrow, but hopefully with a happy ending

Reply #20 – May 29, 2012, 07:55:21 am

When I work on flooring for coaches, I post photos on my flooring forum. I'd like to start a thread talking about remodeling of your coaches. How do we go about doing that in the commercial section?
Back to the refer installation. All I have installed are the 2 door 24 inch wide units. I haven't explored the units that are side by side. Some of these require windshield removal and, while there are individuals that do that for a business, that is not me. At 64, my body is starting to dictate what it will allow me to do. Thanks, all Ernie

Re: A tale of sorrow, but hopefully with a happy ending

Reply #21 – June 01, 2012, 08:16:56 pm

Glen arrived this afternoon with his rebuilt hydraulic pump. Rick, the mechanic, will be here in am. Will post how things go, as Glen left his computer home- 300 miles away. The saga continues~

Re: A tale of sorrow, but hopefully with a happy ending

Reply #22 – June 02, 2012, 11:23:54 pm

Just now got home from Ernies. So far, it's all good news. The mechanic installed the pump today, we filled it with oil, put on a new belt, and took it for a spin. I have power steering, the fans are doing their job, and there is no oil leaking. I think I'm in tall cotton.

I really didn't think it would all come together in time to get the coach finished this weekend. So, for reasons that made sense at the time I rode my motorcycle up to Fort Worth to get the pump instead of taking the Toad. So now, the coach is apparently repaired, but I'll have to drive the toad back to Ernies to get the coach. Besides, my wife and sister-in-law want to ride back with me in the coach. So I guess that I'll head back up there in the toad first of next week to get the coach before Ernie starts charging me rent!

When all this is said and done and I can sort out the details on this pump I'll try post something about the repairs and all the trouble I had getting someone to repair it. The pump repairs could be very important to others who have this same hydraulic pump, for Foretravel told me (with Michael Harbordt as a very surprised witness) that neither a replacement nor subsitute pump is available from anyone anywhere. After a couple of false starts it seemed that repair parts were not available either. I got lucky finding a shop that dug a little deeper.

Glen

Re: A tale of sorrow, but hopefully with a happy ending

Reply #23 – June 05, 2012, 10:48:11 am

Re: A tale of sorrow, but hopefully with a happy ending

Reply #24 – June 06, 2012, 10:25:51 am

When mine failed, Foretravel sent the CAT shop I was broke down at a replacement pump and all the instructions for the new hose arrangement to the external pressure relief valve now required as the replacement does not have it internal to the pump. I've been running with this new pump without issue for a few years. So there is a replacement but it is not just bolt on and go.

Dwayne, I've been getting mixed messages on this pump. I had read a thead several months ago by OldMattB saying that his Vickers pump (94 U-240, 3116 Cat, same as mine) had failed, and he too wound up with an alternate replacement pump from Foretravel. When my pump failed I had Matt's experience in mind and I expected that I too would wind up with the replacement. My mechanic knew of two local hydraulic shops in Fort Worth who repaired pumps, so I contacted them also while awaiting a return call from Foretravel.

Repair shop #1, American Hydraulics, couldn't repair the pump. The next stop, Motion Industries, said they thought they could do the job so I left them the pump. When I later talked with Jeff in Parts at Foretravel he agreed that repair would be the best option, for a new alternate replacement pump could cost between $2000 to $3000. (This was a casual conversation, not a detailed quote, and he was not looking up part numbers, etc., at the time ). Anyway, I thought I had an option, although an expensive option, just in case the original pump couldn't be repaired.

The repair shop hit a temporary snag which made me nervous. I rode up to Nacogdoches to see Mike Grimes (Parts Manager at Foretravel) and get detailed info of cost and availability of the replacement pump that OldMattB had purchased. Mike told me that there was no replacement pump available for my coach. He did give me the name of a shop in Tyler that might possibly be able to build me a pump if mine couldn't be repaired. Mike Harbordt (Michael Jackie from this forum) was with me during that conversation, and was as surprised as I to hear that was no pump available from Foretravel at any cost. My best hope was that Motion Industries could repair my pump.

As it turns out, they repaired my pump, and I drove it home yesterday. However, now that I have more time I'd still like to learn more about this mysterious replacement pump from Foretravel. I'll to talk to Mike Grimes again and cite both your and Matt's experiences. It's very probable I didn't give him enough information about my needs. I'm hoping a replacement pump IS still available in case I or others are caught with our pumps down.

Glen

Affiliate Notice