throgmartin

David: The slide seals for your coach should be double bulb. The factory may have installed single bulb. When ordering new seals I highly recommend ordering them through UniGrip. We quit using Steele and other brands due to the quality of the seals. UniGrip makes the highest quality seals on the market.

First off you have a Carefree SOK II assembly. The SOK III assembly was not produced till mid yer 2006. The spring tension hold down bolt is located on the left side of the topper assembly. It screws into the end of the spring. The bolts Carefree used were a cheap grade and would break when tightened. In order to replace it you will have to remove the spring. If the threads are damaged you will need to replace the spring. See photo of tension hold down bolt.

That appears to be your driver front slide and is known as a flush floor slide. These slides have no rollers and operate on a glide bar instead of rollers. Your other slides will have rollers and are referred to as raised floor slides.

Speaking of maintenance.......... One of the most overlooked maintenance items is caulking. While being the cheapest to perform owners still forget to add it to their list. Few realize just how much over looking caulking can cost you. We just handed a customer an $ 8,000 bill for repairs, all due to letting caulking go to the point of failure. $ 50 worth of caulking could have prevented that huge bill. While engines, transmissions and other chassis components need attention, so does the house portion. Water is your biggest enemy. Identify all the seams that need caulking then stay on top of it.

Tom, Et Al: We wont work on anything electrical if the coach has a Kongsburg system. While I am confident our techs would never cause a short that would fry the CCM, I do not want the liability. If the Kongsburg CCM got fried a few months after we worked on it we would be in the line of fire and included in any lawsuit an owner may have. We work on Sigs, dynasty's and Beavers a great deal but if it has a Kongsburg system we wont touch anything electrical 12 V DC or 120 VAC. We concentrate on slide floors, belt lines, roof's, etc when it comes to the Big Buses that have the Kongsburg system. In regards to your slide, what mechanical issues are you having ? Is this slide an HWH space saver slide ? These are questions you would need to answer in order for me to recommend someone. Some slides are easy to work on while others, like the HWH space saver is an utter nightmare. Work on an HWH slide is best left to an experienced technician who knows the HWH assemblies. There is too much that can go wrong when screwing with an HWH system and we have had our fair share of coaches come in that we had to repair because some tech thought they knew how to adjust and work on HWH slides.

I made a new topper for a guy who owned a Newell. He put some contraption under the topper, forgot about it, brought the slide in and destroyed his new topper. I had to make him a second one. 🙂 I have heard and seen it all. The best one was when I made a prototype topper, installed it on my coach and 2 weeks later a family of squirrels decided to make a nest using my slide topper fabric. Dang tree rats. 😞

The vast majority of Carefree slide toppers will have a little sag. Trying to tighten them up so they are tight is done with spring tension. But putting too many winds in a spring can lead to other issues - spring bind and complete failure of the spring. As the founder of Stone Vos I have over a decade and a half of experience with slide toppers. I also was brought in at service centers to train technicians on Carefree topper assemblies. Working everyday with slide toppers and assemblies while also sewing them has allowed me to witness every issue with a slide topper system. Freddie: You have an 05 coach so will have the SOK II slide topper assembly. The SOK II spring is located on the left side. These assemblies differ from all other Carefree models as the tension on the spring is done with a horizontal hold down bolt. The SOK II came out in 2003 and was replaced by the SOK III mid way through 2006. If you have acrylic ( canvas ) toppers then you need to know they will stretch over time creating more sagging. High quality poured vinyl toppers will not stretch. Laminated vinyl will. My suggestion is if the toppers sag a little let it go. Tightening up the spring to get rid of a little sag could end up creating other headaches. Pictured below is an SOK spring tension hold down bolt. This bolt cannot be loosened until the roller tube has been pinned in place.

There is very little you can do to to ease the pressure when the slide comes in. It is what it is. I have lubed slide rails for 2 decades without a problem. But then I never use grease or anything that will cause a build up or attract and hold dirt. No idea why Power gear would recommend not lubing the rails and gears. We have had coaches come in with a severe amount of rust and after cleaning and lubricating the slide worked better. While the gears may not rust, the teeth on the frame rails will. I might add, I do not like any of the slide lubricants on the market. I only use Boeshield T-9.

Doug: I cannot even begin to explain the things I have diagnosed and/or witnessed over the years with Monaco's flush floor slide. Be aware that if your slide tilts coming in or out then it will not have rollers. It is a flush floor slide. As a disclaimer, Monaco did make 50 flush floor slides with rollers and were a direct copy of a Newmar slide. They were designed by Monaco's R & D department, used on 50 coaches and tested then the idea was abandoned. I highly doubt your slide is one of them. Incidentally, we have plated 30 of the 50. I cannot diagnose here or over the phone your slide issue. I need to watch the slide operate, listening to it to help me diagnose the problem. It could be many different things and I have seen them all. Weak motors, bad motors, assembly components gone bad, bolts loose or missing, poor wiring connections resulting in low voltage, etc. My own personal coaches flush floor operated like yours. Turns out Monaco wasn't paying attention when they built my coach and installed 2 relays for that slide. The extra relay caused just enough voltage drop to make the motor weak when running. I know of a guy who thought he had a weak motor. He installed a new motor and the slide was still giving him problems. Turns out it was a voltage issue. One has to keep in mind when dealing with 12 V motors that have to perform big functions like moving a heavy slide or retracting a patio awning that Voltage is king. If low voltage is being applied to a motor, it wont have the power to perform. Monaco was known to under size the wiring on some components. This wire under sizing issue has been a known culprit for Eclipse patio awning issues. If you brought the coach to me the first thing I would look for would be the condition of the underside of the slide floors. Rotted floors, torn laminate and blown side wall corners on a slide will make it work hard when being operated. The slide also needs to be checked for proper adjustment. This can cause binding and overwork the motor. I would next check for obstructions under the slide floor. Don't laugh, we have pulled all kinds of things from under slide floors that were wedged near the glide bar - forks, spoons and once a loaded Glock handgun. Next I would check to see if the slide assembly ( gears, rams, arms, etc. ) is properly lubricated. They need to be lubricated periodically. We only use Boeshield T-9 as a lubricant. You can find it on Amazon. It was originally formulated by Boeing Corp and is a far better lubricant then most of the on the market. It does dry off and wont collect dirt. Hope this helps. If you are taking this into a service center, they need to be checking all of these things. I forgot one last item. Never operate your slides unless the coach is at ride height. Regardless of what the manual says or other people, every Monaco coach had their slides adjusted at the factory at ride height. My buddy who was in charge of slide installs and the body department at the Monaco factory told me they adjusted all slides with the coach at ride height. Whenever you get to a campground, the first thing you do is put the slides out while at ride height. When getting ready to leave, fire the coach up and get it at ride height then bring the slides in.

I would fire it up and let it run till it reaches normal temp. Once it is warm, kick it up to high idle for a few minutes. If it doesn't stall then I would take it on a joy ride of about 20 miles or so. Change the primary fuel filter after you have driven it. I would not change it before hand as after you drive it the fuel will be stirred up and the filter will catch a lot of the sediment. No sense in changing the fuel filter prior to driving it as long as it runs OK in the driveway. Save yourself a filter and change it after you drive it. In regards to algae - You will know if you have any as the engine will run like crap or stall or worse yet not start at all. Never store a coach without treating the fuel with a big healthy dose of Biobar.

Steve: I can work with you on making some adjustments to that slide. The adjustments need to be small as you can get the slide so far out of whack that the inside of the slide can hit the ceiling when bringing it in. Those adjustment bolts raise and lowers the slide. The bolts actually work in reverse. You raise the bolt to lower the slide and vice versa. The inward and outward position ( distance of the extension ) of the slide is accomplished using stop bolts. If these bolts are out of adjustment the slide will not go all the way out or in. It would be better to instruct you over the phone. Send me a text and lets set a time. You can at that time go out to the coach with your slide out and we can go over things. If you have an Apple phone we can do it through facetime. I am currently battling bronchitis so will need a couple days to get to feeling better. Maybe this weekend ?

You can call me anytime during business hours - 352-942-2653. Let Bethany know I asked for you to call and talk with me. I am always running somewhere around the service lot. She has an uncanny way to always find me. Even when I am hiding from her. If I am working on a coach I will call you back. 🙂

The two piece windshield setup that Monaco used was designed for the glass to float. This is why you rarely ever hear of a cracked two piece windshield. I always felt Monaco and the other manufacturers made a mistake by going to the panoramic ( one piece ) windshield. I believe the first year was 2005 and was limited to Monaco coaches built in Oregon. In 2006 the one piece was standard on all Monaco coaches. You hear about cracked windshields often on the one piece. Some one piece windshields will also pop out at a corner. These are all caused by pressure points, typically in the corners and happens while traveling on uneven pavement or while turning, such as into a drive that has a dip or incline. The body flexes front to back, pressure is applied to a corner and the windshield can crack from a pressure point being applied to a small area of the windshield ( normally in the corners ). The other thing that can cause cracks is aggressive leveling. Owners would be surprised if they knew how much our coach bodies flex. Not only will this cause cracked windshields it also will pop the belt lines near the front and back. If you look at the Prevosts you will see they still use the floating double pane windshields. On the earlier H3-45's they had 4 pane windows with 4 windshield wipers.

Mike: Please give Bethany a call and she will help you through the roller inspection and measuring process. I highly recommend that you consider the roller plates. These small rollers are known to damage the underside of the slides. Bethany/Talin RV - 352-942-2653

I went with 295/75's.

I have an 05 Ambassador. Except for the engine and interior the chassis is the same as a Diplomat - RR8R. I up-sized to 295's years ago. First with Firestone 295's and then Yokohama 295's. I have never had a clearance issue. I up-sized because I wanted the safety factor of the tire load ratings. My opinion is the RR8R should have never been put on 275's.

Lance: I will give you a call today and discuss the slide issue and give you a few items to look at. I am very sorry I didn't call last night. I have a coach in for repairs right now that wore me out and I went to bed early. I call it the coach from hell. ( Got hit bad by lightning and the devil has taken up residence inside it. ) The slide you are referring to by the way is an HWH slide. They are not an easy slide to work on or adjust. You can do a lot of damage adjusting HWH slides if you do not have the knowledge base to perform the work. I will do what I can over the phone so you can at least get the slide in and get the coach to me.

Positive rate................ Gear up ....................... Enjoy ........................ 🙂

Mike: For a steak dinner at Mortons I will put the septic/drain field in for you. You rent the equipment and buy the materials. 🙂 On the serious side I have installed a number of septic/drainfields. Some for RV's and some for homes and one for a commercial property. Since I am able to operate machinery I rented the equipment and did the digging. Nothing I love more ( other flying airplanes ) is operating heavy equipment. In as far as a tank, if you do not want to spring for a tank then consider buying a chemical tote. They are all over Facebook marketplace for less then $ 100. These are the tanks that have a steel cage around them. I believe they are 250 gal tanks. You drill out one side for your in fluent line and then the other side for your effluent. Run a single drain field line and call it good. The Systems I have installed are much more complex with multiple drain field runs, filters and distribution boxes. The system I mentioned is a simple one designed for occasional use. Tote: https://scontent.ftpa1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t45.5328-4/371857314_6812678485430464_8337821260165960107_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_p720x720&_nc_cat=106&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=1a0e84&_nc_ohc=yPYnKG_jsWIAX8DzluI&_nc_ht=scontent.ftpa1-2.fna&oh=00_AfBVdSR9aVbAb3LiIGz-KM3r8xe1Dip3svc-PlKTF5qcKQ&oe=64FCEC2E

You are very right Paul. Even the Monaco service center in Elkhart started installing plates back in 2002. One of my close friends was in charge of the Monaco body department and he even plated coaches back then. Ironically, he was my consultant when I designed the Guardian plate system. He admitted the plates installed back in the early to mid 2000's were not adequate and in some cases led to floors being lost due to rot being hidden by the plates. Say what you want, but watching plates being installed and researching the problem and then developing a permanent fix are 2 different things. I have seen these plates installed and have also seen all the " abundant options and choices " you mention. I have made a living undoing what others thought were great ideas in plating coaches. I have removed many plates that some online tell coach owners about in addition to how much money they can save and how easy it is to make themselves or have a metal shop make them. During the process I have to fix the rot that occurred to these floors because of homemade plates or those sourced by locals. Plating a coach is far more complex than telling someone to go to your local metal shop and have some plates made. Relief cuts, customization, measurements, slide adjustments after the plates are installed, exact placement of rivet holes, etc. I ruined thousands of dollars in stainless to arrive at the perfect plating system and thanks to my beta testers ( coach owners ) was able to design a plating system that is permanent and that puts an end to floor rot. Sadly, because so many have mentioned these homemade plates it has caused issues with their slide floors. I have removed some homemade plates that actually promoted floor rot. The owners thought they saved money and corrected the problem but actually instead cost themselves more money. Below is a perfect example of a slide plate I removed. It was one of your famous metal shop crafted / owner installed plates. A few more inches of rot and he would have been facing a $ 10,000 repair charge for a new floor. Before recommending ideas you need to be sure what you are touting will actually work because you are playing with other peoples money. Here are the latest costs for slide floor replacements - Small Bedroom Slide - $ 4,000 - 5,000 Front living area slide - $ 8,000 - 10,000. Full wall slide - $ 15,000 - 22,000. Unless you are ready to write owners checks for repair bills based on your suggestions, I would be careful of what you suggest as cures for coach issues. Here are just a couple plates made by owners and local metal shops and installed by a service center or owner that I ended up having to remove because of floor rot:

The photo shows that the floor was damaged by the rollers. A very common issue on many brands that use the small 5 inch white rollers. The floor underneath that slide is 3/8 " plywood. When the slide is deployed or retracted, the plywood flexes over the top of the rollers and because these small rollers do not have rolled edges and instead have straight edges they cut into the laminate. I have seen this a thousand times - literally. In as far as the floor needing replaced, it will be fine. I have saved floors in MUCH more horrible shape. This is why I designed the Guardian plates - To save the crazy costs of replacing a floor. See the pictures below of one of the worst slide floor's I have ever plated. The job came out great and we saved the owner $ 5,000 for a new floor. There are extra steps I have to take and use different procedures along with custom width plates when I repair a floor severely rotted but there are very few floors I haven't been able to save.

I did that a couple months ago. Several years ago I was taking off on a trip, fired up the genny, it ran great but no power. After half an hour of troubleshooting I went back outside to the generator and realized I had inadvertently hit the breaker switch while cleaning the genny a couple weeks prior. I wanted to kick my own azz over that one.

There are no parts for the One Touch awning. Notta. I am not sure if RV Awnings in Tampa has any parts left. They had some but could be out of stock. I would not sink any money into it. If you can jury rig it with cheap parts then fine. If not then you will have to look into replacing the entire assembly with a Carefree eclipse. There are some parts for the one touch you will never find. Not even RV Awnings has them.

Some of the best lunches and dinners I ever had were the ones I made an ATP buy. 🙂 There are a lot of retired pilots on here. 2 are former 747 Captains ( NWA & United ). Most of my running buddies are retired overpaid and underworked ATP's. 🙂 All kidding aside my stress reliever is to wet lease the diesel twin ( Diamond 42 ) and go sight seeing along the gulf coast. Recreational flying is the most fun you can have with your clothes on. Hauling human cargo is not much fun. I seem to be a magnet for pilots. My service center has done a lot of work on Airline pilot coaches. Just finished one for a Spirit Air bus driver. Delta, NWA, United, American, UPS, they have all adorned my service center at one time or another. Your marriage reminds me of the time I camped next to a married couple. She flew for United and he flew for Southwest. I was talking to them, stuck a spoon in a pot and stirred it until they started bantering each other over whose airline was the best. I walked away with a smile that day leaving them to argue over who was the best. I am betting if I met you and your wife she would say she is the smooth pilot and you are the ham fisted one. Nothing I enjoy more then getting ATP's all cranked up. 🙂 Welcome aboard. The Dynasty is a great coach. Unfortunately they do not come with auto pilot, which you ATP's love selecting at 200 ft after rotation. 🙂

Absolutely heartbreaking. An entire family gone. 😞 A steer tire blow out was always one of my biggest fears while driving the coach. I am a bit more relaxed now with Tyron bands on the steer tires knowing if I have a blow out I can easily maintain control. I have talked with a couple owners who had Tyron bands and blew a tire and they said they simply steered onto the shoulder. My prayers for the families of these people.