Any Ford RV/ Motorhome experts on here?

[Rembrant]

Tons of steering, suspension and driveline components on there.

Mostly OEM.

I don't have specific part numbers to look for but maybe Dane can help you with that.

Well I made out OK today. Only "big" thing that failed was the drag link...has a little play in it. No big deal...I can change that out. A few other little odds and ends I need to fix up, but overall not too bad.

[Gary Lewis]

Well I made out OK today. Only "big" thing that failed was the drag link...has a little play in it. No big deal...I can change that out. A few other little odds and ends I need to fix up, but overall not too bad.

Excellent! You might check U-techcenter as Jim suggested.

[Rembrant]

Well I made out OK today. Only "big" thing that failed was the drag link...has a little play in it. No big deal...I can change that out. A few other little odds and ends I need to fix up, but overall not too bad.

So my clunky old '93 RV finally got her new MVI sticker today. Finally, 100% road legal and independently inspected/passed. Good for two full years. The shop quoted me 3 hrs labor to change the drag link, and I did it myself in an hour or hour and a half laying on the floor. I had to fix a bunch of other little odds and ends...tail lights (corroded) and propane lines rubbing on driveshaft...ooops...lol, a loose step, and a battery hold-down bracket. Anyway, it's a big relief considering the thing spent the last 27 years in an area with no inspections. It passed with relative ease, all things considered.

Anyway, a couple questions:

The E4OD. The output seal is weeping a little bit, and I was also wondering if I should change the trans fluid and filter? Any thoughts good or bad? I haven't touched an old auto transmission in a long long time. It is 27 years old, but it only has 74,500 miles on it. What say the experts? Change it or leave it?

I was thinking of changing the diff fluid while I was at it, if I can even reach the darn thing.

I had a lot of trouble finding a shop that could (and would) do a front end alignment on the stupid thing. Not the weight so much, but the length. So during all this, I went and checked the certification label to get the wheelbase, and it is indicated as 158". Something is up with that obviously, because the wheelbase is more like 218"...lol. Do the RV companies modify the length/frames after they receive them from Ford? Just curious. Random question.

 

[Gary Lewis]

So my clunky old '93 RV finally got her new MVI sticker today. Finally, 100% road legal and independently inspected/passed. Good for two full years. The shop quoted me 3 hrs labor to change the drag link, and I did it myself in an hour or hour and a half laying on the floor. I had to fix a bunch of other little odds and ends...tail lights (corroded) and propane lines rubbing on driveshaft...ooops...lol, a loose step, and a battery hold-down bracket. Anyway, it's a big relief considering the thing spent the last 27 years in an area with no inspections. It passed with relative ease, all things considered.

Anyway, a couple questions:

The E4OD. The output seal is weeping a little bit, and I was also wondering if I should change the trans fluid and filter? Any thoughts good or bad? I haven't touched an old auto transmission in a long long time. It is 27 years old, but it only has 74,500 miles on it. What say the experts? Change it or leave it?

I was thinking of changing the diff fluid while I was at it, if I can even reach the darn thing.

I had a lot of trouble finding a shop that could (and would) do a front end alignment on the stupid thing. Not the weight so much, but the length. So during all this, I went and checked the certification label to get the wheelbase, and it is indicated as 158". Something is up with that obviously, because the wheelbase is more like 218"...lol. Do the RV companies modify the length/frames after they receive them from Ford? Just curious. Random question.

Congrat's!!! Good job. That must be a huge relief.

As for the E4OD, I'd for sure change the fluid, which might fix the leak. My experience is that the seal swell additive in ATF fails after a while, and new fluid revives that.

And if you can get to the diff, I'd change that as well. You never know how much water might be in there.

Wheelbase - no clue.

[grumpin]

So my clunky old '93 RV finally got her new MVI sticker today. Finally, 100% road legal and independently inspected/passed. Good for two full years. The shop quoted me 3 hrs labor to change the drag link, and I did it myself in an hour or hour and a half laying on the floor. I had to fix a bunch of other little odds and ends...tail lights (corroded) and propane lines rubbing on driveshaft...ooops...lol, a loose step, and a battery hold-down bracket. Anyway, it's a big relief considering the thing spent the last 27 years in an area with no inspections. It passed with relative ease, all things considered.

Anyway, a couple questions:

The E4OD. The output seal is weeping a little bit, and I was also wondering if I should change the trans fluid and filter? Any thoughts good or bad? I haven't touched an old auto transmission in a long long time. It is 27 years old, but it only has 74,500 miles on it. What say the experts? Change it or leave it?

I was thinking of changing the diff fluid while I was at it, if I can even reach the darn thing.

I had a lot of trouble finding a shop that could (and would) do a front end alignment on the stupid thing. Not the weight so much, but the length. So during all this, I went and checked the certification label to get the wheelbase, and it is indicated as 158". Something is up with that obviously, because the wheelbase is more like 218"...lol. Do the RV companies modify the length/frames after they receive them from Ford? Just curious. Random question.

What a monster! That driveshaft could rub on anything within 10 miles!

On the E4OD I’ve not had one leak except when they get to warm and dump fluid out of that front seal, I believe is where it comes out.

My 94 F250 I owned did that while I was parking a travel trailer in a spot I would have never gotten it into.

Moving it for some friends and I said I can’t put that in there, the wife says my grandpa is going to help, he’s a retired trucker.

I told him that I can’t get it in there, he says do what I tell ya, I said okay. Got it in there, but it took awhile and with no forward movement the tranny got warm, and when I was unhooking, out came the fluid. Shut it off let it cool, checked the fluid and away I went.

[Rembrant]

Congrat's!!! Good job. That must be a huge relief.

As for the E4OD, I'd for sure change the fluid, which might fix the leak. My experience is that the seal swell additive in ATF fails after a while, and new fluid revives that.

And if you can get to the diff, I'd change that as well. You never know how much water might be in there.

Wheelbase - no clue.

Ok, I'l make plans to change the trans fluid then. Thanks Gary. I might just swap the output seal anyway if I can get the driveshaft out. I might try to get the thing up one some blocks...maybe some 2x8's or something, at least gain another couple inches of clearance...going to need it for the diff cover.

[Rembrant]

What a monster! That driveshaft could rub on anything within 10 miles!

Dane,

It IS a monster...lol. Took a little getting used to for me to drive this thing around. My daily driver is a little VW.

The guy I bought it from did tow with it...it's all set up with a heavy duty hitch and trailer brake controller, etc. He had been pulling a tandem axle car trailer with it, and through the Rockies too. I can't imagine...the thing must have been 50ft long all together.

Thanks for the info on the E4OD too. It feels a little lazy in OD, but if I turn the OD off, it works really good then. Be hard on fuel though.

Going for an alignment on Thursday, and then I'm going to work on getting all the fluids changed out and get rid of the OBD1 error codes for TPS and EGR.

 

[Gary Lewis]

Congrat's!!! Good job. That must be a huge relief.

As for the E4OD, I'd for sure change the fluid, which might fix the leak. My experience is that the seal swell additive in ATF fails after a while, and new fluid revives that.

And if you can get to the diff, I'd change that as well. You never know how much water might be in there.

Wheelbase - no clue.

Ok, I'l make plans to change the trans fluid then. Thanks Gary. I might just swap the output seal anyway if I can get the driveshaft out. I might try to get the thing up one some blocks...maybe some 2x8's or something, at least gain another couple inches of clearance...going to need it for the diff cover.

Blocks? Not concrete blocks I hope? I'm sure you'll do it safely.

On the ATF, get the opinion of others as well. You just got mine.

But, my experience includes the Jeep my SiL bought. I rode with him one day and he had to gun it to get the reverse clutch to come in, and even then it slipped the whole way out of the driveway. I asked him if it always did that and he said yes. I suggested we stop at the parts store, but not to park downhill in a parking place. We got a bottle of the additive and put it in and drove home.

The next morning it backed right out of the driveway like a new one. And shifted better - for about a month. I'd told him that would happen and that he'd need to have the fluid changed. So he took it to two different places that told him it would ruin the transmission. I told him to take it to a third one and NEVER go back to those two places. He did, they changed the fluid, and it performed perfectly the rest of the time he had it, which was probably two or three years.

My understanding is that ATF contains a component that causes seals to remain pliable and actually swell a bit. But that over time it looses its ability to keep the seals soft and pliable, so they stiffen and leak. Some of those are internal and some external. The internal ones cause poor shifting, and the external ones cause leaks.

I don't know what the parameters are that cause it to loose its potency, but I always assumed that it is time and heat. So, when buying a used vehicle I change all fluids, and especially ATF. More so on big, heavy vehicles that might have caused the fluid to get hot when the torque converter isn't locked up. Ask Bill about the EEC's propensity to unlock the E4OD's clutch. And, while you are at it, ask him to compare that torque converter's slippage with a C6's converter. He'll tell you the E4's converter has a much higher slippage, which creates lots of heat. Which is why his EEC is programmed to not unlock until 80% throttle.

So, do you know of a heavy vehicle? Do you know how it was driven? And it was used for towing? How often the fluids have been changed?

[Nothing Special]

.... I might try to get the thing up one some blocks...maybe some 2x8's or something, at least gain another couple inches of clearance...going to need it for the diff cover.

This is what I did for leveling my motorhome. I think they are 2x10s, about 18" long. You can't tell so well from the picture, but there are also 9" long pieces screwed to the bottom of one end of some of them so they sort of interlock. It's worked out pretty well, and it is very stable.

.... The guy I bought it from did tow with it...it's all set up with a heavy duty hitch and trailer brake controller, etc. He had been pulling a tandem axle car trailer with it, and through the Rockies too. I can't imagine...the thing must have been 50ft long all together....

Only 50 feet? That's nothin'! My pickup pulling my parents camper is 54 feet! (Somehow I think of Monty Python's "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch here: "Well we 'ad it tough...")

But seriously, maneuvering in parking lots as well as lane changes with a 20' truck pulling a 35' trailer is a bit of a challenge. And the maneuvering would be even worse if it was a 35' truck pulling a 20' trailer!

http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/file/n58114/DSC_0367.jpg

[grumpin]

Dane,

It IS a monster...lol. Took a little getting used to for me to drive this thing around. My daily driver is a little VW.

The guy I bought it from did tow with it...it's all set up with a heavy duty hitch and trailer brake controller, etc. He had been pulling a tandem axle car trailer with it, and through the Rockies too. I can't imagine...the thing must have been 50ft long all together.

Thanks for the info on the E4OD too. It feels a little lazy in OD, but if I turn the OD off, it works really good then. Be hard on fuel though.

Going for an alignment on Thursday, and then I'm going to work on getting all the fluids changed out and get rid of the OBD1 error codes for TPS and EGR.

Interesting comment! My Bronco feels “lazy”, you have to give it a bit of pedal to get it to come out of lockup or to downshift. My 92 F250 didn’t feel that way, but it had 4.10 gearing, the Bronco has 3.55.

If I’m in open spaces, no traffic etc., I drive more aggressively sometimes and don’t notice it as much, it’s fun too!