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Old 06-20-2018, 10:22 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jwcorry View Post
What did all those mods do to your GVW?

I upgraded front anti-sway bar, added SumoSprings on the front as well as a steering Stabilizer; added a supplemental rear anti-sway bar and added SuperSpring on the rear all for better handling. Also, replaced 12V house batteries with 4 6V Golf Cart AGMS along with a 2KW Inverter; as well as RV Armor Roofing System; in addition to a bunch of other enhancements none of which added appreciable weight. The above enumerated improvements caused us to exceed GVWR by 4% when traveling with full water and fuel. We do not, however, exceed either front or rear GAWR nor are we over the GCVWR.
I was reading this and thought how can be exceed his rating 4%, then read the brochure and oddly enough the 29.2 only has a 16k GVW which seems odd, same chassis, both are the 190" wheelbase. I wonder if that is a misprint?? Does your vehicle tag also say 16K?? That seems crazy, only real difference between your coach and mine is mine has larger slide but yours has large storage by 50% but that should be figured in. I would think we are talking the same tires.

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Old 08-06-2018, 01:00 PM   #22
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My latest mod, changed drop down bunk into storage area. Need to put another coat of stain on the doors but we wanted to use the coach this week and didnt want it smelling like stain. Put in shelf strips to allow adjustment of shelving.
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Old 08-06-2018, 01:54 PM   #23
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Thor293, Thats sweet.

Did you add the AC vents over this area or is that the way the ACE comes from factory?
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Old 08-06-2018, 02:52 PM   #24
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Sorry about the delay in responding - been out of the loop for a while.
Yep, the 29.2 vehicle placard reads "16K GVWR". I obtained COMPLETE 2013/14 F53 spec sheets from Ford and compared the 16K with 18K 190" wheelbase chassis. EVERYTHING was IDENTICAL except for the rear springs, which were the same number of leaves and size but had a different weight rating - can't explain why. I know one can never change a manufacturer's GVWR for a vehicle, but the SuperSprings I put on the rear leveled the coach and gave me some extra overload protection (I assume and sincerely hope!!!). There is just no way I can get below 16K# with full fuel and water plus the normal (and reasonable) load of stuff for a trip. We boondock some so full water is necessary; besides, lessening my water load will not get me below 16K#. I put on a few thousand miles on so far and have not had any issues.
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Old 08-06-2018, 03:28 PM   #25
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Originally Posted by jwcorry View Post
Sorry about the delay in responding - been out of the loop for a while.
Yep, the 29.2 vehicle placard reads "16K GVWR". I obtained COMPLETE 2013/14 F53 spec sheets from Ford and compared the 16K with 18K 190" wheelbase chassis. EVERYTHING was IDENTICAL except for the rear springs, which were the same number of leaves and size but had a different weight rating - can't explain why. I know one can never change a manufacturer's GVWR for a vehicle, but the SuperSprings I put on the rear leveled the coach and gave me some extra overload protection (I assume and sincerely hope!!!). There is just no way I can get below 16K# with full fuel and water plus the normal (and reasonable) load of stuff for a trip. We boondock some so full water is necessary; besides, lessening my water load will not get me below 16K#. I put on a few thousand miles on so far and have not had any issues.
I dont personally believe you would ever have any issue. Its no different than when I pulled a 5er with my Dodge dually, every year they upped the capacity but all the specs were the same. Thanks for responding.
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Old 08-06-2018, 03:29 PM   #26
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Thor293, Thats sweet.

Did you add the AC vents over this area or is that the way the ACE comes from factory?
That is from the Factory. I haven't added any vents................yet
I could easily add 2 more towards the front since the tunnels are in and just reblock the tunnels after the vents. Now you have me thinking
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Old 08-06-2018, 04:00 PM   #27
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Thanks -- Good Point!
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Old 08-06-2018, 04:35 PM   #28
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That is from the Factory. I haven't added any vents................yet
I could easily add 2 more towards the front since the tunnels are in and just reblock the tunnels after the vents. Now you have me thinking
Im thinking of adding two vents right before the bunk that way it dumps in the hotest part of the RV. The Axis does not have vents above the bunk.
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Old 10-20-2018, 11:52 PM   #29
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I finished upgrading my solar. I have set up 2 arrays and using 2 solar controllers, first one is 600 watts using 6 panels, I wired it in groups of 2 panels in series and then paralleled them, this cuts down on the amperage to through the wires, my MPPT controller will take all the voltage over 14.4 and convert it into more amps. The second array is older panels I had that are 75 watts at a little lower voltage and I didn't want to mix them with the higher voltage panels, so this array is 300 watts going through another MPPT controller and then both controllers connected to the batteries. This array was also done in series of 2 and then paralleled. My batteries are 2 Lifeblue 200 ah Lithium batteries in parallel giving me 400 total amp hours. Useable hours at a reasonable discharge to 20% gives me 320 hours. The controller on the 600 watt array is a lithium compatible charger, the second controller has basically the same voltage on the gel setting so that it will never attempt to equalize the batteries.

A side advantage of having all those solar panels on the roof was brought up by someone on another forum that the panels are not only producing electricity but also shielding the roof from heat.
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Old 10-21-2018, 09:05 AM   #30
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Care to tell us your experience with the flush system? Im a new owner and my black tank doesn’t seem to show any less then 2/3. Macenator stops pumping. I have a feeling we need to flush it out.
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Old 10-21-2018, 11:56 AM   #31
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Care to tell us your experience with the flush system? Im a new owner and my black tank doesn’t seem to show any less then 2/3. Macenator stops pumping. I have a feeling we need to flush it out.
The flush that I built was specific to move waste away from the bottom of the toilet. On the Ace the toilet sits over the most shallow part of the tank on the taper and it doesnt have enough slope to slide away, sometimes a lot of water will move it by dumping down the toilet but then you end up filling the black tank way too soon. As far as flushing the tank itself it does nothing. A solution I considered using was drilling a hole in the end of the tank that would be big enough to get my power wash wand through and sized to be able to plug it with one of those rubber tapered plugs with a nut and bolt to squeeze them tight. Then whenever you wanted to flush the tank just pop the plug out. Sensors are a real pain but this would fix that I believe as long as you have a good angle to hit the sensors.
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Old 10-21-2018, 12:24 PM   #32
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Thor293 - Wow your roof is about full. Looks like you have to tip toe around to clean the solar panels.
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Old 10-21-2018, 12:28 PM   #33
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Thor293 - Wow your roof is about full. Looks like you have to tip toe around to clean the solar panels.
LOL, yes it is and there is limited space, easier to clean from the sides with a ladder!
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Old 10-21-2018, 05:51 PM   #34
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That is an awesome idea! I often fill the gray tank well before the black. Doing this will let me extend my dump time and allow a better dump of the black tank.

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What I am doing now to make use of both tanks is I put twist on shutoff on outlet, they after a couple days I slightly open the grey valve and then the black tank, that way the two tanks can level and you can get max use out of tanks. Chances are you will get more water into the black tank which never hurts. You could just then use the usual stinky slinky and dump, but I connected my macerator and pump it out. No mess that way.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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Old 10-22-2018, 05:35 PM   #35
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Yeah and you can really extend your stay hooking up to the fresh water tank after the Grey and Black are full. LOL.

(Disclaimer: Please dont try this. It was just a joke)
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Old 10-27-2018, 09:57 PM   #36
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On the ACE 29.3's in Thor's infinite wisdom they mounted the water pump on the floor of the sewer bay. I have never liked this so today I finally got around to making the change. I moved to the bay on the opposite side. This keeps any loose sewage in the bay away but also neatens up the sewer bay. It was an easy conversion and only took a couple of hours to complete.
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Old 11-03-2018, 08:30 PM   #37
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Todays project was sound deadening. I bought the Noico stuff, cheaper than the Dynamax and probably not as good but anything is something. So here is my beginning DB's

On the Cowling @idle 64 @ 4000rpm, 78

My seat @ Idle 58 *+@4000, 77

Passenger seat @Idle 63 @4000, 78

On Dash @ idle 69 @ 4000, 77

I Covered the entire underneath on both side of the cab and a 10" wide section behind the engine. Also the Cowling. I also covered the underside of the dash as well as I could (and that was a lot of fun ) I covered the dash with the Noico and also the closed cell foam as I did each side of the cab under the seats. So a layer of deadener and a layer of foam. Took about 5 hours and when they say use a roller, it is best to use a roller as you will wear yourself out trying to press it down. I bought the roller and it make it a lot easer and was only about $7.

End results, I only took readings at idle and will get the 4000rpm reading probably tomorrow and post

@Idle , cowling, 59 was 64 so 5 DB reduction
@ Idle, Drivers seat 55 was 58=3DB reduction
@Idle, passenger seat 56 was 63 =7DB reduction
@Idle, dash 55 was 69=14 DB reduction! That is awesome. I was able to put both the Noico and the closed cell foam on the underside of the dash. As was there is nothing but a board and the upholstery. There is a lot of dash there so I am hoping once I get it out on the road there will be a big difference.

One other measurement I took just for craps and laughs was the engine inside with the cowling off, it was 78DB and just laying a piece of the Noico over the engine which only covered like 20" width dropped the DB to 70.

Total investment from amazon was $122 for Noico 36 sq ft, roller, tape and closed cell foam by siless. 5 hours labor, I had to pull the front tires to be able to get in and move around enough.. gonna pay for this tomorrow I know.
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Old 11-03-2018, 08:36 PM   #38
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List of modifications on Ace 29.3

Other projects completed this week include, adding an outlet in the sewer bay for an electric heater since all the water lines are in the same bay, the tanks themselves have heaters on them but protecting the water lines is also a priority if we hit some cold. Will be a little challenge since the water lines are in the bottom of the slideout so the plan is to keep some insulation available to stuff up in there and I am going to cut a piece of 2" foam large enough to cover that area completely and make it a tight enough fit to stay in place.



Cut out the access to the shower drain in the wheel well since Thor never did it and made an aluminum cover plate, havent put the plate on yet as I am thinking to trying to put some more support under the shower floor while I have it open.Click image for larger version

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Old 11-03-2018, 10:00 PM   #39
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On the ACE 29.3's in Thor's infinite wisdom they mounted the water pump on the floor of the sewer bay. I have never liked this so today I finally got around to making the change. I moved to the bay on the opposite side. This keeps any loose sewage in the bay away but also neatens up the sewer bay. It was an easy conversion and only took a couple of hours to complete.
Why would there be "loose sewage" in the wet bay?
Did you route a heater outlet to the new location to help prevent freezing while camping?
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Old 11-03-2018, 10:01 PM   #40
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Todays project was sound deadening.
Wait until you hear the difference going down the highway. It will make you ride "feel" smoother.
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