Jerry's Hurricane mods

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New pics

[petef]

I did the CHF a long time ago. If you get a rear trac bar installed you can actually drive these things over 50 mph... but the ride is harsher. I put extended link on front because at some camp sites when the front wheel came off the ground the sway bar would be pressed hard against the leaf spring. I attempted to add sumo springs, I bought a set from etrailer only to find out they did not really fit right, after calling sumo spring they told me I had the wrong part, Thor is different then any other F53.. so etrailer offered me a 5% discount on another order becuase of thier misinformation, no return because I had installed it... yes. I have a mod for it I am going to try when I get to cooler weather. if you want to try sumo springs beware

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Pete The mojority of campsite i stay at are fairly level. I dont see having to raise the front tires off the ground. Could happen if its a problem ill get longer rods. Mine already drove nice at 60 mph. Did the chf just to make it better. I looked at the sumo springs but just didnt see the need at this time. Thanks for the input


Jerry

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Took the mh to the local truck scales today. After weighting the front and rear axles and the total weight I was able to put just the drivers front on the scale and then the drivers rear.

Heres the weights:

Front 6270
Rear 10640
Total 17010

Driver front 3340
Pass front 2930
Driver rear 5260
Pass rear 5380

Looks pretty good to me. Fairly even. I have been told the driver front is always heavy do to the steering and other motor stuff on that side.

I have almost 1000lbs of play before hitting my max.

Alignment on Wednesday then road trip.

Jerry

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Got the alignment done on Wednesday. It was a little off but all good now. Cost $145. Glad I did it. Even if it was good the peace of mind knowing it correct was worth it.

When they jacked the front end up I looked at the springs to make sure the sway bar wasn't hitting them after the chf was done. They were clear.
Now I know the leveling jacks lift the front differently but it looks like there is at 1 -1 1/2 inches of clearance. Something I'll keep looking at.


Next on the list is to get tire covers, snap pads, and a 50 amp to 30 amp connector.

I'm also going to make a cover for the inside stairs. Most likely plywood with sticky floor tiles. Don't want anyone or the dogs falling in the stairs at night.

Jerry

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Ive been kind of busy and havent done anything to the mh in a few days. Decided to work on the blue sewer tote today and replace the wheels

10" pneumatic tires foe tge rear and 6" solid rubber for the front. All bought at harbor freight also got a bottle of the green slime for the two rear tires.

Getting the axle nuts off was fairly easy. Thought i would be able to use them but in the end they were no good. Got a 1/2 axle nut at home depot so the front was done fairly quick

The rear was a pain in the rear. No one local sells a 5/8 axle nut. So i decided to drill a hole in the axle for a cotter pin. Well i broke two drill bits after only drilling our a 1/4 of the way through. Went to home depot and thought about replacing the axle with 5/8 allthread and just using nuts to hold the wheels on. But i decided to but a new drill bit. Using a new bit was all thats was needed. Heres to finished product. Hopefully it will drive down the road and not make
so much noise

Jerry

[petef]

I went to a fabric store and bought light blocking curtain liner, took my curtains to a seamstress and she sewed them in. I first cut the remains of the old liner out. They work great now and block light well. I also put 3m velcro strip to the end of the valiance as well as stapled Velcro to the curtain. As you cans see in the picture the curtain rods stopped about 3" before the window did on one side and 5" on the other .. that lousy Thor quality control..

[Nursx2]

Originally Posted by petef

I went to a fabric store and bought light blocking curtain liner, took my curtains to a seamstress and she sewed them in. I first cut the remains of the old liner out. They work great now and block light well. I also put 3m velcro strip to the end of the valiance as well as stapled Velcro to the curtain. As you cans see in the picture the curtain rods stopped about 3" before the window did on one side and 5" on the other .. that lousy Thor quality control..

OMG! I thought I was looking at my 34J - the exact same quality workmanship in the front curtain. I am going to do this as well - thanks

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Did a few more things today. Installed a flag pole buddy bracket to the ladder and then mounted the blue tote to the ladder. The tote rests on a metal chair holder made to sit on the ladder. Then straped down. Hope that made sence

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Heres a pic of what the tote sits on

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I also raised my bbq gas line up a bit. It was hanging down a couple of inches so i reversed the bracket to get it closer to the the mh chassis

My water tank is located in the front storage cabinet. It sits on a metal bracket. The bracket has a very sharp edge on it and i cut myself pretty good loading up the cabinet. I went to a local car parts store and bought a door ding protector. Its stiff rubber and slides on the edge of a door
I used this to cover the metal edge i heated it to make and fit the corner curve. No more cuts


Jerry

[halfprice]

The upper cabinets in my mh have no dividers or stops in them to keep stuff from sliding around. I used 1x2 and double sided tape to make a stopper. These went into the cabinet above the windshield

No pic of it installed but im sure you can figure out what it looks like

I also washed and rejux the front only. Hopefully this will help get the many bugs off the front on my 500 mile trip on the I-5 to Bodega Bay in a couple of weeks

Jerry

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Trying to get ready for our first trip. Have to make the mh dog save. 15 year old lab isnt as agile as she once was. So i made a stair cover

Just used a 1x12 shelving board cut to size. Piano hinge and 1x2 underneath as stoppers and support. Fairly strong and it was an easy project

From door to floor its 28" so i used a piece of 1x4 to fill the gap. You can see it next to tbe door

Jerry

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Another quick 10 minute mod. I hate the slide type thermostat. Not very accurate. So i changed it out to digital. Got it at Amazon for $30.

Old


New

Heres the wiring set up just in case someone needs it. The gray wire is low fan speed. Dont need low so i didnt use it. Some guys install a toggle switch to control high low but like i just i dont need it. Blue is also not needed


It runs on 2 AA batteries. I did this in my 5th wheel and never changes the batteries in 4 years

On to the next mod

Jerry

[halfprice]

Originally Posted by petef

I went to a fabric store and bought light blocking curtain liner, took my curtains to a seamstress and she sewed them in. I first cut the remains of the old liner out. They work great now and block light well. I also put 3m velcro strip to the end of the valiance as well as stapled Velcro to the curtain. As you cans see in the picture the curtain rods stopped about 3" before the window did on one side and 5" on the other .. that lousy Thor quality control..

Pete
Thanks for the velcro idea. I want to change the curtains also but wasnt sure on how to mount it. I dont really like those little strings on the sliding rail

I might just sew velcro to the top of the curtain, staple and/or screw the velcro to the top of the valance. Something to think about for a future project

Jerry

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Installed the Minder research tmps on all 6 tires today. I've had the unit for 4 years using it in my 5th wheel. Bought 2 more sensors on amazon. All new batteries and its ready to go. Took a few minutes to reprogram the unit. Glad i saved the instruction book



Front tire



Rear tire



Also put another coat of rejux on the front cap

Jerry

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While driving i like to check the tpms about once an hour or when i think about it. Knowing pressure and tire temp gives me some peace of mind. Ill buy 4 more sensors when i get my jeep. Knowing the jeeps temp will help me to know the brake system is working correctly and not over braking

Jerry

[halfprice]

Added snap pads on my levelers. They were a little loose and i could remove and install them by hand. They were hard to get off and on but i could still do it by hand. I was afraid they might get knocked off while driving. I talked to Devon at rvsnappad.com and he agreed it should not be that way. Apparently my level up system has a new pad on it with drainage holes. It also seems a little smaller than the other pads. After a long conversation with Devon i decided to drill two holes in the snap pads and bolt it to the leveler pad. Devon said if i ever have a problem he will send me new pads

Very solid now with the bolts

Jerry

[Sundance]

Man you are a whirlwind. Nice enhancement on the levelers but I'm not so sure about that reflection in the wheel. That thing is scary


Dave

[Ag&Au]

Originally Posted by Sundance

Man you are a whirlwind. Nice enhancement on the levelers but I'm not so sure about that reflection in the wheel. That thing is scary


Dave

Do sasquatches live long enough to get grey beards?

Krn