FL to MD, VA, DE, and PA

bevedfelker · 09-28-2015, 11:35 PM

Well we are home in Tampa after a 3 week trip to visit our son in MD, daughter in VA, and friends in PA. The Vegas performed great. The wife has been constantly reorganizing and rearranging things in the Vegas and we about have it tweaked for maximum efficiency.

We traveled 2603.8 miles and used 254.15 gals of fuel. MPG was 10.24 for the whole trip. That includes about 2 hours of running the generator when we overnighted in rest areas in SC, GA, and DE.

We decided we won't put the table up in the living room since it is just my wife and I. The side table between the driver's and passenger captain chair is just right for the two of us when we eat or have coffee. The large table made the living room seemed cramped, and my wife has the boxed and canned food in the storage above the couch. With the table up, it was too much of a stretch for us "altitudinally challenged" people to reach the food.

Biggest gripe -- the windshield wiper switch. What a hair brained design and placement that is. I'm 5'4" and the switch is just out of reach of my left arm when fully extended. I have to bend each time I operate the switch. Coming home we hit bad weather from southern NC all the way to the FL/GA border. It wasn't raining per se -- it was more substantial than mist but not quite rain. I must have turned the darn wipers on and off a thousand time. I actually have pain in my back and my neck muscles are on fire from constantly leaning to operate the wipers.

Did the Ford chassis come to Thor with the wiper stem fully functional? If so, why did Thor disable the wiper stalk for that switch? And why didn't they place it above and to the right of the a/c duct to the driver's left where it would be more easy to reach. A good deal of the rainy driving was at night and I can't begin to tell you how many times I stuck my fingers in the a/c duct grasping in the dark for the wiper switch.

JamieGeek · 09-28-2015, 11:51 PM

Glad you enjoyed your trip.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bevedfelker

Did the Ford chassis come to Thor with the wiper stem fully functional?

I think Thor gets some with wiper controls on the stalk and some without (ours does not have wiper controls on the stalk). Thus to ensure that everyone gets wiper controls they had to put it somewhere.

bevedfelker · 09-29-2015, 12:05 AM

Bummer -- mine came with the functions on the stalk -- I'd sure like to be able to resurrect the stalks use.

Chance · 09-29-2015, 12:16 PM

Ed, it sounds from your description that the wiper controls may not have an adjustable intermittent function. Is that the case?

Also, if switch is too far to reach comfortably, does it look like there may be a better place to have it relocated to? That may not be possible on existing motorhomes because it may leave a hole in dash, but may be an option on future motorhomes. Factory stalk would be best but I'm guessing there is a reason Thor didn't go that route.

By the way, your 10.24 MPG for entire trip is excellent. Do you mind sharing how fast you typically drive and whether you towed a car?

bevedfelker · 09-29-2015, 12:43 PM

Chance -- it does have intermittent speeds - 4 speeds. You push the button down once for each speed. The rain we encountered wasn't enough to keep the wipers on even at the lowest intermittent speed. The wipers drag a lot if there isn't enough rain on the windshield. I'm going to Rain-x the windshield to see if that helps reduce blade drag.
Drove the first 1000 miles at about 60. This was our first tlong trip out and wanted to get used to the feel of driving such a long (for me) vehicle. The rest was 65 to 70. No toad behind it. About 1/3 of the driving was hilly roads in PA. Probably 2/3 was interstate.

Larry · 09-29-2015, 01:22 PM

Glad you enjoyed your trip and arrived home safely.

That's really good gas mileage that you got at the sped you drove. Mine probably averages out around 9.5 mpg and usually cruise at 65 or so. Hope it improves once I reach the 10k but have about 4k miles to go before that happens.

We sometimes opt out of putting up the table in the living room to allow for more space also. Like the option of having the table up front when we like.

Sorry the wiper controls were a hassle for you. Sounds lie a royal pain. But,at least the pump didn't blow a fuse or quit on you. Mine has the stalk controls as well but not wired. As Chance has noted; there must be a reason for it. Should be an alternative solution though.

**EA37TS** · 09-29-2015, 02:02 PM

Have any of you with the wiper controls on the stalk looked to see if there are plugs on the harness under the dash or in the engine compartment which would connect a wiper control wiring harness?

If the unused connectors are available you may be able to pick up a harness from a junk yard and wire the stalk yourself.

Just a thought.

Chance · 09-29-2015, 02:53 PM

If I had to guess, and it's just a guess on my part, it would be that the typical factory installed stalk on the steering column probably communicates first with the Ford Body Control Module which then operates the wipers on E-Series cutaways (and previous vans). Since the stripped chassis used on Axis/Vegas doesn't appear to come with windshield wipers from Ford, it's likely Thor buys the motor, switch, and wiring harness as a standalone system -- much like it was on older cars before electronics took over everything.

It may be possible to rig something that would work, but I doubt it would be easy. It's also possible these stripped chassis may not even have a BCM since there are no windows, door chimes, etc... like on a standard vehicle. There is no Ford body to control anything on. Again, just a guess on my part.

Chance · 09-29-2015, 02:59 PM

Now that I think about this possibly being very different than a Class C, how do they control headlights and air conditioning? Or Radio? Are these from factory switches?

JamieGeek · 09-29-2015, 03:00 PM

Our Axis only has something like 2 or 3 modules--don't remember exactly; its been a while since I plugged in my OBDII scanner. I do remember thinking just how simple the stripped chassis must be from the Ford perspective. I'll have to re-scan it the next time I'm there.

In contrast my Focus Electric has upwards of 20+ modules on it.

Headlights and A/C are standard Ford dash parts--although I think Thor adds them and just uses Ford parts because they fit the wiring harness.

Radio is a custom radio (Jensen or Axxera) but then a functioning radio isn't really an integral piece (all you need is power).

**EA37TS** · 09-29-2015, 04:16 PM

Try this link. It is to the electrical schematics for the Body Builders Layout book. Maybe it can shed some light on your issue. The pdf was to large for a forum attachment.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...03627116,d.dmo

Fred g · 09-29-2015, 04:31 PM

What about putting another 12 volt switch in line? Locate the new switch in an accessible place and turn it off. Leave the original wiper switch in the on position when it starts to rain. Than all you have to do is hit the new switch, thereby closing the circuit and the wipers should work. Turn the new switch off and the wipers should shut off.

Fred

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