Bigalthebear
Advanced Member
Let's start the premise off with this thought. The quality of RV builds is best stated as Haphazard. Your Manufacturer and model version build quality can vary from day to day. Here is an example of Thor 2014 model 24.1 that I had the pleasure of rebuilding the RATTLING CAN DASHBOARD collection of loose parts.
Purchased over the internet from a dealer in Granbury Texas with no previous test drive on my part. BIG MISTAKE ! The name of the dealer is xxxxxxxx Camping Center. You search the entire name out.
There was no mention of what sounded like a few hundred tin cans thrown into a bag that surrounded the engine compartment/dashboard.
Having booked a one-way flight from Milwaukee to Fort Worth I felt compelled to drive this diamond in the ruff (cough-cough) homeward.
Unwilling to tolerate this situation once home, I took it upon myself to break out my abundant collection of tools and tackle this hidden can of worms. How hard can tightening up a few loose screws be after all?
REMOVE both of your front captain chairs.
One can never take too many pictures of an undertaking like this. While I took a fair share of pics, you should never consider that your wasting your time by not taking more. The way wires were routed and such leads one to interpret what and how it was arranged prior to moving bits and peaces around.
After remove the entire assembly of loose fitting wood parts I came across this HACK from the manufacturer to use a drywall type screw to attach the dash to a structural part of the coach. Notice the ginormous gap between these parts with the screw tips floating in midair? Zoomed in.
Subsequently, finding this buried treasurer the entire dashboard was removed. What you don't see is the very well hidden hex head screws holding the duct work to the bottom of the dash. That's how air flows through those four large holes near the windshield.
A 1/4" socket set with stubby extensions and or deep socket was used to remove those screws. But wait, why remove those screws? Because the wooden portion of the dash could not be removed with the duct work being attached both to the metal structure within the dash area and the wooden structure simultaneously.
Now what? In order to stand close enough to remove those screws holding the duct work to the plywood dash piece I found it necessary to remove the engine hood from the front of the coach. This hood slides forward and down which I found annoying.
But wait, why not just remount those screws in different holes (fresh wood) and make life simple? Because the dash was assembled prior to the windshield being installed. This is when tools/assembly could be done from the front of the coach. However, there was another reason for me to remove the entire wooden structure. Because of my engineering/design background duplicating their method of assembly wasn't going to live up to my standards.
Those drywall type screws had to go and I replaced them with machine screws. Since machine screws need a nut, I used (3 prong T-nuts) 1/4-20.
They may have been 10-24 screws. All of this work was done in June and July. I'm just now documenting my ordeal since it's ZERO degrees outside in January.
Once the T-nut prongs were firmly pulled into and up into the bottom side of dash (plywood) as the screw was tightened from above, there's little chance of these parts of separating again.
The other reason I had of removing the entire wooden structure was this. Notice the two different shades of wood? Both are plywood but this represents that the pieces were only joined by tape to act as a hinge as the dash breaks the plane from one angle to another. The tape is not visible because it's on the underside.
The brown-ish plywood is on a near horizontal plane while the lighter pieces angles downward. Once I had this out, I used a wide strip (6-8") of aluminum flashing with many short screws on the bottom side to hold these pieces tighter to each other. There is a lot potential movement of these wooden pieces which is what I wanted to control. This aluminum was now a stiff hinge that allowed the needed downward angle. An aluminum strap was also installed on the top in two separate places as well.
Reinstalling this portion of the dash took on another challenge. Those screws that held the duct work on had to be reinstalled. Fat chance of lining up the exact holes ever again. I resorted to using self piercing sheet metal screws. Their point is extremely sharp and upward arm pressure was used to start the screw into the duct work and then the wood. Self piercing is NOT the same as self drilling screws. Self drilling screws IMO will not work.
Here in Milwaukee we have a fantastic ACE hardware store with an excellent selection of DIY bits and pieces.
PART 2 Dash Rebuild
Notice the image with the arrows. This is Thor's NO QUALITY control at their worst.
The white arrow points to a metal structure for holding the the entire dash assembly together. This structure goes left to right of the coach. On the right side this structure is mechanically attached to the body of the RV with hex head sheet metal screws. I fail to remember the correct size of these fasteners nor the number of them. Let me just say all things considered there were a few. Not overly engineered in the least. More like Chinese quality on a good day.
The pink-ish arrows point to a gap of pure American air between this left side metal structure and the actual body of the RV. That's right folks A-I-R and nothing but air.
Perhaps this is why on my ride home I could witness upward and downward movement of the dash in the left corner. The metal structure WAS NOT PHYSICALLY ATTACHED TO THE RV ITSELF !!!!!!!
Why is it that this government wants to dictate virtually everything about what sex you could be, to what doctors can prescribe and windmill solar farm tax breaks but could care less about the corruption of building shoddy RV's? Not to mention the dealerships and the...........headaches they create.
So how to fix this issue? All I started out doing was to tighten up a few loose screws to control the rattling box of loose tin cans. And the can of worms let loose more wigglers. Oh, what fun I'm now having.
First, purchase a new tool. This will be my new right angle drill. I went with the bright green tool sold at Home D....t. You'll be needing to drill numerous holes into this metal angle and room to the right of this metal for a traditional drill is nonexistent. Purchase short drill bites. Room to move about is not your friend as your laying on your side. I'm 6-2" 220lb having a blast sweating as that huge windshield in allowing the entire spectrum of the suns rays to warm me.
I found actual wood on the left side of the coach and I used slim layers of wood (plywood and such) glued together and bonded (glued) to the RV the best I could.
After drilling eight holes through the metal angle I got course threaded screws. Hex head of course and the right angle drill with socket head attachment tightened these screws down. Snug only. All I wanted to do was to limit the loose connection between this metal framework and the actual RV itself. Mission accomplished. Zoom in on that pic to see in detail.
How many worms are in that can you have?
PART 3 Dash Rebuild
Laying on the floor drilling holes into that metal support and gluing wood the actual sequel of events is somewhat foggy.
I purchased the RV there was indication of a very small water damage under the drivers side window.
The reason I found some wood to glue to was because I stripped bare the wall next to driver's side. All rotted down to the bare fiberglass of the wall I went. Everything out, gone and cleaned up.
I removed this RV wall paneling thinking I could salvage the wall paper pattern. Go slow, go gently, slow, repeat, tear, oops, hole, slow, tear, oops. Finally the shreds of wall paper have been separated from cheap fiber board.
The fiber board was cut/removed the best I could. Starting on the left side near the mechanical support for the bed to the bottom of the window and towards the front of the RV. Making square corners and straight lines.
Now I noticed there is nothing attaching the floor of the RV to the RV body itself. Again floating pieces loosely tied together at some point or another with no real sense of purpose for quality to be a consideration.
With the fiberglass type wall insulation removed and to add support to the body of the RV I glue in wood level with the floor. So how to attach wood to the fiberglass RV wall and wood? Lots of silicone and then smoosh the custom cut piece of wood against the inner wall of the RV and let it setup. You must leave room for the next piece of wood to be installed.
Back to the hardware store $$$$$. I had some aluminum angle lying around. I screwed this down to the RV's floor and my new silicon encased wood support.
What you'll see in the close up pic may be difficult to understand. The upward portion of the aluminum angle is missing from view. That is because I cut a kerf from the bottom of the 2x4 edge up. Table saw required. This traps the angle inside this wooden support. I then drywall screwed this assembly with glue to that siliconed piece of wood together.
Be aware the further this piece sticks away from the actual wall plane that new piece of wall that you create must find away to look correct (flat) without showing signs of bulging. Shims were used where necessary
Pink insulation siliconed in replaced the fiberish insulation material. Bondo was also used to smooth out transitions. Bondo sanding is now creating dust.
Breath deep, rinse and repeat.
A fan blowing out the passenger window might be a good idea right about now.
I could go on and on...................
Examine the pictures of the can of worms waiting for your fun to begin.
I also purchased via. internet Ama... 30 square feet of K...Matt sound deadening insulation. This self stick on mat is EXCELLENT. I used it around the firewall, under the dash and so forth. This material must be rolled down to firmly attached itself to the substrate. I used a window screen roller used to push the screen into a groove. Worked perfectly.
------------------------------------------------------------
My images were limited to a count of 10 in this forum. So I created a Part 2 to circumvent that.
See Bob K Part - 2 Rattling Dashboard, Loose Parts, Water Damage
------------------------------------------------------------
This entire dash is like a rock. I'm not mentioning all of the miscellaneous improvements along the way. You'll find your own way of doing things. I'm only showing you the can of worms and how I tackled it. Good luck on your endeavors and remember to Keep Your Stick On The Ice.
Oh, one more thing. The radio uses four screws to hold it to the dash. The two nuts on these long screws had long since worked themselves to almost falling out. Hence, creating another rattle. Also don't forget to spray foam insulation into the gaps around the firewall openings letting in all of that clean heated air coming off the engine. Nice big ones might I say. Until the entire dash is removed you'd never see them.:whistling:
Weeks were spent rebuilding Thor's shoddy quality. This documentation will save someone, someday a lot of time.
All images can be enlarged when clicked on.
Thank you Thor for the wonderful experience of fixing my box on wheels.
Images were not arranged in any particular sequence.
Further Bob K ideas coming.
Thinking Outside the Box is what I do.
Engineering and Design background
Purchased over the internet from a dealer in Granbury Texas with no previous test drive on my part. BIG MISTAKE ! The name of the dealer is xxxxxxxx Camping Center. You search the entire name out.
There was no mention of what sounded like a few hundred tin cans thrown into a bag that surrounded the engine compartment/dashboard.
Having booked a one-way flight from Milwaukee to Fort Worth I felt compelled to drive this diamond in the ruff (cough-cough) homeward.
Unwilling to tolerate this situation once home, I took it upon myself to break out my abundant collection of tools and tackle this hidden can of worms. How hard can tightening up a few loose screws be after all?
REMOVE both of your front captain chairs.
One can never take too many pictures of an undertaking like this. While I took a fair share of pics, you should never consider that your wasting your time by not taking more. The way wires were routed and such leads one to interpret what and how it was arranged prior to moving bits and peaces around.
After remove the entire assembly of loose fitting wood parts I came across this HACK from the manufacturer to use a drywall type screw to attach the dash to a structural part of the coach. Notice the ginormous gap between these parts with the screw tips floating in midair? Zoomed in.
Subsequently, finding this buried treasurer the entire dashboard was removed. What you don't see is the very well hidden hex head screws holding the duct work to the bottom of the dash. That's how air flows through those four large holes near the windshield.
A 1/4" socket set with stubby extensions and or deep socket was used to remove those screws. But wait, why remove those screws? Because the wooden portion of the dash could not be removed with the duct work being attached both to the metal structure within the dash area and the wooden structure simultaneously.
Now what? In order to stand close enough to remove those screws holding the duct work to the plywood dash piece I found it necessary to remove the engine hood from the front of the coach. This hood slides forward and down which I found annoying.
But wait, why not just remount those screws in different holes (fresh wood) and make life simple? Because the dash was assembled prior to the windshield being installed. This is when tools/assembly could be done from the front of the coach. However, there was another reason for me to remove the entire wooden structure. Because of my engineering/design background duplicating their method of assembly wasn't going to live up to my standards.
Those drywall type screws had to go and I replaced them with machine screws. Since machine screws need a nut, I used (3 prong T-nuts) 1/4-20.
They may have been 10-24 screws. All of this work was done in June and July. I'm just now documenting my ordeal since it's ZERO degrees outside in January.
Once the T-nut prongs were firmly pulled into and up into the bottom side of dash (plywood) as the screw was tightened from above, there's little chance of these parts of separating again.
The other reason I had of removing the entire wooden structure was this. Notice the two different shades of wood? Both are plywood but this represents that the pieces were only joined by tape to act as a hinge as the dash breaks the plane from one angle to another. The tape is not visible because it's on the underside.
The brown-ish plywood is on a near horizontal plane while the lighter pieces angles downward. Once I had this out, I used a wide strip (6-8") of aluminum flashing with many short screws on the bottom side to hold these pieces tighter to each other. There is a lot potential movement of these wooden pieces which is what I wanted to control. This aluminum was now a stiff hinge that allowed the needed downward angle. An aluminum strap was also installed on the top in two separate places as well.
Reinstalling this portion of the dash took on another challenge. Those screws that held the duct work on had to be reinstalled. Fat chance of lining up the exact holes ever again. I resorted to using self piercing sheet metal screws. Their point is extremely sharp and upward arm pressure was used to start the screw into the duct work and then the wood. Self piercing is NOT the same as self drilling screws. Self drilling screws IMO will not work.
Here in Milwaukee we have a fantastic ACE hardware store with an excellent selection of DIY bits and pieces.
PART 2 Dash Rebuild
Notice the image with the arrows. This is Thor's NO QUALITY control at their worst.
The white arrow points to a metal structure for holding the the entire dash assembly together. This structure goes left to right of the coach. On the right side this structure is mechanically attached to the body of the RV with hex head sheet metal screws. I fail to remember the correct size of these fasteners nor the number of them. Let me just say all things considered there were a few. Not overly engineered in the least. More like Chinese quality on a good day.
The pink-ish arrows point to a gap of pure American air between this left side metal structure and the actual body of the RV. That's right folks A-I-R and nothing but air.
Perhaps this is why on my ride home I could witness upward and downward movement of the dash in the left corner. The metal structure WAS NOT PHYSICALLY ATTACHED TO THE RV ITSELF !!!!!!!
Why is it that this government wants to dictate virtually everything about what sex you could be, to what doctors can prescribe and windmill solar farm tax breaks but could care less about the corruption of building shoddy RV's? Not to mention the dealerships and the...........headaches they create.
So how to fix this issue? All I started out doing was to tighten up a few loose screws to control the rattling box of loose tin cans. And the can of worms let loose more wigglers. Oh, what fun I'm now having.
First, purchase a new tool. This will be my new right angle drill. I went with the bright green tool sold at Home D....t. You'll be needing to drill numerous holes into this metal angle and room to the right of this metal for a traditional drill is nonexistent. Purchase short drill bites. Room to move about is not your friend as your laying on your side. I'm 6-2" 220lb having a blast sweating as that huge windshield in allowing the entire spectrum of the suns rays to warm me.
I found actual wood on the left side of the coach and I used slim layers of wood (plywood and such) glued together and bonded (glued) to the RV the best I could.
After drilling eight holes through the metal angle I got course threaded screws. Hex head of course and the right angle drill with socket head attachment tightened these screws down. Snug only. All I wanted to do was to limit the loose connection between this metal framework and the actual RV itself. Mission accomplished. Zoom in on that pic to see in detail.
How many worms are in that can you have?
PART 3 Dash Rebuild
Laying on the floor drilling holes into that metal support and gluing wood the actual sequel of events is somewhat foggy.
I purchased the RV there was indication of a very small water damage under the drivers side window.
The reason I found some wood to glue to was because I stripped bare the wall next to driver's side. All rotted down to the bare fiberglass of the wall I went. Everything out, gone and cleaned up.
I removed this RV wall paneling thinking I could salvage the wall paper pattern. Go slow, go gently, slow, repeat, tear, oops, hole, slow, tear, oops. Finally the shreds of wall paper have been separated from cheap fiber board.
The fiber board was cut/removed the best I could. Starting on the left side near the mechanical support for the bed to the bottom of the window and towards the front of the RV. Making square corners and straight lines.
Now I noticed there is nothing attaching the floor of the RV to the RV body itself. Again floating pieces loosely tied together at some point or another with no real sense of purpose for quality to be a consideration.
With the fiberglass type wall insulation removed and to add support to the body of the RV I glue in wood level with the floor. So how to attach wood to the fiberglass RV wall and wood? Lots of silicone and then smoosh the custom cut piece of wood against the inner wall of the RV and let it setup. You must leave room for the next piece of wood to be installed.
Back to the hardware store $$$$$. I had some aluminum angle lying around. I screwed this down to the RV's floor and my new silicon encased wood support.
What you'll see in the close up pic may be difficult to understand. The upward portion of the aluminum angle is missing from view. That is because I cut a kerf from the bottom of the 2x4 edge up. Table saw required. This traps the angle inside this wooden support. I then drywall screwed this assembly with glue to that siliconed piece of wood together.
Be aware the further this piece sticks away from the actual wall plane that new piece of wall that you create must find away to look correct (flat) without showing signs of bulging. Shims were used where necessary
Pink insulation siliconed in replaced the fiberish insulation material. Bondo was also used to smooth out transitions. Bondo sanding is now creating dust.
Breath deep, rinse and repeat.
A fan blowing out the passenger window might be a good idea right about now.
I could go on and on...................
Examine the pictures of the can of worms waiting for your fun to begin.
I also purchased via. internet Ama... 30 square feet of K...Matt sound deadening insulation. This self stick on mat is EXCELLENT. I used it around the firewall, under the dash and so forth. This material must be rolled down to firmly attached itself to the substrate. I used a window screen roller used to push the screen into a groove. Worked perfectly.
------------------------------------------------------------
My images were limited to a count of 10 in this forum. So I created a Part 2 to circumvent that.
See Bob K Part - 2 Rattling Dashboard, Loose Parts, Water Damage
------------------------------------------------------------
This entire dash is like a rock. I'm not mentioning all of the miscellaneous improvements along the way. You'll find your own way of doing things. I'm only showing you the can of worms and how I tackled it. Good luck on your endeavors and remember to Keep Your Stick On The Ice.
Oh, one more thing. The radio uses four screws to hold it to the dash. The two nuts on these long screws had long since worked themselves to almost falling out. Hence, creating another rattle. Also don't forget to spray foam insulation into the gaps around the firewall openings letting in all of that clean heated air coming off the engine. Nice big ones might I say. Until the entire dash is removed you'd never see them.:whistling:
Weeks were spent rebuilding Thor's shoddy quality. This documentation will save someone, someday a lot of time.
All images can be enlarged when clicked on.
Thank you Thor for the wonderful experience of fixing my box on wheels.
Images were not arranged in any particular sequence.
Further Bob K ideas coming.
Thinking Outside the Box is what I do.
Engineering and Design background
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