PictureTheSouth
Senior Member
The story of catastrophe narrowly averted - and then a few questions.
I was literally minutes away from pulling out for a long weekend Friday afternoon. Only thing left is to raise the jacks, grab the dog, and pull out. Wife to meet us later at NFS campground a couple hours away. When raising jacks, the left/front sounded a bit "off"; but not concerning as it's been parked on gravel for a couple of months. Went to stow the landing pads, and found that L/F one covered in an oily substance.
First thought? Hydraulic leak on that leveler. Well - we've been to that campground a couple times in the past and sites are fairly level. With some strategic parking and maybe a couple boards - we don't need the levelers and can have those checked out later. Wife agreed we could make do, and was leaving work to meet me at the site. But something told me to look closer.....
Yep. Not a leveler leak; but a corroded hole in one of the brake lines just north of the ABS pump. Had I pulled out headed into traffic - it might not have been pretty a few miles down the road.
Now the questions. I have a mobile repair service coming in the next day or so to temporarily patch that line to make the rig safe to drive - for a while anyway. But since this seems to be a corrosion issue (based on my observation of rust at the leak site), I want to completely replace all four brake lines at once.
Quandary - the local place I use for routine maintenance won't touch it. The local Thor dealer blew me off completely - "we don't do it, even if we did we don't have staff, and we won't help you order parts". The TWO closest commercial Ford dealerships can't handle a 28' Class A. I've found a Freightliner/Volvo commercial shop within reasonable range who says they can install - IF I can get the parts.
Anyone ever dealt with this before? Are brake lines a Thor part or a Ford part on an F53 chassis? If you've never been under there, it's multiple feet of 1/4" (or less) diameter metal pipe - and I have no clue if it's something to "standard order" or must be fabricated on site.
I have one more Ford dealer to call tomorrow. Then I seem to be stuck with a 2-hour drive either way to the nearest place that rhymes with "Stamping Squirreled". Not a happy thought...
If there's a bright side to the story, while crawling around underneath the rig - I discovered we have a Safe-T-Plus stabilizer bar installed; which was not listed in our purchase docs for this used rig. Saves me a few dollars for the CHF I'd planned for some spring upgrades.
But I'll still need to find out why that leveler sounded noisy - which perhaps saved my (and others) life.
I was literally minutes away from pulling out for a long weekend Friday afternoon. Only thing left is to raise the jacks, grab the dog, and pull out. Wife to meet us later at NFS campground a couple hours away. When raising jacks, the left/front sounded a bit "off"; but not concerning as it's been parked on gravel for a couple of months. Went to stow the landing pads, and found that L/F one covered in an oily substance.
First thought? Hydraulic leak on that leveler. Well - we've been to that campground a couple times in the past and sites are fairly level. With some strategic parking and maybe a couple boards - we don't need the levelers and can have those checked out later. Wife agreed we could make do, and was leaving work to meet me at the site. But something told me to look closer.....
Yep. Not a leveler leak; but a corroded hole in one of the brake lines just north of the ABS pump. Had I pulled out headed into traffic - it might not have been pretty a few miles down the road.
Now the questions. I have a mobile repair service coming in the next day or so to temporarily patch that line to make the rig safe to drive - for a while anyway. But since this seems to be a corrosion issue (based on my observation of rust at the leak site), I want to completely replace all four brake lines at once.
Quandary - the local place I use for routine maintenance won't touch it. The local Thor dealer blew me off completely - "we don't do it, even if we did we don't have staff, and we won't help you order parts". The TWO closest commercial Ford dealerships can't handle a 28' Class A. I've found a Freightliner/Volvo commercial shop within reasonable range who says they can install - IF I can get the parts.
Anyone ever dealt with this before? Are brake lines a Thor part or a Ford part on an F53 chassis? If you've never been under there, it's multiple feet of 1/4" (or less) diameter metal pipe - and I have no clue if it's something to "standard order" or must be fabricated on site.
I have one more Ford dealer to call tomorrow. Then I seem to be stuck with a 2-hour drive either way to the nearest place that rhymes with "Stamping Squirreled". Not a happy thought...
If there's a bright side to the story, while crawling around underneath the rig - I discovered we have a Safe-T-Plus stabilizer bar installed; which was not listed in our purchase docs for this used rig. Saves me a few dollars for the CHF I'd planned for some spring upgrades.
But I'll still need to find out why that leveler sounded noisy - which perhaps saved my (and others) life.
