I guess I'm lucky that I can easily access the engine oil change points with the chassis in normal position. It is only things like checking/changing the differential oil, lubing the rear axle slack adjusters lubing the front end where I need to raise the chassis. When I do, I use these.
jack stands
I do my own work on passenger vehicles and find that they work for SUVs and our van just as well as the MH.

quote:

Originally posted by FleetMan:
2x12's and made six six inch thick ramps

How do handle the rear dually's - just use the outside tires or do you have 4 ramps?

I just lubed my chassy and there is not much room under the coach - I had it up on the 4 levelrs to the max height (and all 4 wheels chocked) and still had a hard time getting around underneath. I could not use my creeper as the extra couple inches was too much to move around. BTW, the zerks (one each) on the rear auto slck adjusters where no fun - they are difficult to get too!

quote:

Originally posted by CWHTRAINS:
for all the lube points, and cleaning them prior to lubing them

How much grease did you use?

I just did my lube for the 1st time and I used a full tube of grease. I did not put in excess grease. By far the u-joints took the most grease - in fact it seems like the slip joint could not get enough - I never did see any grease come out from that joint.

Also, the rear slack adjusters were quite difficult to get too. It took me about 2 hours to do the job. Very messy and surprisingly hard to get around under the rig - particularly the back – no room for a creeper.

Were you able to get to the steering driveline universal joints? I could not reach them.

Which generator do you have? Was wondering which parts you use for that oil and air filter change.

Have you changed the air dryer desiccant and coalescent filter? I purchased the kit but have not done it yet. I’d like to hear from other before I start that job. When under the back axel doing the lube I was looking at the air filter and how little room is around to change it. I does not look like easy project.

Also, 2 side comments I found from being under the MH. One is that when brackets were replaced under warranty on the propane tank (that was a recall issue) I noticed that when performed, they did not reconnect the ground wire from the gas pipe. I will have to find a place for that since I do not want to remove the bolt holding the new tank strap bracket.

2nd item is a strange wire (sensor?) I found hanging down above the passenger side rear air brake. The wire has 3 conductors – green, black, and brown. It has a connector that is plugged into a plug like end-cap that has 3 metal pegs flush to the end of the plug housing. What is this? Some type of sensor? Is it suppose to be plugged into something or is it suppose to go somewhere. Its odd since it was just hanging there near the air brake. I could not see anything that is was suppose to plug into. Ideas?

Thanks, Jeff.

jhanan,
Ramps. I made six total. That insures each tire is properly supported. The bottom board is 36" long. Each succeeding board is 6' shorter with the top one measuring 18" with a 2x2 stop across the end. The ends of each are tapered to 45 degrees to make the "climb" smoother. They are screwed together with 3" deck screws and are fairly heavy but they will certainly support the coach and do make working under it much more comfortable. Use a spotter when driving up on them.

Jeff, some of the zerks, especially those on my drive line take a lot of grease. The u-joints, as you point out, have to be filled until the grease comes out of all 4 corners. My slip joint also requires a lot of pumps. I'm supposed to cover the breather hole in the end and pump until the grease coming out the joint.

My slack adjusters do not appear to be as hard to get to as yours. I raise the rear end of the coach, put 12 ton jack stands under the rails and then crawl under just in front of the rear tires. I agree that there isn't room for a creeper so I use a long cardboard. I use that same access point to check/change the differential fluid (my inspection plug is in the front).

In my steering column, there are 3 zerks. With my coach on the ground (not raised), I can reach the lower u-joint and the bearing collar from underneath, though I admit that the bearing is a stretch. The upper u-joint is accessible from the driver's area, through a slit in the rubber boot. The steering wheel must be turned to the proper position to line up the zerk and the slit.

For genset parts, I went to my local Cummins dealer (Cummins Southern Plains in Dallas). I found that they were cheaper than alternatives and I could use the recommended ONAN parts. On my engine oil filter, the Fleetguard is $5 cheaper than the WIX at O'Reilly. I found similar percentage savings on the air filter, plugs, etc. for the genset.

My Haldex air filter maintenance is a bit cramped but I've learned that if I clean the area around it very carefully before starting and then lift the coach and put the jack stands under as described above, I can wiggle underneath and get to a sitting position just over the air filter assembly. I loosen the cannister first so that I can spin it off easily by hand when seated. I also take my trouble light with me as it is quite dark underneath. After the cannister is spun off, my coelessing filter can be pulled up and out. The last time, there was a little mositure in the area which I clean up with a lint free cloth. On my first maintenance, I bought a kit as you did. It included a cover for the intake heater and an exhaust port. I had to break the old intake cover to remove it and had to loosen and turn the entire air filter assembly (per included instructions) to get to and replace the exhaust port. On my last change, I just bought the cannister and coelessing filters. It took me about 1.5 hours for that job. Most of the time was figuring out how to position myself for each step.

I have no guess about the sensor. My first idea would be an ABS wheel sensor but if that were not functioning, you should have an ABS light on when you start to drive. The ABS system is supposed to monitor all wheel sensors and show a check condition for any that aren't responding. In your place, I would call Freightliner Custom Chassis (800-385-4357) with the last six digits of your VIN. They should be able to tell you about the sensor, especially with the wiring colors that you describe. While you are at it, ask them to send you a wiring diagram for your chassis. I've found that very helpful in resolving questions about the connections of one component to another. The wiring diagram shows wire color and what each wire connects to.

I hope this is of some value to you.

Charlie

Today I purchased a new air filter and installed it myself.

Purchased the filter from the local Freightliner dealer (part number FAR/114880-3 $68.28, an Eco filter).

Had a tough time getting the old filter out once I was able to get the clamps loosened on everything. Because there is so little room to move anything, I ended up disconnecting the front tubing (5" outlet end going toward the engine) from one of the middle tubes, and disconnected the 6" inlet end from the inlet side of the air filter where the air intake stack comes down the back side of the rear of the motorhome. I then disconnected the other end of that inlet tubing from the inlet side of air filter itself. Then I released the large band clamps. Unfortunately I did not figure out that you could completely unhook those two large band clamps, so I unbolted both of them from the frame mounting, them removed the air filter by backing it out toward the rear and downward to get it out. It took a lot of effort to get the hoses off the metal tubes. One thing that helped was I took my fingers and pulled the tubing away from the metal tubing completely around the edge of the tube. This helped "break" the seal that had formed from being clamped for the last three years. Of course, once I had it out and started to move the front hose over to the new air filter, I figured out that the snap bands completely disconnect at the snap fixture. Oh well, know that for next time.

Then I installed the front end of the tubing to the outlet side of the new air filter, put the clamps back in place and manuvered it back in place, reversing the take out procedure. Had a little bit of trouble pressing the front hose and clamp back in place, but with some pressure and moving around a bit, got the engine side back together, bolted the large band clamps back in place, tighten everything up. Then went to put back the rear side of the tubing and had a tough time getting one of the 6" tubes back together. Finally got things back and tighten up all the clamps.

My motorhome has the rear mud flap in place and it got in the way of moving around and seeing things. If you do not have one of those, you can move around underneath easier.

From start to finish it took me about and hour and a half to remove and replace. I gotta admit it was more work than I thought it would be. The inlet and outlet tubes are not easy to get off and put back on. I'm glad that replacement is not an every year thing for us.

I was very surprised how dirty the old filter was and how "aged" the filter element appeared after 11,500 miles. It was 3 years old from chassis assembly date. Made me glad I changed it, despite the filter meter saying everything was great.

How did the tranmission filter change go? Any info on that - how many miles on your trans?

Just an idea that has helped me with the oil filter. On my Cummins, the filter is in a difficult place to get a strap wrench in place so I have done the following:
The day before I plan to replace the filter, I epoxy a large (1-1/2") nut to the bottom of the filter housing after scuffing up the paint on the housing with some sandpaper. Then when it comes time to replace the filter all I need is a 1-1/2" socket and wrench to loosen the filter. It has reduced the time greatly and allowed me to be sure that the new filter is installed correctly as it allows the use of a torque wrench to tighten to specs.

Hope this helps.

Pete

jhanan - when I changed the transmission filter (first change at 5,000 miles) it was actually pretty easy to do. I spent a little time cleaning off the gasket prior to putting the new one on, but other than that not much of a problem. Lost about a quart or so of transmission fluid, but just added replacement fluid and then checked the level with the transmission level test on the Allison control panel. Now have about 14,000 miles on the coach. I lubed the chassis once again about two weeks ago. I try to do that about every 3 - 4,000 miles, which for us is about halfway throu the year. I will do it again in mid October when I do all the other year end maintence prior to storing it for the winter.