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rsbilledwards

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Posts posted by rsbilledwards

  3. Posted · Report reply

    With respect to the Koni shocks...They are hydraulic and adjustable,. If set full tight they will give a rough ride if set on the other end of the dampening spectrum the will give a very nice ride. The Bilstein shocks are gas and have only one setting. Many of us with them on Safari coaches have switched in favor of the Koni. B

  5. Posted · Report reply

    I had similar issue with my Safari Zanzibar. It's suspension travel was incorrect due to ride height being off. Since you do not have a torsalatic suspension it could be a dead shock. If that is the case I would recommend checking to see if it is leaking fluid, oil film on lower part of casing, a good indicator of at least a weak shock. Replace all with hydraulic Konis. Good luck B

  6. Posted · Report reply

    In my 2001 Safari Zanzibar the original house batteries were group 27 Interstates (4) and the coach chassis batteries were/are larger than the group 29 and are Interstate "Workhorse" units. I would use them again having been in the coach for 13 years and still cranking! B

  9. Posted · Report reply

    To make this shorter I will leave out the why this started except to say one rear tire needs to be replaced. Yes I ordered two and put them on the front. Since my 2001 Zanzibar uses as original a 255/70R22.5 sized tire I wanted to stay with it and not change to what appears to be an easier size to find. I thought I wanted to use a Michelin and when I looked at their Advantage Program I was flabbergasted! I haven't bought a tire retail for years. Now I was on the hunt for something more affordable and accessible. I found the Toyo M120z which are currently on my coach were no longer available and on it when I bought it. I looked all over the country for one and discovered another disturbing fact. "All" tires are speed rated...and since we are talking motorhome I will offer big tire ratings, They start with J, K, L, and M with respective speed rates of 62, 68, 75, and 81MPH! This as it turns out, this is really quite important. I discovered the tires on my coach were rated at the H load level J speed rated at 62 MPH, WHAT?. I will admit they have seen a lot more speed than that and they handle fine and are soon to be replaced with an L version which is what should be on the rig.

    I also discovered that the tire techs were less than knowledgeable about speed rating of these big tires and I am sure that is how the M120z tires were placed on this coach of mine by the previous owner. I discovered that this 255/70 tire is a bit less common now as well. I learned or was mentally refreshed that one way the tire sales world expands the list of sizes available as in this case is by dropping one size 255 to 245 and up one in the aspect ratio 70 to 75, one gets another tire of very close to what one was searching for with out having to work as hard looking through numerous manufacturers literature or their available inventory for an appropriate tire meeting given specs. I discovered while speaking to one of the techs at USAutoForce in Denver that they had a 122Ms in a Toyo in Denver with a J rating, not suitable... It was not until I had visited Toyo" web sites several times did I find a page with medium duty trucks and light duty trucks did I discover that the 122M was made in an "L" version suitable for 75 MPH as is desirable for our application. When I called back to check on that one he did not know they had them in stock as well. As far as he was concerned they were the same. When I ordered I used the manufacturers "Product Code" from the web site. I looked at numerous sites and ended up sorting through numerous tires to find potential candidates. Nearly all have them, Bridgestone, Firestone, Michelin, Goodyear and so forth, but it takes a lot of time to find them so when the retailers say it is not made any more...spend some time to confirm the statement.

    Lastly check the date of production yourself, do not take the word of the tech selling the tires, look at each tire and verify it for yourself. Many of these tires have been on the shelf 6 months or a year before sale. Plan ahead, special order so you will get your moneys worth since most of these tires will age out before being worn out.

    Thanks to the Tireman9 for his input during this quest. B

  11. Posted · Report reply

    2001 Safari Zanzibar 123103 The project involves removing said Toshiba boat anchors and replacing with nice light Samsung 27 LED HDTV and a 32inch Smart LED HDTV units to replace them. Ok, the anchors are gone and at Best Buy. The TVs are hung on nice MoRyde articulated arms and locked in place. The new Direct TV traveler SMW3 is mounted and wires routed into coach. Now there are a lot of wires to be dealt with. Some will obviously go and some stay. HDMI is the current technology and does not appear to link up easily with coaxial cable era. I also have the HD antenna with an amplified signal and a Blue Ray player to combine into the system. There is a push button router, likely to go and an A/B switch installed in the UHF antenna wiring, this likely stays. There is one coaxial cable to the rear tv and one to the basement. Maybe a good place to put the satellite receiver if wireless. Service will be Direct TV. What is the best route to take, wireless or hardwired ? What components are needed from here, let's do it with quality stuff. Certainly wireless would eliminate emptying the basement to route wires. Will Direct TV allow a Genie system in our coaches if we have one in house at home? Thanks in advance Bill

  12. Posted · Report reply

    Additionally this is what I found in my search for AC and heating products as I have updated and made numerous preventive repairs. Acme Automotive products who supplied many of the components to the industry supplied the heating and AC components for my 2001 Zanzibar 123103. They went out of business a bit ago and the inventory was purchased by acmerepairparts.com or also serviced by soldbyrichard.com. Richard is a no nonsense sort of fella with a wide knowledge of many coaches. He has supplied numerous components in reasonable time frames and prices. No one sells parts for these things inexpensively. He has supplied vents long ago broken during installation with nice new shinny ones. I am sure many of the parts came from other sources and might be less expensive if one eliminates the cost of the search. This is a quick solution with one person...his phone number is 913-515-1560 I might add that I arrived a Richards doorstep so to speak by way of Allied Recreation Group current owner of the Monaco line. Their nr in Oregon 877-466-6226 and East 800-435-7345 The most knowledgeable, I have found, is Bill Reed a Safari employee back in the day. He is a gold mine of information

  13. Posted · Report reply

    I just completed the rehab of my roof on a 2001 Safari Zanzibar. It looks marvelous, bright and shiny using the Dicor system. It took 7 hours of scrubbing with the cleaner at 57 bucks a gallon, I used one and a half gallons and 6 Scotch Brite pads to skuff it up for a mechanical bond as suggested.

    After the first cleaning the fiberglass looked incredible but not very reflective. I bought a 100 foot roll of 4 mil plastic at Home Depot and masked the lower walls for protection and rolled the $87 a gallon coating away. It took a bit less than 2 gallons, looks like new and has stuck like Gorilla glue.

    While at it I resealed all the skylights and the vents and painted them too...

    Now a happy Camper and hard costs were under $400 and 2 two buckets of elbow grease. B

  15. Posted · Report reply

    As I have been crawling around underneath my 2001 Safari Zanzibar with the CAT 330, the Onan generator located on the left rear and rearward of the electrical cabinet I noticed the floor/ceiling above the exhaust was scorched!!! Specifically The exhaust goes forward from the turbo charger toward the electrical cabinet and then makes a right hand bend goes a few inches 6 or 8 and then bends down a foot or so into the muffler. This area has zero air flow and no way to create any. A substantial amount of heat has caused the covering to melt and the floor ply sandwich to scorch badly.

    SOLUTION: wrap the exhaust from the turbo to the bend prior to the muffler with graphite exhaust wrap. Thank you NASCAR. This wrap is available at your friendly NAPA and Summit Racing (cheaper) stores. It took 50 feet and required I allow the exhaust to drop a bit from the retaining cradle in order to get my arms up in there to wrap it. It was not heavy nor difficult to reinstall muffler in original location. The idea of this wrap is that the heat is retained within the exhaust piping and sent out the tail pipe.

    Suggestion: find a teenager with Long Skinny arms to help. There was one spot that was tough the rest was difficult until I dropped the muffler a couple inches. I cut the wrap at 25 feet and worked with two pieces. No more fire potential in this location.

    Good luck

    Bill

  16. Posted · Report reply

    Well from 40 years of mechanicing I believe two reasons. First there are two of them. The least probable is age, but the primary culprit was an oil leak that even when cleaned continued to bathe them gently in oil. It was not the kind of leak that gets fixed quickly, a slow seep. I have not gotten them out yet but they look pretty squishy. Had they been dry for the last 13 years they would most likely have been ok. I must add here that I have owned this coach 3 years and it has taken some time to chase some of these minor issues down. B

  17. Posted · Report reply

    Thanks Brett,

    Yes I did call Allied Recreation Group, can't tell you why that did not occur to me as I have used them a lot recently.

    Here is what I found: Mission Sales out of Texas (817-453-1900) was the source for mounts. The original mounts are now out of production but some still available.

    Part number for the fan end/rear SIM 300-70. This supersedes to a "CUSHY FLOAT" nr. 1760-1657-65 approx. $80

    The front or trans end SIM 200-60 supersedes to a "CUSHY FLOAT" nr. 17-1609-65 approx. $136

    The new mounts are purportedly a better mount

  18. Posted · Report reply

    2001 Safari Zanzibar Needs new rear engine mounts as the fan is now rubbing the fan shroud. There are two mounted under the engine on the rear cross member. Does anyone have an idea where to get new ones. I have checked with CAT...not their part. Who would engineer this part. B

  19. Posted · Report reply

    2001 Safari Zanzibar Having initiated this thread, I failed to follow up after taking the advise offered. So here is the feedback after nearly 10,000 miles.

    It is perfect and a pleasure to drive, wind or no wind, passing a semi or having one pass me. Bumps in the road are almost smooth, no more suspension bottoming and a big bang! I took Ralph's advise completely, all of it!

    First checked the ride height and it was off an inch and a half, really all corners were different. So I fixed it by removing shims, each amounting to 1/4 inch with correct ride height at 25 inches measured from the center of the axels to the bottom of the belt line molding. This is approximately 42 inches off of a concrete pad finished flat. The latter being a quick and dirty check.

    Next reversed the upper front shock mounts. That is I took the right front and turned it upside down and placed it on the left side, same for the other side. There is a bolt that cannot be dropped so put a wrap of safety wire on it to keep it from dropping back into the dark hole of the chassis and the fuel tank. This fine wire can be left in place when installing the mount. I replaced the shocks with the new generation KONIs Ralph recommended. His last iteration of this change is a single shock, the dual set is out and forget Bilstein gas shocks, hydraulics are better in this application.

    His fabrication shop in Washington produces 3 stabilizer bars, 2 for the front and one for the rear. One of these bars is a likeness of the one on the left side installed by the manufacturer. It goes on the right side and aids in stabilizing the front axle under hard braking. Why they left it off is a mystery.

    Lastly, with the torsalactics dying a slow death, Mr. Andrews recommended supplemental air bags to help the them live a healthy and long life. Since there are no torsalactic units available, Ralph's stash is gone and none are being made, it seemed to make sense. In addition to all of that I added a 1.5 gallon air tank into the Pac Brake air system which was used to supply the airbags and the air horn.

    It all works perfectly. Total cost for parts was under $3000. Sounds like a lot of money but it is safer to drive and puts a big smile on Janet's face.

  22. Posted · Report reply

    Having owned a body/repair shop I dislike having someone else repair my equipment so the following is information obtained from Allied Recreation Group with respect to maintenance on my Safari 2001 Zanzibar. I am beginning a major brake maintenance and found finding the parts awkward so here is what I found and what I am using to improve the componentry and performance.

    Per spec sheet SUPPLIED BY ALLIED RECREATION INC. double checked and then checked again!

    '99 THRU 2002 ALL SAFARI BEAVER AND HARNEY EXCEPT MARQUIS AND TREK

    FRONT CALIPER S01803750 REAR CALIPER MVA3263Y1195
    FRONT PADS MV7655D786 REAR PADS MVAECMD225
    MOUNT KIT S01803877 REAR ROTOR 1999 MVD6176
    FRONT SEAL 12K S01803741 REAR ROTOR 2000 NEED DEPTH
    FRONT SEAL 9K MV143690-0009 REAR ROTOR 2001-2002 MV5471 (SAME AS FRONT)
    FRONTNT ROTOR 1999 MVD6176 REAR HOSE 18621364
    FRONT ROTOR 2000 NEED DEPTH REAR ASB SENSOR 16616424
    FRONT ROTOR 2001-2002 MV54771
    FRONT HOSE AIR RIDE 18621361
    FRONT HOSE VELVET RIDE 18621365
    FRONT ABS SENSOR 16617181
    FRONT HUB COVER 12K S01806751
    FRONT HUB COVER 9K S01806750

    '96 THRU 1998 ALL SAFARI AND BEAVER EXCEPT MARQUIS AND TREK

    FRONT PADS MVMS7149 N/A REAR CALIPER MV600520259
    FRONT CALIPER MV60050259 N/A REAR PADS MVMS7149
    FRONT ROTOR 9K MV23122703 REAR ROTOR MV23122729
    FRONT ROTOR 12K MV23123458 REAR D/S HOSE M0200404
    FRONT SEAL 9K MV143690-0009 REAR P/S HOSE M0200403
    FRONT SEAL 12K S01803877 REAR HOSE FRAME TO AXEL M0200373
    FRONT HOSE AIR RIDE 18621361
    FRONT HOSE VELVET RIDE 18621365
    ANTI RATTLE SPRING MV69160445

    COACH NUMBERS FIRST ABS USED ON:

    112717 PANTHER
    112711 CONTINENTAL
    112833 SERINGETTI
    112821 SAHARA
    101227 ZANZIBAR
    152415 PATRIOT

    While talking with the fellas at Allied Recreation, it was indicated that the brake rotors were not available though not indicated in the list. They were in fact available from the aftermarket. I did not have to look very hard having the rotor numbers in hand. It turns out than CENTRIX manufactures them in two forms a standard duty and one that is "cryoed" as a premium rotor. The cryoed rotor is frozen in liquid nitrogen for a period of time then heated for a period of time and then brought back to room temperature. It is molecularly different, now allowing for better heat transfer and longer wear. It's resistance to heat and fracturing is substantially better, allowing for 30 to 40% additional wear before being replaced. The front rotors on my Zanzibar have less than 30K on them and are badly heat fractured and needing a change. There is plenty of pad remaining. After my discussion with Allied Recreation they indicated I should call OTT"s Friction in Portland, Oregon for additional discussion on pads. Their opinion on the original pads was not very high believing that ABEX pads offered a better co-efficient of friction, smoother action and much better stopping, just what I am looking for. Tomorrow I will supply Centric and abex part numbers and a reasonable indication of cost. 4/4/14 Centric rotors part nr. 120.83013CRY under $180 ea ABEX by Federal Mogul brake pad nr. front SD786 part nr. rear SD225 about $130 front and 80 rear

    4/11 all the componentry and time have fallen into place and it is time to get this completed. I began by lifting the coach a bit with the front jack and the used a 2.5 ton floor jack to lift each side of the front axel beam just high enough to get 3 4X4s stacked under each side. This allowed the front tires to be about 3/4 inch off the floor and easily removed from the hubs. Prior to beginning the maintenance issues on this coach I purchased a Chicago Pneumatic 3/4 inch impact wrench to facilitate long term repairs believing I can make them for less. I also set the coach up with on board air. It should be noted here that if you do tackle these projects some parts are heavy and a bit of planning helps. The right side lug nuts are right hand thread and the left side are left hand threads. The old adage "righty tighty lefty loosy" does not work on the left side of old SAFARI coaches. I can not speak to others yet. I removed the front tires and set them aside, standing. Laying them down, it will be a very heavy job getting them up again.

    Now these front axel hubs are an oil bath type, meaning the wheel bearings are running in 90 weight gear oil, they are not greased. The hub cover needs to be removed and the, or most of the oil drained. There will be some left in the hub that will appear when the outer bearing is removed and the hub and rotor are pulled off the stub axel. Before this can be accomplished, the brake caliper pistons must be retracted by applying pressure against the old pads in reverse of what happens when one applies the brakes. Use a pair of large screw drivers, one at the top of the "hat" and one at the bottom and apply even pressure to force the pads back. This will force brake fluid back to the reservoir. This happens so slowly, be patient. This "hat" is the portion of the caliper that contains the pistons that apply pressure to the pads as the brakes are applied. It is held on to the caliper body with two bolts on the back side, which are in turn, two pins each with a with a dust boot. These pins need to be removed cleaned and re-greased prior to reassembly. These pins need to move freely with no resistance as they allow the "hat" to float back and forth as the brakes are applied and released. Now this "hat" is heavy, once unbolted do not allow it to hang from the brake hose by itself. Set it up on the axel where it looks like it belongs. Next, the "face" of the caliper must be removed. This is retained be 4 inverted nr. 12 Torques bolts. A special tool in any tool box only about 12 dollars! All of the bolts here are insured not to come undone by the liberal use of a heavy bodied thread locker. The use of this material makes removing them slow going if an impact wrench is not on site.

    With the face removed the hub and rotor are ready to be removed. Carefully remove the large cotter key. Many times they can be used more than once. This is a good time to be very cautious noting the number of revolutions it takes to remove the castle nut, as this determines how tight the bearing is when reassembled. Too tight and a problem will brew, too loose another can arise. Remove the thrust washer and the bearing and wash all parts in solvent. Note the color of the bearing. If it is blueish, it has been hot and should be replaced. If the oil smells burnt there are problems not dealt with here. Be careful as you remove this assembly, it is going be be close to 80 or more pounds and it is full of oil I mentioned earlier. I used a large aluminum cookie sheet for catching the oil and holding all of the parts.

    I placed the assembly on the cookie sheet directly below the stub axel to remove the brake rotor. It is going to require that impact wrench bought or rented to remove the ten or so big long bolts holding these two together and to put them back together. The replacement of the bolts will align these components so no special effort is required. It should be noted that this assembly may have been torqued, maybe not, but the bolts were very tight. It will be difficult to torque them to any given spec by ones self. Assembly is the reverse of this description with the exception of the hub cover which will need a liberal bead of RTV sealant placed around the face to seal in the approximate 8 or so oz of 90 wt oil. Fill as sight glass requires to bottom of circle on sight glass.

    The Abex pads are actually a Federal Mogul component made in the U.S.A. Part nrs for 99-2004 pads and rotors Front SD786 (7654D786SD) Rears SD225 (7142D225SD) Rotors same front and rear Centric Parts nr 120.83013CRY for the premium rotor and 120.83013 for non cryo rotor.

    The brake fluid in the entire system was then flushed till completely clean with clear DOT 4 fluid, and boy was it ugly brown.

  23. Posted · Report reply

    Having been in the auto body and paint repair business for nearly forty years, now retired and having purchased a very nice 2001 Zanzibar, I found the information related to refinishing these coaches to be some what lacking and that may be an understatement. I was not able to find formulas or the color codes easily. I am sure many shops and second owners of older coaches have had this problem, particularly the Do It yourselfers. Yes the colors can be computer generated from samples but this takes time and occasionally costs money. The colors can be hand matched and this take considerable skill and time and will cost plenty. For those not in the know and with out the service packs originally supplied with each coach built by the original SAFARI coach folks information is very limited. The original OEM paint finish was Diamont, a polyester base coat/ clear coat product, a sub-sector finish by BASF. The German based BASF has been the leading producer of automotive topcoats world wide since the first Porsches were constructed in the 1950s.

    These finishes were custom formulated for SAFARI by Industrial Finishes, Inc , who by the way is still in business in Oregon. By having the last 6 numbers of the vin (vehicle Identification number) one can call Allied Recreation Groups information line (800 450 6336) and request the color codes for that particular vehicle. That page in their archived material will include the paint scheme as well. The base color of the coaches was white and the other colors placed upon that. Having the color codes will enable Industrial Finishes Inc to look up the appropriate formulas in quantities of a pint, quart and gallon. In theory one could take the stock color code to their local BASF Glasurti/Diamont dealer and order the required material. I called the local supplier and yes these formulas are available in the Diamont line . According to Industrial Finishes, Inc these formulas were not formulated into the other American or European paint lines.

    In a parting note to the Do It Yourself crowd. In order to achieve a finish that will last five years, a minimum of 2 mills of clear coat must be applied, a bit more if sanded and polished. An additional coat or two will greatly enhance the longevity, more than 2 extra will diminish the life of the clear coat. :rolleyes: B

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