Mor/Ryde IS installation..

[TXBobcat]

Well we don't have axles on the BH. We pulled into their parking area and stayed Sunday night. At about 6:30 am they knocked on the door to get started. It was raining. We really did not like getting up and ready to go by 6am.

We pulled out onto the street and they measured the height of the trailer at a number of points.

I pulled it into a bay and they weighed the trailer and I had them weigh the rear axle of the truck. They got started and we went up front to get a key to enter the building while they were close.

We took off and went to Grandmas restaurant and had breakfast. Went back to Elkhart campground and saw CJ & JD Wigley. Talk about tired. We decided to rent a motel room and stay over night so we did not have to get up at 5am again. So here I am relaxing and going to get a good nights sleep.

I went down when they finished for the day and took some pictures. If your interested you can view them at my Photobucket link below.

MorRyde installation It is a lot easier to see the photos if you use the slideshow on the right side. This allows you to see the titles and descriptions. I did not make a lot of comments on some.

I will add pictures as I can get them. I want to take photos of the bracing they use for the IS.

Stay tuned.
BC

 

[talley]

BC... thanks for the pictures. A side benefit of the install is a real education on what is "under there". I have had a concern about the suspension on our BH... having unusual tire wear, wallowed out shackles, two blowouts (one on each side) and at the Houston rally Gary found a spring mount out of square by 3/4 inch as well as the MorRyde rubber springs appparently undersized. We have been scheduled at MorRyde to have these corrected and a wet bolt kit installed next week just before the rally. Have reconsidered all these issues and spoke with Gary this morning and have decided to have the IS installed and be done with it.
Looking at your pictures and the new beams... do you have any idea what the plus or minus weight result is of the IS vs the axle? Would there be a gain or loss?

I guess if there are any surprises to be discovered this would be the time to find them. Would be interested in any other pictures you are able to post.


Thanks, Jerry (MJTexas)

 

[TXBobcat]

Jerry
I don't know what the weight difference would be. Hopefully it will be a wash. I don't think all the beams have been installed. The one that goes across the width is a small one to support the water tank. The ones he placed on the frame front to rear are the only ones for the IS system so far.

I plan to go out there shortly and see what is going to be done today. I am also having the JT's Strong Arm Stabilizers installed as well. They are a little higher than other prices but MorRyde will do a good job installing them.

More later.
BC

 

[Niles]

I'm sure you will be happy with it, towing ours home last week I could tell a big difference. Even though I went with the 8000# axles it rode better. By the time I came home got loaded and back home again from the Goldwing rally we were very happy with our decision to put Mor-Rdye on. See you at Goshen and compare notes.

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

Bobcat, Thanks for the photos. I like the addition of the sturdier support to the Fresh tank. Do you have any thoughts as to where the water may have come from that caused the OSB to get wet/discolored? Residual road rain spray perhaps? Another thing I notice is the adapter from 3" down to 1.5" on the gray tank drain. It would appear we could never get a complete drain on the tank. You have a picture of a "New Rail, DS Front" I suppose this is to help prevent frame flex? I must say it sure appears they do a thorough job for the installation. It's too bad a guy couldnt stay there and rehang and reposition some of the wiring and or fresh water vent/fill tubing. It will be interesting to see how they reattach the underbelly material to the new frame riser rails. Thanks again Bob, keep us posted. Hey, I thought you were going to sleep in!!!

 

[Tom of Ypsi]

Bob,

Thanks for the pics. Maybe we will see you over at Mor/Ryde. Have nothing to do waiting on our coach to be repaired, hopefully done today, so we may see you over there. Maybe a close up look will convince Judy of the need, she is close but needs that push.

 

[Delaine and Lindy]

BC, I think you will be happy with the work Mor/Ryde does. We were there in 2006 and had Disk Brakes installed. They really took care of us, and all the work was done very professional. Our MS has disk brakes and its like night and day difference in electric vs hydraulic disk.

We are in Goshen for the Suites Rally this week (site #412). We will have to stay over for a few days. Don't know what site we will be in after the the 8th but will have to move for the Heartland Rally. If we are still here Delaine and me would like to meet some of you Guys, and Gals. GBY........

 

[TXBobcat]

I went to MorRyde this morning and arrived a little after 7am. They had all the bracing and the underbelly already up. Could not get any pictures. It doesn't look like it would be difficult to remove the underbelly. They said it takes two to put it up. One to hold the cover and another to put in the bolts. I may drop the cover and let those interested look at their work. I can also take more photos then.

The beam on the frame is not part of the under frame bracing. I believe this is an additional surface to attach the IS system. I am going out there about noon today and try to take more photos as they build the system. Will post them as I can.

From talking to Sergio, the tech, he said the board under the fresh water tank collects a lot of moisture from condensation. He sees this on a lot of trailers. Chris (MorRyde coordinator for me. Ben is out of town) called me yesterday about a lot of water under the trailer. At first we thought it might be a leaking water tank. When I arrived Sergio told me he did not see any leak from the fresh water tank, but it was water that collected in the underbelly most likely from condensation and maybe water from the highway. Going to have to do some checking later.

While at MorRyde I was talking to someone that was having the IS system on their Montana. He said he would never buy another Montana or Big Sky because they use the same frame and it is also to lite to hold the trailer. He was looking at Heartland.

I know it is important for trailer mfgrs to reduce costs but I wish they would make sure that the support for the trailers were more dependable. The frame, hitch brace in front and the axles. This is a safety concern. I can fix almost any other problem but I do not like the possibility of having frame and axle problems.

More later..
BC

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

Thanks for the update Bobcat. I guess if word of mouth advertising has any merit, just hearing of all of the work going on at Mor/ryde is somewhat comforting. I'll be following this thread for sure. See you all in about a week.

 

[talley]

Thanks for the update Bobcat. I guess if word of mouth advertising has any merit, just hearing of all of the work going on at Mor/ryde is somewhat comforting. I'll be following this thread for sure. See you all in about a week.

Ray, this is one of the factors that I found important in deciding that the IS system would be the way to go in addressing some of my concerns about the suspension on my BH. I may have drawn the straw for the problematic suspension, but regardless of that I have to do something to get back into that comfort zone. It may be that there are just not enough IS systems out there.... but, have not seen any posts describing problems or dissatisfaction with the system.



Jerry

 

[jmgratz]

Hey Bobcat, I took photos of the IS/DiscBrake installation on our Landmark last year. I made a PowerPoint presentation out of it and if anyone is interested, I can show it at the Rally. I did give Gary at Mor/Ryde a copy of it. Sergio and the crew do great work and we are totally happy with our Mor-Ryde system including the disc brakes. We know you will be too. Incidentally, I dropped the underbelly on ours back in early May myself and liked to killed myself getting it back up by myself. If you do it get someone to help as it is a tough job. My back still hurts. See you guys at the Rally.

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

I had read a thread a couple years ago about an owner who replaced the underbelly material with sheet galvanized. I would imagine there are other materials available that would work too but the fact that removal by sections is a pretty cool concept. I guess if a guy had the initiative and money, anything is possible. Oh oh, my mind is starting to gather ideas. How about non-vented soffit material?

Hmmm...

 

[Goldenwingers]

Ray I have seen one with galvanized sheet metal under it. It looked good and much more durable than the material that is put on from the factory, Hmmmmm soffit material huh, now there is a thought.

Don

 

[kkamshop]

Bob, the water in the belly is what we have been experiencing. I am beginning to think that we all have water in there and most just never find it...

We got ours back from the shop yesterday and had to drive in thunderstorms about 1/2 the way home, I'm afraid to put my hand down in the floor vent opening to check it out.

 

[TXBobcat]

Update

I have added new photos on photobucket. I also learned that the pictures that I took earlier showing the modifications in the under belly are all that was done. The additional additions started today. Sergio has reattached the underbelly so nicely I would hat to remove it.

I took pictures again around Noon and everything is looking good. One thing I did see is that my tires have at some time or other rubbed the bottom of the slide. I think I am going to get me some galv. metal and screw it to the bottom of the slide. They are raising the coach about an inch or so to keep the IS from hitting the bottom of the slide. I still plan to put the galv or maybe aluminum on the bottom of the slide.

Kathy
Serigo told me a lot of the water that collects in the underbelly comes from condensation. He said about all the trailers he has seen has this problem. Before he put the underbelly cover up, he put 4 small holes through the material to allow any water to drain. These holes are about a 1/8" in diameter or less. If your thinking about making holes be very careful to not hit the fresh water tank.

Jim Gratz
That is a good idea. I may make a PP cd but I am not a very good artist. It would most likely be very plain jane.

I am going to pickup the BH around noon tomorrow. They will put the JT on in the morning and when I get there we will check out how it rides and make any adjustments.

Here is the URL again if you would like to check out the new photos
MorRyde upgrade
The new photos start after the HDT in the parking lot.

Later
BC

 

[SouthernNights]

What brake actuator did they use? It looks like maybe a Dexter? but I dont see a name (or am I just blind)?

 

[dieselengineer]

brakeline size

Great pictures Bob. I am in the process of changing the old drum brakes on my BH. The actuator appears to be an Carlisle Hydrostar HBA-16. Somethings you may like to ask the techs. Are they running 1/4 brake lines or 3/16? The brake hose pictures you have appear to be 3/16. Also, where did they get the flex lines (hoses) with the chips. I have been looking and have not found a source. And one last question to ask is if they used the output adapter port (304-7107) on the hydrostar. The adapter is for 1/4 line set. So if they did not use the 1/4 tubing, they did not need it. If they did, please take some picture I am having a hard time finding what is in this adapter kit other then a coupling. Thanks DE

 

[klindgren]

Here is the URL again if you would like to check out the new photos
MorRyde upgrade
The new photos start after the HDT in the parking lot.

Later
BC

I give Up I tried 4 times to look at the pictures Bob posted, using the slideshow as he suggested. I get a message saying I need to update Adobe Flash, each time.

Each time I click on Update and go through all the screens telling me to install Active-X etc. and get the screen that says Active-X has installed successfully. -- But when I go back to the photos and click on slideshow, I again get the messages saying I need to update Adobe Flash. I am totally frustrated.

As you can tell me and comuters ain't real good buddies

Keith

 

[jbeletti]

Keith,

Now that you have updated Active-X, you may need to enable it within your browser. Which browser do you use? I use Firefox. My guess is that you use Internet Explorer?

Jim

 

[klindgren]

Keith,

Now that you have updated Active-X, you may need to enable it within your browser. Which browser do you use? I use Firefox. My guess is that you use Internet Explorer?

Jim

Jim, you are correct. It is IE here at home. I have Firefox at work.

Keith