RE: Overloaded
We purchased a new 2002 Allegro in Dec 2001. Being the anal person I am I first checked the tires to see what they would carry, It has 19.5 GoodYear G670s. I have been in an overloaded situation before and did not want to go there again. Combined weight carring capabilitys of the tires was 26000 I was happy. Checked coach and it was on a 18000 chassis. No big deal Right ? Wrong! After loading her up with fuel, Water ETC she wieghed in at 17200. When I had the trailer hooked up, 800lb tounge weight, I was over weight. Called the Manufacture as well as Ford and checked what was the difference between the F53 18000, 20500 and 22000 chassis. Both the Manufacture and Ford said it was just the springs. Brakes suspension components ETC were all the same. Had another rear leaf put in and now she is good to go. With all this having been said check with GM to see what you need to do to upgrade the chassis.
Good Luck
Fuzzy
Hey Fuzzy, did neither Ford nor the manufacturer say anything about the different axles under each weight class?
2002 F53 chassis
18000# chassis = 11000# Dana 80 rear axle, 7000# front.
20500# chassis = 13500# Dana 110? rear axle, 7000# front.
22000# chassis = 14500# rear axle, 7500# front.
I thought this had everything to do with front and rear loads.
Please somebody correct me if I'm wrong because I can't leave my drive, legally, because of overweight on the rear. See my post, in this thread, to wny_pat.
RE: Overloaded
And yes, I have been ticketed for being over weight in a commercial vehicle. 130 lbs over the allowed percentage that they allow one to be over. If he would have let me get out of the cab, I would not have been over.
wny_pat, Do you happen to know the allowable % of overweight?
I have a Monaco Monarch, which when stripped down to the way it was when delivered, with full tanks of gas and water, I only have 200# ccc left on the rear axle. No People, no nothing in the motorhome. This (I found out later) was a special model they put out on an 18000# chassis. I bought this from the original owner who lead me to believe it was a 20500# chassis. My bad.
RE: Fiberglass body repair
Just crunched the left rear corner of my '03 Monaco Monarch. The rear cap will have to be replaced and along with some interior work the bill comes to $13,000.00.
Hope you have better luck with your repairs.
Only one place in St. George, UT to have the work done.
RE: Motor home rolls
I have a 2003 with an F53 chassis. It has 22000 miles on it and I decided to switch shocks and go with Koni. I was going to save the old ones for an emergency or what ever reason, but as it turned out, three of the originals were totally blown. You could work the piston without any resistance.
RE: Koni Shocks
I contacted shox.com and their price for 4 FSD shocks (free shipping) is $159 each. I will have to get prices to have them installed. Does anyone know of a better price or have an idea about what installation should cost me? Thanks
jdmultimate.com has ford f53 shocks for $126 ea. plus $24.95 shipping for all four. I jumped to quickly and bought mine at ltbmotorsports.com and paid $153 ea. including shipping. Beat myself out of $83.00
RE: How to Purchase From A Private Party
Be sure to check the GVWR on the sticker. I purchased a 30' Monaco Monarch from a private party and while looking at the MH he handed me the brochure put out by Monaco. In it, all of the Monarch models had a 20500 lb. chassis and I kept telling him, several times, how great that will be for carrying everything I want. All the while he knew it was only an 18000 lb. chassis (he had written it in the back of the owners Manual), which was built specially by Monaco, and he did not tell me different. Two weeks after the purchase I discovered this and had it weighed, loaded for a weekend trip (20 gals of water), and I was overweight on the rear by 200 lbs. My fault, too trusting.
RE: RV Tips and Tricks
I use a Potato Chip bag clip which I put on the antenna crank. When I raise the antenna, I put the clip on the steering wheel. Can't miss it there.
RE: Ford "53" mileage survey.
I live in Utah so anywhere we go from here we encounter grades and wind.
My rig is 30' has two slides and is the 2002 chassis, so has the lesser horsepower engine though I do have the Banks Power Pack. I sometimes tow a Chevy Cavalier and the motorhome, on the road, is 18000 lbs. We have traveled 8829 miles in this MH in all sorts of terrain, into the wind, tail wind, toad and no toad, roof air on and roof air off and usually 55 to 62 mph. My average to date is 8.48 mpg.
I keep a log of our trips and record time and miles to each stop and also fuel so I know the figures are accurate.
RE: Vinyl Dashboard Material Unglued!
I have the same problem on my Monaco Monarch except that the area that released is a bubble about 5" to 6" in diameter and is located where the hump in the dash for the instruments and the flat in front of the co-pilot seat meet.
I called Monaco and they said they could not recommend anyone in our area or even the Las Vegas area to fix the problem.
I hate to attempt to repair it myself as the only way I can see is to cut the material to apply the adhesive. I'm sure that would be very ugly.
RE: 11,000 vs 13,500
Here's a link to the all the manuals available from the Dana website:
http://www2.dana.com/expertforms/depdf.aspx?prod=HAX
This brochire is the application guideline:
http://www2.dana.com/pdf/AXAG-0200.PDF
The lowest rated axle currently in production for a motorhome is 13,500 lbs. It comes with gear ratios from 4.10 to 5.38. I suspect some coach builders have derated this axle.
Thanks Hikerdogs.
I had found this site but both of these links refer to the "Heavy duty" S14-110 axle. If you notice on the chart, the lowest rated chassis is 27000 lbs. I have a 2003 Monaco Monarch on a 2002 ford F53 18000 lb. chassis which has the Dana 80 axle and I have had no success getting comparative information between the Dana 80 ff 13500 lb. axle and the Dana 80 ff 11000 lb. axle.
I called the Ford Tech line and she asked for my vin number. She checked the records and confirmed that my chassis has an 11000 lb. rear axle.
My problem is that when emptied (the way it came from the factory), with a full gas tank and full propane, (no water) I have about 600 lbs, ccc left on the front axle and only 200 lbs. ccc on the rear. No clothes, no people, no water, no tools, no spare, no nothing. Also the manufacture sticker does not list the ccc. In fact the Monaco brochures don't show anything less than a 20500 lb. chassis for this model. Go figure.
RE: Old Ford F53 exhaust manifolds worth anything?
If you find an outlet for the manifolds, let me know. I have two sets of them that need to find a new home.
That goes for me too. I have a stock set of stainless steel manifolds for a GMC 454. They are built with an accordion type expansion joint in them. They came off of a 1989 GMC 454 when I installed a set of Banks. I priced them at GMC one time and new they wanted the moon for them.
RE: 11,000 vs 13,500
Probably nothing...there's a member on here that was low on CCC, had Newmar change his axles out, and magically has a new "official" higher CCC.
Maybe I'm dense. Can you elaborate?
11,000 vs 13,500
Can anyone tell me the physical difference between a Dana rear end rated at 11,000 lbs. vs one at 13,500 lbs.?
The chassis is basically the same with possibly heaver springs on the heavier rated rear end.
Larger axle diameter? Larger bearings? I've attempted to find info on the Dana website but no luck.
Thanks, Ole
RE: Level than slides or slides then level
It seems to me that all the motorhomes referenced here are pushers with auto-level airbags which are therefore parking with a frame which is not twisted.
I have a Monaco Monarch which does not have the airbags, therefore I am not starting with a level chassis when I park.
My owners manual says to put slides out and then level, which I question because this manual refers to many many things that are not on this model.
I really wonder, when in a primitive site which is very out of level, whether I should level first to take the twist out of the frame before extending the slides. I tend to go against the manual in this case.
I have given up on talking to customer service because they are generally not at the manufacturing site and may not have ever been in one of the coaches, all they go by is what is on the computer screen in front of them. I called customer service at Monaco because this model (18000 lb chassis) when filled with gas, food and clothes for three days, tools and a few misc. items (no water) was 200 lbs over weight on the rear axle. His response was " that model was not made for travel, just local camping".
Thanks Monaco!
