Checking Them Off in the Express Bay at Tiffin

A little after 8:00 AM I called Bruce Deaton to see if I could come over and pay him for the paint work he did.  I went over and wrote out a check for $380.00.  Pretty reasonable for painting two bay doors, the bottom trim of the driver side (DS), and buffing out and touching up the front area where the flying window hit us earlier in the week.

Later, we were called into the Express Bay at the Service Center about 10:00 AM and we got over there shortly after 10:30 AM.  We had to get back to the coach and close it up, unhook the water and electric hoses and get over to Bay 32.

We got Rickey and Terry and went over our list before they started to work.  Rickey looked at the cracks in the bathroom door and the floor of the bathroom cabinet under the bathroom sink.

The wood on the bathroom door had expanded in the last few weeks in the humid South, so it was barely visible.  Not much he could do about that.  We put it on our list to look at back in February when we were in the high mountains of Arizona.  The dry weather there and into NM and West Texas caused the wood to shrink and we could see cracks in the glued panels.  But now in the wet and rainy weather of this part of the country, they were no longer visible.  Checked that one off the list.

Next he checked under the sink.  He showed us a new trap door I didn't realize we had.

The left side and corner were sagging and he felt under there to see if there was a support piece the shelf was resting on that may have come lose.  He ended up putting a trim piece around the back and side and screwing the floor into it.  Checked it off the list.

Out side, I told him about a piece of insulation that had worked its way out of the channel on the top inside of the passenger side (PS) rear slide out topper.

I was thinking he would unscrew a retaining piece and slide the trim back down the panel.  Instead he just cut it off.  Hmm, I could have done that.
I figured it was in the channel and serving some purpose?  like cushioning the rollup topper against the inside of the slideout and the side of the body?  Hmm...
Decided not to make a big deal about it and checked it off the list.

Next, on the inside, Rickey was trying to figure out why we were getting audio on the DVD but no picture.

 We ended up having to remove the TV and check the wiring on the back of it.  He got one of the stereo and TV techs to come take a look at the wiring and found the problem.  The correct wires were not in the correct holes.

We were glad to see the picture come up once he got the right wires in the right places.  We don't watch that many movies and found out a few weeks ago the DVD player was not correctly hooked up after we got our new Winegard Traveler back in January.  Check that one off the list.

Next we ran the small awning out over the front door.  It was not aligned quite right and it usually doesn't retrack without making a loud noise as if it is off the rails.  Course when I ran it out 3-4 times it worked perfectly.  On the 5th time it actually would not come out, then it was crooked going back into its casing.  They took a look, may have tightened a couple of things, and put WD-40 in some key places.  Works fine now.  Checked that one off the list.

Then we came to the front door.  It was still closing hard and I think needed some fine tuning.  We also had a broken plastic keyless door piece that I was keeping together with electrical tape.  Terry swapped out the keyless piece.

Then he worked on the door adjustment.

This was more of a problem.  He got it to where it would close with a push and open with a hard tug on the handle. This has always been a hard door to open, but I was hoping they could adjust things.  He worked on it for a long time and moved the striker a bit.  He adjusted a couple of things but it basically befuddled him.  Like it did me when we replaced the door handle back in Tucson.

The door frame looks like it is not perfectly square.  The door touched on the top and bottom edges but has a 1/8 inch gap in the middle.  Which is why it is a little bit harder than I think it should be.  But after a while, I knew it was as good as it was going to get so, I left it at that and we checked it off the list.

Then on to the rails.  I was told we had a crack and needed them replaced.  What??  Hmm.  I went up a ladder and looked myself.

I have some scratches on from some low hanging trees but I have washed and waxed the top many times and always check for cracks.  The rails are the long corner pieces on the roof that cover where it joins with the each side wall.

I asked Rickey to take a look and he cinched up his safety harness and slowly when over them.  He agreed that I had a scratch in the paint versus a crack in the rail.  Cracks cause leaks and we don't want to mess with that.  But if it is only a scratch, we will keep an eye on it and keep checking for cracks.

Tiffin had metal rails for years, then went to fiberglass rails.  But they have a problem with cracking, especially on the ones with dark paint for some reason.  Rickey and I went over to the bay where they repaired them and I saw what cracks in the rails looked like.

I was satisfied we don't need to have them replaced but will keep an eye on them.  It takes about 3 more days to get into the service bay where they change the rails and it is a one day job to replace them and a 1 day job to get them painted.  We were willing to take the time to get that done, but feel it is not necessary at this time.  Checked that one off the list.

The last item was a question on the jacks.  Sometimes after being in place for a few days, we notice that one of the jacks either was not fully extended or that it has retracted about 1/2 inch off the ground.  Also, at times it seems as if the coach shakes some when we move around inside.

We spoke with a tech in the Mechanic Bay who works on jacks and he suggested I mark the jacks 1" down the cylinder.  He was thinking we may have a bad solenoid on one or more of the jacks.

When we got back to our site and got set up, I crawled under the coach and made a marking with a Sharpie on each jack.  If the jack retracts over the next couple of days, we should be able to tell.  If not, we will check that one off the list, pay our bill and be done.

Many have wondered or asked, "What are you getting done at Red Bay?".  Hopefully over the last couple of posts, you have a better idea.  We try to get to factory about every 12 or 18 months and keep a running list of items to get checked out.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  We always appreciate the fact that you stop by.