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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / RVs / July 2007

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Old LeisureCraft, New/Old RV'ers

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Recycled Newbie - 29 Jul 2007 00:40 GMT
Hi All!
In the 1970's used to go camping with friends in a Holiday Rambler
that fit on the bed of a Dodge pickup..Had auxilary wheels!
.  We remember some great times up and down the entire East Coast from
Maine to Key West.
Laer, the guy bought and old GM Coach with a 671 Diesel.  We gutted it
and finished it in about a year. We heliarced the water tank from 316
Stainless, and made the holding tanks from 1/2"  polypropylene.  All
the usual goodies, plus a rotary power converter (Now obsolete thanks
to inverters).  Went as far as Mexico in the thing.
Now, thirty years later, we decided to get back into it.

Here is what we bought. CHEAP.  A 1988 Leisure Craft, and if anyone
has experience or commentary I would love to hear it, as there is
little info.

http://www.gearloose.com/LC.html

 Is this one of those "Joe and Al" companies that disappeared after a
short run?

The camper has 52,000 miles on it, and is built on a Ford Econoline
350 chassis.

Some intial observations:
_Everything_ works well. Passed emissions with flying colors.
First owner used it as a Summer Cabin.  Drove it up North in April,
drove it home in November.
Owner had all reciepts and repair records since new.
My wife is comfortable driving it.

___I think it handles like a drunk pregnant snake, myself.___

Do they all do that?  Sickening roll on "S" curves.
New shocks, tires good, most front end components are new.
I think it is just Physics...?
Greg Harrison - 29 Jul 2007 20:06 GMT
> Hi All!
> In the 1970's used to go camping with friends in a Holiday Rambler
[quoted text clipped - 32 lines]
> New shocks, tires good, most front end components are new.
> I think it is just Physics...?

Congratulations on your purchase. Here's hoping you enjoy it as much as we
do ours.

We too once had a Class C on a 1988 Ford E350 chassis and had similar
handling issues. Here's what we did to resolve them plus a couple of
suggestions:

- 4 new Bilstein shocks. Other brands may also work but I've had excellent
results with Bilsteins

- new urethane bushings on the sway bar ends

- consider upgrading sway bars with units from IPD

- it looks like your rigs sits front end high. The rear leaf springs may
have settled some over the last 20 years. Consider adding a leaf or perhaps
air springs to level the ride. Note this will not raise the weight you can
legally or safely carry, it will just raise the rear ride height and put
more weight on the front axle.

- Don't put anything heavier than folding chairs in that rear bumper basket.
Every 100 lbs hung out back takes 50 - 75 lbs off the front axle which
contributes to road wander.

- it looks like your fresh water fill is at the back. If your storage tank
is also at the back, try to travel with little water and fill it up at your
destination. 50 gallons of water near the very back will lighten the front
end by perhaps 200 lbs, contributing to wander.

- arrange your load so all the heavy stuff is between the axles. Use the
storage under the dinette seats for heavy stuff instead of that large
curbside outside storage area under the bed.

- inflate your tires properly. Fully loaded, weigh each axle and look up the
correct minimum inflation pressure for that load from your tire
manufacturer's web site. Replace the tires if the date code shows they are
more than 6 years old or are showing signs of cracking sidewalls or between
the tread elements.

- lastly, load your rig fully then take it to a good alignment shop.

One word of warning, that 460 is a thirsty beast. We always got 10 mpg
(Imperial) or about 8 mpg (US) no matter what. Full, empty, towing a boat or
toad, solo, a/c, no a/c. Plan and budget accordingly. Maintain it and it
will last practically forever.

It will never be a sports car but should be stable enough for the driver to
be relaxed at sensible speeds on any road with a yellow line down the middle
of it. Enjoy!

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Greg H
Near Edmonton, Alberta
(remove the 9 to reply)


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