Project Gracie

Oz · April 16, 2013, 11:25 PM

I know, right! Classic Winnebagos held a wedding there... talk about a project! Man, that was great and it'll be an event never forgotten. I had a project of installing an upgrade converter I had for about 3 years I was hoping to get done but, there just wasn't enough time, I guess. But Tammy and Glenn's LP tanks were falling down through the bottom! Every available body jumped in and got that taken care of. Good thing it didn't happen on their way back home. They had a lot of canned goods in their cabinets and they gave way on the road but, that's another story. TJ got his generator running like a champ with the combined team of helpers... and so much was accomplished with others as well! What a great jam it is with all the Classic Winnebagos and Vintage RVs members who attend!

ibdilbert01 · April 18, 2013, 01:00 AM

Took the RV to the muffler shop today. New pipes, muffler, hangers and they replaced two manifold bolts that were missing, total cost was 290 bucks. Didn't think that was too bad. Then on the way back I stopped at the CB shop and picked up a new CB and antenna. Went with a modest Galaxy DX959 with a single HQ27 hustler antenna.

Then with only about 10 miles left, she started to go up a hill and tuckered out and stalled. I limped it to the neighbors driveway, will take a look at it this weekend, it seems to just be a fuel issue. Oddly its intermediate, meaning sometimes it pumps fuel into the clear filter, and sometimes it doesn't. On the bright side, the new shocks made a huge improvement on the ride!

Stripe · April 18, 2013, 01:41 AM

Good to hear the ride was nice, looking forward to my upcoming shock work..

ClydesdaleKevin · April 18, 2013, 12:48 PM

Not unless they move the Jam forward a week...otherwise it starts the weekend before the New York faire opens, which is our busiest faire of the season, making it impossible for us to attend. Getting the RV out of the New York site once everyone else starts to arrive is next to impossible, which is why get there as early as we do.

Kev

Oz · April 18, 2013, 01:43 PM

QuoteTook the RV to the muffler shop today. New pipes, muffler, hangers and they replaced two manifold bolts that were missing, total cost was 290 bucks. Didn't think that was too bad.

Not bad? I think that's pretty fantastic, these days! The Mor-Ryde really look s like an odd set-up. Do you keep the original shock system too, or are they removed?

Stripe · April 18, 2013, 05:01 PM

Mark, as far as my rig I believe it is it's own suspension specifically made for the frame and not supplementing another.

ClydesdaleKevin · April 18, 2013, 07:38 PM

Caochman, that is an odd setup for Mor-Ryde...doesn't quite match up with anything in the manual. Springs look the same though, and your design appears to keep them out of the sunlight, which is a very good thing for rubber. Yours look to be in darn nice condition...we had to replace ours a while back...all 4 of them, which wasn't cheap!

Kev

ibdilbert01 · April 18, 2013, 10:18 PM

Mark, the original owner ordered mine from Winnebago with Mor/Ryde. I do not believe Mor/Ryde came from dodge already on the chassis, I think Winnebago installed them at the factory. Air shocks did not come with the Mor/Ryde, but the PO had them installed on mine, so I put them back on it.

On mine, winnebago moved the shocks towards the frame rails, not sure why, maybe the needed the extra room for the generator box on the other side.

Also got it started and brought it home tonight. Ended up sitting a can on the passengers side floor and ran a fuel line down to the fuel pump, she fired right up and came home. So its either sucking air or the sock on the pickup tube is clogged. The filter looks pretty nasty, the tank might be full of rust.

ibdilbert01 · April 18, 2013, 10:21 PM

QuoteCaochman, that is an odd setup for Mor-Ryde...doesn't quite match up with anything in the manual

I think his looks exactly like whats printed in the manual. Hm?

Oz · April 19, 2013, 09:06 AM

I took a good look through the manual. Very interesting idea and design. I was fairly baffled as to how they were supposed to work by just looking at the photos you posted of it. It must've been a pretty rare installation option back then for the old Winnies. You certainly do have a very special rig rig right there.

Froggy1936 · April 19, 2013, 10:48 AM

Appears as though Gracie has the Mor ride as the only suspension on the rear (no leaf springs) The other vehicles use the Mor Ride for a tandum axel Frank

Wantawinnie · April 19, 2013, 12:01 PM

That is a very interesting rear suspension on Gracie. Are the two metal pieces that the air shocks are mounted to originally part of the design or didn't it have any shocks to start with? The metal looks a little newer(less rusty).

DaveVA78Chieftain · April 19, 2013, 12:28 PM

As indicated in the 1970 brochure, the Mor-Ryde rear suspension was offered as an option package by Winnebago http://media.gowinnebago.com/models/globalElements/brochure/previous-models/1970/winnebago/70-WinnebagoD-bro.pdf
There is a drawing of it on PDF Page 14. It replaced the Dodge rear suspension.

Dave

ibdilbert01 · April 19, 2013, 10:09 PM

Quote from: Wantawinnie on April 19, 2013, 12:01 PM
That is a very interesting rear suspension on Gracie. Are the two metal pieces that the air shocks are mounted to originally part of the design or didn't it have any shocks to start with? The metal looks a little newer(less rusty).

The four shock hangers were bent in towards each other. Dad unbent them and added the channel as an extra measure so they wouldn't do that again. This weekend I'll paint them with some undercoating. Frank is exactly right, there are no leaf springs on the rear.

ibdilbert01 · April 21, 2013, 09:36 PM

Dropped the fuel tank this weekend, found tons of rusty sludge!! Cleaned it out, replaced some of the fuel line and replaced the wires on the sending unit. Shes running like a champ again!

Oz · April 22, 2013, 12:38 PM

Did you just clean out the tank or did you add any tank coating?

ibdilbert01 · April 22, 2013, 01:02 PM

We just cleaned the tank and have not coated it, probably should have used a tank liner, but we have a trip planned next weekend and are a bit pinned by time.

Been actually thinking about having a couple custom tanks made in the near future, maybe two 40 gals tied together at the top so I only have to have one neck fill.

ibdilbert01 · June 02, 2013, 08:03 PM

The 72 Winnebago only had a black water storage tank and no gray water storage. Because of this, we use to use a blue gray water tote on extended stays and this worked out pretty well, as we could take the tote down to the dump station without moving the rig.

My biggest gripe is my tote is a 30 gallon and is kinda big. Its bulky, dirty, and I hate packing it into the RV to bring it with us. Last year I talked to Dad about just making a hanger so I could store it under the RV, I had plenty of room in the back.

Dad came up with this idea instead....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAQOaO5ObaY

Its motorized and will lift the tank fully loaded. We're going to plumb it with quick disconnects on the gray water system (Gracie has no gray water tank). Its just sitting on two tracks, it rolls right out from under the RV really easy so if you need to dump it, its really no big deal.

cosmic · June 02, 2013, 09:08 PM

That is just awesome. your dad is a crafty guy. Now you did it. Got me thinking. how about some more info. pic , diagram.
I could use something like that.

JDxeper · June 02, 2013, 09:16 PM

That's cool. He's good. Way to go

Stripe · June 02, 2013, 09:50 PM

That's cool..

Oz · June 02, 2013, 10:53 PM

You two and your electro-wizardry... it just ceases to amaze....

Stripe · June 02, 2013, 11:34 PM

Yeah, maybe him and his Dad can design the electric drawer-ama-jiggey I want to do..

ibdilbert01 · December 01, 2013, 02:35 PM

We'll be traveling down to Gatlinburg TN this upcoming mid-week. Seeing how the tires we have are about 12 years old we figured it might be a good idea to start carrying the spare tire around. The PO kept the spare tire on the roof. The weight of the tire had started to sag the roof causing puddling and leaking. I removed the spare tire and its mount and fixed the leaks last summer, but never had a good way to carry the spare tire around.

This weekend Pop and I made a fast and easy tilt style tire carrier that tilts down, allowing us to get into the back trunk when needed. Because its held in via the receiver hitch, it can easily be removed. We flat tow a jeep cherokee sometimes, when we do, we can just stick the spare in the jeep like we have been doing. The tire is offset to the right so our wood box will still fit on the bumper, it slides to the left on rails also to allow the rear trunk to open.

ClydesdaleKevin · December 01, 2013, 06:14 PM

Nice!!! And being a HUGE Burns and Allen fan, I have to say it!

Say goodnight Gracie!

Kev