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The RVer's Open Forum / GENERAL RV DISCUSSIONS / life of a 460?

Bob User ID: 7253233	May 6th 7:19 PM What would be the normal life of a 460 and tranny? The coach is a 1992 Holiday Rambler Imperial, 35 ft no slide 4 spd. Normal driving, mountains etc,. It has 73,000 miles.
jd User ID: 0101764	May 7th 6:55 AM Engine is powerful, rugged, thirsty. If well maintained probbly good for another 73. Replacing stock manifolds with headers and high flow exhaust would help it. Not neccessarily Bank$ but a good quality for the purpose like Thorley Tri-Y. Single or dual exhaust, cross pipe if dual. Check wwww.flowmastermufflers.com about that. I think Summit Racing has the Thorleys. At 105000 miles I replaced timing chain and sprockets on a preventive basis and they were still good on an 83 engine. You have a fairly early overdrive automatic. OD is electronically controlled, if your driving conditions keep it "hunting" between Third [which is Direct/High] and Fourth/OD, lock it out. Don't let it do that hunting. Don't overload it. You'll find yourself climbing mountain grades at low speed, high RPM, Second Gear. That's fine. Do regular fluid changes, that trans will run hot in 35' coach. If the trans fails it won't be cheap but can be rebuilt to later model specs and work still better. HR Imperial is an outstanding coach!
bob User ID: 0965344	May 7th 9:09 PM thank you jd
Paul Allerding User ID: 2163744	May 8th 8:42 AM When I sold my 1990 Damon Escaper 27' Class C the 460 had 87,000 miles and was running great. The engine will certainly work harder in a Class A but is up to the job. As for the tranny, the E4OD is a great tranny. It had improvements over the years 1990-1995 as described at this site: http://www.becontrols.com/tech/ch6e4odinfo.htm However, I never had any trouble with the E4OD in my 1990. I did run a Banks Transcommand which firmed up the shifting nicely (something I did not need in my '97 Itasca 32' Class A with 460 and E4OD). I did have the tranny fluid changed frequently and ran Mobil 1 ATF in my 1990. I certainly recommend you change the tranny fluid and filter (screen). Usually a change will only get about half the 16 quarts out (another good reason for frequent changes, but there was a torque converter drain plug on mine that allowed me to get more out. Screen does not have to be changed as frequently though.
Bob User ID: 0965344	May 10th 5:05 AM Thank you all for your info, Now when we coming back from a very short trip, We did take a very rough road and the front end started shimming, Shook bad the I hit the brakes and it did stop, These Indiana roads will vibrate you and coach to pieces, Never had a MH do this before, Tie Rods ends? Typical Ford problems, Any input on this problem, Now smothe roads it is just awsome no shake rattle and roll-70MPH still great, There has to be a problem some where in the front end, Hate to having somthing snap and possiable have a bad accident and hurt another driver,,, Thank You Bob in Indiana
jd User ID: 0150524	May 10th 10:23 AM Not familiar with Ford chassis under MH. I "think" it's a straight I-Beam axle supported by a leaf spring on each side? If that's true, please advise. If not, can you describe its components. For example, our E350 chassis uses "Twin I-Beam" which works out to two shorter I-Beam axles with the inner ends attached to the front crossmember. The outer ends are supported by coil springs and held in alignment with radius rods to the rear... God Bless, jd
Bob User ID: 0965344	May 10th 12:43 PM Thank You JD, Yes it is a straight I Beam supported by leaf springs, I was told it may need alighnment it is a 92 HR 35 ft with Tag Imperial, On good not bumpy roads it is smooth etc, First time we had on this bumpy road it is really bad, Thank You BB
jd User ID: 0150524	May 11th 8:40 PM There's a lot you can do to check that front end. I'm really busy right now, let me see if I can gather some information for you in a day or so. God Bless, jd
Mike Administrator	May 12th 8:22 AM Bob, Suggest you read the information available in the 'Leans too much-wife gets seasick' thread on the TECHNICAL RV HELP side of the Forum. Some of the information contained there may help with your problem.
Bob User ID: 0965344	May 14th 4:28 AM Thanks Mike yes this info helped, We drove the bump road again this time a tad faster and it did not do the shimmy shimmy coca puff,
jd User ID: 0150524	May 14th 7:35 AM Bob, we have family that lives down a graded dirt road and it's funny but faster is sometimes better. Do you still need info on checking the front axle and steering? I thought I had some diagrams but don't any more. But I could type some stuff out for you. A stray thought concerns your tag axle. It might have been ignored back there and need service by now too. God Bless, jd
Bob User ID: 0965344	May 14th 12:28 PM Thanks JD, The previous owner who I finally got to chat with, It was just checked everything, Tag all so, He had just put new Michelin on the coach and drove it about 1000 miles he thinks a balance may solve the rock and roll problem, So far it has not done it, I did grease it from front to rear did not need it but,,,, This road is a hazzard for sure , There has been several wrecks becuase of the bumps, Indiana will fill in a rut and make it in to a Bump, Lucky Huh? This Class A makes our 8th one, The HR Imperial is a awsome coach, Rides great, so far this is the best unit yet, All the others would rattle so bad you needed ear plugs, Sounded like it was coming unglued,
jd User ID: 0150524	May 15th 3:59 PM Bob, our experience with Holiday is the same. We have an 84 Class C 24'. Far cry from a tag axle Imperial, but doors, windows, cabinets, all tight, all working. Very few squeaks and rattles, nothing falling off. We had a forum member Butch, since deceased, had a Winnebago on Ford F-53 chassis. I think the model you are looking at is earlier than his was, but in some years, there was trouble with how the wheels were "piloted". There's "hub piloted" meaning the center hole of the wheel is a precision fit to a matching surface on the rear axle or front hub. Other wheels are piloted on the way the lug nuts snug into the tapered holes in the wheel hub. The F53 in question was the latter. You could balance the wheels and still get a shake. There was a whole rubarb over it. Mike, you may remember some of this, but I think Butch explained to me that Ford issued "thimbles" to somehow get the wheels "just so" before the lug nuts went on. The phone company I worked for had a fleet of Ford vans and I got to use one of their oldest tiredest ones. Drove and steered OK till you went over a railroad crossing, through a big pothole, and so on. Then the front end would feel like the two wheels were clapping hands together and it wouldn't stop till you stopped the van. Problem wasn't the axle if I recall but the steering linkage parts. Pitman Arm, Drag Link, Cross Link, Idler Arm Tie Rods, etc. Someplace in there. I don't think your chassis has enough miles or abuse to have this problem. Also, the steering layout was probably different. God Bless, jd
Bob User ID: 0965344	May 16th 5:31 AM Thank You JD, The head liner in some areas has become a sagging problem, Is there a glue with a needel to reglue this ? The gaskets on the AC were replaced due to some leaking, This is in the the AC area by the front AC . No real bad but needs fixing.
jd User ID: 0150524	May 16th 1:49 PM No, Bob, that's one of the few problems we haven't had. On cars, the headliner is usually pulled out, old covering removed and discarded. Then the remains of the old glue removed. Then the headliner backing [little more than cardboard] gets sprayed with special adhesive and new material applied. At that point it's all re-installed. If you can get access to the edges of the sag, clean up and re-spray, you might be able to get it back without tearing the whole thing out. I expect your headliner is bonded right to the ceiling, not a separate liner. God Bless, jd
Bob User ID: 0965344	May 21st 5:26 AM We got some needles and super glue and injected it and now we have it back like factory, Thank You Bob