Today was the day! I decided to drive to Camping World and pick up the Bilstein gas shocks for the front of the Brave. The original oil filled shocks were leaking and basically not doing their job. Freeway driving was skittish due to the old shocks. A death rattle would commence when any small bump in the road came along.

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I finally got to put some time into the Brave this weekend.

I ordered the Edelbrock high performance water pump the day I got back from Dark Skies and it's been sliding around the back seat of my truck ever since. I put the same pump into the Turnip and it was like night and day temperature wise.

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Thursday after work I drove the Brave over to Suburban Propane to get the tank that they leak tested for me filled for the trip to Dark Skies, a Burning Man regional event in Primm NV near Las Vegas.

Once the tank was full of LP I drove home to wait for Laura to arrive at my apartment so we could get on the road. I decided to get the refrigerator going on propane. I opened the valve and viola!...the valve leaked. So much for "leak testing". Once Laura arrived we drove over to Suburban and I had them replace the valve with a new one. We were now 2 hours behind schedule.

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I pulled the horizontal propane tank from the underside of the Brave last weekend. The tank is original and was covered with a thick patina of flaking rust.
I had been refused once already by a propane distributor to fill this old tank. I found a new Manchester (top of the line) tank on eBay for $300. This is a $600 tank. I had plumbed up a regulator that attaches to a BBQ tank so there is no rush to replace this tank. I passed on the eBay tank. I went to Suburban propane to ask the if they refurbished and re-certified old tanks.

The guy told me that horizontal RV tanks are exempt from both OPD valves and re-certification. He said he would inspect my tank for leaks and replace valve seals a needed. He also suggested that I just clean the tank up first.

I found a place in Santa Clara that sand blasted the tank down to bare metal for the price of a case of beer. After blasting the model number plate was very readable. The tank was manufactured in 1976. I'll primer and paint the tank this weekend and drop the tank off at Suburban on Monday.

Now that I have propane hooked up I was able to test the last few things in the rig. The new fridge stayed nice and cold over night on propane. The furnace and stove-top worked flawlessly. ( I don't know how to light the oven so that's still a mystery) and the water heater heats!

Unfortunately, the water heater also leaks water...but at least it leaks to the outside. It is an Atwood brand and has an aluminum tank. Very good quality. The leak is around the heater tube where the pilot lights.

A new Atwood with optional electric element will fit perfectly into the old hole. Since the tank is aluminum it does not need an anode rod to prevent corrosion. Hopefully Camping World has one in stock!

I also was able to test the fresh water systems. The water pump works fine and both sink faucets, shower, and the toilet work great.

My new tanks are holding the clean test water flawlessly. I'll dump the clean water in the black and gray tanks at the stalag.

The Brave is ready for Dark Skies!

Before Burning Man I plan on putting Bilstien shocks all around and helper springs on the rear to level out the ride.

Bring on the summer!

skid

From the day I brought the Brave home, the gas gauge was inoperable. I had no way of knowing how much gas I had in the tank. Not knowing the tank capacity or the gas mileage I hadn't figured a way to be comfortable on a long trip.

I found a broken wire coming from the area of the top of the tank that looked like it might be the sending unit wire, but I couldn't see where it connected, let alone access the sender if it was broken.

Not wanting to completely drain the tank or break my back trying to wrestle the tank out by hand, I picked up a lift table at Kragen for $99.
It was the perfect height and capacity to support the half full tank while I took out the 4 1/2" bolts that held it in place.

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I brought the Brave to Ideal RV to plumb up my spanking new holding tanks since the hourly rate is $80 vs. Leales $115.

Well they just took 1.5 times as long to do the job and charged me outrageous prices for 3 inch PVC fittings!

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I would have rather spent it on the Ducati...unfortunately I tripped over a dog leash yesterday and twisted my ankle. By this morning I was limping like Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects.

Since I'm dropping the Brave off to get the waste holding tanks plumbed on Thursday, I decided to pull the toilet to save a little time for the guys at Ideal RV. It's a good thing. The guys that the previous owner hired to put the floor in did not know how to remove the toilet. Consequently, they "worked around" it when they added a 3/8" plywood sub-floor and put down the faux wood floor.

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The issues to be addressed on the Brave can now be counted on one hand!
I picked her up from what will likely be the last visit to Leale's. The $115/hour shop rate is outrageous.

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I put 6 new tires on the Brave last weekend. The 8x17.5 Yokohama truck tires were $169 each. The $1200 bill was painful but I will not have to buy tires again for this rig. Once mounted it was obvious that I didn't need new shocks. A set of Bilstein air shocks would probably improve the ride even more but they can wait. I found a place the will ship me all 4 shocks I need for $385 total when the time comes.

Once the tires were sorted I went to have my undercarriage propane tank inspected. It failed. They would not fill it.
I need to replace or refurbish it. It is very rusty, etc. I plan to just put a fitting on there so I can use the BBQ cylinders I already own for the time being. I installed a propane detector while I was at it.

The only major issue left now is the holding tank. Upon inspection I noticed many new cracks in the tank. The plastic is so brittle that after I pulled it out of the RV and put in my truck, a large crack opened up during the drive over to Leale's RV.

I left the Brave and the tank and waited for an estimate for a new tank to be custom built. I got a call about an hour later. Leale's can get an OEM replacement direct from Winnebago for around $300. I told them to order it. It will take around 3 weeks to be trucked from the midwest.

While we wait for it they will do a full inspection of all of my systems, fluid levels, etc. (free since I am doing the tanks).

I asked them to fix the gas gauge sending unit problem as well as change my radiator hoses and fuel line.

The Brave will likely be at Leale's for a month so work is basically at a stand still.

Some things I need to look at are the running lights, brake light (driver side) and water heater functionality. While I hope it works, it would be cool to have a self starting unit with optional electric element..hee

Camping World was delivered a REFER door instead of a FREEZER door to replace my cracked freezer door molding issue and still no sign of the wood grain panels....sigh

I just hope that Leale's doesn't bend me over on the labor to plumb the new tank.

skid

I picked up a Dometic RM3762 at Camping World this morning!
$1079 for Presidents Club members!

http://tinyurl.com/y43dzd

The thing is huge!

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