On the road for a short trip.....finally.

6

6cuda6

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Jul 1, 2019
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Ontario, Canada
Well we finally got the coach safety inspected, tires on, new brakes in the rear, master cylinder, exhaust gaskets, carb overhauled and to the point we could get in on the road. We picked the Hughes up last summer and only got it out once for a a night. 20200627_125208.webp


So we packed it up and got it ready for SandBanks Pronvincial Park in Ontario, Canada. 20200628_163713.webp
 
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Awesome! It's good to see someone make some real progress and put their GMC to work.

I had to settle for car camping this weekend, but I was wishing we could park our GMC somewhere with a view. You've got me feeling inspired.
 
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Well that was fun! Wind wings are a hit!

A few things need to be swapped out before we make the big trip in August....rear shocks are on the weak side, a little to much bounce on washboard pavement , i really need to set up the motor properly as the 403 is a bit of a slug out of the hole, try to tighten up the steering as its a little sloppy and get a mattress for the back as the rear bench cushions just don't cut it on these 50 year old worn out hips.

But she made it there and back....secondary roads and major highways for about a 200 mile round trip.
 
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Got the shocks swapped today...that job is a PITA without a lift.....i'm getting to old to be crawling and kneeling on gravel. If anyone is going to do this make sure you take the wheels off [which i didnt want to do because they are balanced perfectly at the moment], a good assortment of imperial and metric wrenches up to 19mm and makes sure you have a 15/16 wrench as the nuts supplied are all metric.

Interesting enough the 2 rear shocks were completely done and the mounting pins/bolts at the top were bent [you get new ones in with the new shocks]...the 2 middle ones were still alive but not by much.

Now seeing as how the rears were bad guess ill order fronts next but thats going to have to wait till after i replace the timing chain this week.
 
Yay!
Looks like a nice trip. And a good looking coach BTW.
I'd be curious to know if you feel you have the same (or more, or less) suspension travel with the new rear shocks.
I replaced mine and it seemed like a couple of inches less lift was possible with the new ones. Kinda makes it hard to level in some campgrounds.
Mine don't really need replacing yet, but I might, just to get some more suspension travel.
Notice any change in your leveling capabilities?
 
To be honest i cant really tell......my rear shocks were worn out so i have
no reference othen then to say i have had been able to level at sites just fine.

dsmithy said:
Yay!
Looks like a nice trip. And a good looking coach BTW.
I'd be curious to know if you feel you have the same (or more, or less) suspension travel with the new rear shocks.
I replaced mine and it seemed like a couple of inches less lift was possible with the new ones. Kinda makes it hard to level in some campgrounds.
Mine don't really need replacing yet, but I might, just to get some more suspension travel.
Notice any change in your leveling capabilities?
Click to expand...
 
dsmithy said:
Yay!
Looks like a nice trip. And a good looking coach BTW.
I'd be curious to know if you feel you have the same (or more, or less) suspension travel with the new rear shocks.
I replaced mine and it seemed like a couple of inches less lift was possible with the new ones. Kinda makes it hard to level in some campgrounds.
Mine don't really need replacing yet, but I might, just to get some more suspension travel.
Notice any change in your leveling capabilities?
Click to expand...
What brand / part number are the shocks you used?
 
This is dsmithy...
I was the one complaining about rear suspension travel.
I haven't been out to the coach to check on the numbers.
I bought them from Gateway some years ago.
It's great to have the correct numbers from previous posts. Who said this was a non-technical corner of the forum...
 
Those are the numbers I bought as well, waiting on the rears. Should be a job next weekend, and see how much different it rides without the stupid coil overs.
 
I put the KYB's on my coach in 2005. Put on about 80K miles since. This summer I took each one of them off to test their operation. They feel like they work as good as the day I installed them. Only problem I've had is the rubber bushings in the "O" rings at the ends of the shocks have all been crushed out and over the years I have replaced them as they went bad with polyurethane energy suspension ourglass bushings. Those have held up much better than the original bushings provided by KYB. IMO, the KYB's are excellent shocks for our application, but knowing what I know now, I'd put the polyurethane bushings in the new shock, and save you the trouble of doing it down the road.....JMHO
 
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