Southwind by Fleetwood – sporting its new paint job
On the original floor plan, when the bathroom door is opened, it swings out and forward. The door can’t swing completely open as it hits the frig cabinet. This may have been done intentionally by the floor plan designers to perhaps block the bath / bedroom area from the living Continue reading Reversing bath door so it swings other way
I run across this a couple times a week on various forums and in RV parks… Owners complain how the motorhome is squirrelly when driving in crosswinds or being passed by large trucks. Before doing these things, driving my Mirada or Southwind was a two handed white knuckle adventure in Continue reading F53 – Improve the handling
When we bought the Southwind last spring, the slide seemed like it was dragging and binding on something. I looked around and didn’t see anything obvious, so I grabbed a little chassis grease and put it on the rack and drive gears, and also the rollers. This seemed to help, Continue reading Slide lube and adjust
When we bought the Southwind, the hood cover was not aligned and stuck out almost 1 inch at the top. I inspected the mounts, bolts, etc and couldn’t find anything wrong. The hinge part that mounts to the hood. I first tried shimming the hood side of the hinge to Continue reading Hood Alignment
On our recent shakedown cruise I noticed I had a distinct vibration between 50 and 55 mph. I was able to do various tests to see if I could isolate it, engine, tires, drive-train, etc. I placed the shift lever in “N” and the vibration was still there so that Continue reading F53 – TSB Funny vibration around 50 mph – Wheel Centering on F53
We’ve never owned a motorhome that had jacks, so this was a new experience for us. With our previous motorhomes, leveling was never a problem, I had small bubble levels mounted near the drivers seat and could normally jiggle the motorhome back and forth and get it level enough for Continue reading Leveling the Southwind – Jack Pads have many uses
UPDATE – JUNE 2019 – I originally ran my flexible intake tube down, then back up in front of the radiator. Although I didn’t have any problems with this. I decided to reroute the tube so it doesn’t block the radiator.The new route takes it down then over and back Continue reading F53 – TSB air intake reduces water ingestion
ALERT – If you own a Ford vehicle (including F53 chassis) manufactured between 1994 and 2004 – Take you VIN number to any Ford dealer and have them run the VIN number for you. They can tell you if the Recall applies, and if its been complied with. It could Continue reading F53 – RECALL Ford fires and the cruise control recall
UPDATE – May, 2019 – I replaced the starter relay. This is the starter solenoid looking thing that’s on the radiator support in the front passenger side wheel well. NOTE – The new solenoid had a “I” ignition terminal. I cut it off to make sure there was clearance for Continue reading F53 – Replacing starter
The water pump hasn’t given any signs of impending failure, but at 18 years old, I figured its cheep enough and reasonably easy to replace, so I’ll replace it as a “preventative” function. This will give me piece of mind that I’m good for years to come. Draining the cooling Continue reading F53 – Replacing Water pump and Thermostat