Hondo's 2006 Roadtrek 210 Popular Build

[Hondo]

Yesterday I found that my 14 year old Samsung convection / microwave died (the convection portion) so after researching I bought a LG LMC1575BD Mid size 1.5 Cu. Ft microwave today at Best Buy -



It fit nicely in the cabinet and saved me a bunch of weight over the Samsung convection/microwave that it's replacing.

I just need to secure it to the cabinet-





I bought it with a walk in replacement guarantee for 4 years due to the environment that it will operate in.

[BBQ]

Originally Posted by Hondo

...

I bought it with a walk in replacement guarantee for 4 years due to the environment that it will operate in.

Smart move

[Hondo]

Got some work done on the Dana 70 axle today.

This side was a bit rusty-



Removed the parking/emergency brake shoes - installing these new ones -



Parking brake lever was rusty & it's boot cracking-



Removed the parking brake lever straightened out the bent disc shield and cleaned it up with brake cleaner-



Installed a new parking brake lever and boot-



Before I installed the shoe assembly I cleaned up the adjuster and cleaned and polished the bearing surfaces of the axle. Ready to install the hub- ( I did move the adjuster into the right spot after this pic was taken)



I then did the same thing on the other side, but it was covered in gear lube from a leaking axle seal. Cleaned it up-



And installed the shoes assembly after polishing up the axle -



I removed and replaced the axle seals from the hubs and then installed them. I used a rental tool/socket to adjust the bearing nut and reinstalled the axles. I used a thin coating of Permatex Ultra Grey sealer on the axle flange and the hub to prevent leaks around the new gasket. I also cleaned the rust off the axle flange bolts at the wire wheel, will paint that area before installing the axle. Finished-



I also installed the differential cover after cleaning and painting it ( a few days ago) - I'll trim off the excess sealant after it cures-



I need to get the discs turned and weld extensions onto the anti-sway bar mounts to complete the work on the axle, then it's install time.

[Phoebe3]

I read your posts with great interest. I am now convinced that I could rent a u-Haul, fill it with random parts from the junkyard and you could, in about six months, turn it into a nicer van than I could buy new.

[Hondo]

Nothing random, everything planned.

[Hondo]

Just a little bit done today...

I took the rotors and dropped them off at Pep Boys to be turned. How hard can that be?

A few hours later I get the call that they are ready and I drive up there. The guy (I'm not going to call him a Tech or Mechanic) brings my freshly turned rotors out and they look great...except for the liquid on them.

So I ask the guy, "Is that brake cleaner?"

With a dead pan look he replies, "No, it's water." He washed them off with water when he was done, something you might get away with in a shop during a brake job.



I tell him that the little bit of flash rush already showing up is going to get worse and that he should have cleaned them with brake cleaner.

He just looks at me...

So I take them home, dried them off, lightly scotchbrite off the flash rust and cleaned them with brake cleaner. I installed them temporarily and adjusted the parking brake shoes so that I wouldn't have to do that after I install the axle, just a minor final adjustment.

The axle ends also got a quick coat of paint beforehand-



I pulled the rotors off and sat them aside- I will install them after the axle is installed.

[booster]

As with any rotor installation, be sure to check the runout on them, to be certain the mounting is clean, and the moron turned them properly. I would guess I find at least 1/2 of the new or turned rotors I put on have excessive runout. Some can be fixed by just getting the surfaces cleaner, derusted, deburred, or indexing the rotor, but many of them need shimming, returning, or replacing. Ours on the 70s are running with shims on both sides, but I think most of that is do to the fact that the locating surfaces on the hubs were very rusty and hard to get clean. Someday I will replace the hubs, or push out the studs so I can put them in the lathe and turn them true.

If you do need shims, they are available in full surface, tapered, stainless steel version, and various corrections. A little hard to find, but very nice pieces.

[Hondo]

I'll definitely be checking that.

[Hondo]

I am going to get some decals made (super inexpensive on ebay) - which one do you like?

A - Full length (goes under Roadtrek logo) -



or B - a shorter version that is under the factory lettering?

[Hondo]

Sidenote-

My neighbor across the street wanted the ATX Ledge wheels & BF Goodrich T/A KO2 tire combo (that i replaced) for his 2500 diesel tow vehicle. I gave him a good deal and he got a great set for his truck-

[Phoebe3]

Originally Posted by Hondo

I am going to get some decals made (super inexpensive on ebay) - which one do you like?

I like the smaller one, but either one will look good.

[booster]

We have actually contemplated getting a set of the newer, small style script, decals from Roadtrek to be bit cleaner and less of a rolling billboard for Roadtrek.

[Hondo]

Today I modified the Dana 70 axle's anti sway bar mounts to fit the Roadmaster anti sway bar that is currently on the Dana 60. I modified that axle (earlier in the thread) by welding the backing plate to the axle. On the Dana 70 I needed to just extend the mount to fit the larger bolt pattern of the bushing holder...

Here's the mount with a piece of white tape on it- I need to grind the rough edge smooth-



I had some 1/4 inch bar stock and I cut two 3 inch lengths and beveled one edge. Then I beveled the edge of the axle mount and used the bar stock to act as a backing plate while I welded it in place-



I welded the seam and ground the weld smooth-



Then I drilled the upper hole and welded the seam in the back-



I cleaned up the areas and gave the bare steel a coat of paint (yes, it's flat) -

[Hondo]

I cleaned up the hubs and the rotor mating surfaces then checked the runout-



The rusty side checked out fine within spec but the other (and less corroded) side was out of spec by 6 thousandths. I did try rotating the rotor without any significant change. I have a 3M hub cleaning kit on the way and will give the surfaces a good cleaning and then measure again. If I can shim them within spec then I'll do that otherwise I'll replace the pair.

[booster]

Before you replace them, you might want to try the rotor that checked good on the bad side, to see if it is the rotor or the hub. On ours, the rotors are good, but corroded hubs are he problem.

[Hondo]

Great idea!

Where did you get your shims?

[booster]

Originally Posted by Hondo

Great idea!

Where did you get your shims?

I got ours from Rock Auto, but I don't know if they still carry them. I think NAPA also has, or can get, them.

[peteco]

Originally Posted by booster

I got ours from Rock Auto, but I don't know if they still carry them. I think NAPA also has, or can get, them.

How far off were your Hawk rotors? I have not checked rotor runout on my Hawks. My 210 seemed to brake fine under mountain stress during our western trip this summer, though I do keep my speed down.

[peteco]

Originally Posted by booster

I got ours from Rock Auto, but I don't know if they still carry them. I think NAPA also has, or can get, them.

I did a little surfing to learn more on runout. This link brought out the potential in indexing the rotors to minimize hub/rotor runout. I copied a particularly useful discussion below the link.

https://g35driver.com/forums/brakes-...ey-work-3.html

Sorry for reviving such a relatively old post, but I would like to contribute from my own experience.

- Instead of turning rotors when you get a vibration from rotor runout, indexing the rotors to a position of minimal runout can temporarily reduce or eliminate the brake vibration for another thousands of miles before you turn them. Let's say, my existing rotors now have 10,000 miles on them and runout has gotten to 0.007", causing a very slight vibration. I would index them and achieve back to 0.0015". Yes, I REALLY did that, from ~0.007" to 0.0015" on my G35 on BOTH front rotors. I saved $40 on resurfacing and extracted another 10,000 miles out of them before they had to be resurfaced. This prolonged the life of my rotors because I did not shave any metal out of it, I restored trueness by simiply rotating them!!!

- Rotors that are not perfectly true can work to your advantage if your hubs have a slight runout. If your hubs have a little bit of runout from age and wear, a tiny amount of rotor runout will allow you to index them and balance out the runout on both items.

- The quality of the lathe can greatly determine your rotor runout. Many people incorrectly suspect that their hubs or rotors are junk because the shop that resurface the rotors have done such a poor job on them. Dirty or rusted mounting points, or even a piece of hair could have a profound effect on the trueness of the rotors!!! The diameter of a hair is approximately 0.004". If that is stuck on your rotor, then you MAY have that kind of runout.

- Clean not only the hubs and the back side of the rotors before mounting, but also the mounting surface of your wheels!!! You will notice smoother braking and smoother ride by cleaning the backside of the wheels during a brake job.

- When indexing rotors, tightening a couple of lug nuts or torquing all five to specification made no difference whatsoever. I did many experiments and found that there was no observable difference between torquing all five lugs or just tightening two. Even if there was a difference, it wasn't detectable by the typical dial gauge used for rotor indexing. Furthermore, the FSM only instructs to use two or more lugs when measuring rotor runout. Statistically speaking, whether you use all five lugs or just two, that woudn't change which position you use: you only have five positions to choose from (or four if you have 4 lug hubs).

- The FSM suggests a runout of 0.0014" for the G35 (0.0028" for most other Nissans such as the M45, Maxima, etc). This specification is for installing new rotors. As the rotors go through regular usage, they would NOT remain at 0.0014". However, you want to maintain runout to a minimum as you install new rotors, so that you will have more headroom before you experience vibrations from runout. As you use your brakes, runout develops from normal use. Typically, 0.005" of runout is still tolerable for used rotors and can still be used without having any other work performed as long as you are not getting vibration. If you measure excessive runout from your used rotors after 10,000 miles, don't panic, that is not an indication of underlying problems. It's just regular wear. Don't turn or change your rotors just yet, try indexing them to gain more life from them before turning or replacing your rotors. Save your time and money.

- Excessive runout doesn't always cause vibration. Sometimes excessive runout is experienced through uneven pad wear. On a S550 I worked on, the rotors had about 0.01" of runout, but no brake vibration whatsoever. Don't you wish all cars are like that?

- Some skeptics may argue that indexing used rotors is not a good practice because the FSM doesn't mention it anywhere. The FSM would NEVER advise technicians to index rotors to restore trueness. They advise the technician to turn them. This is because machine work translates to revenue for the dealer. Indexing rotors does not generate as much revenue. Many people, including myself, have saved a considerable amount of money just from indexing rotors at home.

Finally, indexing both new and used rotors depends on a lot of variables and requires a lot of luck. You can have brand new hubs and rotors and still not achieve rotor trueness. This is why manufacturers have on-car lathes to correct such phenomenon in the assembly lines.

[booster]

The Hawk rotors were very good, with one just above and one just below .001" runout. The runout you measure is a combination of the rotor runout and hub runout, around the hub (in our case) or axle (in the case of the 60s semi-floater) axis, and in our case, the very corroded hub rotor mounting surface was not all the flat. I would have had to press out the studs and turn the hubs off the bearing race surfaces to fix them, which would have been a real pain and I think I would buy new ones before trying it.

On the semi-floater like most Roadtreks have, the runout is probably mostly going to come from the axle flange, and axle axis straightness, as it carries all the weight on that kind of axle. Truing up the axle flange would also be a tough job to do.

As long as the shimming isn't huge, like approaching .010 (factory says less than that, but these are big diameter rotors so a bit more doesn't seem to hurt) shimming is about the only thing you can do for hubs or axles to fix them, other than buying new ones, $. At least once you have the shims set, you can change rotors and still be OK if the rotors are not the reason for the shimming.

Everything has a error tolerance, so every rotor, hub, or axle, is going to be off some amount. Indexing the rotor can put the errors in the parts so they cancel instead of add together, and IMO, is a good idea not bad idea.

Be aware that because of the inherent errors in the parts, you should always mark the rotor to studs orientation so you can put them back together the same way they came off, unless you are going to be checking the runout. Once you check the runout, mark a stud and the rotor by it, so it is easy the next time. I usually just use a couple centerpunch marks on them. This is likely why the factory doesn't like indexing as they don't think anyone will ever get them back on the same as they came off, and mess up the runout.