2005 RB

Post your general and technical information, questions or responses in this forum. Viewing messages is open to all with no registration or log-in required. Prior to posting a new message or a response to an existing message, registration or login is required. Please do not post FOR SALE or WANTED ads in this section!

Moderator: bfadmin

Post Reply
Matth

2005 RB

Post by Matth »

Hi everybody
New to this site. My wife and I are considering the purchase of a 2005 Rb used with low miles. I have been reading some the threads here and have some concerns. Leaks!! Seems that leaks are a hot topic. Do I need to be concerned I will have problems with leaks? Will normal inspections and maintenence take care of this? Ride quality? Some have mentioned a harsh ride. I thought Born free's are a high quality rig. Any other problems to watch for. I owned a travel trailer a few years back but have yet to own a motorhome. I am very mechanicaly inclined and don't mind normal maintence but do not want to spend a lot of money to buy roblems.
Thanks to all who respond.
Matt
bigdipper
Posts: 353
Joined: Thu May 27, 2010 3:13 pm

Post by bigdipper »

I just sold a 2001 23RK E450 with nearly 70,000 miles. The only leak was years ago from area just inside of where large awning was mounted. Caulking solved problem. No issues with window in cab-over. To be fair we in Arizona have less rain than many places. I had no complaints about ride smoothness and only hope the new 24RB is as good. In that era Born Free was using Firestone air lifts at rear. I always carried them at rather low 20 psi.
Ralph
Ralph
2011 24RB
Former 2001 23RK
Rob

Post by Rob »

I purchased a 2003 24RB in June of 2008. Have never had a leak. Yes it is true that the rear suspension if stiff and therefore can be jaring. To be fair that is not just a Born Free problem, all class C motorhomes on the Ford F450 chassis have the same problem. The air bags if kept under 50 pounds help some. The latest option called Super Springs raise the rear of the coach about 1.5 to 2 inches and may soften the ride somewhat. I do not have them installed so cannot comment about them. The quality of the construction in the Born Free is absolutely top knotch. There are thousands of Class C motorhomes on the Ford F450 chassis. My best advice would be to drive one and determine for yourself if it is a problem for you.

Rob Beery
2003 24RB
Peter Robinson

Post by Peter Robinson »

Our BFT is a 2005 and we are the third owner. We previously owned a 22' Chinook Concourse with a one piece molded house shell, all very high quality and elegant, but inferior to the BF in travel and storage living functionality for us. We find the Born Free of generally high quality and high functionally and are very pleased with it. The only leak was with the previous owner and around the opening for a holding tank vent line where the plastic vent pipe passes through the rear passenger side rooftop. A small amount of leakage ran down the vent line to the closet floor. That owner used very very sufficient blobs of sealent on this to stop the leak. The ride is not as good as the Chinook with its' Mor-Ryde (an expensive set up), it was very smooth, but the BF is good just the same. Of course the 22' BFT is fairly light at 10,000# and is built on the E350 chassis rather than the probably stiffer E450 chasis of the BF 24' and up. Just be careful of the speed bumps. Overall older BFs may accumulate and possibly have more weaknesses than newer ones, just like their owners I think.
Last edited by Peter Robinson on Tue Nov 30, 2010 7:57 am, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
Steve
Posts: 204
Joined: Sat Aug 20, 2005 11:46 am

Post by Steve »

We also have a 2005 RB, No leaks and we tow a Jeep Liberty, maybe the Jeep behind the coach stops the harsh ride, I think our BF rides just fine and is easy to drive. No problems; best coach we have ever had, our last was a Chinook Concourse 20'.
Steve
User avatar
whemme
Posts: 2110
Joined: Mon Aug 15, 2005 8:05 pm

Post by whemme »

I have experienced no leaks in either my previous 1999 Born Free 24' Rear Bath coach or my current 2002 born Free 26' Rear Side Bed motorcoach. I also have not experienced a Norcold refrigerator failure in either unit over this 11-year ownership time period and over 100,000 miles of travel between the two BF coaches.

I would estimate that at least 80% of the Class C motorhomes that are 24' or longer are built on the Ford E450 chassis. Unless the owner installs a modified rear suspension, the ride you get will be the same whether the motorhome is a Born Free, Winnebago, Forest River, Jayco, Four Winds, or etc. And the ride you get is totally dependent on the road surface. My opinion is that on average the US highways east of the Mississippi river are not nearly as smooth as the highways west of the Mississippi.

My advice is to weigh each of the four corners of the motorhome in down the road running condition with full gas, full LP, full fresh water tank and all the cloths, tools and humans aboard. Then inflate the tires to the pressure called for in the inflation tables for the tires. In my case, I run 60 psi in the fronts and 75 psi in the rears. Excessive inflation pressure just makes the ride harsher than necessary.

By the way, the tire inflation tables are all identical for a given tire size no matter who makes the tire. Click on the blue Download button to the right of the window below to view and/or print out a LT225/75R16E tire inflation graph, the tire size that is standard on E350/E450 chassis based units.
Attachments
born_free_tire_inflation_gr_106.pdf
Click on the blue Download button to the right of this window to view and/or print out this LT225/75R16E tire inflation graph.
(4.91 KiB) Downloaded 497 times
Bill Hemme - Spencer, Iowa
E-mail: whemme@earthlink.net
2002 Born Free (Ford E-450 V10) 26' RSB
2016 VW Golf GTI - toad
wxtoad

Post by wxtoad »

Sam Ryan wrote:Insofar as two points you've brought to light:

It has a very harsh jarring ride from the rear axle.

My refrigerator's absorption cooling unit being punctured twice now.

Several salon window string shades have popped while underway over the years because of the harsh ride of my unit, as well.

The banging sound and jarring action transmits throughout the coach, is what is bothersome about it.

The right front roofline seaming on my coach's cabover has leaked rainwater down into the right salon window cavity, and down the inside wall to the storage compartment below.

My unit has a cabover, fixed-in-place, panoramic window that has leaked rainwater inside the cabin on occasion.
Sorry you're having so many problems, Sam. At least it's the safest RV out there.

Ted H.
oliverpsmile
Posts: 271
Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2008 2:46 pm

Post by oliverpsmile »

whemme wrote: In my case, I run 60 psi in the fronts and 75 psi in the rears. Excessive inflation pressure just makes the ride harsher than necessary.
I assume that your initial (cold) psi levels are lower and the 60 and 75 psi levels are while driving.
Oliver P Smile
2005 26ft RSB
User avatar
whemme
Posts: 2110
Joined: Mon Aug 15, 2005 8:05 pm

Post by whemme »

No, those are the initial cold inflation pressures per the inflation tables for all brands of LT225/75R16E tires as set by the DOT. Those cold pressures are proper for the 4 corner weights of my particular 2002 Born Free 26' RSB coach. These pressures will increase at least 10% after the tires warm up 10 miles or more running down the highway.
Bill Hemme - Spencer, Iowa
E-mail: whemme@earthlink.net
2002 Born Free (Ford E-450 V10) 26' RSB
2016 VW Golf GTI - toad
oliverpsmile
Posts: 271
Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2008 2:46 pm

Post by oliverpsmile »

Now the question arises how cold - 20, 80 degrees or in between for initial pressure. You know, the pressure is very much dependable of the outside temperature. So the 10% rise is very much arbitrary.

I keep my running pressure at:
front - 65-70
rear - 75-80
The higher levels are in the summer.

It gives me very smooth ride and more traction in snow conditions.

Tomorrow I am planing to cross the Rockies (12,000 ft) on the way to Arizona.
Oliver P Smile
2005 26ft RSB
User avatar
whemme
Posts: 2110
Joined: Mon Aug 15, 2005 8:05 pm

Post by whemme »

This is how I understand the inflation pressure issue from the DOT tables. The initial cold inflation pressures from those tables are to be set at the current ambient temperature at your current location. This means that I will inflate my front tires to 60 psi and rear tires to 75 psi in the summer when the ambient temperatures are in the 80 degree range. Then when I leave for AZ in January when the ambient temperatures are then around 20 degrees locally, the cold inflation pressures will have dropped to around 54 psi in the fronts and 68 psi in the rears. I will then re-inflate the tires back up to 60 and 75 psi before departing from IA to AZ.

When I arrive in Albuquerque, NM two days later, the following morning I will find my cold inflation pressures well above 60 & 75 psi because of the general increase in ambient temperature further south. I will then deflate the tires to return them to 60 and 75 psi before continuing on to Phoenix. When arriving in the Phoenix area, further deflation is required to again reduce the pressures to 60 and 75 psi for the higher ambient temperatures further south.

If you are getting the idea that I am frequently adjusting tire pressures on my Born Free, depending on the season and location, you are correct. Monitoring tire pressures has been a lot easier with the Pressure Pro tire pressure monitoring system that I installed about 5 years ago. It also has caught two slow leaks caused by defective rubber valve stems that Ford uses as standard issue on the E350 & E450 chassis. A change to all steel extended valve stems from Borg Tire has eliminated that problem to my great relief.
Bill Hemme - Spencer, Iowa
E-mail: whemme@earthlink.net
2002 Born Free (Ford E-450 V10) 26' RSB
2016 VW Golf GTI - toad
oliverpsmile
Posts: 271
Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2008 2:46 pm

Post by oliverpsmile »

So the cold adjustments is to reach the ultimate psi for smooth, comfortable and reliable riding specific for the ambient temperature. I use Pressure Pro as well. Thus I am in control.
Oliver P Smile
2005 26ft RSB
GKarschnick

Post by GKarschnick »

We have a 2005 26' RSB with 24,000 miles on it. We have experienced absolutely no leaks of any kind except a small one under the sink when the hose to the water pump became loose. That was quickly repaired by tightening the clamp. I have nothing but good things to say about the 2005 coaches. Ours is for sale now (on consignment at the Clermont lot). The reason for sale is that my body is starting to fail not the Born Free.
Post Reply

Return to “General and Technical Information, Questions, and Responses”