3100SS Novice Questions

[Kchula-Rrit]

At highway speeds we hear a chattering sound seemingly coming from somewhere inside the cabin. It's like having someone using a saber saw to cut plywood. I'm the co-pilot and it sounds to me like it's coming from the port side, under the couch. We only noticed it on the way back from "drydock" and haven't gotten up to try and localize it while under way.

Any ideas about a possible cause?

K-R.

[RamblerGuy]

Check your stovetop while on the road. Ours rattles. We put a dish towel under.

If it's coming from under the floor, you may have a driveshaft imbalance. Does it change with speed but not with road roughness? Can you feel some vibration in the coach's floor? Does it get worse with increasing speed but above some speed does it seem to decrease, but not go away?

Is it a Ford? Some Ford chassis had this problem. Forest River held some from delivery while the problem was being fixed. Maybe yours wasn't fixed or wasn't fixed well enough. When was your chassis built? When was the coach built? The dates for ours are on labels on the driver's doorjam.

If you think you have a driveshaft imbalance, post back here or send me a private message. I've been through it with ours, but not from the recent Ford factory problem.

[Kchula-Rrit]

Thanks for the response.

Forgot to say that it's a 2006 SunSeeker 3100SS Ford. We bought it in November 2015; it's our first motor home.

Hadn't thought about the stove, but it could be. Other Half said the stove rattled something awful driving back from the dealer. Have to check that on our next trip.

I doubt it's the drive shaft. My Maverick (still miss that car!) got towed in San Francisco and the clowns misaligned the rear U-joint. The car felt like it was shaking itself to pieces above 25mph. This did not feel like that.

As I said, I noticed the noise at highway speeds, around 50-60mph. Did not notice any other symptoms. No shaking, or anything else, so it sounds like the stove may be culprit. I think we had an egg timer sitting on the stove, but am not sure.

This was on the way back from "drydock" (Camping World had just worked on one of the tire-pressure monitors).

K-R.

[Hoglou]

If it is the cooktop cover, consider using a flex cutting board to put under the lid during travel and on top when parked....

[MNtraveler]

Check the air vent cover at the stove. Those are notorious for banging a short distance back and forth on the road and it could echo off the other side if it's on the starboard. ;-) Also check the shower door and all the cupboards. Unfortunately someone may have to ride in the back to find it and it's harder to ride back there and move around, also fairly risky. Good luck!


Land of 10,000 Lakes
2016 Forester MBS 2401R

[Kchula-Rrit]

On a recent trip we narrowed down the noise to the forward roof vent cover. Sounded like someone going at the roof with a saber saw. It only happened at highway speeds.

There's something on the roof, and it's tearing up the roof vents! (Sorry, been seeing too much "Twilight Zone")

No, the nightmare wasn't William Shatner with a gun, but was our roof vent covers self-destructing in the slip-stream. Co-owner discovered it after we got to campground. They appear to be original, from 2006.

After the repairs are done, we'll have to (of course) test the covers to make sure the noise is gone. That means another trip someplace...

K-R.