Hi I bought a 2008 Fleetwood E2 and in addition to a plethora of other issues, the crank starts to bind after lifting the top about 6-10 inches. It works, but very bindy and seems to slip a little as it continues to raise. By the time it reaches the top it’s even harder to crank. I’ve looked at the wiffle tree and opened up the crank assembly but I’m not sure what possible wear to look for, or what else could be causing this. Any input would be great. Thank you!
I just joined the forum and have a similar problem with my E2. Did you find a solution? I think I found my problem.
No I just greased the outer bushing and made sure the waffle tree was good and had lots of grease. It’s better but still kind of feels like it’s slipping a bit. What did you find out on yours?
Mine doesn't appear to be slipping, but it is hard to crank. There is a bearing in the crank mechanism that is gone. Does yours click when you raise it?
Looks nasty. I also greased that bearing from behind the wiffle tree and the binding was better. But that may be a short term solution. Called Beckley’s And they said a new crank assembly is around $300 but I didn’t ask about just the bearing. If it starts binding again I’ll probably remove and inspect like you did and possibly replace the whole unit.
Coleman popup parts has the parts. There is also a thrust bearing in it. You can download manuals from there also.
Joined today to try to find the issue with mine. Mine seem way to hard to crank than it should. My wife can’t crank it at all. What did you find with yours?
Ok, gonna ask...when you are cranking up/or down the roof, are your stabilizers up or down? The stabilizers need to be up (not touching the ground) this is so the frame can flex and not cause binding on the cables.
Mine wasn't clicking as I raised it and was very hard to crank. I found the bearing which is number 3 in the breakdown gone. I cleaned and lubricated everything while I was there. There is a video on youtube about the crank on an E# which appears to be the same. I have some other parts that are worn, but I am not changing them at this time. Only the inner and outer race was left.I found that the bearing crosses over to a National Bearing number 203FF available at an auto parts store for about $10. As Silvermickey2002 said, make sure stabilizers are up when raising or lowering the roof.
On the Stabilizers up or down. It depends on your specific camper. My Brand requires them down. Some brands require them up. Read the manual. There is no blanket statement that covers all of them.
Coleman/Fleetwood requires the stabilizers to be up when raising/lowering the roof. The frame needs to flex during the cranking up/down process or binding can occur. Two years ago I had an issue raising and lowering the roof. It seemed a little harder then normal to crank. I ended up cleaning the crank assembly. To clean it I used brake cleaner! Amazing how much dirt came out of there. I would spray it, then crank the roof up a few inches and spray it again, then lower the roof. I did this several times and noticed it was getting easier to crank. I did remove the drive hub extension tube. Cleaned that up including the threads. Put a little grease on the threads the tube screws onto. After I put it all back together the ease of raising and lowering the roof was so much smoother!
I realize this is an old post so you may not see this question. How hard was it to remove the drive hub extension tube? I have a 2007 E3. I'm pretty sure the thrust bearing needs replacing.
Not familiar with the E3, but on the Destiny series it's pretty simple. I would Google it and look for a video on the procedure. That's how I figured my issue out. On mine, hardest part was drilling out the 2 rivets holding the crank case cover on. Once removed you could get to everything.
