- This topic has 8 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 2 years, 4 months ago by
OlympicFox.
OlympicFox.- Topic
OlympicFox- Topics - 4
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- Total - 21
After several years of talking about it, along with a few false starts, we popped for a 2008 Cameo 32SB2 last month. Before the Cameo, we’ve had truck campers, travel trailers, 5th wheels and a diesel pusher, so we’re not exactly new at this. For the last 11 years, we’ve been taking short trips for up to a month in a smaller 5th wheel. Back 15 years or so ago, we were taking longer trips for several months, and wanted to do that again for a few more years. Hence the search for another RV.
We found our 33′ Cameo in Arizona last month. She’s been mostly well cared for in terms of the things that make or break an RV (no leaks or structural issues), but there are a few mechanical needs, along with new furniture. The drive home was a bit of an adventure as the landing gear quit on the second day when the plastic cased gear box broke in Las Vegas. Fortunately, we carry a couple of bottle jacks and ample cribbing, so we were able to lift the trailer to hitch up. Letting the air out of the Ram’s rear suspension, TrailerSaver air hitch, and 5th Airborne pin box helped, too.
After getting home, we discovered that Carriage uses a proprietary model of the Venture landing gear, but Venture’s service was excellent and the needed parts arrived quickly. None the less, the OEM system uses the same motor and gearbox as our little 10K# Northwood, so we’re upgrading to the dual motors. I’m in the middle of re-wiring it with 6ga cables.
In the mean time, we’ve been working on replacing the furniture in the living/dining area. The new powered love seat and table for next to the recliner arrived yesterday. The recliner is due on Monday. We’ve ordered custom credenza and dining table from one of the Indiana vendors, so it will be March before they arrive.
Next is flipping the axles & rebuilding the suspension to match our 4X4 Ram’s height, and before summer the big slide will get a deep dive inspection and probably some work. Probably the mod that I read about on the forum.
Steve & C. J.
2008 Carriage Cameo 32SB2
2019 Ram 3500 SRW 4X4, Cummins 6.7 HO
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- bolljl
- Topics - 12
- Replies - 37
- Total - 49
Welcome to forum and congratulations on Cameo.
With your other upgrades I would highly recommend to install Morrride IS system.
It will raise RV 3 ½ inch with better suspension plus disc brakes are Hugh plus.OlympicFox- Topics - 4
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We made that upgrade to a Holiday Rambler Presidential we’d just bought back in 2005. The Mor/RYDE IS and disc brake upgrade was sweet. We spent a week “camping” in the Mor/RYDE shop. Daytimes were spent roaming the area and sitting under the shade trees in their parking lot. Nights were spent in the coach inside the shop. Yes, we actually lived in their shop after they closed and everyone went home. We also had them install their rubber shackles on the rear axle of the ’04 F350 we had back then. The suspension upgraded was huge. . . until we encountered the frost heaves outside of Winnipeg. No matter what speed we drove, it was like riding a cutting horse I had years ago when he was PO’d. OTOH, the brakes were outstanding.
Unfortunately, as much as we liked the RV, Monaco’s QC was so pathetic we threw in the towel on the thing and traded it for a Beaver Patriot. We didn’t miss the HR or the ’04 F350.
Two photos are attached to this post. The first is the trailer after the OEM suspension was torched off. The second is the new axles sitting in their driveway ready to be installed. A second post will show two more photos.
Steve & C. J.
2008 Carriage Cameo 32SB2
2019 Ram 3500 SRW 4X4, Cummins 6.7 HOOlympicFox- Topics - 4
- Replies - 17
- Total - 21
The other two photos showing the axles being installed
Steve & C. J.
2008 Carriage Cameo 32SB2
2019 Ram 3500 SRW 4X4, Cummins 6.7 HOOlympicFox- Topics - 4
- Replies - 17
- Total - 21
I was thinking about doing the Mor/RYDE IS system again for the Cameo, and mentioned the idea of making a run to Indiana to my wife. She didn’t even flinch. Hmm. Economics are still a part of the equation. Flipping the axles is about $300-500 job. Add in replacing the springs & shackles and we’re in the $1,000-$1,500 range. The IS suspension part of the bill back in 2005 was$2,007; with inflation that’s about $2,900 today. So, if I ignore the transportation cost of pulling the Cameo 2,240 miles each way, we’re talking about twice the cost of redoing the suspension with steel springs. OTOH, fuel alone adds over $2K to the bill.
Part of my thinking is that the HR Presidential was a travel trailer with a Hensley Hitch towed by a, ’04 F350 short bed 4X4. While it towed well, it wasn’t winning any prizes for ride quality. However, our Cameo is towed by a long bed crew cab Ram 3500 with air suspension and hitched with a TrailerSaver BD3 air hitch. Our Northwood had a Mor/RYDE pin box, but the Cameo has a 5th Airborne. To say that the combination of air suspension, air hitch and air pin box smooths out the ride is an understatement. The bottom line is that while someone in the trailer might notice the better ride, I don’t see how we would be able to tell in the Ram.
Which would we get more pleasure (and resale) out of? $5K on the suspension or $5K on replacing the decals on the coach? My hunch is that we’d get more pop out of the coach looking brand new.
Steve & C. J.
2008 Carriage Cameo 32SB2
2019 Ram 3500 SRW 4X4, Cummins 6.7 HOJohnD222- Topics - 8
- Replies - 518
- Total - 526
Steve,
The looks of new decals probably true 97% of the time, for you too!
Discs are real nice, but not sure if the weight of a 32 warrants a disc brake conversion while flipping axles.
2019 was a bad year for pickup bed and rail clearances versus what is needed for older 5er’s. If not already done you might get 1.5 or so inches out of moving adjusting bolts at the equalizer. You might also check for tears in the equalizer rubber on the 2008 5er. That year had some bad rubber, but age alone may be causing excess sag. Even if they look good now, it might make sense to swap them out and add greasable shackles at both ends while you have it apart.
JohnD222
Based in Florida except summer
2013 36FWS Lifestyle (our great 2010 Cameo 36FWS has happy owners)OlympicFox- Topics - 4
- Replies - 17
- Total - 21
We live in the NW corner of the Pacific Northwest, so decals last forever up here. OTOH, everything turns green. The caulk doesn’t get dirty & dry up, instead it grows moss.
I could be wrong, but I think our Cameo was painted vs gel-coat. The decals are old and heavily cracked, but the white sidewalls look and feels like LPU paint. The end caps are obviously gel-coat and have a slightly different look and feel. Not quite as smooth and slightly off-white vs the pure white of the sidewalls. We found a set of decals for about $2,400 and are debating whether to DIY or have a shop do it. What we get for an estimate will play a part in the answer as well as how easily the old decals come off. I found several rubber wheels made for the job on Amazon and body shops.
My guess is that Carriage, like Excel, was building their 5th wheels for 2-wheel drive pickups instead of 4x4s. We don’t have a problem with bed clearance, and if we did, we can adjust that with the air hitch. Our problem is the ridiculous angle of departure and terrible ground clearance at the rear. Our driveway is over 15% where it runs into the county road. If you look at the photo of our Beaver Patriot, you’ll see the arrow pointing at the corner of the radiator just an inch from the ground. That was after we had a contractor smooth the driveway. Fortunately, one of our neighbors did something that got the county’s attention and they had to cut and pave the entrance to their driveway. So, when we got home from Arizona with the Cameo, we entered their driveway, hit the 4X4 switch and crossed the field and gradually turned up our driveway.
The second photo shows the Cameo hitched to the Ram with the Ram’s rear suspension set to the low ride height. We have adequate bed/trailer clearance and iffy clearance at the rear of the trailer. Setting the Ram to normal ride height lifts the rear 2″, which lowers the rear of the trailer almost 2″, which is definitely too low to navigate our driveway.
The axle flip will lift the trailer 5.5″. The outboard spring eyes could be moved to the lower holes, giving us half of 1.5″. And, as you pointed out, the Mor/RYDE equalizers are definitely tired, starting to separate and sagging. My “plan” is to stop on my way to the RV shop for the axle flip, and take careful measurements while hitched up on flat concrete to see how much lift we actually need to get the trailer level. I’d like it to be spot on so we can open the slides while hitched up.
Steve & C. J.
2008 Carriage Cameo 32SB2
2019 Ram 3500 SRW 4X4, Cummins 6.7 HObolljl- Topics - 12
- Replies - 37
- Total - 49
looking at weight difference from our 35 to 32 is almost same. When we added disc brakes what big difference in being able to stop and not feeling camper still pushing.
OlympicFox- Topics - 4
- Replies - 17
- Total - 21
We had the same experience when we converted the 32′ Holiday Rambler to disc brakes. The difference was noticeable in town and even more so on downgrades as the F350’s engine braking wasn’t that good at controlling our downgrade speed.
Our Cameo’s actual weight is 13,320#; only 9.4% heavier than the HR. Plus, our Ram has much better brakes than that F350, as well as much better engine braking. The result is that we rarely use the service brakes to slow down, unless we want to stop. We towed our Northwood over 50K miles and had to do 2 full-on emergency stops along with a number of quicker than normal stops, and they worked well. Interestingly, the normal braking with the Cameo feels better than the Northwood. Time will tell how well they work when pushed to the limit.
The issue we have with upgrading to disc brakes is economic. There is only so much available in the budget, and the net cost of upgrading to discs would be well over $10K.
Steve & C. J.
2008 Carriage Cameo 32SB2
2019 Ram 3500 SRW 4X4, Cummins 6.7 HO
bolljl
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