In a recent RVtravel.com writers’ Zoom meeting, we discussed a 5th wheel frame flex issue. I was asked if it was the biggest RV catastrophe I’d seen in my 41 years in the RV industry. (Read about that in part one of this series.) Even though the frame flex issue is a big, current concern, it pales in comparison to others I have witnessed.
For example…
The Chevrolet P30 chassis and gasoline expansion
I worked at Winnebago Industries in Owner Relations for two years and it was like sitting in the county fair dunk tank. The first big issue I remember was the Chevrolet P30 chassis and gasoline expansion. Due to cheap gasoline refining methods in the mid-1980s and a poor ventilation system, cool gasoline from an underground tank would be pumped into a steel fuel tank in motorhomes. The heat from ambient temperatures and driving would make it expand.
The P30 chassis had charcoal canisters in the engine compartment. Expanding fumes and even raw fuel would fill the canisters and eventually plug them with no place for the fuel to go. The unsuspecting owner would stop to refuel, remove the gas cap, and raw fuel would literally shoot out the filler neck! We used to take the motorhomes out to play softball games, and we had this happen to us dozens of times. I had raw gas drench my arms and shirt many times.
The challenge was the charcoal canisters where a chassis component and Winnebago dealers could not work on them. Some dealers developed a relationship with a local Chevrolet dealer to work on the chassis; however, many customers were bounced back and forth between dealers. I got hundreds of calls from owners who could not get work done locally.
The solution
Chevrolet issued a massive recall and retrofitted a horizontal vent placed under the back bumper. That allowed the unit to vent easier, and sometimes even raw gas as well. This affected every Chevrolet P30 chassis in the industry and even caused fires. Back then there was no internet, no Facebook groups, and as Jarod Lippert described so perfectly, no email money (i.e., no sensationalizing to get more eyeballs and pay for views).
Stay tuned for my RV catastrophe report next week: the Spectrum 2000, or, as it was later coined, the “Fireball 2000”!
Read part one of this series, Frame flex issues not high on concern list.
Dave Solberg is a leading expert in the RV industry and author of the “RV Handbook” as well as the Managing Editor of the RV Repair Club.
Read more from Dave here.
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I have had two P-30 chassis and still have one and never experienced this. I have heard a release of air or fumes when opening the cap. Vehicle owners manuals caution not the stuff or overfill the gas/fuel tanks because of the canister function design and danger of fuel getting to it which is even more likely bouncing down the road with over full tank.
Thank you, Dave! 🙂 Well, you must have thought, possibly even verbalized the famous Laurel and Hardy line (https://youtu.be/AjplZXgodhs?feature=shared) and directed it at Winnebago. 😉 Thanks again, Dave! 🙂 Have a great week, safe travels, and safe stays! 🙂