RE: flat towing a 2 WHEEL DRIVE jeep with manual transmission
I put my manual in 5th or 6th gear,
This is the proper procedure.
The purpose of putting the transmission in gear is to prevent it from turning due to friction in the transfer case. It doesn't take much to hold it still, so OD gear is just fine.
The problem with using, say, second gear is that if the transfer case were to accidentally fall into gear going down the freeway, you would seriously damage the engine from the excessive RPM.
RE: Tow Dolly Modifications
If your tow dolly with modifications remain a single axle, are you not in danger of exceeding the weight that the axle is designed to carry. I know when I had my Master Tow dolly it's axle was only rated at 3500 lbs. What with an 800 pound motorcycle and an 800 pound dolly it doesn't appear to have much left for the car on the dolly. Just saying......
Don't forget that some of the weight is carried by the hitch.
RE: Changin a flat tire?
I was a heavy truck mechanic for 30 years, so I don't doubt my abilities. I just don't want to change tires on the side of the road. I only carry the stuff to change it myself because blowouts don't always happen where there's cell service.
RE: Changin a flat tire?
I am perfectly capable of changing one of my 22.5" tires and I carry all the necessary tools with me in the coach. That said, the one time I had a flat tire on the side of the freeway, I called ERS to fix it. :B
RE: Tow Dolly Modifications
I would be concerned about the lack of suspension in the tow dolly. A motorcycle trailer would be much better!
Dave
Can't pull a motorcycle trailer and the car on the dolly. I think the bike suspension will act just like the car suspension does on the dolly. If strapped down correctly the suspension on the bike will still function some..
joe
Not to mention that the closer you put the motorcycle to the hitch, the more it uses the coach's rear suspension. Personally, I don't think it's that big a deal, as long as the construction is solid and you follow a proven design. Obviously, you'll need to extend the tongue on the tow dolly to accommodate the motorcycle, but there's the question of how much. The longer you make it, the less tongue weight you'll have, but tow dollies don't normally have a lot of tongue weight, anyway.
Like I said, copy a proven design. Take some measurements, note what material is used where, and have a proper welder do the fabrication work.
RE: Bike storage or racks
I installed a receiver hitch on the front of my rig and use that with a hitch-mount bike rack to carry bicycles when I'm towing a trailer.
RE: Circuit Breaker Door----Problem Solved
What rear panel or access door are they referring to???
at the foot of the bed there is a door close to the floor that has the circuit breakers behind a panel. On the door of this panel is a sticker with the message on it.
Rich
I think you answered your own question.
RE: Class A - Basement Heat for tanks!
I have a small 12V heater in the tank compartment. Never had a problem with it.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5111JAPEZYL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
The problem I would have with the furnace heating the compartment is that we often use an electric space heater instead of the furnace when we have hookups to save propane.
They put these in Holiday Rambler DPs. Wonder how many batteries you would need to run that all night? The one in the Holiday Rambler DP is 240 watts. That is 20 amps @ 12 volts. Totally useless without hook ups. How about over night without hook ups. Like winter when RV parks are closed. JMHO
I've used it overnight without hookups in sub-zero temperatures. In fact, I left the furnace on all night, too. Still had battery left in the morning.
I have (4) 6V Lifeline AGM batteries. I don't know off the top of my head how many total amp-hours they are.
RE: Class A - Basement Heat for tanks!
I have a small 12V heater in the tank compartment. Never had a problem with it.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5111JAPEZYL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
The problem I would have with the furnace heating the compartment is that we often use an electric space heater instead of the furnace when we have hookups to save propane.
RE: Saves on Fuel and Increases Safety. Good Idea?
I prefer just setting the Allison in Drive and then toggling the mode button as needed. The mode, cruise and engine brake buttons are enough of an intrusion on my relaxing 200-250 mile days.
Randy
This. I'm not driving a truck. The beauty (to me, at least) of an automatic transmission is that it's, um, automatic. ;)
RE: Older Ford V10 vs. new V10
The 2000 F-53 had a 310 hp rating (I think) vs the 275 hp rating of the 1999 F-53. There were some problems with spark plugs blowing out of this engine until about 2002 or 2003. However, I have had no issues with mine, but I VERY CAREFULLY removed the plugs and reinstalled new plugs.
PM me or do a search on the way it needs to be done.
I believe the original V10 was 300 HP, not 275. The plug issue was solved in something like 2002
Nope. The 1999 had 275HP. That said, I had a 31' class A withthe 275HP V-10 and never felt that it was underpowered. And I averaged 7-8MPG.
RE: No response to gas pedal
Tell him to look under the accelerator pedal. There is a s sending unit there and they can come unhooked or go bad.
X2! Have had this problem on two coaches over the years.
X3. I've never had this problem on my coach, but I've seen it on several trucks.
RE: Use of levelers
On every coach I've had with jacks, the manual said "If manually using your jacks, the proper sequence is:
Level SIDE to SIDE, then FRONT to REAR."
This makes sense, because if you level front to rear first, you are twisting the frame, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot, but you are twisting it. This could result in popping out the windshield or other stresses you don't need on the coach. Leveling side to side first eliminates this issue..check and follow what's in your manual.....Dennis
Mine has 3 jacks (one in the front center), so it's necessary to lift the front a bit first to act as a pivot for the side to side leveling. Since I always try to park nose down to avoid lifting the rear wheels, this means I end up leveling front to rear first.
RE: Leveling with jacks, tires off the ground
It's fine. With a DP and air brakes, you don't have to worry about the parking brake issue with the rear wheels off the ground.
We are encamped in a CG in which almost none of the sites seem to be level, or even close to level. Most of the class A rigs here, including ours, have at least two wheels off the ground supported by their jacks. Is this an acceptable practice, or is it bad for the jacks or the hydraulic system?
Paul,
Just wondering, why would you say one does not have to worry about the parking brake issue with a D/P and air brakes and hanging the rear wheels off the ground? The parking brakes on a D/P are in the same place on them as they are on any M/H, be it gas or diesel.
Scott
Actually, many motorhomes, including some diesel pushers, have the parking brake on the driveline. This means that if even one rear wheel comes off the ground, the park brake does nothing. Only "real" air brakes (not air over hydraulic) lock each rear wheel individually.
Tom,
You know, it was later, after I had posted what I did that I realized that our previous coach, a '99 Bounder with the F-53 Chassis and and the V-10 had a parking brake drum on the rear of the transmission. I should have corrected my post but, got lazy.
As far as diesel pushers having drive line parking brakes, I'm not sure which ones would have that. I know ours doesn't. My drive shaft is about a foot long so, having one on it would be close to impossible. But, I assume they're not all that way. I'd like to know which DP units out there with true, air brakes have drive line parking brakes. No biggie, just interested.
Scott
I'm not aware of any DP units that have true air brakes and a driveline parking brake. I was referring to air over hydraulic units, where it's pretty common. In fact, that's what mine has.
Personally, I am ok with lifting the front wheels off the ground, but not the rear. I have lifted the rear up (on level ground) to install snow chains, but I wouldn't park that way on a slope, even with the front wheels chocked.
RE: Leveling with jacks, tires off the ground
It's fine. With a DP and air brakes, you don't have to worry about the parking brake issue with the rear wheels off the ground.
We are encamped in a CG in which almost none of the sites seem to be level, or even close to level. Most of the class A rigs here, including ours, have at least two wheels off the ground supported by their jacks. Is this an acceptable practice, or is it bad for the jacks or the hydraulic system?
Paul,
Just wondering, why would you say one does not have to worry about the parking brake issue with a D/P and air brakes and hanging the rear wheels off the ground? The parking brakes on a D/P are in the same place on them as they are on any M/H, be it gas or diesel.
Scott
Actually, many motorhomes, including some diesel pushers, have the parking brake on the driveline. This means that if even one rear wheel comes off the ground, the park brake does nothing. Only "real" air brakes (not air over hydraulic) lock each rear wheel individually.
RE: Question about W/D
A wet load in the basket might be a bit hard on the bearings and motor while underway, especially on bumpy roads. Drying would likely be less of an issue though.
I can't imagine that a bumpy road would put any more load on the bearings than the spin cycle does.
RE: Moderator Alert!!!! Troll Warning now "coolcity"
I haven't had any contact with allante, but I did have one troll send me a couple of rude PMs. I just laughed it off and blocked him. I'm pretty sure it wasn't this guy, though.
Anyway, thank you JohnnyT for working to keep this forum free of riff-raff. I wouldn't want your job, even for twice the pay.
RE: Another reason for Nitrogen in your tires
I'm the Service Manager for a fleet of 600 vehicles. I have never seen a tire pressure sensor that failed from moisture in the tires. Sure, sensors might be expensive, but nitrogen isn't free, either. Considering the low failure rate of TPMS sensors for ANY reason, I'll just stick with good old air.
RE: Don't Make the same mistake I did!
As far as seeing the studs on the sides of the coach I did call the manufacture and there answer was "if I would drive the coach to their manufacturing plant they would take a look at it", that’s around 1400 mile round trip, and that’s just for them to look at it!
So, what would you expect them to do? What would you do if you were in their place? Offer to buy the coach back? Ship you two new side walls and let you to install them? Send a driver to drive it back to the factory for you while they put you up in the Hilton? I'm just curious.
I feel for you, I really do. It's no fun having mechanical issues and you should be taken care of for what you paid. But just going by what you're posting here, it sounds like you may be difficult to deal with. I'm sure you've heard the saying, "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar", right?
