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Author |
Date Posted |
Forum
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RE: Chena Marina RV Park Closing, RV traffic way off
it is sad that Chena Marina RV Park is closing. We have stayed there during our 2002 and 2008 trips to AK. We liked it.
As others have said, we our trip to the north country in May, June, and July was much less crowded than in 2002.
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Clattertruck
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08/28/08 10:54am |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Hyder Municipal Campground
The Rainy Creek municipal CG in Stewart is is not expensive. It is right in town which means you can walk to everything.
I don't know about free camping in Hyder.
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Clattertruck
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08/28/08 06:01am |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Acrylic thermo-pane EURO windows
My Snowriver has dual-pane glass storm windows.
On a couple of my previous campers, I made storm windows out of Lexan that I bought at a plastics company.
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Clattertruck
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08/25/08 10:00am |
Truck Campers
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RE: For those towing with an F450
The F450 pickup is a medium duty truck that has a regular 8ft.bed.
The frame is like the F350 in that it is not the straight rail used in the cab/chassis version. The GVWR is 14,500 lbs. The rear axle is a Dana110 11,000 lbs. Ford rates the rear at 9500 with springs and tires it has. The steer axle is a Dana Super 60 rated at 6000 to 7000 lbs depending on springs. It is about 6 inches wider than the F-350 standard axle, which allows for more wheel angle so it has a shorter turning radius. The wheels are 19.5 ten bolt with G rated tires. Mine has the snow plow package with HD front springs and a 200 amp alternator. On a CAT scale the truck empty weighed 9100 lbs.
The 6.4 L diesel, 350 HP @ 3000rpm and 650lbs. torque @ 2000 rpm. It is very quiet, very powerful and very hard on fuel. It is choked with emissions equipment. To force the flow the two stage turbo goes up to 40psi boost. My old 7.3 gave 13 mpg with camper, and this one over 16,000 miles has averaged 8.7 with various speeds up to 65 mph.
F-450 suspension
One has to think that Ford designed the truck for towing. It does not have the 8 leaf spring pack as the F450 commercial cab-chassis. It has a pack of three, a base and to long thick ones for a good ride when a trailer is unhooked. Heavy bed loads such as big truck campers may require some help for the spring pack. I took the truck to Denver Spring and they put two more leaves in the stack. The setup is perfect now. The unloaded ride is still good. My F-450 will always have the camper mounted so I saw no point in air bags. They can sometimes be a problem involving leaks and broken bolts. I have used them on 4 trucks with varying success.
The truck is wonderful to drive. It feels like a European high speed sedan. It has no side sway. The rig is heavy. With the camper mounted but empty it weighed 13,100 lbs. On our last trip I put it on a CAT scale and I was stunned by the number, 14,400 lbs. Wow, that’s a lot of gear, beer, water, generator, chairs etc. . My 2002 F350 came in at 12,000.
The bigger brakes are much better for the big loads.
2002 F350 gross lining area rear 34.72 Total swept area per axle rear 244.81
2002 F350 gross lining area front 49.60 Total swept area per axle front 264.48
2002 F350 rotor dia. Rear 12.83
2002 F350 rotor dia front 13.03
2008 F450 gross lining area rear 55.6 Total swept area per axle rear 361.9
2008 F450 gross lining area front 55.6 Total swept area per axle front 337.2
2008 F450 rotor dia. Rear 15.35
2008 F450 rotor dia. Front 14.53
Notice the rear bias on the F450 where the big weight is.
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Clattertruck
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08/22/08 07:12am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: diesel availability
A lot of the smaller places have gone out of business. The 50 mile figure does not apply as of June and July of this year. We had a couple of runs of about 200 miles. Keep your tank topped off when you have a chance.
Because we had a problem getting diesel in Texas this winter due to weather related delvery problems, I bought a 60 gallon Transfer Flow replacement tank for our F450. It was a great comfort on our recent Alaska trip.
We paid $7. per US Gal in Yukon Territory, but the average was about $6 or a little less. Alaska was the least expensive.
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Clattertruck
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08/20/08 10:56am |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Need suggestions to improve gas mileage.
The Caterpillar Company says in reference to large fontal area vehicles: “…that above 55MPH the Aerodynamic Resistance horse power becomes more significant than the Rolling Resistance horse power…. The horsepower needed to overcome Air Resistance increases as a cubic function of vehicle speed.”
http://ohe.cat.com/cda/files/287140/7/legt5364-01.pdf
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Clattertruck
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08/19/08 10:59am |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Need Information on Haines, AK
We were in Haines in June. The highway is a great drive. The Hitch Up RV park is the best.
The Road to Haines, lots of mountain scenes
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u164/Clattertruck/_DSC5715cHainesHWY72.jpg width=640
Bald Eagle near Haines
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u164/Clattertruck/_DSC5758cfemale100.jpg width=640
The Hitch Up RV Park with 25 Class “C” campers with folks from Holland.
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u164/Clattertruck/_DSC5726HainesCampG72.jpg width=640
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Clattertruck
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08/19/08 07:17am |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: 08 Ford Fuel tank
I got a 60 gallon Transfer Flow replacement for my F450. The fuel gauge works, but the "miles to empty" does not understand because it is based on 38 gal.
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Clattertruck
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08/19/08 07:03am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Dometic vs Norcold
I have owned four Dometics with limited problems. I now have a Norcold (150 days on the road in a year, which I feel is better made. The unit does a much better job of staying cold in hot weather, the doors work better, and it has not needed a new cicuit board as did two of the Dometics.
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Clattertruck
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08/19/08 06:52am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Driving with the gas on....
Here is what I did on a one of my previous campers. It was a 100 percent fix for blow outs.
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u164/Clattertruck/dscn0046.jpg
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Clattertruck
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08/18/08 08:15pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Best tire guage to check dually
For my F450 I had a truck tire store change the inside stems to a long ones like the big guys use. Traditionally, the stems should be opposite of each other. The new stems come way out into the outside wheel hole and are very easy to service.
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Clattertruck
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08/18/08 10:59am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Best Time to Travel Across Canada
We left Denver the last week in May this year. We crossed the border at Grand Forks at the end of the week, and we had no problems. We took the Cassiar north and then west to Haines Junction. The Haines Highway was very winter like at higher altitudes, but no snow on the road.
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u164/Clattertruck/_DSC5800cchighpass72.jpg
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u164/Clattertruck/_DSC5703cHainesHwy72.jpg
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Clattertruck
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08/16/08 03:03pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: DURAMAX DIESEL QUESTION - K&N FILTER KIT
For people who would like some test information on filter performance, here is a post from another forum:
“This report presents the results of an ISO 5011 test of several air filters designed for the GM Duramax Diesel. The test was independently performed under controlled conditions using a $285,000 machine at Testand Corp of Rhode Island (manufacturer of the machine).
Arlen Spicer, a GM Duramax Diesel owner/enthusiast organized the test. Testand offered to perform the tests at no charge. (These tests typically cost approx $1700.00 per filter). Ken (and employee of Testand), a Diesel enthusiast and owner of a Ford Power Stroke Diesel, shared Arlen’s interest in performing an accurate unbiased test of different types and brands of diesel engine air filters.
The filters used in the test were purchased retail and donated by Arlen and other individual Duramax Diesel owners. The detailed reports from the test have been compiled and are presented in the following pages. The final pages of this report present the behind the test.
ISO 5011 Test:
The ISO 5011 Standard (formerly SAE J726) defines a precise filter test using precision measurements under controlled conditions. Temperature & humidity of the test dust and air used in the test are strictly monitored and controlled. As Arlen learned in attempting his own tests, there are many variables that can adversely affect filter test results. A small temperature change or a small change in humidity can cause the mass of a paper filter to change by several grams.
To obtain an accurate measure of filter efficiency, it’s critical to know the EXACT amount of test dust being fed into the filter during the test. By following the ISO 5011 standard, a filter tested in Germany can be compared directly compared to another filter tested 5 years later in Rhode Island. The ISO 5011 filter test data for each filter is contained in two test reports; Capacity-Efficiency and Flow Restriction.“
Filtering Efficiency:
Filtering efficiency is a measure of the filter's overall ability to capture dirt.
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u164/Clattertruck/KNfilertest.jpg
Accumulative Capacity:
“Accumulative Capacity” is a measure of dirt holding/loading capacity before reaching the maximum restriction limit.
Initial Restriction + 10 IN-H20.
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u164/Clattertruck/KN2.jpg
Accumulative Gain:
"Accumulative Gain" is the total amount of dirt that passed through the filter during the test.
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u164/Clattertruck/KN3.jpg
(Note: The Purolator was reported to have a seal malfunction during the test and passed more dirt than it would have with a good seal.)
Initial Restriction:
Initial Restriction is the Filter under test’s resistance to flow at 350 CFM.
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u164/Clattertruck/KN4.jpg
Dirt Passed Versus Total Test Time
This graph shows each the duration of each filter’s test versus dirt passed (Accumulative Gain).
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u164/Clattertruck/KN5.jpg
(Note: The Purolator was reported to have a seal malfunction during the test and passed more dirt than it would have with a good seal.)
In the chart above it’s important to note the different test durations for each filter. The AC Delco filter test ran for 60 minutes before exceeding the restriction limit while the AMSOIL and K&N tests each ran for 20 and 24 minutes respectively before reaching max restriction.
In 60 minutes the AC Filter accumulated 574gms of dirt and passed only 0.4gms. After only 24 minutes the K&N had accumulated 221gms of dirt but passed 7.0gms.
Compared to the AC, the K&N “plugged up” nearly 3 times faster, passed 18 times more dirt and captured 37% less dirt. See the data tables for a complete summary of these comparisons.
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u164/Clattertruck/KN6.jpg
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u164/Clattertruck/KN7.jpg"
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Clattertruck
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08/16/08 06:55am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: What does YOUR tow vehicle ACTUALLY weigh?
2008 F450 pickup 3/4 fuel, empty with me in it, 9100 lbs. on a vertified scale.
With three people, truck camper, wet, full fuel, and lots of stuff, 14,400 lbs.
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Clattertruck
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08/13/08 01:45pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Which all season TC to buy?
I have camped at well below zero F in our Snowriver. With the thermostat set at 60 degrees, the heated tank area maintaied 52 to 54 degrees on a wireless sensor. Heat ducts include the cab over bunk area and even the closets.
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Clattertruck
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08/05/08 06:41am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Ford said "NO" to K&N Air Filter
If you are interested in how K&N filters compared in an ISO 5011 test see this post:
http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread?id=180100&postid=1864002
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Clattertruck
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08/04/08 04:41pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Top Of The World
Ditto-don't miss it. We were the about three weeks ago.
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u164/Clattertruck/_DSC6181cDawsonCity72.jpg
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Clattertruck
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07/26/08 05:30pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Stewart/Hyder Campground
We were the only ones in the Rainey Creek Municipal CG (Stewart) on 2 June 2008.
Here is what it looks like:
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u164/Clattertruck/_DSC5520StewartCGalone72.jpg
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Clattertruck
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07/24/08 03:00pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Winter camping in Hallmark pop- up TC...?
I saw -19 F while hunting using a hallmark some years ago. The furnace kept up OK, but one certainly could not use any of the water system. Yes, you can expect hoarfrost to develop inside on anything metal and on the canvas.
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Clattertruck
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07/22/08 10:39am |
Truck Campers
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RE: One night near Flagstaff
Anywhere but the awful KOA in Flagstaff.
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Clattertruck
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07/15/08 11:11am |
Campgrounds, Resorts and Attractions
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