RE: ScanGauge horse power reading
And that is a significant part of your answer. HP is torque X RPM/52??. Anyway, RPM is a significant factor in achieving HP and you will not hit peak HP unless you are at peak RPM. Just to get some review, look at every HP graph, it is typically a fairly linear line that rises with RPM, until the torque drops off as the engine starves for air. Accuracy is going to be based on how efficient your engine is. The assumption is that you burn X amount of fuel, it will result in X amount of power output. The lack of efficiency is a result of if all the fuel burn all at once, or if some of it burns too late to do any good. It is somewhat predictable, so I would expect the scan gauge to be somewhat accurate.
RE: Is This Motorhome selling well for Winnebago?
That is for people who camp, rather than people who live in their motorhome. My guess is Winnie has sold the LeSharo, the Rialta, and now this. They maybe trying to figure out if this is just the next step in the series.
I keep trying to figure out why motorhome manufacturers have not started to do a quick disconnect on the steering wheel for more space, that or telescope in to floor level get rid of the automotive type dash.
RE: Filling MH Propane...
Menards has now started to sell propane to RVs and cars. My sense is that they anticipate the automotive market will swing toward propane in cars, so they are trying to get established in the market. Their prices are pretty good as well.
RE: towing
The only other reasonable option would be to forget the truck and tow a FWD car on a Tandem Tow dolly
http://www.racecityrvproducts.com/vsImages/Information/TandemTowHDXL.jpg Its probably the most expensive option, but still a solid option.
Just wanted to make you aware of the option, even though it is not what I would do.
RE: DIY oil change - questions
This helps out a awful lot:
Fumoto Valve
http://www.fumotousa.com/images/valveanimation.gif
It may not be a fast flow, but it really makes the job much easier!!! And I drain into a big rubber pan that I picked up at Tractor Supply.Even though it has a safety catch, I would still be very nervous about being totally dependent on a valve with a lever. If you could find a valve with a redundant plug, then it may not be a bad idea.
RE: towing
How much total weight? ReadyBrute is good for 8000 lbs, and you can't beat the price or the simplicity. Fully proportional braking. Lost of happy users here including myself.
RE: What do you DIY'ers use to jack and secure your rig?
I have a couple of 20 ton house jacks that I use if I'm out on the road. At my house I have a bridge built from RR ties out over a pit. My advice would be to bolt several layers of 2X10s together to make ramps. Not a bad thing to have with you anyway incase you need to do severe leveling.
RE: fuel filler hose cost??
Its a repair center. Dealers and repair centers make their living on parts, not labor. That is pretty much standard procedure, which is why I do all my own repairs. High priced parts seem to be more palatable than high priced labor, because the parts are tangible. Sure they stretch it as much as they can get away with, but that's pretty much universal.
RE: Campgrounds near Badlands
Of course he could have meant the Badlands in Attica Indiana. They do have a campground there, or you can camp at Turkey Run. Great place to go visit, been there a couple of times.
RE: 1993 Fleetwood Flair/Chev Forward Control Chassis O2 sensor
Should be just after the manifold. Most likely only one sensor. The o2 sensor will always be very close to the engine, otherwise it looses accuracy and response time. (although the response time is programmable)
RE: Navistar RV is gone.......Hello new owners
I think what it really is about is buying out the competition, so they are no longer competing. Long term expect to see a single product line with different badging and slightly different features and paint - just like what we have seen with GM in the 80s and 90s.
RE: Campgrounds near Badlands
X3 Time your trip so you arrive and drive through the Badlands just before supper time. Drop the toad, drive around and view everything as the sun is going down. Great colors and sunset. Get up the next morning, do some hiking and more driving around as the sun rises. We did it that way unintentionally, but ended up being a great choice. There is no host or gate, it is self serve and cheap.
RE: Revcon Class A
Straight cut gears are stronger, but noisier. Feeling was that the torque multiplied by the low gears could break things. The VP of engineering at Revcon was very well known in Formula 1 racing - wrote the book on aerodynamic down force. (The T22 he designed had enough down force that at 100 mph, it could have run around the track upside down) But anyway, racers can break anything, so I think that drove the thought process of the design.
RE: Revcon Class A
The Dana 70 is chopped off on the ends. Axle half shafts use U-joints on the inners, and C-V joints on the outers. Photos on this page:
http://s213.photobucket.com/user/Daveinet/library/Engine?sort=3&page=1
I see more GMC motorhomes in actual use, not often restored to vintage condition, just in usable condition. I suspect as a project, the GMC is less expensive, and there were more of them made to serve today as a supply of cannibalized parts.You kind of answered your own question. There were about 12,000 GMCs built, and only about 2000 Revcons built, which makes a Revcon much more rare. As far as cost to work on, the older Revcon that was based on the Toro drivetrain was considerably lighter than the GMC, which meant a lot less stress on the drivetrain. The newer drivetrain, most parts can be bought at NAPA, once you know what you are looking for. As a project, it really depends which part of the project. GMCs often get all the interior cabinetry replaced, where a Revcon, there would be little reason to. The shell and frame integrity is stronger as well in the Revcon.
RE: Revcon Class A
give dave time to check o he has the 502 fire breathing dragonX2... oh oops that's me, aaa...OK.
The gritty: At that price, you want to know a few things. First, the front suspension should not have ANY signs of wear. Front end parts are expensive, he is asking top dollar, so one needs to know they will not be investing money in expensive repairs. For the price I would expect more than just "mechanically sound". He mentions the front windshield is cracked. The windshield its self is only around 500 bucks, but to replace it is around $2000.00. The reason is that to pull the windshield requires trimming off some of the fiberglass around the windshield and then repairing it, once the windshield is replaced. If you look closely at the fiberglass, you can see a seam where it is designed to be separated, so the windshield can be removed.
The Good:A Revcon in good condition is a wonderful coach. It is by far the best handling full size motorhome ever built. Aircraft aluminum stretchform shell is structural. Interior cabinets are Wilsonart lament formed over a solid wood frame, with honeycomb support inside - extremely light weight, but very strong. I can easily hang my full body weight from the upper cabinets. This design means the center of gravity is around 30 inches from the ground. Unless you hit something sliding sideways, this things is impossible to roll - and yes I have slid the front end in a hard swerve - swerved so hard I pulled a muscle in my back - yet no sway or loss of control. I have driven 70 down a 2 lane road, and when meeting a semi oncomming, let go of the steering wheel, until he was passed. The coach just stayed straight, with no movement from wind. I have been in a microburst, estimated 90 mph crosswind. The only problems I had was the wind hit the side of the coach and blew up the wall, pulling my window awning open. That and the window drain holes were spraying water straight into the coach. No problem driving in it, other than visibility. I did pull off at the nearest exit to secure the awnings.
more good: As mentioned, the cabinets are Wilsonart laminate. The laminate is very strong and durable. On a 30 year old coach, most interior cabinetry will look just like it did when it left the showroom. The upholstry will show wear, but the cabinets will look new. The interior walls are plastic coated aluminum, which provides a surface that is durable, cleanable, and does not rot. This is a low profile motorhome, so the underneath storage is shallow, however the interior storage is very good. Lots of usable space. About 10 years ago, someone posted they traded their 33 footer in for a 37 footer multislide with full size basement. They found they had difficulty fitting everything in from their old coach.
Things you should know:The Revcon is a very well built coach, with great handling. But FWD coaches, while they handle well, do require the front end to be in good condition. Not that the front end parts wear significantly faster than a rear wheel drive coach, but that when parts do wear, it aggravates the handling worse than a conventional drive train. The engine is a stock 454 truck engine with a Revcon specified trans - meaning Kevlar bands, straight cut gears in 1st and 2nd, and a Revcon built torque converter. They use a custom transfercase/chaincase and then run the drive shaft forward. The front differential is a Dana 70 run in reverse. Even though the Dana was specified for front drive, the diff does wear faster in that position than it would in the rear position. It is not a high pinion diff, or reverse cut gears. Crazy as it sounds, differentials twist under load - a lot. The carrier twists which causes wear on the sleeve where the bearing race presses on to wear. Eventually you loose mesh, and break teeth. The solution is to use a Tru-loc carrier, which is much tougher than stock. I also have girdles and a custom made cover to stabilize the bearings, so they do not move under load. I don't expect mine to ever break. OK, 600 ft-lbs of torque and a hard shift from 4th to 2nd at 50 mph may not have been fair to the stock diff. But I was doing over 85 by time coach plus toad got past the slow truck.
Lyle also posts here sometimes, he may be able to give another perspective. He is running a modern 8.1 in his coach. Not sure why, but it seems gear heads gravitate towards Revcons.
RE: What is the best Tow/Brake set up for a Towed Vehicle?
This so intrigued me, that I did some further research and found this, so I would like to hear more on how this could have possibly happened and maybe some others have had a similar experience.
"Since the tubes in a receiver fit tightly, there is only a shear load on the pin, with Very minimal (neglectable) bending load. If the jaws on the female part of the wagon hitch are 3" apart, and the receiver hitch is 1" thick, there is 2" of bending moment (or leverage) on the hitch pin. A pin or bolt will handle a ridiculous amount in a "shear only" setting. Especially "dual shear" where the load effectively has to shear the pin in 2 places for a failure (such as the receiver tube).
For example : a 5/8 pin: (.3125)^2 X 3.14= .30662 in^2 area of pin. If the steel is 75KSI material (1045 cold drawn), then each shear instance will theoretically handle 23000 pounds of shear load. Since the load is being spread over 2 instances (dual shear) it should hold 46,000 pounds before shearing. This all depends on the alloy of the steel being used in the pin of course. Hard to put 46K of direct drawbar load on a pickup. Not saying impossible, but hard to do."After reading your post, makes me wonder if the tubes were not fully extended, which would allow it to get a running start.
RE: Backup monitor location?
Mine is where my worthless review mirror mounted. Your brain is already trained to look in that location for what is behind you, so why change it.
RE: I was just wondering (Fuel Question)
My 1999 Deville Concours, Says right under the fuel gauge to use only Premium. 185,000 miles
My 82 Pace Arrow 454 4 bbl runs better on premium more pep no pinging.48,000 miles
My 1964 deville convert uses Premium/non oxygenated 71,000 miles
I run Premium every tank.
Sorry but I think it makes all the difference.:B
My 2003 325HP Northstar STS said premium fuel but I always used 87 and it ran perfectly fine for the last 60K miles.all smoke and mirrors on newer port injected computer controlled enginesBoth arguments are erroneous and have absolutely NOTHING to do with octane rating.
On contrare its all about octane. manual suggest,s(recomends) useing premium fuel(higher octane)I use regular fuel(lower octane)(cheaper to buy)+ still ran perfectly fine so I stick with it(lower octane fuel)The guys 84 454 pace arrow pinged on low octane fuel so he used premium and no pinging(higher octane fuel)
its all about Octane ratings
Now that being said none of this answers the OP question at allThe fact that your Northstar runs fine is because it has a computer - so it is an irrelevant argument. The computer will make it run fine, no matter what fuel you run, however higher octane will make more power in the Northstar Engine. Your Northstar is designed to run premium, but the computer detunes it to run on the lower octane. The DEtuning means that it has less power, so your definition of "fine" is not really an accurate method of judging octane.
There was also a listing of the mileage on each engine, as if to say the fact the engine is still working is criteria for it being OK or not. The '84 454 does not need premium if one is running per OEM conditions and tuning. If it is knocking, it is probably a result of carbon build up in the engine or someone has advanced the timing beyond the design point. While higher octane may make it run better, it is not the root cause solution.
