RE: Shocks
Bilstiens will improve the front end dive, which will soften up the ride, but are still way to stiff to be comfortable. Yes, if your are spending the money, it is worth it to go with Koni.
RE: Fuel Injection?
You have to be very careful specifying by year. Most chassis are older than the Motorhome model year. Depending on the brand, it can be as much as two years different, unless you are buying an off brand, then up to 4 years. If you just go by chassis year, GM went to TBI somewhere between '90 and '91. Chassis year '96 went to the Vortec motor which is port injected and significant bump in HP.
Of course you can convert anything. Mines an '83 with a '95 GM TBI computer adapted to port injection. TBI only benefits cold starts and altitude compensation. Technically a carb will atomize the fuel better than TBI and if set up correctly should out perform it. The big advantage with port injection is that it allows for a more versatile intake manifold design.
RE: Tire Temps - is 160F too hot?
The source of the heat is sidewall flex. Yes the tread is what often separates, but I'm thinking the source of the heat is more critical to watch.
RE: Tire Temps - is 160F too hot?
I used to see 160 degrees on my old Goodyears. Didn't like it and maybe rightfully so. 3 of them came apart on my while driving. They were only ~5 years old and not even close to being overloaded. The new Firestones run around 120 - 130 degrees on a hot day on the sunny side.
RE: Class A Pending Purchase
This the answer you asked us not to give, but since you are only concerned about fuel costs, may I suggest an early/mid 90s Foretravel DP. If you can find one with a 6 speed, Brett averages better than 11 mpg with his. The Grand Villas are a little lower profile, so they are pretty efficient. Most late 90s to early 2Ks gassers are going to get ~8 mpg - maybe 9 mpg, so I don't think fuel type will not save you any money. Mid 90s DPs seem to be about the most efficient of any of the class A's. New enough to be efficient, old enough to be a little lower profile and lighter weight. Never heard of a dissatisfied FT owner.
RE: Crunched auto steps
Probably made by http://www.kwikee.com/Asteps.html or if not, you can buy a replacement there.
I managed to go for 7 years without ever damaging my steps, HOWEVER, this year, between my wife and I, they have been seriously bent 3 times. So far, I have been able to straighten them with a crow bar and 20 lbs sledge hammer and they still work, although this last time just about did them in.
RE: The Youngsters (we've seen the older ladies and gents)
Have you been to Silver Lake, MI?...
Oh yeah, but book WAY in advance in the seasonDuring the week, we had no problem getting camping. State Park needs a month in advance, but the private campgrounds I've pulled in on a Sunday night and found camping right across from the lake. Have only been there in August.
Another place we've been to is Turkey Run in Indiana. Good hiking trails and rock formations. Canoe rentals for canoeing through the park or a 15 mile trip. There is also a fun go cart track on the south end of the park.
RE: The Youngsters (we've seen the older ladies and gents)
Have you been to Silver Lake, MI. If you are looking for "younger" things to do, there is great off road park. There are plenty of older folk there, but its a younger attitude. You can rent dune buggies or Jeeps. If you have 4WD, you can take your own, just air down and go. If you are sensable, you can have fun and not destroy your vehicle. Most of the dunes are open area, so you can avoid scratching stuff up. I know of some who have rented 4WD from a Hertz, and drove it up there. During the week everything is pretty tame, everyone goes to bed at night and gets up early. I've only gone during the week. On weekends I hear it is crowded and quite the party place. We've gone twice, and they have always been the best vacations. Sometimes the wife and kids just hang out on the beach, while I drive around in the dunes. Sometimes we take the kids up the dunes in the Jeep, they walk a few yards to the pedestrian area and tumble down the dunes.
RE: smaller doghouse table?
The edging can be done with iron on real wood veneer. Any good woodworkers shop will have it. Iron it on, sand off the edges.
RE: Coach Handling Theory
Depending on the car, it may ad some stability to the handling. My Jeep wanted to make my coach go very straight - even when I was trying to go around a corner. Severe understeer. Installing a rear trac bar corrected it. Now I have just a very faint overtseer which is just fine. SO yes, a car can improve handling in a straight line.
RE: Fix for UFO water pump problem.
One comment that was made was that the fan running all the time is why the pump failed. Don't know about anyone else, but that statement does not give me warm fuzzies. That suggests that depending on the operating environment, the pump is still being stressed, just not as often? Did I read that correctly?
RE: Screw's fall out under Fleetwood Pace Arrow
Use Blue Loctite. That is what it is designed for. Blue Loctite is considered "serviceable" or removable. Often used in OEM assembly. Can be pruchased at any hardware store.
RE: Koni FSD shocks for Camelot
Can you move the shock mounts. I adapted my coach so I could use Koni's. Just a matter of welding some plates on the old mounts to put them where they needed to be. Not difficult, a Saturday afternoon job.
RE: Brake caliper tempature monitor idea
I hate to ask but why not start slower when going down a hill? ....
DavidI've pulled some really steep hills, but they were short. Of course I just putt down the hill, but what do you do in the mountains, where you are on a freeway and the typical speed is 60 mph and the hill is several miles long. How slow do you start out? 20 mph when cars are wizzing past you at 60+? What ever speed is chosen, its got to be slow enough to not overheat the brakes, but how would I ever predict that unless I have some indication of brake temps?
I suppose really I don't care what the temperature is as much as to how quick it is rising. If its stable or just creeping up, then I've chosen an appropriate speed. If its rising pretty quick, then I'd need to slow down.
Would a parachute be simpler yet??
RE: Shower now dumps to the Grey Tank, YEAH!
So here is the question. On these units that have the shower connected to the black tank, does this mean that the black tank capacity is much greater than the grey tank capacity? The answer to that question answers if this is an engineering mistake. Bummer part is that warranty only covers defects in materials and workmanship, never engineering mistakes.
RE: Brake caliper tempature monitor idea
SO how about buying a relatively cheap IR gun and moving the sensor down to the inside of the wheel well. Seems according to HWYBNB that it would be more dependable than remote mounting a thermocoupler, as with a thermocoupler your dealing with very low voltage. Yes the thermocoupler, is more accurate and dependable when done right, but it seems like less hoops/precautions to jump through to remote mount it. Also it could be mounted on the frame, so you would have no wire movement. The disadvantage is no alarm. Depending on how broad of and area you are scanning, it could give you a warning of eminent bearing failure as well.
RE: Brake caliper tempature monitor idea
While I understand the value of instrumentation grade sensors, some of this was just to find a really simple cheap way of staying out of trouble. I understand monitoring the pads, but what makes the brake fade? Is it the fluid boiling or does the actual friction coefficient deteriorate with heat. Which happens first?
I don't understand the "No engine drag" part. Can't you down shift the transmission to use the engine compression to hold you back and then just use the brakes once in a while to keep the speed/RPM's in check? Any clarification on that?I've not been able to explain it, but this engine has virtually no drag when downshifting. I've seen 6 grand (oops) on the tach, there is just no load holding it back. I've adjusted the throttle plates fully closed, the IAC goes to zero, but yet I feel no engine drag. Vacuum will go to ~23 inches. The old 454 had much more drag than this 502 does.
RE: Shower now dumps to the Grey Tank, YEAH!
YUP and YUP!
My sink and shower dump in the black tank....:h Can't figure this one out. If both your sink and your shower empty into your black tank, then why do they bother with a grey tank?? If mine was set up that way, I could get away with a 5 gallon grey tank.
I have by far the most shallow black tank and do not have any problems with the black tank clogging. Yes, I do use plenty of water, but that is just common sense. The reality is, that using more water per flush is much more practical solution as the toilet cleans better that way.
Brake caliper tempature monitor idea
Ok, was thinking about the fact that my new motor has virtually no engine drag, and I mean nada, zip, nothin. I haven't done any long steep hills, so it hasn't mattered yet, but I was wonder what will I do when I hit real mountians. Seems I could easily get into real big trouble.
So a crazy idea pops into my head. Has anyone tried to set up a monitor to watch the caliper temp? I'm assuming that the critical issue is to keep the fluid from boiling. It seems if we monitor the caliper temp, we should be able to predict a safe temp, as the caliper would have to heat up some if the fluid was going to boil. So why can't I just go buy one of those cheapo meat thermometers and permanently attach it to the calipers? For 12 to 15 bucks, it seems like that could be money well spent. Meat thermometers also have a alarm setting too. Could be useful to let you know if you ever had a caliper hang up, if you weren't specifically paying attention to it. Any thoughts?
