RE: Alternative fuel for Class A's
You can search "propane conversions" or "LP Gas conversions." When you find a result that puts you on an "Automotive propane conversion Webring," bookmark that & spend some time there. I will come back & try to share a link, but just now after logging on I couldn't get to Page 2 of this topic.
Propane works out to about 110-octane equivalent. I have heard numbers for CNG as high as 145. To get there with a Gasser you would need an engine built to stand some serious boost--and a turbo or 2. There is a lot more to tell, but let's see if this posts or bounces, first.
Here is my favorite start point.
Much of what the author THERE learned on his Rambler SW may be translated to larger vehicles.
With electronically controlled F.I. and Turbo, the Black-Box that manages it all could have 1 boost-schedule for Gasoline and a higher one for LPG. That would give you the rough equivalent of 2 compression ratios in the same engine if the engine can take it. If not, it would give you the rough equivalent of a catastrophic engine failure (complete with the most troubling physical symptoms).
RE: Michelin Super Singles anyone?
In some jurisdictions, SOME vehicles are insurable sitting on 4 tires but the cost goes WAY up if the same vehicle is sitting on 6. In others it could be the tolls or other ownership-fines the local govt can impose.
If having a blowout or a flat on a rear wheel is your deal-breaker, then your decision is made (until they make some form of run-flat in your GAWR-range). After the absurd song-&-dance my insurance company handed me about a DRW Stepvan, I'd go to super-single & carry 2 spares just to bust their erm... Bubble, if my budget could take the hit just now. Fortunately, that isn't my only route to where I intend to be.
RE: Compass suggestions
I have a Ritchie™ marine compass I bought new from the area's biggest-ticket seller of trailerable boats. I bought it on his recommendation; he has one on the dash of his {F word} Dualie he uses to move his boats & trailers. He's happy with its performance. I gave $65 and some change for mine. I don't believe any new GPS can be had for as little as 2x that.
When I put my compass in my project vehicle I may try it with no shielding or I may add some thin ferrous flashing inside the dash (not hard to do with a Stepvan) to shield it from the speedo & the wiring inside the dash. I'll share what I discover.
We were given access to higher-resolution GPS by Presidential Executive Order; just one stroke of the pen. It would only take another to put it back as it was, such that your navigator might not be sure if you're on I-95 or US-17 in places. Depending on WHY a President might do that, I just might agree with the decision at the time. I'd hate to be trying to find my way to the Tacoma-Narrows Bridge, right at that moment, with no backup. A Compass reads an info-system not subject to Presidential Executive-orders. I've made cheaper ones work in other vehicles. I'll go with the one I bought, and play with a GPS later to hone my map-&-compass skills--maybe.
RE: Making your own solar panel or wind generator
A shade tree gives you cooler (or less hot & stifling) shade than a tin roof, on a hot day with no wind--because the leaves are converting part of that incoming energy to other forms than the IR the tin roof radiates downward at you. Put a tin 'heat-shield' roof above your actual roof (as you may have seen on some vintage Land-Rover 4x4s) and your actual roof is then in the shade, but it gets all that IR.
TOPICAL RELEVANCE STATEMENT...
Cover that tin roof with solar panels and some of that incoming energy won't be there to radiate downward as IR. It's being converted to electrical energy, so it can't still be available to heat up the shade.
Now, I don't pretend to know how much cooler a roof-shield of solar panels would be, for the actual MH roof under that. I just know it would make a difference. It should give the A/C a bit less work to do on a hot day, even if it can't POWER the A/C. If you are converting an old Stepvan or an old U-Haul truck, under rules that don't demand exposed side windows to make it legally a MH, then hard-awnings on both sides could be hinged to stow flat against the sides of the living-quarters for transit. Deploy those and you've tripled the area compared to just using the roof.
If you have to run any of this past a Corporate bookkeeper for some 3-years-to-payoff justification, forget it. If there might be something else in it for you than how many years it takes to "pay-for-itself," maybe I just described part of that. It still isn't cheap, but once a person has the thing set up, the cost of THAT % of the power for your RV can't be increased as easily by the stroke of a Presidential pen "For Your Own Good." Periodically, this may be a factor that warrants some thinking.
RE: Alternative Tires
Be VERY careful sticking metric rubber somebody really, really wants to sell you--on rims made for 8R-19.5s. 8" would be a 205 but NOT a 205-70 or a 205-75. Everywhere I read about Duals, it is mentioned you do NOT want your sidewalls kissing at the bottom-bulge. Those metric numbers you quote will be wider than the 8" your rims were made to wear, AND wider still for that "75" suffix.
A couple of years ago I was quoted $111 mounted per 8R-19.5 wheel. The dealer said ask him no questions about where the tires were made, but he's had no complaints and he sells a lot of them to MH owners. In 50 weeks of sitting & 2 rolling for 7 years, a $200+ (ok...$300?) name-brand tire is just as old as a $111 no-name tire. It just hurts more to replace.
RE: Weighing My RV
If you can only get to a DOT, you might want to weigh it as empty as you can weigh it your first try. I mean empty sanitary tanks, empty water-tank, empty cabinets & cupboards, no toolboxes--clean that sucker out. If you're worried, after reading more stuff here about how close some MHs are to their limits, only have maybe ¼-tank in your default fuel tank and fumes in the second one (not joking).
After you have a handle on where you really stand, you can study what CCC you have left when your sanitary tanks have something in them and your fuel & water are topped-up. It's all good stuff to know.
RE: What do you do when you don't have a physical address?
When I fixed my mailbox post, I saved the old numbers, because they're nice, heavy cast-metal with good plating. I'll put them on the side of my project-vehicle near the door when I get to that stage--problem solved.
*Seriously,* be careful about having a state-residence established. Some states go on hunts for "stateless" persons, and it isn't some amateur operation. Tidewater VA has a major industry based on stealing vehicles under color of Authority, and it might be a real bear for YOU to get to your papers while your vehicle's being held for ransom. But, while it's inside the fence and you aren't, the Commonwealth will gladly add 10 years' delinquent state taxes to your bill. Generally, if in fact you have some other state's residency established COLD (vehicle registration, insurance, & driver's license all in agreement) you'll be in better shape than if all you have is a P.O. Box.
RE: Fuel economy
Thanks for picking up on that much. I was being talked-at from the next room every few words as I typewranted, and came back here to make sure I had not misquoted myself.
With a really generous budget, even the aerodynamics might be tweaked to optimize the speed you can actually drive at the moment. But, just with stuff that's already on the shelf, the injector & spark characteristics, boost-schedule if turbocharged, shift-schedule if automatic--all can be tweaked in real-time. The gains might seem to be slight, but I believe I've read a comment from you that on a trip from 1 coast to the other a couple of small things can add up to quite a bit of fuel.
Right now, if savings in fuel $$$ *must* pay for an upgrade in a year, many of us may as well just put another can of carb-cleaner through that 4-barrel, change the filters & hope for the best. At some point it may matter a bit more than years-till-payoff, if the fuel I can actually carry will get me past some "shortage" zone or not-quite.
With a recycled Stepvan I can probably park & take a nap in a few places it would be a bad idea to try that in a 'boughten' MH, and that's one fuel-saving strategy not yet mentioned here. If my MPG at incessant 0--43--0 MPH really stinks, and that's the best speed I can get away with in the traffic I'm in, maybe it's time for a break. Idling & waiting my turn I'm burning fuel at 0 MPG and really putting my average in the biffy (not to mention my usually sunny disposition :R). 10-7 in some parking area where an unmarked Stepvan is just another truck, I can fold-up & stack a few Z's, get me a sandwich and coffee, and be ready to hit the trail (with fewer road-apples to dodge) in a couple of hours with just as much fuel aboard as before.
But that's my personal strategy. The industry needs to be thinking of how all those little things can add up to MPG that will sell.
RE: Fuel economy
The computer systems are getting better all the time. They can tweak your state of tune, several times a second, for *most* changes in operating-conditions. In some vehicles (and eventually in all gassers) a computer can vary the # of cylinders in the game, according to load.
So--skipping politely over that Lincoln Continental MkIV one's Uncle's BIL had (the one that delivered 26 MPG at 78 MPH but only half that at 55)...
There will be roads where you cannot BUY a way to sustain your favorite speed, no matter what you believe about it. There are already enough roads where those who pass you are no sooner in front of you than they LIFT. Right or wrong, if you set your Cruise on the Posted you'll only provide hours of amusement for others.
Adaptive Cruise (already adequately demonized here in the ORF) is a partial solution as it's currently made. But, some vehicles have a 'sweet-spot' on the speedometer, even with a computer managing the engine & transmission. When you know where that spot is, and traffic prevents your getting there, it's annoying. Wouldn't it help if the computer could tweak itself to move that 'sweet-spot' up or down?
How about tying that in with VORAD (already adequately demonized here on the ORF), so the engine/transmission computers could read prevailing traffic density & speed, to do this as handily as tweaking for barometric pressure, air-temperature, etc?
RE: FTE Fleetwood Stock low 18 cents now 19 cents
erm... As a manufacturer, they may or may not get a place at the Federal money-trough. As a "Lending-institution" don't they qualify for a serving or 3 of that Free Lunch? They may have saved their bacon.
RE: Federal Land Grab
I appreciate the land I ride on. I thank God we still have it. It's a shame these lands are being taken away from us.
I don't buy the argument that we need to balance the uses between the hikers, horses, and off-roaders. I can guarantee you that nobody would ever hike in the areas where I ride.
Good post. I've only met a few of those who want *all* land placed off-limits to mechanized/recreational transportation, but I promise you they don't care who would, or wouldn't use land they can "save" from you. They use that argument when it seems to be working, but getting motorized *anything* barred from access is their 'noble' end, and to most of them I've heard-from it's an end that justifies any means.
RE: Tow Notices
8734Bounder, that was admirable--though it's clear somebody *is* stooping to waste police time (and to "make" YOU the more tempting target of any quick-fix they may be thinking about). If at the time such a pay-phone call goes in, your MH is still in the "offending" position, then the call is not a false report. But, when somebody goes to check it out & either sees you underway or finds no MH, it makes the complainers the more-visible reason somebody had to drop what he was doing & come sort this out.
If you don't like that, it's OK. Just remember your complainer is down in that muck, flinging handfuls of it your way with impunity, while you're refusing to stoop. It still comes up looking like you have it all over you while he-or-she walks away chuckling.
But I dropped back in here to offer a different idea (still in addition to the Slickum on tires & some "RAIN-X®"-style product on your glass).
Per various interpretations of Privacy-laws & "stalking" laws, you may be able to find out if anyone other than police recently sought "28-29" info on your vehicle from state MV authorities *OR* "reverse-phone-book" info on your street-address. Morally & psychologically you *are* dealing with a stalker, and stalkers tend to try for as many chips as they can grab. They don't seem "able to eat just one" (to rip-off the old potato-chip ad). Chances are your "Secret Admirer" feeds (mentally) on knowing a bit more about you than you'd prefer, and has been to some of these sources of info. You mentioned having a police connection or 2 yourself--maybe your associates can think of a few more places to look for his tracks.
I'd approach legal action VERY cautiously if it crosses your mind. If you get some judge or magistrate whose view is you "must-both-be-in-the-wrong," she slaps you with identical restraining-orders, you'll now have that branded on your cheek forever (and may now face an unplanned moving-day to comply with the restraining-order). Most stalkers tend to dry up & blow away as soon as they discover the stalk-ee has their number, so I doubt there will be any need to take it further if you can get to there. I wish you success.
RE: Nothing But Bargain Basement Priced Used H-2 Hummers
I don't know which one took it worse.....
http://www.superhonda.com/photopost/data/519/798jpeg_name_pic18990.jpg
Better rendition than where it appears on StrangeCosmos. There is nothing like seeing something after it takes a hit, to see what it was REALLY made-of, is there?
Having typewranted that, I agree with what has already been posted here about this crash-scene. Where I live, we see both the big DRW pickups and the H-2s, with "Dualie" drivers tending to be a lot more belligerent. NOBODY actually wins a collision, but it's a bad bet to argue with somebody whose driving makes it clear he believes he will.
I find the cosmetic excesses the General put on these a bit hard to take, but they aren't as demonized here in WV as they are in some places. Still like to see how one would do with a Diesel, or running twin turbo & propane/CNG.
RE: Nothing But Bargain Basement Priced Used H-2 Hummers
H1 is worthless on the highway. Best left alone where it belongs, doing military chores.
Somewhere I *may* still have a bookmark for a vintage Unimog enthusiast who uses his H1 to haul his Mog to places he plays with it. Thing's no Sedan DeVille, but its more than a match for Interstate Speedbumps that would make a 3-wheeler of that car. They remain a bit rich for my blood but if that ever changed I would have me one.
RE: Oiled Filled Electric Heaters- Advice
Is putting ANYTHING over a working heater a smart idea NO MATTER how it is fueled? I wonder.
Frank
I wouldn't, but this unit being discussed is a sealed, oil-filled steel stamping with electrical heating-elements way inside. The enameled steel exterior of the thing gets hot enough to be VERY unpleasant to touch, but no hotter.
They are heavier than some other types but they're silent and the DeLonghi™ is about as close to indestructible as an appliance can get. "No Commercial Or Financial Interest..." yada-yada-yada, but it's good gear. Oh, and it has no 'insides' where dust can get & a vacuum cleaner can't get to it.
Possible downside, other than the weight: it uses a simple, line-current thermostat.
RE: Tow Notices
Is there a provision in your State {forbidden C word} that safeguards the Freedom From Visual Annoyance? I'm inclined to doubt it, save in the 4th-Grade-playground rendition of the law.
My money's on somebody in your neighborhood who wants "his" pet parking spot back--or some 'visual-rights' fascist with nothing more nearly resembling a life than a window facing the street & a telephone.
There are patent "slickum" products, supposedly for tire-protection, that will make just about anything else but dirt--slide right off. The downside is the near-indelible skidmark you'll get from brushing past that tire while wearing good clothes. The upside is that it will do as much for anything that comes in uninvited contact with your tire-sidewalls, too!
I've never seen how glass-protection products like "RAIN-X" perform, against uninvited sticker being applied, but like tire-slickum this might change the game (with plausible deniability).
If there are still public pay-phones in the area & you have a seriously trustworthy friend, you might have that one up the ante (but only via pay-phone) by calling in more complaints. These would be best added just as you're getting underway. I trust I needn't go into detail.
RE: 5th wheel break-in, almost stripprd
I wish you success in getting this sorted out to your satisfaction. Hopefully that will include some room-&-board for a few years for some thieves.
For the rest of us: what was that song-&-dance about it being just as good (or maybe even morally superior) to keep your RV in the "care" of some storage business, rather than in your own yard? No, I didn't ask what the odds of this topic happening to thee or me might be. It only has to happen once to rearrange your whole year in ways you won't like. I have a garage to add where I live, and you can bet it will be sized to swallow at least a 36' (40 max), and still get the doors closed.
RE: Nothing But Bargain Basement Priced Used H-2 Hummers
They appealed to me because if I want the road-bully across the intersection sizing me up for a game of "chicken" based on the cut of my trousers I'd ride a motorbike. Also if I want any help finding something inside my vehicle after dark, I don't need it from the "low" beams (yeah... right) of the road-bully behind me. The high belt-line of the H2 caught my eye right off.
I saw some weekend Gearhead-show review of it, and they said it was mostly 4D Tahoe wearing different sheetmetal and a shorter rear overhang. That short overhang *suggests* it could become a good TV, but it might still need a little work. You have to be the judge, re: can you get past the styling, and can you deal with such a widely-demonized vehicle, but mechanically it's not that exotic.
There are Diesels that will fit, in engine bays built for GM gas V8s. I've believed from the roll-out of the H2 the General was missing a bet, not offering one with Diesel and 4-wheel-steering, but obviously there's a reason the guys running GM are where they are--oops--erm...
RE: Federal Land Grab
{snip}
"...Majority rules. HR 5151 was voted in by BOTH parties, almost equally. Sounds like on this thread most folks agree with not letting a few ruin the experience for the majority..."
"...I have lived in Florida most of my life."
{snip}
"...Westerners tend to treat Federal land like it is theirs because they live there and no one else does..."
{snip}
"...Taxpayers have a say in how their money is spent."
OK... Westerners who live THERE instead of in FL or some other "Donor-State" may have chosen to live there, to be close to some other terrain than an ocean beach. "Westerners" have generally considered land that isn't private & posted is open to respectful use, and most (even if using a {ghasp} motor vehicle) use such lands respectfully. I spent part of my formative years living in NE and in MT, not reading about 'How-THOSE-People-Live' in some "news" weekly. Despite any "majority" of people who live further away (but are such experts on how Westerners live), consider how you'd like it, were the shoe on the other foot.
I got a taste of that when I was visiting relatives in the PNW and got a strident lecture from some ponytailed waiter on what horrible things the coal industry was doing to WV (where I happen to live). Nobody's immune to some "majority" riding to their rescue on some galloping assumption, leading the charge of always-angry nannycrats eager to prohibit something.
"Westerners" are as used-to solving problems themselves if they want them solved, as coast-dwellers are used-to Calling The Authorities. All that "freight" the almighty "Donor-States" pay, for which they expect the gratitude & obedience of peasant-folk in Ye Hinterlands--you may find "Westerners" don't remember requesting anything and don't consider anything owed for it. And THEY pay taxes, too.
RE: What tools did you decide to carry?
This may be specific to GM P32/P37 IFS, but I carry an extra-short bottle jack I can slide under a lower control-arm even if the tire is flat. I'm sure there is some kind of a work-around I could do, to solve that without it, but I'd rather not have to invent it in the field. As the jack seems rather loosely built, I made sure it would lift & hold one of my front corners, then I stowed it aboard to be used in no other position.
Oh... whatever you carry to undo your lugs in case you DO have to change a wheel by yourself--get your torque-specs & tightening patterns written down, have your torque wrench & a clipboard (so instructions don't blow away), pick a nice day, and MAKE SURE YOU ACTUALLY CAN unscrew those lug nuts with what you carry for the job. Pls. Xcuse the shouting, but you shoulda heard me learning that the hard way.
