RE: Where to get valves for RV plumbing?
Howdy,
What is the preferred connection method for polybutylene pipe? Barbed fitting with a hose clamp? Something else?
The fittings in place right now look to be plastic as well, also grey.
Thanks for the help on this!
Mark
(oh... This RV is new to us, but we store it in a mine storage place over the winter, so we don't typically need to winterize. I want a valve on the water heater because I had a small leak with the current one and was surprised that I couldn't shut off water to it without killing water suppy to the entire RV)
RE: Where to get valves for RV plumbing?
Howdy,
What I have is grey lines, with bands at the fittings. No markings on the lines at all that I can see.
They may well be 5/8" or even 1/2" OD... 3/4" was a total guess from memory.
I'd really rather be able to buy the valves & such I'll need before I start cutting away at the system... If its PEX or polybutylene, is there a way to determing what I'll need by measuring the OD or something else?
I'd really rather add a valve (or three) vs. replumb the entire RV btw... :-)
Mark
RE: Where to get valves for RV plumbing?
Howdy,
Yeah, there's no water heater bypass setup at all. If the water pump is running, the water heater is getting water.
What's the point of a water heater bypass setup (that feeds the hot lines with cold water when the water heater is bypassed) vs just having a shut off valve on the suppy line to the water heater? Is it just so that you can get water from the hot taps as well? I don't care about that...
The pipes don't seem to have anything stamped on them. They're grey, and the connections look to be either glued & crimped or just crimped together. The water heater & faucet & such have threaded connectors. Still sound like PEX?
Thanks for the help!
Mark
Where to get valves for RV plumbing?
Howdy,
I've got an '84 Pathfinder class A. The water heater & other plumbing is all done with plastic hose, on the order of 3/4" OD (I've not measured, that's a guess). Looks like most of the connections are a crimp connection, presumable done with special tools, etc.
I'd like to add a valve, so that I can shut off water to the hot water heater while still having water to the rest of the RV. What do I need to do for this? Can I get valves that will mate up to the plastic stuff? Compression fittings for those or glued or ??
I've done the typical DIY stuff with threaded & sweated fittings for normal home plumbing, but haven't ever done it on an RV. Appreciate any pointers.
Thanks!
Mark
Thumb locks for storage compartments?
Howdy,
Where's the best place to get thumb style (vs. key style) storage compartment locks?
I saw some at camping world, but they're something like $7 ea and I need nine of them to replace the keyed locks I currently have and hate with a passion...
My plan is to replace the keyed locks with thumb locks on everything except the storage compartment. On the storage compartment, I'll add the thumb locks beside the keyed locks, so that I can still lock it up if I want to.
Related... How are these things measured? Looks like camping world shows them at 1+1/8", 7/8", and 5/8"... Is that from the flange of the lock to the blade? Center of the blade? Something else?
Most all of mine measure ~1" from the flange (on the outside of the panel/door) to the center of the blade. Some of the blades are bent, some aren't.
Anyway, appreciate any pointers on sources & help with knowing what size I need...
Mark
"need a new water heater" questions
Howdy,
Noticed a leak with our water heater today... Its in our '84 Pathfinder, and I expect its the original one that came with the RV.
I pulled the (mostly soaked) insulation off the tank and didn't see anything particularly alarming. Tried just tightening up the connections a bit and wrapping them in paper towels, to see if I had a weeping connection.
But that's not really why I'm posting... One thing I _hate_ about our current water heater is that you need to exit the RV to fire it up in the morning. The pilot also tends to blow out in windy weather.
I want one that I can fire up from inside the RV, without needing to go outside. I might also be interested in one with an electric heating element, depending on the amp draw (we have a 30A panel right now).
Anyone know what feature I should be looking for to be able to fire the unit from inside the RV, or is that just "normal" and everything has it these days? Anyone know what the amp draw is for an electric 6 or 10 gal water heater? Anyone know where I can get dimensions for common water heaters, so I can check out how they'll fit?
Thanks!
Mark
RE: Options for 'heavy' towing?
Howdy,
For that budget, I think a shorter E450 class C with a Class 5 receiver and a Trailer Toad is going to be your best choice.
I thought the trailer toad looked good until I saw the price...
Three Grand? Isn't that a little bit excessive for what looks to be a glorified tow dolly?
What are they doing with that thing that makes it cost that much money?
Mark
RE: Options for 'heavy' towing?
Howdy,
Thanks for the link (and the pointer to racingjunk.com in general). I hadn't seen that particular one, but had seen a Renegade in Washington, PA (not too far away).
The miles concern me some on these though... I realize that trucks aren't like regular cars when it comes to mileage, but I'm wondering if I wouldn't be buying a bunch of problems.
What're "normal" miles to get to before you need to start worrying about replacing turbos, engine overhauls, etc. on these things?
Thanks for all the help everyone!
Mark
RE: Options for 'heavy' towing?
Howdy,
I saw that show... I think my wife might be a bit peeved if the MH looked like those did at the end of the day.
:-)
Any chance I'll find a used unit built on the bigger truck chassis in the $60k range? I checked out ShowHauler & DynaQuest... I just laughed when I saw it was all $200k & up for new stuff. :-)
Its looking more and more like if we want to tow with an RV (that we can afford), we'll have to downsize the trailer to an open unit. I should be able to get the weight down around 5k to 5.5k that way, but we'll hate giving up the enclosed setup.
Mark
RE: Options for 'heavy' towing?
Howdy,
Btw, today we tow the trailer with a Dodge 2500 diesel which is a little overkill. Its a pretty comfortable tow at pretty much any speed we want to run. For local events my wife drives the truck/trailer and I drive our current MH. But in addition to it being annoying to have to drive separately & such, that doesn't really work for national events.
So we're looking at options to fix it, but without crushing the budget.
Mark
RE: Options for 'heavy' towing?
Howdy,
What are you racing ? The reason I ask is that seems quite heavy for a 24' trailer. Is it a steel or aluminum trailer ?
I'm running a 4th gen camaro. On the order of 3300 lbs or so. Trailer is 24' tag, steel (Vintage Bandit). Empty weight is listed at 3500 lbs as I recall. I'm figuring worst case of another 1k to 2k of spares, tools, fuel, tires/wheels, etc.
Looking down the road, I'd like to upgrade to a 28', so I have room for a golf cart.
Mark
RE: Options for 'heavy' towing?
Howdy,
Frankly, I think you have to look one class up to get what you need. If your current Class A is a gasser I assume you have enhanced your 5000 lb receiver? Also sounds to me like you could be over the GVWR and well over the GCWR unless our Class A is kept very light.
Thanks for the reply. I was starting to think the super c's weren't as good for towing as I'd thought. :-/
What's one class up from a super c in terms of towing? Of the RV types I know about (A, B, C, Super C), I thought the super c was the best for towing real weight...
We don't currently tow with our class A (which is an old 26' 1984 on a P30 chassis). We'll have to beef it up considerably to even think about it, and we'll be _well_ over recommended capacities if we go that route. At a minimum, we'll need to reinforce the frame, change rear springs, and fabricate a hitch (there's already swaybars, front springs, super steer stuff, etc. on there). We were looking at a Super C because I'm not really too excited about us exceeding the rated GVWR/GCWR by as much as we will if we take this route.
I didn't expect it to be this hard to figure out what RV I need to tow an enclosed trailer. :-)
Mark
RE: Options for 'heavy' towing?
Howdy,
I own the Four Winds 33K with the 213.5" wheelbase and 33' overall length, and towing my 5000# Chevy Tahoe is a nightmare.
How are you towing the Tahoe? Flat tow? Dolly? Regular trailer?
It's not good news to hear that towing with that setup is a nightmare... :-/ What's it do when you tow?
Mark
RE: Options for 'heavy' towing?
Howdy,
Actually, I've looked around the forums here. I've seen lots of discussions on GVWR, GCWR, axle ratings, loaded weights, how to weigh, etc. etc. etc. I'm comfortable with what those are, etc.
What I haven't found are specifics regarding the various options for RV's.
If I've missed something, could you please provide a link?
Mark
RE: Options for 'heavy' towing?
Howdy,
Thanks for the response...
Where can I get that detailed level of specification? I have yet to see anyone spec out a "full of fuel & water, empty grey/black" weight or even just a dry tank weight.
Looking around some more, would something like a Four Winds Kodiak 32B (I think its called...) probably tend to be the lightest option? Single slide, about 33' long.
http://www.fourwinds-rv.com/products-xc.html#
Glancing through specs, it seems like you can get a short wheelbase Kodiac (213.5") or longer wheelbase (239"), but both have the same GCWR and GVWR. In that case, would I be better off with the shorter wheelbase?
I'd love to find something that would specify the rear axle overhang as well. :-/
Appreicate any help with finding these types of specs, or any other advice/pointers!
Mark
Options for 'heavy' towing?
Howdy,
I have a 24' enclosed tag trailer, with a racecar in it. About 9k lbs all up.
I also have an older small class A.
We're considering upgrading the motorhome to something that could handle towing our enclosed trailer. From the little I've seen, only the Super C's are setup to tow that kinda weight from the factory.
First question... Gas vs. Diesel? The little bit of mileage #'s I've seen so far lead me to believe that the gas option would be the better way to go, once you factor in the extra cost to get the diesel motor and higher cost of fuel. But... What about towing power? Is the 8.1 gas motor strong enough to do what we need? I don't need to run particularly fast... 60-65 on the highway is plenty for me.
Second question... We likely can only afford used (for the sake of argument, say our price range is up to $60k, possibly a little higher if there's no other way). What should we be looking for in that range? Towing ability is probably our primary reason to be looking at a super c.
In terms of floorplans and the like, our current small class A is a 26' setup without slides and with a double bed. We'd want at least a living room slide minimum, plus a queen bed. Also would like a bunk over the cab for when our son gets a little older. Am I right in thinking that just about any super c is going to have all that and more? We're not needing much beyond the basics I think in terms of amenities. Like I say, our current MH is an older one, so things like remote start water heaters sound luxurious as all get out compared to needing to mince around to the outside access on those cold mornings to fire up the water heater... :-)
Third... Any particular things we should be looking for in terms of Kodiak chassis options for towing some weight? Other chassis?
Finally... Anything else we should be considering other than a super c? We're kicking around the idea of some frame/spring work on our existing class A to tow our enclosed, but we'll be pretty severely exceeding manufacturer specs and it'll still have just a double bed and no slide... We use this stuff primarily for going to the racetracks (various distances) about a dozen times a year, but we like the idea of an RV vs. a race trailer w/living quarters so that we can do the occassional RV only trip.
Appreciate any pointers... Thanks!
Mark
RE: '84 P30 Chassis Differences?
Howdy,
Going from 16" to 19.5" wheels and tires will gear up the final drive ratio. This could degrade the MH's ability to pull a trailer or toad.
That makes sense... I was wondering why the 19.5" wheel models would be running more than 4.10 rear gears... We already turn a good bit of RPM at 60mph or so. I wouldn't want to turn more, but if the 19.5" wheel/tires are larger in diameter I could see wanting some more gear.
Is a heavier duty axle swap fairly straight forward? Where would I look to find one at a DIY price?
Thanks!
Mark
(btw, just to be clear... I expect that what I want to do will absolutely go over the listed GVWR/GAWR... So what I'm trying to do is find out how to increase the GAWR on the rear specifically.)
RE: '84 P30 Chassis Differences?
Howdy,
we could compair mine is a 85 on a 14,000+ frame up graded to 17,000+ by adding a tag axle,around 12,000 gvw and under they had differant brakes they were smaller pads as well as the rotors and hubs ,the front end on mine is 5300 lbs the rear axle is a HD70 with a 4.56 ratio,front axle has 5 lugs on a large hub and rotor,rear axle has 10 lugs same brakes as the front ,disk brakes all around except for tag which is drum and a 1 ton + axle and it uses 1 ton ford rear axle brakes,maybe you can compair what yours has to it.
Interesting! Mine has what seem to be normal light truck style 8 lug 16" dually wheels. One of my questions is if the lighter GVWR chassis like mine can use the 19.5" wheels & bigger brakes of the heavier chassis.
You can see some pictures of my setup at http://www.maracing.com/MH/. There's shots of both front and rear wheels there... Does that look like the bolt pattern used on the 14k GVWR chassis?
Are there junkyards for RVs? What're the chances I could find a junked 14k chassis RV and snag parts from it for a reasonable price?
A bit unrelated... I see that Henderson has a track bar / panhard bar setup for the P30. But $500 seems a little steep... Any reason I can't just make my own? I've fabricated things like this for racecars a few times. Anything weird about making them work with leaf springs? All the race cars I do have coil springs in the rear and a 3/4 link or torque arm...
Thanks!
Mark
'84 P30 Chassis Differences?
Howdy,
I've got a 26' '84 Sportscoach Pathfinder. According to the brochures from the original owner, the 26' model was the only one built using 16" wheels, and has a GVWR of ~12k lbs. All the others (which were a little longer) had 19.5" wheels, and a GVWR of ~14k lbs.
I'm curious what the chassis differences were, besides the wheels... I'm going to be setting mine up to tow an enclosed car trailer, and if there are heavier duty parts or known weak points that I can address, I'd like to get that done.
I'm wondering if the chassis share any components, if the rear axles were the same, if there are heavier duty rear spring that will work on my chassis (the PO removed the airbags up front and installed heavy duty coils), what parts I'd need to change to run the 19.5" wheels (and if I'd have the clearence necessary, etc.
Basically, I'm wondering what makes up the difference in GVWR between the two chassis and what (if any) of the parts cross over.
I'd also appreciate any other advice related to setting up to tow a good weight. I'm going to be reinforcing the rear frame extentions and fabbing up my own hitch, but if anyone has any other advice I'd be happy to hear it. The MH already has the Super Steer bell cranks and Bilstein shocks & steering stabilizer.
Thanks for any help!
Mark
