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NeverEasy

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  1. NeverEasy

    Batteries

    I changed mine in 2019 after being in the truck for 11 years. Keep them on a Progressive Dynamics 9240C charger when not on the road.
  2. Thanks for all the info and suggestions. I have a 2011 and load/unload it frequently. I use a winch for up always and down most of the time. We would be picking the 2016 up in NYC at a dealership. Probably not many options for sloped ground. I can bring it up forward or backward. The single tow point on the back would work if one tow point will hold it going up the ramp. Trying to avoid a "fail" and problems so far from home.
  3. Driving up is not a good option for us. Our bed was an early build. We bought it like it is. The height of the bed makes it a really step incline. I changed the 10 foot ramps to 12 feet but it is still very steep.
  4. Looking to buy a 2016 Smart that is out of state. I want to go put it on the back of the Volvo and bring it home. Any help with tow points (even chains) would be most appreciated. When I get it home I will do whatever is necessary for long term loading.
  5. Maybe you should put them in the truck and let the alternator put a charge on them. Might help. The batteries in my Volvo were 11 years old. Tested in spring and they were good. Tested this fall and three showed bad. Bought 4 new ones at Volvo and tested before putting in the rig or charging. Two tested iffy. Put them in the truck and charged for 24 hours with a built-in converter/charger. All showed good. When not in use, I run a Progressive Dynamics PD9240C converter/charger on them to keep them at full charge. I have had super success with PD units. I run a 60-amp in my RV. The PD's fourth stage is a equalization mode. After coming to full charge, every 21 hours it hits the batteries with 14.4 volts for 15 minutes. The last time I had to add water was about 3 years ago. Also, lost an alternator heading to Sioux Falls. Fired up the generator and continued on, running on the PD. Could not get a new alternator in Sioux Falls so drove 6 daylight hours back to my brother's house. I tried the lights but the voltage started dropping so the 40 amp charger was not enough to run everything.
  6. Hammer804, Don't know where you are in VA but all the DMVs don't have the same answers for registration and titling. In the Tidewater area, we have found that the one on Greenbriar in Chesapeake is the easiest to deal with.
  7. The flexible brake lines are fairly common. NAPA has them. The usual problem is getting the old one's fittings broken free.
  8. As I understand this, they have a hot brake problem on their Class C built on a Kodiak c5500 chassis. ?? Don't know the year but if it is over 5 years, I would be looking at the flexible brake line going to the errant wheel. The outside looks good but the insides come apart. The brake fluid goes to the caliper but can't go back as the failed hose forms a check-valve.
  9. No problems with the Volvo. I have used a biocide to treat an old 930 Case tractor that sits all but two days a year. Only used to cut ditch banks. It was all algae-ed up and Bio-Kleen from Power Service seemed to kill it. I still had to change the filters once.
  10. Regretfully, no. The 89 year mother-in-law is now a permanent resident of our m-i-l house extension. Her short-term memory is getting really bad. We had to take her meds away, issue them, and watch her take them therefore, we have to be here twice a day. We do have a lady down the road that will help us for short periods if she is free but professional care givers help out here in the country is difficult. Mom is physically healthy so we are expecting a long hiatus from traveling. We will miss the many people we have met at the HDT rallies across the country for a long while it appears. Mark & Bonnie: We will miss our 2018 neighbors! Your truck is looking good. Did you paint? I will PM you and stop hi-jacking Carl's thread.
  11. Carl, this is the link to the thread that had info on the new numbers and the url for the parts on Amazon.
  12. NeverEasy

    brake light switch

    I had a Hayes (the new type) on my truck when I switched to electric over hydraulic. The Hayes could not be adjusted to stop from skidding the tires on the RV no mater how gently I put the brakes on. I had to tape a small block of wood to the manual activation knob to limit the movement of the controller. Lucky for me, I found a new Max Brake controller that works great. Also, putting an air device in the brake line that is just 12VDC on/off is a bad idea. It will provide full 12VDC to the brakes at every closure of the switch. It will definitely slid the tires.
  13. Don't forget the connection at the starter itself. Vibration and heating/cooling of the copper terminals can loosen them.
  14. I agree with the above comments. One bad battery will make the charging system ignore the good ones and either not charge them or over-charge them. If you think you have a drain on the system while the truck is turned off, the best way to know is with a clamp on DC current meter. They are getting less expensive. This one is relative inexpensive. It seems to work well. Bought from Amazon. Voltcraft Current Clamp Meter VC330. There are less expensive ones on Amazon but I can't attest to their functionality. With the truck turned off and all the accessories in their usual state while stored, turn the meter to a high DC scale, zero it, and clamp it over the positive battery wire (there may be more than one positive lead on the battery if accessories have been tied directly to the battery). Get a reading and note whether the meter shows positive amps or negative amps. Reversing the clamp on the same cable will reverse the polarity reading. Get the meter to show negative as (with the truck off) there will definitely be a draw from the battery. On the high voltage scale, the reading will not be very accurate but it will likely show some rounded off amperage. Reset the scale to the range needed, zero it again, and clamp it on again. There will always be some drain while turned off. I don't know what is acceptable to your truck but it should be less than an amp, I would think. Starting the truck will run the alternator and the direction of the DC current polarity will reverse and then start decaying in amperage as the battery gets recharged from its effort to start the truck. Good luck!
  15. NeverEasy

    Discount Ramps

    I thought they did when I bought mine. They posted "20% off on everything". The discount even showed up when clicking the specific ramps I wanted. During the checkout, I could not see the discount so I called. I was supposed to know to click the tiny asterisk in the discount post to know that it did not apply to ramps.
  16. NeverEasy

    Boxes

    These folks provided my aluminum boxes. They are sturdy and waterproof. https://protech.net/ This site has stock and custom made: http://www.truckbox.com/underbodytrailertoolboxes.html Other folks have used this supplier: https://chandlerequipment.com/product-category/truck-and-trailer-accessories/underbody-toolboxes/
  17. The axle is removed by hitting the center with a sledge hammer. The axle recoil from the blow will break the seal and spring out. It works, I have done it.
  18. I have had the old and the new types on my truck. It is easy to distinguish which you have. The old style required a ground wire to be attached externally to the case. The new style has a white wire installed to use for ground. I have a DC digital volt and ammeter on the blue wire so I can see what goes to the trailer. The old-style power to the trailer came and went at different brake pedal pressure or manual push of the bypass. I opened it and cleaned the rheostat and wiper. It got better but still dropped out at times. I bought the new style and things got better for a while and then things started doing just about the same thing. The new one still has a rheostat but a much smaller version so it might need to be cleaned as well. At the National HDT Rally, I bought a new Max Brake Controller from another member and installed it and all is well now. You will not need the red wire unless you want it to turn on the truck brake lights when the trailer brakes come on. The red wire can be used to check for 12VDC going to the controller as it is attached to a copper contact such that any slight actuation of the device would cause brake lights to come on if attached. The connection for those contacts are right next to the 12VDC input wire. Also, the red LED on the controller will glow bright if the trailer is disconnected (open circuit voltage) at any braking level and intensity will increase with increased braking with the trailer connected. My suggestion: Check 12VDC in and, as Dave said, check the ground. The new style has a white wire for ground already included. However, that ground wire is too small of gauge to suit me. I would install another 12 AWG ground wire directly to the device anyway. Then buy some DexoIT Spray Contact Cleaner and clean the rheostat. As an alternative, clean with alcohol and then apply some DeoxIT Gold. DexoIT is expensive but only requires a small amount to work. It also works great on the trailer/truck connector. And a word to those who might want to go to disc brakes. The Hayes is not compatible with disc brakes. The gain of the Hayes is not controllable. It will lock up the disc brakes unless you can limit the output. Before the Max Brake install, I had to tape a block of wood to the manual control knob to stop it from going past the point where it locked up the trailer brakes.
  19. The HHRV Resouce guide has a link to Dale Bruss's site where he has posted Gen 1 schematics. There are a couple of diagrams of the grounds . http://www.dmbruss.com/images/Schematics/GroundStuds.pdf http://www.dmbruss.com/images/Schematics/V5_PV776_370_99244_1_Grounding_VN_B5_99.pdf
  20. I am with rickeieio. My 2001 VNL660 showed the same symptoms after I sprayed soap on the pressure gauge lines over the throttle. Soap ran down the wires into the potentiometer. I think it cost $113 from Volvo. Could not buy just the pot. As I remember, two 10 mm head bolts hold the throttle to the floor. Easy fix. I still have the old one. Soap probably dried out and it might work. If you want, I check the potentiometer and send it to you if it looks good. On edit: The truck did not throw any codes.
  21. Got to this link: http://www.hhrvresource.com/node/179 I have yet to figure out the whole scheme of things but this is what I have found by looking. All of the below manuals are for a 2006 and seem to be a complete set of sorts. There are two electrical schematics for the 2006, seeming to be for different builds. The others on the above link are for other years but none newer than 2006. PV776-20043814 Electrical Schematics w/ Fuse and Relay designation PV776-20177347 Electricl Functional Description, Trouble Shooting and Service PV776-20047693 Parts and Wiring Harnes Locations/IllustrationIndex PV776-20175317 Electrical Schematics w/ Fuse and Relay designation In one of the Electrical Schematics manuals, look at the index to find what page the fuse listing is on. That page lists the fuse number, function, and page where the fuse will appear in a schematic of the function. Following the fuse listing is a listing for the relays. Hope this helps. Chet
  22. Have you tried the Resource Guide for Gen 2 Schematics? Pg 47, 48, 49 seems to be lighting.
  23. It would have to stick out far enough to put the pin in. That would be a PITS (shin).
  24. I used a hitch off a '84 Chevy 3/4 ton truck that I junked. It is a heavy duty hitch rated at 1600 lbs tongue weight/15,000 lbs towing. The side plates were bolted to the cross bar. Those came off and were given to RandyA. I cut some 1/2 inch plate to replace it with enough drop to make the hitch a reasonable height. As I remember, it had to be made narrower so it all got welded instead of reusing the bolt-on setup. The receiver sits on a 2 x 4 thick walled rectangular tube cross-member for additional support.
  25. NeverEasy

    Need Craft Help

    Oh dear, my decoder ring is broken. Can you be less cryptic?
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