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Mastercraft

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  1. Bend?....I think there is a rectangular tubing size that could be CN plasma cut that would yield zero waist. Two operations, cut, then water jet the holes since plasma doesn't like to make holes.
  2. At 52,000 lbs, and an 18 ft gap between truck and trailer, going 63-65, it does 7.0 to 7.2 mpg by the mileage guesser, 3.36 rear and OD Ishift. 7.5 mpg from top off to top off if you calculate. D16 engine. Your mileage may vary. As long as I don't have to stop for fuel to get half way across the country, don't really care about whether I am at 7 or 12 mpg. Considering the other HDT costs, even if you do the work yourself, fuel ain't that big a deal. For example, had ours for 8 yrs. Did 10 new tires before this summers adventure cause 8 yrs is pushing it....makes the difference between 7 and 10 or 11 mpg seem like noise. My routes are all Colorado, Az, Wy, Montana, SD, so no Kansas flat data to report.
  3. Johnson bar if your rear brakes have air in the actuation path
  4. Mastercraft

    Front Spoiler

    Sorry, I got the Volvo factory pieces from this outfit called DEX. They seem to have overstock items. You loose some approach ground clearance with them installed.
  5. Mastercraft

    Front Spoiler

    Greetings - Its a three piece all plastic bolt on. There are two pieces that extend down from the frame area to stabilize the outer pieces. I fabricated my own as the Volvo parts must have been made of gold. I put one of these spoilers on and gained 3 MPG Kidding Rich
  6. When I was looking at adding generator, we had a couple design criteria. It had to be able to sit for almost a year and start right up (that means no gas gens), it has to be VERY quiet, it had to provide 240V as our dryer is 240, it had to last long enough that I would never have to replace it, be very difficult to steal, and later on I added it can't cost $10,000 or more. So, I started down the 12kw Onan diesel path......that's when I added - it can't cost $10,000, so scratch that one. I happened upon this Generac that is intended for off the grid cabins etc. 6kw propane, configurable for 240v, 500 hr oil change interval, and, at the time, $3200......score. It gives me two 25 amp legs of 240v, -- it's happy with two A/Cs running, charging 800 ah battery bank, and other general loads. Thought it would use a lot of propane so I set up the design to hold two #100 propane tanks, but never actually used anything larger than a #20 grill tank that last more than 4 hrs.
  7. Update II - Did a electrical tape fix to take the play out of the leveling valve end links, just until I get new ends. Now, going down the road, no variation on the bag psi. Observation - Going uphill, the bag pressure drops 2 or 3 psi, going downhill with engine brake active, bag pressure goes up 2 or 3 psi. Now, is this because the engine torque tends to raise the frame? So, my TCS light is still on and the diagnostic page for the brake ECU says the 136 69 2 fault is active.
  8. Update - I mentioned the rear air bag pressure on the display varies in a 3 or 4 psi window, going down the road. While sitting still, no variation. Did another visual inspection of the leveling valve link.....there is some play where it attaches to the axle. My plan is to eliminate the play, and give it another try on the road......before I get a new link. I guess the brake computer was right......the signal was erratic, but may have been caused by a mechanical issue.
  9. Not singled. The tone ring.....it doesn't seem to be related to sensing load on the rear. But I'll have a look tomorrow. Are there additional connections in a harness at the back of the cable?
  10. I have this 136 69 2 thing going on with the TCS light on. Claims load sensor erratic. When I am going down the road, the pressure displayed for the rear bags moves around in a 3 psi window. Does that constitute erratic? I don't think the bag pressure is really moving that much. Changed out the sensor on the firewall feedthru....no change. So, do the little sensors put out a DC voltage proportional to pressure or a frequency? I haven't put a scope on it yet. ( Seems like the frequency would be more work for the controller to read). Thanks Rich
  11. The slow drooping of the leg is indicating the cylinder piston seal has failed. The Lippert system has one solenoid per dual acting cylinder. All the solenoids (on ours) have a manual bypass screws, except the two front legs, most likely for safety reasons. Manual allows you to direct flow to a particular cylinder without and electrical input from the solenoid coil. For slides, no problem since there is no static load.....things ain't going to move if you open the valve. Not the case for the front legs.....but no manual over-ride...so all is safe. The pump in the system runs in two directions making it able to pressurize the "retract" sides of all the dual action cylinders in the system at once. None of them move except the selected cylinder due to the solenoids on the extend side of the unselected cylinders are all closed.....no flow, no motion. In a retract condition, the entire retract side of the system (all cylinders) is pressurized and will remain that way after you release the retract switch if the leg hit the stop. The pump is set to go on bypass at about 2700 psi. That change in pitch the pump makes when the leg is all the way up is it going on bypass.....so the entire system is sitting at 2700 psi on the retract side. If the cylinder inner seal leaks, a bit of fluid is going to leak to the extend side of the piston....and there will be a resultant movement, and I found as well, there is a lot of force behind this motion. The way I got home with this droopy condition......retract the leg, quickly deselect any legs and bump the pump in the extend direction. It equalizes the pressure in the system......with no delta pressure between the extend and retract side of the system, even with a leak, there is no flow, therefore no motion. When I got back to the "barn", the cylinder leak was so bad, I had to keep the pump running in extend mode to unhook. Fast forward .... and I will skip all the details like getting 42" of clearance under the coach to pull the cylinders out..... a couple of $35 seal kits and everything is like new again. I also put an eBay pressure gauge on the extend and retract circuit (in a safe location) so I can "relax" the system after all the leg and slide movements are finished. After I was forced to understand the Lippert system, as far as engineering goes, its fine. Will I go drop $4500 in parts to change to the other leveling system as a result of my adventure, not a chance. If I was starting with a clean sheet, I still may not, but would use some larger diameter higher quality cylinders in a 6 position leveling solution.
  12. This is the latest in my leveling jack saga. I welded up an attachment for the fork lift to safely grab the hitch pin and pull the trailer around. I noticed the name plate on the fork lift says 6800lb capacity at 2' out on the forks....should be ok. After a pressure test with my eBay pressure gauges, the pump is fine. It provides 2700 psi on the extend and retract lines. The last test needed to indict the cylinder is done with no weight on the cylinders.....(important detail). Remove the extend hydraulic line at the cylinder, with a wadded up rag on the open cylinder port, bump the pump in the retract direction. If fluid spews forth, the cylinder inner seals are bad. And spew forth it did. Ok, so no problem, just pull the hydraulic lines off and take the 4" bolt out of the top of the cylinder.....ah oh . The genius who put the legs on oriented the leg assembly, prior to welding, such that the 4" long bolt has a max travel of 2" until it hits a 2x6 steel frame member . Soooo .....plasma cutter....na, gas axe...na ....too much fire to control. Placed various materials and welding blankets such that nothing starts on fire, get out the 7" cut off wheel in the big grinder, and cut off the head of the bolt so it can be removed. Now I need about 40" of clearance below the bottom of the coach. I never liked the 1 1/2' down slope outside the area where the trailer sits.....until now. I figure I can raise the front with the fork lift about a foot or so nose up from level without any issues and dig a small pit to drop the cylinder into. Then off to the hydraulic cylinder shop, with both cylinders, for an estimate and fix. Based on my interpretation of the drawing I got from Lippert, the cylinder is repairable based on the spanner wrench holes. Still haven't seen anything about the Lippert system that is technically "bad" engineering design. Actually, it's higher reliability than going with a Big Foot system and a separate system for the slides. Lippert has one pump, one tank, one solenoid, one power cable for +12V. If I went the other route, I would have 5 pumps, 5 tanks, 5 solenoids....etc. Probability of encountering a failure would seem to be higher with more stuff in the mix.
  13. Update - I have pressure gauges and fittings to see where I stand. I have a new Ebay pump on the way, a spare pump and motor if nothing else. Determined these pumps are built by Parker Oildyne .... a 108 series they call them. There's info out there provided by Parker on how to clean relief valves (up and down), how to adjust the relief valves, and how to prime the pump for a new install. Also, I pulled the two solenoids that control the front cylinders, with the cylinders fully compressed. The coach would slam to the ground if this was attempted under load. Operated the solenoids on the bench, worked fine, ran air and solvent through them, all is good. Put them back on, cracked the extend port on the cylinder, hit the extend command with a rag over the fitting until the air was out of the line. After the pressure test, next thing is to pull the pump and clean out the relief valves. The thing runs on bypass with what seems like not a lot of strain on the motor. I will make all the info I dig up and any pictures available ......maybe it can find its way into the tech section. There is really nothing wrong with this Lippert design that has me freaking out and dropping $4K + install on a Bigfoot system. If I was starting from scratch, ya maybe. When I am done with this learning experience, I am hoping to have a 6 point system with a spare pump and motor for under $500
  14. I think the lines to the extra jacks are a one time issue for hydraulic fluid since they aren't swept volume. Once the lines are filled, I don't need to account for that volume in the tank. I plan on just running the new jacks in parallel with the existing rear jacks so the lines will not be that long.
  15. Got mid ship jacks on the way. Yes - May need a bigger tank on the hydraulic pump. I calculated an extra 0.43 gal of swept volume for these jacks.
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