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Mastercraft

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Everything posted by Mastercraft

  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.
  16. John - This is the street side plumbing, and there is a red block with the solenoid valve in it. I didn't notice any other features. The knurled knob is the manual over-ride for the bedroom slide on the other solenoid. I will go out and feel around on the red block. I could have gotten some air in it as it was about a qt low when it started acting up. On the 555 timer.....amazing how low tech or no tech this system is. I was surfing this place called Surplus Center and they have cylinders for $50 that look like they would be perfect to add mid ship leveling to the coach. Just plumb them in parallel with the existing rear jacks. If it's the same diameter cylinder, it would share the load with the rear one....may make it easier on the frame with two more jacks. http://www.surpluscenter.com/Hydraulics/Hydraulic-Cylinders/Double-Acting-Hydraulic-Cylinders/2-5X16X1-5-DA-HYD-CYL-W-BRACKETS-9-8100.axd
  17. I finally had to investigate the Lippert system on the Teton after last weeks voyage. Here is what lead up to the current situation. I figured I was going to have an issue before we left as the curb side front leg didn't want to retract after hooking up to the truck. A little extend retract action and it retracts....ok that's a sign of things to come but we went anyway as I would have been in trouble if I called off the launch at this point. Sure enough, setting up "camp" on a hill at the Good Sam rally @ PIR in Phoenix metro, the curb side leg seems to be spongy and leaks down a bit after extending. Great .... but I had an idea. I would just swing by the Lippert booth at the show and they would save me. It didn't really go anything like that but the Lippert booth girl took my info and sent it to one of the guys at the shop, who did call me. He gave me the first step in a trouble shooting procedure to isolate the cause..... verify the pump puts out about 2700 psi. Fast forward to the rally departure.....in order to get hitched up, had to keep the pump running in extend mode to keep from leaking down.....got it hitched. Now, a new problem. The leg leaks down from the retracted position ......could be a problem on the road . Ok, not that big of a deal. I drill an 1/8 hole near the end of the exposed square tubing holding the landing gear and put a self tapping screw in it to act as a set screw against the center square tube. Done..... but there is some pressure behind this motion. I am screwed as the set screw didn't hold things. After some up down exercises, it finally held, but we watched it in the mirror and stopped a few times on the way home to check it. Fast forward to unhitching at home. All went well with a little sagging but got unhooked. Did a couple of up down exercises then it did a hard failure. Both front jacks leaked down to the ground . Ok, get some cribbing and the fork lift, grab the thing by the hitch plate with the forks chained together with the pin in between them, lift it up, slide the cribbing in, make an extended highly colorful dissertation about the state of affairs . Fast forward to yesterday. With a cooler head, I mapped out the whole hydraulic and electrical control of this system. It really is very basic. During the mapping process, I did have a defining discovery that explains my previous dissatisfaction with the leveling system when it was "working". I tested all the manual over-ride valving ....worked great. There is no manual override for the front landing gear, just everything else. In order to take a measurement with a handheld, I opened the wire tethered control box for the leveling system....just wires and switches right ...but wait, what's this little 3/4" square circuit card in the bottom? It's a delay circuit that runs the hydraulic pump for about 1 1/2 seconds before it activates the particular leg solenoid valve selected. Ahhhh .... so that's why when I hit the extend or retract and nothing happens for a second or so, then pop, and things jump. This is a 555 timer IC driving a relay. I plan a little tuning of this in the near future and expect all my jerking to be gone. I will share the tuning solution when it's developed. Most likely I will add a trim pot and a small hole in the control box to allow tweaker access. Interim conclusion - Prior to doing the pressure test, it appears the landing gear cylinders need new seals as the pump runs, the solenoids work, I hear fluid rushing at the cylinders, but no motion and no fluid leaking out on the ground. (The rear jacks work normally) Anyone pulled these cylinders out before? It looks like I need to dig a pit to do this as they are about 36" long. I have two 3000 psi gauges on the way to permanently install so I can see what's going on. I may not rebuild these cylinders as I have heard they are aluminum, or if I do, hard chrome plate them first. I may look for a steel version and slip those in.
  18. Yes - the train is slow. I am talking bicycle you know ..... no motor, 17 lbs wet ..... one old guy power ...... to get up the hill. They close the road for the morning from the ski area on for the bike event.
  19. We will be heading to Durango Co Wednesday on our first adventure with the truck, new bed, and 5th wheel. We will be @ the United Campground in Durango through the 29th. I will be riding the Iron Horse bike race/ride form Durango to Silverton. The intent is to beat the train to Silverton. I just hope it doesn't snow on the two 10,500 ft passes .
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