lockmup68

On 7/9/2019 at 5:51 AM, CHIEFWAHO said:

That's funny, my aunt called last night to let me someone was in and said they knew of me.

Might try to slip down to the RV park this morning around 10 and see if I can catch up with you.

Sorry I missed ya. Your Moab trip looked awesome. Need to get back. 

RVhaulers.ca. Gregg will know. 

Got to Young's this aft. We pulled the pivot box/head off and i left it there. Should be done in morning. 

While i was unhooking the trailer, I did a walk around. Front steer tire was separating. So down to West Tire in Chanute, KS for two new steers. Went with Hercules steers. Great service. 

Mr. Scrambler man on HDT forum is nephew of the lady at the tire place. They just got back from Moab. Was fun talking with her. 

4 hours ago, GlennWest said:

Mine is not a super brinkly. It is the 32k Brinkly. But my pin weight is in line with it. Just looked at mine. Yes, welding required to change when mine wears out. Pivot side to side is bolted and welded to hitch. But as a welder, it is a simple job. Cut or grind weld out. unbolt and install new head. Reweld. Hour or two at the most. Bet that TrailSaver same way.

Yes, Henry and Rick used to weld their heads onto the trailersaver pivot base. I’m hoping Young’s will weld a Henry’s head onto my trailersaver base for me tomorrow. 

5 hours ago, Alie&Jim's Carrilite said:

You can order a new head from Henry- ET hitches.  Mine was a drop in replacement.  

Henry sold ETHitch. Young’s Welding now owns all the designs and tooling. 

Thanks Glenn. That was very helpful. I’m 40’, so similar. I’m not an electrician, but how did you do 220v? 

So you put the cassette in the existing AC hole in the bedroom, right? That’s exactly what I want to do for both ACs. But you did not use the existing ducting. Are you going to spray foam the ducting or just leave it? Any issues with the copper piping? I was thinking whether or not needed flex hoses made. Great job Glenn. 

And how did you run the power? To the TV cabinet above the cubby in bedroom?

Stopping is key. You also need to be able to stop when trailer brakes fail. I’m good. Slow and steady, yet stop all day long. Cheaper than a dually too. 

I went and found a grade 8 bolt that fit down through the access hole and all the way through the pin and extended down below the side access hole. I think this will be much stronger and hold it in better until new head is in place. It is a 1/4” grade 8 bolt 3 inches long works. 3.5” prob better, but couldn’t source one yesterday  three hardware stores I went to were closed for holiday weekend. Miss the days when you can go into a hardware store and find bolts. No tractor supply near me right now and farmers co-op was closed. I’ll keep close eye on it, but should do fine  

 

Update: I’ve been out of the loop or completely missed the announcements....I spoke to both Mr. Henry (of ETHitch) and Mr. Rick (Comfort Ride Hitch) and both have sold their companies. ETHitch is now produced by Young’s Welding in Chanute, KS. Comfort Ride Hitches are produced by Roadmaster, Inc. In Vancouver, WA. Mr. Rick said he has no more tooling or facilities to do anything. He doubts Roadmaster would want to make a one off head. Mr. Henry said he can’t produce any hitches, but can service existing hitches, but is on vacation for a couple of months in NH, and suggested I call Young’s Welding on Monday.

So I will call Young’s on Monday, I am actually heading from STL to Denver, so I’ll call them and maybe I can take an 6 hour detour if they can work on it. 

15 hours ago, Wrknrvr said:

  Where is the grease.

     I do not see any signs of it being lubed.

 

 Just curious,.   Vern

Of what being lubed? The pins are not greasable. The head has a teflon lube plate on trailer. The Jaws are greased and sprayed with lithium grease before each hookup.

 

4 hours ago, rickeieio said:

Maybe some retired farmer with Shrek hands did your soldering........

👍 take that any day. Farmers keep me in food and they just figure it out deep working. 

At the end of Sept, we got back to TN. C wanted to stay in place to prepare for music school auditions. So we had a few months to work on all the little projects that get put off. So of course, I did all the projects in the four weeks leading up to travel day instead of a little at a time over the months parked.

HUGE thanks for Tommy P for taking good care of the truck and figuring out the AC problem. Knock on wood, I have 18 hours of drive time under belt with AC working. Intermittent voltage fluctuation at the compressor was causing the APADS (AC protection controller) to shut down compressor. Even though the AC wiring harness was new, weatherpak connectors were new and changed twice, hard wire was the answer. Don’t ask us why.

note to self: when ordering mini split, make sure to check 110v model vs. 220v model since it is running off genset.

list of what was done: 

7/3/2019

Mileage: 759,652

Fuel, Oil filters

Blew out Air Filter

Oil change Rotella 15w40

Chassis lubed

both diffs drained and filled with  synthetic lube, mobile 

wheels cut and buffed

Wired in front plug on trailer to transfer switch

wired in progressive 50amp EMS after ATS

added nema 50a female plug to back of truck to breaker panel 

50a nema male to 50a nema male extension cord with momo wire

made a 50a nema male to 50a female pig tale 

6/30/2019

Heater hoses replaced

Coolant replaced

AC compressor hardwired (took out connector; fixed issue)

Wired in battery isolator and dash switch to jump between battery banks

Generator oil and air filters changed

Generator inverter controller new (remove and reinstall generator) note: check/tighten fuel line before installing panels next time  

Cam Position sensor new

Heater valves new

Davco fuel filter check valve new

Power to trailer fixed in jackalopee 

APADS replaced new

Many Dash lights replaced

removed old bunk AC unit and 10 miles of wire that who knows did what 

Note:

Air compressor starting to blow a little oil

king pins will need replacing down the road

 

4/1/2019

All 8 batteries replaced; rewired both banks; 5 miles of wiring removed

Steering box replaced

Steering fluid filter

Still to do:

steering column bushing?

front carpet/rubber/insulation kit

windows in sleeper

Mini split in sleeper

seats

stereo

its only $$$. 

 

7 hours ago, RandyA said:

Neon lamps like we used in the project are not prone to burning out.  One of two things if the top two lights are not lit- the wires inside the tester may have not been soldered well and have broken loose OR the two legs bringing power to the RV are both of the same phase differential meaning the 120 - 120 legs are on the same wire.  The danger here is if you are pulling  a lot of power like two AC's, converter water heater, etc. at the same time you will burn the neutral wire or contact.  You are also most likely to to have a single 50 amp line rather tan two 50 amp lines. If both lights come on E1 and E2 have a phase differential that is 180 degrees.  You will have 220 across E1 and E2.  All is good.

Thank you. Generator is 110 and I was just testing my wiring out and thought I would try the tester out too. So yes, two 110 legs single 50’amp line vs. 2 on 220. 

Finally back on the road and haded west. At a pit stop walk around, I noticed one of the big pins on the Brinkley head was sticking out too far, way too far. So I took the weight off the head and it popped out pretty easy. Theee is a cotter pin hole through it, but no pin in sight. 

I found a bolt that fit through the hole in the head and went down across the side access hole so it would be supported top and bottom. Not an engineer, but I think the force is all shear from to back and the side force would be minimal.

 

i put the camera on the magnet mount looking right at the pin to keep an eye on it. Drove another 250 miles and it seems to be holding in good. 

I assume this means I probably need a head rebuild kit or something. Anyone know what size pin it takes? I’m in St. Louis area for a couple of days. Hope tomsource one tomorrow. I’m going to peruse the Hensley website tonight. Thanks for your help. 

 

What’s the lights order/info?

 

all lights are on but the top two middle ones. What does that mean?

On 6/24/2019 at 9:56 PM, RandyA said:

For those at the 2019 ECR you may remember that I was hopped up on steroids and pain killers for sciatic nerve pain in my legs from a ruptured disc pinching a nerve so that I could do my presentations.  Well, the steroids are no longer helping and the pain killers are not strong enough to get rid of the discomfort.  Truthfully, I am miserable and totally bored not being able to walk without pain, lift or work/play with anything I consider important.  Pain currently oscillates between a 7 and 9.  Both the camper and truck are just sitting and not getting any summer use.  Back surgery is now scheduled for early July.  Once the surgery is over it will be six weeks in a brace with no bending, twisting or lifting.  I am sure I will go completely crazy during that time.  I'm not positive what caused the ruptured disc but I will bet two dollars to a doughnut that it had something to do with working on the Volvo.  I did a lot of heavy lifting singling, moving tires and wheels and building the bed.  I can't think of anything else that would have caused the disc to rupture.  I know several of you reading this have been down the same road with your back.  Please, be careful about what and how you lift.  It really doesn't take much to rupture a disc - especially if you are a member of the "Over-The-Hill" gang.

Having been through this many times, make sure you talk to a spinal orthopedist as well as the neuro surgeon. They do different things and both will focus on different things. For example, the neruo will relieve strain on nerve, chisel out the calcium deposits and sew the disc back up. He does not consider if you need hardware or not. That is the spinal ortho's role.

I hear ya. Mine was a controller board went out. Up until that point, It just flat worked. You can't just replace the controller board on the older design, have to replace the entire inverter head to which the controller board is soldered.  

I'm seriously thinking about moving the gen set to the drivers side rear side, right behind the tires, same position it is in now, but to the drivers side outside the framerail, and move the hitch forward into the spot where the genset is. I could shorten up the bed by 3 feet or so.

AC fix first......

On 6/17/2019 at 9:31 AM, Parrformance said:

Lippert frame🤣

"like"

 

2 hours ago, Big5er said:

I wish you would quit posting this picture. I get so jealous everytime I see it!!

I'll send you a copy of the invoice it took to repair it. But all good now. 

My in-laws have a 2017 they bought brand new from the factory in La Grande, OR. Grandparents farm is nearish and the trailer spends a lot of time at the factory getting fixed. My 12 year old Teton has not had as many issues as the two year old AF. I would say they probably have some nicer features than the Jayco/Thor trailers for full timing, but not up to the quality of the smaller shops like New Horizons/Spacecraft/Luxe/Nuwa, etc. 

21 hours ago, Steve from SoCal said:

There is an aspect of propane that should be considered.     IF you have a small air cooled generator cold weather opps could be an issue.     Forklifts and equipment that run  on propane have water heated vaporizers and even with that running in very low temps below the teens can be challenging.     That is probably not an issue for general use, in an emergency situation that condition could exist.     That said I have no first hand knowledge of these small engine systems, the propane engines I have all use the forklift bottles that draw liquid not vapor.      I agree that for intermittent use propane is the fuel of choice.

 

Steve 

I would assume if you are using propane for heat in the trailer, it will also work for the generator. Flow is flow, but if it is too cold to work for your furnace, then you have more problems to deal with!

 

and the GasBuddy app on your phone is your friend.

5 hours ago, lockmup68 said:

go propane from start if you are planning on doing that anyway. 

When my onan diesel died last summer and the cummins/onan folks couldn't even look at it for weeks and weeks, I borrowed my in-laws Hondas to get through the summer. twin 2000i with the parallel kit. Father in law converted them to propoane and I just strapped everything down on the deck. I did get a propane Y splitter so I could run both off the same tank. Worked good and kept 30a sunning down the road. Ran the AC in the sleeper and the fridge in the trailer. 

worked really good with my ghetto portable AC unit in the sleeper with the exhaust port out the window (home depot special when the sleeper AC quit working).

 

 

forgot pic of the Onan 8k diesel, sips from tanks and is very quiet. And it is working now! I think the 8k is quieter than the two Hondas. 

 

Jack and team built a lift for a spyder, they can prob do something for you. rvhlifestyles.com