Jim & Wilma

Matthew, the shrouds will pull off with a little encouragement. Forget which one comes off first, that may be your issue. The plastic will give quite a bit. They’re harder to get back in place but be persistent. If off position a little, make sure steering wheel rotation is not restricted in movement in any way. Good luck.

Jen, glad this helped you. I know folks that have taken their car to the dealer and waited weeks for replacement “ignition parts” from Europe.

Only time we have issue releasing the hitch jaws is when there’s lateral loading between the truck and fifth wheel. Putting the truck in neutral for a second and allowing it to roll a couple inches solves the issue. For this particular “issue” it operates as I would expect to; resisting jaw release when being “pulled”.

Thanks Carl and Donna for all you have done for our HDT community! Wilma and I are wishing you both the best.

There are some impressive front living floor plans and we have friends that love theirs. It can make a great space for entertaining as well as accommodations for overnight guests. As mentioned, however, it will be warmer “upstairs” as heat rises. That can be a plus in cold weather, not so much in warm weather.

Thanks for posting. Spells it out pretty clearly. Added to our folder we carry.

When we imported our truck in 2015, we used Drive Star to do the paperwork for us. Aside from the cost, it was painless. http://www.drivestardelivers.com/

Another look at the question is to consider risk v reward. Risk, not easy to quantify. Let’s just guess it’s one in a hundred cars per year, running low octane, see a related engine failure. At todays prices, a reasonable gen 3 might be had for $10,000 and the old car gets towed to the junk yard. Reward could be saving $0.50/gal between the prices of regular and premium. If you drive 10,000 miles a year and get 50 miles/gal, that’s a savings of $100 dollars a year. But you’re not going to get 50 miles/gal anymore. Say you lose a reasonable 5% efficiency because of early ignition, that’s about 10 more gal of fuel a year, or say $40. Total reward is maybe $60. So under these assumptions, for a $60 “bet”, you’ve got a one in a hundred chance of “winning” $10,000. I’d call that a bad bet. You can play with the numbers and tilt it for a better “payout”. But, how lucky do you feel and is $60 worth it?

In my background, unless the design authority said running low octane was within design basis for extended life, I’d not give it a whole lot of value. I have no doubt lots of folks successfully run low octane but I also doubt you’d find anything resembling a statically valid analysis supporting the statement that “there’s no damage to the car”.

Carl, the smart uses high compression engines for which the higher octane is spec'd. Lower octane may self ignite during compression stroke which will place some additional stress on the engine. I suspect the there’s sufficient design margin to allow “some” use of low octane fuel. I think you’d be real hard pressed to find a Daimler authority to define the those limits. When we were in AK, high octane became real hard to find a couple times and we ran with 87 octane without notable impact. Having said that, IMO it’s a bit like asking how lucky do you feel? Not worth taking the risk on a continuous basis as we’re hoping the smart will take us to the finish line.

Wilma and I so enjoyed the Rally’s and greatly appreciated your and Gail’s service to the HDT community. We made lifelong friends and learned and shared invaluable information at the Rally’s and hope you are able to pass the baton to someone as capable as you guys. Best of wishes Steve and Gail and thanks for being there for us.

I “got it” now. Thanks guys.

Darryl, I truly enjoy reading your responses on the forum and usually I "get it". But this statement has me wondering what I'm missing. I know the fuel will return to the tank from the bypass valve at the head and certainly see some heat transfer. Also the Davco will transfer some of the coolant heat to the fuel at the heated filter. But I wouldn't think either of these sources could contribute significantly to maintaining Dennis's 113F coolant temp. What am I missing?

Bontrager’s Surplus . . . here Easy to spend at least a couple hours at Bontragers.

Henry, were you really that good this year?

Merry Christmas and safe travels to you guys!

Could be your connector. Any corrosion and etc? Plug connector in and out a couple times and make sure it seats well. Try brakes from cab again.

Gene, First thing I'd do is pull the breakaway switch and see if the brakes are holding. Assume you have hydraulic, so you'll hear the pump run. If standard electric brakes, give 5th a tug to see if wheels skid. From there we can dig into one side or the other - let us know what you get.

Glenn, probably easiest way to find post on how to fix is search for the word “torx”. Good luck.

Good write up Stan. Question, do you know what production years the pin assignment is applicable?

Waste tank can come in pretty handy. First time I transferred, the thought occurred how do I know when it’s getting full. We were at a friends place. A “spill” wouldn’t have been too bad except for the lifelong ribbing I would have gotten. Ended up putting a couple probes in top of tank and temporarily hook up a water alarm that screams when near full.

Yep, that’s cheating Dan. I’ve looked for collapsible containers I could use along with a pump to transfer used oil into empty oil jugs. But it ends up being more mess/hassle and more stuff than I want to drag along with us. Of course, I’m morally opposed (read cheap) to take the car to a shop and still change the Smart oil on the road by backing down the ramps just a bit. Last couple years have taken the truck to a small shop in LaJara, CO that changes the oil, filters and lubes. It was $380 this past August which isn’t too bad. They also keep the oil for their shop heater.

Ok Dan, inquiring minds want to know how you handled the oil? First time I ever paid someone to change oil was the Volvo with its 38 qt D13. Maybe I need to reconsider . . . or find you!

There are folks whose truck suspension will leak down overnight and those that, well, stay up for many days. For ours, I’m fine with several days and see no harm in losing the suspension other than it takes a bit longer I suppose to get underway waiting to air up the tanks. Agree with others the leveling valve is a good place to check. If leaking, it’s pretty easy to replace and not a bad preventative maintenance task in any case.

The leveling valve is between the air source and bags and will only exhaust air when the deck height rises above the set point as would happen when the load is removed. Otherwise, in my perfect world, rear suspension air pressure should the same “forever” if the load doesn’t change. Possible leak sources are the leveling valve, air lines and fitting and the bags. Our truck suspension will hold for 3 or 4 days or so and the air bags and leveling valve are relatively new.