Jim & Wilma

When I replaced our cab air bags, I recall the top of the bag had a threaded stud that screwed into a nut welded inside a channel or rectangular tube. On one side, the welded nut released, what a hassle. Think I hacksawed the old bag off  

I ended up welding a nut to a small plate that fit within the channel which secured the nut from rotating. There was a slot/opening in the channel a few inches from the attachment point and I was able to slide the nut in using a wire or some such to guide it into position. Not much fun but it’s been 5+ years and still holding well.

Good luck. 

Jim, I used one of these cable assemblies for the fifth wheel side and a companion receptacle on the truck side.
Each of our cameras have the following 4 wires:

1. Power (+12 vdc)
2. Ground
3. Video
4. Audio

I tied all the camera Power wires to a single terminal and likewise with the Ground wires to another terminal. That leaves 5 of the 7 terminals for video and audio.  In our case we have three videos and I didn’t tie in any of the audios, so we’re left with two unused terminals. On both the truck and fifth wheel I used terminal strips in weather proof enclosures to combine and breakout the wires. 

Jim, assume these are the umbilical cables between the fifth and truck. 

We use a the standard 7 pin RV connector/cable for our three cameras. Has worked well for five years with no discernable signal degradation.  Has advantage of being relatively cheap and common part.  I spray the connector and receptacle every year or so with Boeshield T9 to fight corrosion.

4 hours ago, Technomadia said:

. . .  and is not alway optimal for data performance. 

Are there conditions where a signal booster like weBoost 4G-X with an M2000 could result in less throughput than the M2000 alone with all else remaining the same?  And mea culpa in advance if you say yes and point me toward your review. 

Impressive planning and execution to build what looks like a mature production article.  I'm sure there's elements you might have done differently, but I'll be darn spot them.  Good job!

You’ve got a great and well built set up that appeals to us, especially the three axle 37’ fifth wheel, but we’re admittedly a minority. I’d clean up the Teton, scrub the carpets and such, and make sure safety items are fully functional. When you post for sale, remember, you can’t have too many photos. Good luck.

We have a Warn 4K winch that pulled our 2013 smart nicely up 12’ ramps with a 47” rise. 

Pray that you rest in peace Dave.

Aggressive goals for sure.  Even more noteworthy to me was GMC's announcement to only produce electric vehicles by 2035.

To answer your question, suspect we'll have no problem getting fuel to keep our diesels running well past our time . .  though also suspect prices will climb, making electric more and more attractive over time.

SRS airbag systems that I’ve seen employ capacitors to store energy used for firing the air bag.  The purpose of the capacitor is to ensure sufficient energy is available should the battery circuit get disconnected during an accident. So even with the battery disconnected, the air bag can deploy. 
 

When working on the steering wheel or any part of the vehicle SRS system, it’s prudent to disconnect the battery and wait for the capacitor to discharge. SRS capacitor discharge time varies among vehicles. I’ve not heard of any that recommended waiting more than 30 minutes after disconnecting the battery before working on the system. So I’d wait at least 30 minutes unless somebody can find specific Volvo guidance. 

53 minutes ago, Chad Heiser said:

Chad, I’ve heard the same thing from others. Not so with us. The porta potty was our first purchase and don’t think there’s a trip of any distance that it doesn’t see service. Maybe it comes with age; warning, “don’t get old”!

Welcome to the forum Mark. 

Robert, to change the hinge angle, you can put one side of a 1”x1” steel angle in/on the top of the hinge. Bed frame material works. It has the effect of reducing the deck break over angle.  
 

On the 19” Discount ramps, I cut and removed the last splined traction rod which increased the clearance and eliminated rubbing in our old 451.  Not sure if it would be necessary for 453 smart. 

We’ve had a couple leaks as have others. One of them was the air/power bulkhead on the firewall. The gasket was folded over allowing rain water to leak in and collect under the mat. Found it when routing my video cables. Unlikely a manual would have helped me much. 

Edit below . . . 

i missed reading the comment below your html link.  I can see where construction and sealing details would be helpful.
I know others have had water enter the cab from above the door and a-pillar areas. I have a friend who filled the outside gap with a polyurethane caulk and that eliminated his leak. 
 

Good luck. 

34 minutes ago, SuiteSuccess said:

Jim,

Not to hijack the thread but is this primarily a 453 issue?  Our smart is a 451.

Good question and I don’t know. I suspect we’d have heard of the issue long before now if common to the 451. Could be the same design with different part supplier.  Maybe others will chime in. 

1 hour ago, Star Dreamer said:

I found this on the smart car forums. https://www.smartcarofamerica.com/threads/key-stuck-in-ignition-2016-key-lock-solenoid-stuck.157037/

 

 

Funny, that’s the exact problem we had and appears it happened maybe the same date and we were also in Colorado at the time. Too funny.

For those of you with a 453 and haven’t yet experienced this problem, I’d recommend you strongly consider doing a preemptive fix and remove/replace the locking solenoid rubber boot. 

Like most everybody on this forum, I grew up with cars that didn’t have locking ignitions.  At least one of my cars was “improved” without the need for even a key to start the car. Having said this, I wouldn’t hesitate to remove the locking solenoid and drive the car without it.  It’s maybe a 10 minute job if you haven’t done it before.  That’s assuming the solenoid/circuit is compromised and really does need a new ignition switch. Possibly you have the same problem i had, a sticking boot (see reference Carl copied).

Good luck and let us know how you resolve this.

32 minutes ago, Big5er said:

Can someone post a link to this new plan? I'm on their site and I do not see any data only plans? Even their online support people can not tell me how to view the data only plans on their own page.

 

Phil, I’m told you can find it on their prepaid site but not post paid.  I used their chat and sent this note, “I’m interested in the 50% off Inseego MiFi M2000 along with the $50/mo 100GB data plan.” Took a couple minutes to connect with a CSR.  After brief chat to make sure he understood what I was looking for, had him call me and it took about half an hour to sign up.  Pretty easy.  

7 minutes ago, wihakowi said:

When I open up the referenced Amazon listing, it gives a description of a much smaller size than I need!

 

I agree they're pretty small and don't recall whose "good advice" I followed in getting these.  I'm on my second round of 12 sensors worth of battery replacements using these and have had no signs of water intrusion.  Larger would be easier to slip on though can't attest they'd work better.  I break about every fifth one but must have 70 left, so until they're gone I won't be buying others.  If/when I do buy more, I might upsize to say 20mm x 1mm.

2 hours ago, billr said:The best deal was for one year right now. He said to call back during the year to see if the two year programs get better. 

We do the same Bill.

Mark the anniversary on the calendar, call to terminate coverage, get connected to the retention CSR and try to cut to the chase for decent rate. One time the CSR got us a one month extension and told me to call back in a couple weeks for rate he knew was coming.
 

It’s a bit of a hassle, especially the wait time after you select the terminate plan option.  Call when you have plenty of time to hold and then listen to the CSR running you through all the “deals”.

We have Coach Net. In reviewing the industry, it’s my opinion they were best for us. Their price is premium too.  

33 minutes ago, Darryl&Rita said:

There was one @ the 2018 rally, too. Didn't get to see who it was.

Believe that would be Jim Foley and Terri Frailey’s Newmar.  Believe they’re planning on selling it as they downsize rigs.

In my judgement, Newmar fifth wheels have solid bones and was on our short list when we shopped for our RV. I’d put their construction near the level of a New Horizon. Still believe picking up a good used one and refurbishing it will bring you years of use at a fraction the cost of a new one. 

A friend asked the other day about heating efficiency of electric versus propane.  I thought the attached Heating Cost Comparison spreadsheet may be useful to others.  Your cost of fuel and system efficiencies may be different, so you'll want to update those cells for your use.

For my engineering friends, I did take some liberty giving heat pumps an efficiency rating.  Obviously a system can't be more than 100% efficient.  Heat pumps are typically rated in Coefficient of Performance (COP) units which in my example would have a COP of 2.4 or with great liberty 240%.

Heating Cost Comparison.xlsx

5 minutes ago, castlewood57 said:

The truck did originally go in because it wasn't starting at all unless i jumped the solenoid.

It will start now, but now dash blanks out, and dash seems to do a total restart now.

If the dash blanks out while starting, certainly suggests poor wire connection somewhere. My guess would be at the batteries. 

Looking forward to your speedy recovery and continuing journeys.