trimster

Thanks for the help. I didn't think about hitting up Craigs List.

Anyone mounted a Trailer Saver TS3 to an HDT? Use standard mounting rails? Or something beefier? I'm now researching a shop to install it in Albany, Or.

Found this one close. It's a 2008 TS3 https://portland.craigslist.org/clc/tro/d/oregon-city-5th-wheel-hitch/7342015631.html Thoughts. It is a few years old. Last owner has it for 4 yrs but only went out 5 times.

Those who have seen the pics of my current hitch, or put eyes on it at the WCR, know that 'Huston, we have a problem '. I'm in the Roadmaster neighborhood so I thought I'd upgrade to the 245. Don't think I'll get a trailer in the future that will exceed it's capacity. I'll feel so much better with a real hitch holding stuff together. They will do the installation.

107 here under the awning here. Cooling a bit. Ugh.

I've been playing with Truck Map and one called Dyrt. No feelings yet on how they function. Still playing.

Your welcome. Not staying cool. Power went out in the RV park here in Albany 4 hrs ago. Good thing I have the generator in the rear bin. 102 today. 112 tomorrow.

Both are 125 gal.

I'm seeing un-equal fuel levels in my tanks. The drivers side is the main tank the engine pulls from I think. The fuel level in that tank is 1/4. When I look into the passengers side, it's close to 1/2 tank. It always seems to be about 1/4 'more full' than the drivers side tank. I have no clue how these tanks are tied together and what part of that would/could obstruct the tank's fuel flow to remain equal.

I know this is more of a travel-log (off topic for the HDT forum), but I'm just excited bout hitting the road. So after all the fall-der-all in Prineville, Or., we hit the road for Albany, Or. 141 miles. Piece of cake. NOT! We really want to take hwy 20 from Prineville to Albany, but need to head the 'restricted truck length sign'. Over 57', needs to take hwy 58 which adds about 30+ min to the run. No big deal... Well, there's several single lane parts where they are removing dead/burned trees. That adds another 30 min. Pretty drive however. Then we drop into Eugene and decide to pull off I-5 and get a burger or something. I pull into a sprawling yet compact shopping center only to find out that there's no separate exit from the parking lot I pulled into. This is the most extreme 'oh crap' moment I have encountered. We caught a break when a car pulled out of a spot leaving several open spots for us to maneuver. We escaped with only a 30 min wait. Truck camera video HERE. Wife said...'Park in the Best Buy lot. It's empty." Ya, should have listened. After a 5 Guys gut bomb, we get back on I-5 for the last 20 miles to the RV park. Electronic freeway sign lights up and says "Bad Accident 19 miles ahead". Great. That's one mile before the offramp we need. 5 miles from the off ramp it's a parking lot. We idle in 3rd, creeping along for more than an hour. And it's 90+ out there. We pull into the RV park (Blue OX) and are greeted by a nice park host. And "This is your rig?" "Why yes it is." "We typically don't allow semis in the park" "Well, if it makes any difference, the registrations says motorhome." And I indicated that in the booking request that we are a Volvo semi pulling a 5er. Her lips pursed, and she got on with the registration process. So all told, a 2.5 hr. trip took 6. Truck chugged along just fine. It's going to be 111+ over the next few days. We're in thermal hell I think. Oh, for the record, Blue Ox RV park does not have their park rules on their website. Once you read them, you would not really want to stay there unless you're into extreme control. They lay them on you when you arrive. If there was any place else to land, I'd eat the several hundred dollars for 2 weeks and move on. It's a nice park. Spaces are just a bit (inches) wider than some in the same class but not much. 50% or more are long term campers. And so it goes. And after the Prineville Derate thing, 'going' is good.

My readouts are now covered by a 9" monitor for my cameras. I moved any active switches to other positions on the dash.

I've chased it to a point just behind the cab without luck. Had more important things to do so pit it off until "someday".

Truck is back in front of the trailer. Bill was an ouch but less than expected. Got a chuckle out of the shop supplies (zip ties). Crap load of them. So they kept the wire that was corroded and it has a small hole in it, near the pin connector that allowed salt water, etc to get inside. Not much copper left in there. Another was rubbed through. There was a resistor missing in one of the circuit wires and a fuse link. Must have been a Volvo mod that was not done. Trans and one other software update was pushed. Trans shifts better. The nagging issue, and it will remain for a while, is the check engine light. There's still a coms error between the dash and something else. It throws an error but no code appears in the list (using the volvo software). Head scratcher. That would mean a total dash pull and digging into that harness. Shop time.... 20 hrs min. That will wait. Even at their seemingly reasonable $135/hr (it's $190 in Salt Lake). I know there's an error from the rear dif temp sensor. Not caring about that. If anyone is interested, I will create a PDF out of the bill and post a link. Lots of notes. You should have seen the dirt and pile of cut zip ties where the truck was worked on. So we're back and free to roam around in the heat wave. Corvallis area next stop on Friday, for a few weeks. 111 expected on Sunday. OMG. Me thinks we need to motate further north soon.

One of the things I read indicates that most of the issue is with the lower burn temperature of biodiesel and the SCR system. Doesn't get hot enough to allow the DEF filter to bake properly. Cold temps are not a problem for the next few fill ups, here in Central Oregon.

Some thoughts on road-abiliy of bins, latches, and doors. - slam latches Must be slammed shut to stay closed plus locked. Twice I've stopped to find a ramp bin door open. Rear bins, because they are behind the axles, scramble anything inside. Tools are everywhere. Need tool-rolls. Generator needs too be strapped down to the slide-out tray. Otherwise, loving the configuration.

What are the thoughts on biodiesel blends and our DEF systems? I've read where 10% and lower is okay. Some comments indicate they run the B20 without issues. Thoughts.

Okay. Update.... Just got off the phone with the technician. He's sharp. -derate fixed. Corroded connection + wire rub thru that has corroded inside. - data problems with engine ecu and dash.: still a mystery. Throws check engine light but won't log any codes. He's puzzled but has one other harness to look over. The truck is ready tomorrow noon. I think we're back on the road to our next destination come Friday. Thanks all.

I didn't do anything to the truck before taking it to them. Confident in the techs? Not sure yet. Service mgr is very knowledgeable. Actual hands-on guy? Not getting enough feedback to draw a conclusion other than lack of feedback does speak to a possible issue.

I did. Got it in first thing Monday. 3pm after working on it, they took it for a test run. Comms problems persist. Failed. Called 11am this morning and they are working on someone else's truck. WTF. Will get back to mine after lunch. Let them know I'm under a bit of a deadline here. I'm going to keep the pressure on them. On the plus side...big storm hit yesterday afternoon. Much needed rain. Big winds & lightening show. Overcast with sprinkles today. Break in the heat. But sunday....101+.

Ahhh. The days of 2 cans and a string.

I was targeting 2.40 or 2.60 rear end ratio when looking for a truck. What I purchased has 3.08s. 12 speed ishift with both rear axels. Mileage is around 7mpg. I move at about 65 to 70mph. I'd have to look at the tire sizes.

NOTE to all in this position. To defeat the Derate 5mph limit here's what you do. - crawl under the truck and on the passengers side of the trans tail-shaft, right before the first U-joint is a sensor sticking out. This is the speed sensor. It has a 1/2 turn collar to release it. DO NOT pull on the wires. Just unscrew 1/2 turn and pull the connector out. - Now, go to the fuse box located under the hood next to the steering shaft, on the firewall. Unplug the 10a fuse for the ECM. Mine is FU11. Put the fuse in one of the empty slots in the top area of the fuse box for safe keeping. Restart the truck. Esc out of all the warnings. You will now be limited to 1500 rpms, about 80% power and you will have to manually shift your auto shift. You CAN push the button twice in succession to skip gears. Be ready for the trans to loose its mind when you stop at a light. -Press the down gear button on the shifter and it will take a few seconds to get a gear. Impatient people will honk at you. You can do 65mph or so in 12th. You don't have engine brake, mph reading. I use my GPS for MPH. This is how I am getting around.

Seems one of the trigger points is that pesky little red wire off the + side of the batteries. It goes through a fuse link then on to the computers. Mine looks great. But worth cleaning. New batteries last July. I can surely do a bit of a clean on those connection when it cools off this evening. Easy 'nuff.

So, its been on several trips pulling in the last year. It does sit a lot. Because of the bed-build I have had a fair amount of start, move the truck in and out of the driveway to a new position, then stop. Then I do take it for a jaunt (to get metal/supplies) where it gets a good hour or more run on the freeway and around town. But it sits, like yours, until you need it. That's why I found it odd that the soot level was less than 1/2 the gauge when I left and 2 days of freeway flying, it would request a park regen resulting in 120 min. until de-rate. I was 45 from the campground so that was a good thing to have the extra time. But subsequent regens didn't change the soot meter... but in reality, it did work. The ECM just was not convinced. We did roll out the CanAm Spyder this morning, made a run for few hours up the canyon from here, did some shopping and hit a huge gem and rock show right over the fence from the RV park. Supposedly one of the best shows in the west. It was pretty awesome. Bob

The laptop pointed to the DEF tank connections and ecc-ecu. With the codes that could be cleared, the computer connect on Monday will show any new ones and/or support the existing faults. Why it's still in derate is puzzling.