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trimster

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Posts posted by trimster

  1. 4 hours ago, rickeieio said:

    Bob,  we'll spend a few weeks in the Hill Country of Texas later.  Likely in Bandera for all of February.  Do you have the Spyder on board?

    SPYDER is aboard. 

  2. Yup...it was us earthly Timelords on the move. Headed to be with Lisa's (wife) sister who's having open heart surgery on the 13th.

    And the Dr.Who reference is spot on. The Smart car on the back is his robotic dog K9.

    I need to update our signature photo with the new 5th wheel. 

    Saw 2 HDT rigs headed in the opposite direction today.  Hay...the warmer weather is south dudes. Just sayin. 

  3. 1 hour ago, Chad Heiser said:

    Sea Level makes the best tank monitor in my opinion.  For battery monitoring, you want a Shunt based battery monitor.  My preference is Victron.  Their BMV 712 has a small remote display you can mount somewhere convenient or you can use the VictronConnect app with it via Bluetooth.  The SmartShunt just uses the app via Bluetooth with no physical display.

    Thanks Chad.  

    I will be adding solar, so that influences what I get i think.

  4. Thinking that this being the 'travel day' after thanksgiving weekend, 40 might be a bit crowded. We have a hundred miles to there to get a sense of the traffic. We'll be through there around noon'ish, so maybe the traffic will build later in the day... when we have Amarillo in the rear view mirrors.

    Gas Buddy has lower prices listed on the way into Amarillo, so we'll check those out. Have this need to run a few consecutive passes on a few cards this morning. Just sayin'.

    Overcast right now and the clouds are building to the east. Might get a power wash despite the weather reports.

  5. So, on the road now.

    Salt lake to Farmington was a haul. More than we like to do in a day. Friday. No traffic after Turkeyday.

    Stayed in the Farmington fair grounds. Wow. 575 sites and we were the only ones there. Talk about quiet. There were 2 rodeo events that evening and we heard non of it. For $30 (power and water and a dump station), not bad. Water was off. 19 degrees outside. Ya, nippy.

    Took 550 down to 24 south, then to 40 and landed in Tucumari, NM. Blaze-n-saddle RV park. Super nice people. Great, level sites. Clean power and way to much water pressure. WiFi is outstanding. People are great. Long sites for our rigs.

    Tomorrow we head to Amarillo and are taking the north loop around the city. Fuel is relatively cheap there, so topping off.

    We then will take off 40 and head south-east on 287 to a Harvest Host Winery (Horseshoe Bend Cellars Vineyard & Winery, Peterson Road South, Iowa Park, TX) west of Witchita, falls, Tx. for a night.

    Then we'll jog down to 20 and spend 2 days in the Shreveport area. Need some fishing time and a break for the windshield.

    It's only 3 hrs to Foley, Alabama from there... our destination.

    So far traffic has been light, even on 40. Weather good. Maybe rain tomorrow . But I think tomorrow being Sunday after Thanksgiving, it might be a bit heavy. Want to get past Amarillo before 2 pm.

     

     

    That's the latest.

  6. We are headed to mobile, Alabama in a few weeks to support a family member who will be recovering from heart surgery. Need suggestions/ insight on best route, where to do overnight stops, etc. This is a turn & burn trip with 7 hr drive days.

    Thinking stops in Farmington,  NM,  Amarillo,  then Dallas   then Jackson, ms., then mobile,  Alabama area.

    I see toll roads outside Dallas.  Not sure what the fees are. We're a semi pulling a 5er. I'm going to guess expensive. Maybe worth it saving more than an hour?

    Thoughts on this trip mucho appreciated. 

     

  7. I did the same thing. HF magnets. I used 3/8" threaded rod as the vertical support. I tried one magnet. Not enough. Used some angle steel to make a base. Put 2 magnets on that. It stays where put.

    I also left enough slack in the cable to the camera so I can move it to the end of the bed and look down if I have to do a ball mount tow.

  8. Soooo, pulled the carb. Found the problem.  The float was ¾ full of fuel. Now the mystery.  How'd it get in there.

    I can shake the float and nothing seeps out, anywhere. No signs of cracking. 

    I drilled a really small hole in the top and shook the trapped fuel out. I'm sealing the hole with JB weld for plastic. And I'm ordering a new float.  Until it gets here, I will be up and running. 

     

  9. 2 hours ago, rickeieio said:

    Bob, I'd say you're on the right track.  I hsd ours apart a few months ago, but it may not be exactly the same as yours.

    I'd take the float bowl off and see if the float and valve are actually working.  Could be a bit of crud on the needle, or a sunken float, or........

    Been wondering how your truck issues have shaped up.  Get 'er all fixed?

    How does one get the bowl off? 

  10. All of a sudden, our Onan 5500 geny is not starting. Pulled the cover and air cleaner to find that there was a lot of raw fuel in the airbox.

    When I attempt a start (without priming) gas pulses out the hole in the upper left of the carb intake.

    ftK6x6ml.jpg

    Any ideas why this might happen? and how to fix it? My first guess is a float stuck open (up), but I don't know how this engines carb works.

    Thanks for the help.

  11. Agreed.

    All I have is this... it's the Volvo shop. It's the shop foreman doing the work because he specializes in this specific problem. He did the test Friday. Let the truck sit over the weekend and did it again today. Even he is puzzled.

    Now, I left Rawlins, Wy a few quarts low and it hit the shop the same.  That's only 300 miles. It took 680 miles to put the reading on the dipstick from just under to over full.

    I will be the first to admit that I might have read the stick wrong (not likely) or the truck was not level (more likely in campgrounds). Ideal world would be to do all measurements on the same ground, but not happening while traveling.

    Even with just 680 miles on fresh oil the test should show a problem if it, in fact, exists.

    Not having a firm answer/solution is as frustrating to say the least.

    I do appreciate the input... very much.

     

  12. UPDATE:

    Volvo shop just called. Head scratcher. Ran the leak test twice and there are not leaks in the cups or injectors. In fact, when I left Rawlins, Wy, it was a few quarts low on oil. After that drive home, it was still a few quarts low.

    We're pulling an oil sample for another test.

    So, they are having problems with 3 bolts that hold some kinda spacer piece between the valve cover and the head. They're seized. If it's not replaced after the bolts are extracted, it will leak. So $500 for this part and $450 for a new valve cover gasket. WTF. A piece of molded rubber is $450! Even the service guy was way apologetic. Not rhyme or reason. Just Volvo thinks highly of their parts, then doubles the price for good measure. I purchased the two gaskets for the rotofilter. $100. Crazy, crazy.

    On an additional tangent... we sold our 5th wheel trailer yesterday. Looking for a newer one (2012-2019), 36'-40', Toyhauler, sub $60k price range. Full time job searching for these things.

  13. Update:

    In Rawlins,  wy. Last stop before home base. Pumped 1½ gals if deluted oil out of the engine. It was quite over full. Added back 3½ qrts of fresh oil for the 250 miles tomorrow. 

    Truck goes into the shop Monday.  Estimated cost...$5600. Crap. My only option in Salt Lake is the volvo dlr.  Not happy with that.

    Rickeieio...understand challenges can make a trip, but this has been over the top. There's been good moments. But....

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