dwightginnyputzke

The majority of us proudly display the plates.

Brett & Dianne, You truly must have the spirit of the founders of the Family Motor Coach Association. F513 F513 s

The Ford F53 chassis already has 2-transmission oil "coolers" on it. Transmission fluid flows from the transmission thru a heat exchanger/cooler in the lower radiator tank where normal coolant temperature runs approximately 180* degrees. (15* degrees lower than the standard 195* degree engine thermostat). The transmission oil then exits the radiator and enters the ambient air temperature exchange/cooler that is mounted in front of the radiator and returns to the transmission oil pan to repeat the cycle. With the Ford 460 (7.5 liter) V8 engine the easy way to lower transmission oil temp is to remove the 195* engine thermostat and replace with a 180* thermostat that lowers the lower radiator tank temperature to approximately 165* resulting in lower transmission temperatures and considerably less engine cooling fan roar when using the engine driven air conditioning.

After you fill the hot water tank for the first time you need to turn off and relieve the the water pressure and remove the water heater drain plug to flush out any pink RV antifreeze residue. Repeat if necessary. I never put RV Antifreeze in my fresh water tank for this reason. Dwight

NSA Ready Brake or NSA Ready Brute Elite

The lower the drop receiver the more potential twist action is exerted to the hitch mounting on the motorhome. A 5,000# vehicle towed with a 5,000# rated hitch and a 4" drop receiver may be the design limit. A 3,500# vehicle towed with the same 5,000# rated hitch and a 6" drop receiver may be OK. I have a 36' motorhome with over 13 feet of overhang behind the rear wheels and I need a 8" drop receiver to meet the tow bar specification. If I drive through a low dip going into a gas station the receiver drags on the road. To correct the problem I eliminated the drop receiver completely and remounted my trailer hitch with a 6 degree wedge between it and the motorhome frame and I now have a straight line from the hitch to the tow bar mounts on my 3,000# Subaru and it works perfect with my NSA 8,000# ReadyBrute Elite tow bar with the integrated Surge Brake System. Dwight

Andy I've been RVing with motorhomes since the 1950s and you sure put a smile on my face.

Install a transmission oil temp gauge sender in the line going out the left front side of the transmission. Your motor home is already equipped with a cooler & aux. cooler. Once a year at night I use a small mechanics mirror and a flashlight to inspect the front & back & corners of the engine radiator, air conditioning condenser, transmission & power steering coolers etc. for crud that blocks the airflow. Use a degreaser such as Simple Green to soak the crud and use a water hose & nozzle to blast the crud off. (NO high pressure washer) [Also be prepared to get wet and dirty- -goggles required.] If it's real bad you may have to repeat & use a narrow brush on a handle. DON'T BEND FINS

NSA RV Products Ready Brute Elite Read thru all the information available and make your decision based on reports written by the owners that have it.

Prior to the mid 1970s the Bluebird Wanderlodge had a 6-speed Allison with a integral hydraulic retarder ( at no extra cost ) that provided the best downhill mountain braking available. Then Allison Transmission stupidly discontinued the transmission forcing Bluebird and others to look for an alternative. In 1996 I was invited as part of a group of 50 people from North America that were flown in for a several day all expenses paid in the mountains of Arizona and the General Motors Test Track to introduce a new model of Allison Transmission with a integral hydraulic retarder for school buses to show how this new system could improve over the old system of brake failures in downhill mountain driving.

Our 1941 front engine Flxible has a chevy cab-over truck chassis with a fold down chevy instrument panel with a speedometer. Our 1947 rear engine Flxible had a large tachometer in the dash that was also used as a speedometer. It had four half circles under the tachometer numbers. The bottom half circle showed the road speed in 1st gear. The second half circle showed the roads speed in 2nd gear. The third in 3rd gear and the fourth half circle in high gear. By looking at the tachometer needle to see the RPM it also showed the road speed if you knew the transmission gear you were in.

We love to travel all the beautiful mountain roads but we wait until we arrive at sea level to fill our tires because of the thicker air.

Dave Depending on the type of carpet my fix is using the hook side of (velcro) 3M Scotch Reclosable Fastener to test if it will grab a tight hold on the original carpet. If it does, you can buy a large roll of the adhesive backed fastener. (discard the half with the fuzzy side) The problem is trying to stick the( velcro) strips permanently to the underside of your protective rugs. Buy a can of 3M Super 77 spray adhesive to spray short strips on the back near the edge of your protective rug only on the area that (velcro) strips will be applied. CAUTION: Any overspray is a mess to clean up. Let the spray dry completely before spraying a 2nd lite coat and wait for it to partially dry and then attach adhesive backed hook (velcro) and let it completely dry.. Try a small rug a few days in a high traffic area. On a smooth floor the fuzzy (velcro) can be stuck on the floor and will hold a small rug at that location. Dwight

Robert & Shelly You have left everyone speechless and spellbound.

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W O W RSTONE 0021 This is just like an old fashion family get together. F3 Howard & Audrey with their Flxible Bus became Life Members L3 and their son Jim & Tracy became F3S with their Foretravel and now Grandson R_____ is waiting for his chance to become F3GS. (I have never seen a F GS plate) Disappointingly, the member roster is no longer published in the January FMCA magazine but the information is held in the FMCA office. Five years ago there were 12 of the original 28 families listed in the membership with the F or L number 1 thru 28 including F20S & F23D.

KAT Welcome again Call the FMCA National Office and identify yourself and they will have the information you are seeking. 1-800-543-3622 HERMAN Thank you for the kind words. My father F513 and his good friend F510 names were on the list of 40 or 50 coach-owning familys that was sent out in the spring of 1962 by Bill Christensen F28 of Winona, Minnesota suggesting an organization. (my parents had converted our first Flxible Coach ten years prior to that date)

#F1399 was issued when the family joined The Family Motor Coaching Association in 1967. If you are a Son, Daughter, Grandaughter, Grandson, etc. of the original member, you are eligible to become a member and have that number assigned to you with a letter following the number such as S or D and if more than one son or daughter etc. joins, a number will follow the letter such as S2 or D2. My father & I together joined in 1964 along with 3 other families from our rural Minnesota town and were assigned numbers F510, F511, F512, F513 (all 4 families converted a total of 6 FLXIBLE HIGHWAY BUSES into motorhomes) and when my parents reached the end of the road, my brother and I each joined as F513s and F513s2.

Herman, I specifically stated cars because pickups may have different federal rules to met. If I were towing with a diesel equipped with a engine or exhaust brake I would want ALL brake lights activated when using the Jake or exhaust brake.

Every car that I have tested with the ignition key off and the key removed, the brake lights still work when the brake pedal is pushed.

HOMESTEADER I don't know where you get your crazy ideas and notions but to be truthful, I had the same concerns myself before I ordered and installed my own READY BRAKE TOW BAR. Pay close attention to the words of the MOTOR HOMERS THAT ACTUALLY BOUGHT AND USE THE READY BRAKE OR THE READY BRAKE TOW BAR SYSTEM !! Yes, I have had to back up a foot or two to get up to a gas island and the Ready Brake DID NOT APPLY because of the engineering built into it. It may be hard to believe that it can work perfectly without bells and whistles but if your like me, buy it and try it. It has a lifetime warranty. Dwight

I have used my motor homes in temperatures 50 degrees below freezing and there is a lot of ice on the single glass windshield that I don't have on the dual pane windows. I have used dual pane windows for 49 years.

NSA RV PRODUCTS ----READYBRAKE & READYBRUTE ELITE RV TOW BAR I have been a family member of FMCA since 1964 and over the years I have seen the changes in the average age of our dedicated members. I have also seen the changes in the types of motor home that we can afford. Just because a product costs more doesn't necessarily mean that it does a better job or that a motor home with air brakes needs air assist for the hydraulic brakes on the toad and why would I want to apply the brakes on the toad without using the motor home brakes? NSA was originally known as NIGHT SHIFT AUTO and maybe there is a high end motor home buyer that says that a brake system for a toad has to be complicated and have lots of bells and whistles and will have a strong opinion against any that are not complicated by design. I am of the old school and along the way I feel that I have maintained insight and am able to support what I see as an advantage rather than talk negatively about something I don't have personal experience with. I installed a ReadyBrute Elite Tow Bar with the ReadyBrake built into it and am very satisfied with the ease of installation and the operation under every condition I have forced it to encounter. To this day I have not seen a comment from a owner of this product stating they would not purchase it again and the comments are to recommend it to a friend. Sincerely, Dwight F513s

Herman I thought the US Navy trained with hurricane lamps in the 1950s. gdroke I installed LED brake light bulbs. Bright & low battery drain.

dustydog: F68505 Joined FMCA in 1985. Contact the FMCA office to obtain the original plate owner. I don't believe they have been active members for many years.