wolfe10

To make a wise decision (and it sounds like you are looking at many of the important variables) you need to look at the NET cost of each choice. And it will be different depending on your particular situation (income, value of RV, etc). Example: Texas does not have income tax. Texas RV registration is fairly low. Texas has no personal properly tax on RVs. Some of the reasons Texas is popular as an address for full timers. I am not familiar with Ohio. Brett

If you are going to flush and fill a couple of times to make sure any dirt that got in the open plug is removed, you can go with either kind of oil. I flushed mine and went with synthetic-- front wet hubs and rear axle. Brett

Any parts house that deals with OTR trucks should have one. You may be able to have a regular auto parts house order one. You will need to copy down the name of the hub. Here is one of the more popular brands: http://www.stemco.com/Products/HubCaps/tabid/78/Default.aspx I would also recommend changing the oil in that hub several times, as dirt has likely entered the hub with that plug out. Look in your manual for the proper oil-- most take gear oil. I use a hand suction pump to remove the old oil, rather than the drain plug, as it can be messy if you don't remove the wheel. Brett

Joseph, Labor prices currently charged varies widely around the country. The same goes for charges on auto repair, etc. So the geographic area probably dictates the price. What area are you considering for your shop? If somewhat open to locations, one criteria might be to look for an area you want to work in where one or more RV facilities have recently closed. With the downturn in RV sales, many dealerships have closed their doors. This leaves their service customers needing an alternate place to get service. Another approach to getting service business until word of mouth brings you business is, once you have established your shop is to talk with companies whose products require techs to install them. Source Engineering (Monaco trailing arm replacement on 4 air bag suspension) comes to mind. Brett

Wayne, that looks like a great CG, but at least the Gardens RV Village which Dianne and I have visited is a community that incorporates RV garages into homes and duplexes. Brett

PM 1 Recommended Change Intervals* Serial # Prefix Oil Pan Capacity Sump Change interval--Miles/Years 1WM 19 Qts (18L) Shallow 6,000 Miles / 1 Year 1WM 29 Qts (27L) Deep 10,000 Miles / 1 Year 7AS, 8YL, CKM, HEP 22 Qts (21L) Shallow 11,000 Miles / 1 Year 7AS, 8YL, CKM, HEP 30 Qts (28L) Deep 15,000 Miles / 1 Year KAL, SAP, WAX** 19 Qts (18L) Shallow 11,000 Miles / 1 Year KAL, SAP, WAX** 27 Qts (25L) Deep 15,000 Miles / 1 Year * Fill volumes changed due to side mounted breather ** Refer to the O & M manual for S•O•S and storage recommendations. If any question, call the Caterpillar RV Hotline with your engine serial number: 877 777-3126.

PM 1 Recommended Change Intervals* Serial # Prefix Oil Pan Capacity Sump Change interval--Miles/Years 1WM 19 Qts (18L) Shallow 6,000 Miles / 1 Year 1WM 29 Qts (27L) Deep 10,000 Miles / 1 Year 7AS, 8YL, CKM, HEP 22 Qts (21L) Shallow 11,000 Miles / 1 Year 7AS, 8YL, CKM, HEP 30 Qts (28L) Deep 15,000 Miles / 1 Year KAL, SAP, WAX** 19 Qts (18L) Shallow 11,000 Miles / 1 Year KAL, SAP, WAX** 27 Qts (25L) Deep 15,000 Miles / 1 Year * Fill volumes changed due to side mounted breather ** Refer to the O & M manual for S•O•S and storage recommendations. If any question, call the Caterpillar RV Hotline with your engine serial number: 877 777-3126.

I opened the Owners Manual on the MH9BX and see these warning in bold print: WARNING: WARNING: If the recreational or commercial enclosure does not have a window or roof vent, DO NOT USE THIS HEATER INSIDE. And: Proper ventilation air must be provided to support the combustion air requirements of the heater being used. Brett

Jim, While Caterpillar may certainly have one, Freightliner speced your current filter housing and will have 10 micron elements to fit it. Brett

The FMCA Towing Guides go back 11 years: http://www.fmca.com/motorhome/towing/204-towing-index Brett

No, it is NOT like backing a trailer. The towed vehicle's front wheels quickly go in to reverse lock when backing and you can destroy the front end of the towed vehicle very quickly. A trailer's wheels are locked in the straight position, which DOES allow for backing. Vehicle caster is set to make it track straight going FORWARD -- kind of like a grocery cart. When backing, it goes to reverse lock (front wheels turn the opposite way from that of the motorhome). Bottom line, do NOT back with a towed vehicle. Much safer to stop and unhitch those few times a year when we all find ourselves trapped where backing would help. Brett

Jim, While all any of us can do at this point is speculate, but improperly priming the lift pump once should not kill it if it was healthy to start with. And if you fit/have fit the proper secondary fuel filter with manual primer pump, changing filters is extremely easy. Changing oil is not difficult-- you just need the proper size bucket-- I use an old Rubbermade tub. Because of higher ground clearance, I would rather change the oil on the motorhome than on my automobiles. I suggest using the engine manufacturer's filters (Caterpillar in your case) and verify the correct oil capacity. To verify, call the Caterpillar RV Hotline with your engine serial number: 877 777-3126. Then VERIFY that your oil dipstick is correctly calibrated. Brett

Jim, First, do NOT allow ether to be used on your engine. Your engine has an electric grid intake manifold heater like the vast majority of other modern diesels. Hitting a red hot wire grid with an explosive is just not done. Yes, on older engines, it could be done if done in real moderation. And, sure, if the lift pump is not functioning, all the priming in the world will not get fuel to the engine. I was not aware that you facing any issue other than just replacing the filter. As to what kills lift pumps (any diesel) being starved for fuel really pushes them hard (they are pulling fuel under high vacuum load). So a clogged filter(s) WILL shorten their life. Also, any dirt or water will affect it, though the injector pump/HEUI pump is more susceptible to damage from these contaminants because of the much higher pressure they work under. Cummins also had a problem with seals in some of their lift pumps being damaged by ULSD, causing the lift pump to leak. To my knowledge, Caterpillar did not have this issue. Please keep us posted. Brett

Workhorse who built your chassis and speced and installed the wheels and center caps can answer your question about how to access the center of the front hubs. Because the volume of oil in the oil bath hub in measured in ounces (very little) I would NOT drive it until you have confirmed that your bearing have oil in them. Once the cap/cover is removed, you will be able to see a clear plastic hub. There will be a concentric ring marked "oil level". This is the level the oil should be at with the coach/wheels level side to side. Brett

OK, first an INVERTER takes 12 VDC and "makes" 120 VAC. Said another way, it takes power from your battery and makes "house type current". You may or may not have one. With only two 6 VDC batteries, you don't have a lot of battery capacity to run an inverter. Your CONVERTER (which you will have) takes 120 VAC from shore power or generator and "makes" 12 VDC. If dry camping in cold weather, the propane furnace (actually its fan) draws a pretty good amount of current. Depending on ambient temperature, the temperature you set the thermostat on, and your coach's insulation, those two 6 VDC batteries wired in SERIES to make one 12 VDC battery could run the furnace overnight. And while you could use your A/C (IF, repeat IF it is either a heat pump or has heat strips) off the generator as a heat source, just running the propane furnace is a LOT more efficient. The furnace turns propane into heat. The generator turns propane into RPM's (inefficient) which turns the electrical part of the generator (a little loss of efficiency) which then runs the heat strips or heat pump (another little loss of efficiency). Brett

Not sure it makes a difference whether it is extended outboard or near the center. The big issue, particularly for rear radiator configured coaches is to extended it to behind (back of coach) from the air intake for the fan shroud/cooling system. No point in putting moisture and oil vapor into the CAC and radiator where they will quickly trap dirt. Two important MUSTS for any extension: 1. Do not restrict air flow. If the engine manufacturer designed and installed a 1" ID breather hose, do not use a smaller one or any catchment device that would have less exhaust area than that size. 2. Do not form a drip loop with the extension. Said another way, the hose must continue ONLY downhill from engine to outlet with no uphill portion. Water vapor is one of the natural components of the crankcase breather. Water could condense in the drip loop and in below freezing temperatures, freeze. Forming a solid ice plug will totally restrict air flow and can lead to blown engine gaskets or worse. And by far the #1 cause of excessive blowby is overfilling the crankcase with oil. Brett

Welcome to the FMCA Forum. You need to pull out your owners manual and familiarize yourself with your 12 VDC electrical system. You have two electrical systems: 120 VAC and 12 VDC. The shore power is 120 VAC, as is your generator. You have a converter that "converts" 120 VAC to 12 VDC which charges your battery. Your furnace and lights work on 12 VDC. While driving, your engine's alternator charges the 12 VDC batteries. You likely have a master disconnect switch for the 12 VDC that needs to be ON when you want to use 12 VDC appliances. How long the 12 VDC battery (house battery) will power your lights, furnaces, etc depends on the size of the battery(s) and how much power you use from them. The furnace fans take a pretty healthy amount of 12 VDC. Brett

Jim, As I mentioned earlier, you would need to check with Freightliner to see if the filter is before or after the lift pump. If the filter is after the lift pump which is on the back (forward in the coach) of the HEUI injection pump, there is no reason to even consider bleeding at the lift pump. You may be able to trace the fuel lines to/from the filter and determine which side of the pump the filter is on-- don't know the access to the lines in your coach. Yes, your best chance of success is to pressurize the tank and crank the engine. Hopefully this will do it, if not look for a mobile diesel tech. Brett

Chuck, Since the fuel must be filtered (per Caterpillar requirements) to 2 microns, the single filters have just that, a single 2 micron filter. And yes, that will clog up a LOT quicker than a 10 followed by a 2. Yes "transfer pump", "lift pump" and "fuel transfer pump" are all the same animal (kind of like thermostat and regulator). They are basically a fuel pump that "lifts/transfers" fuel from tank to engine/HEUI pump. If is unrelated to the manual primer pump that some ("properly equipped" IMO) systems have. So for your system, you have: fuel tank, primary filter, lift pump, secondary filter with primer pump, engine/HEUI pump. And the secondary fuel filter housing with manual primer pump has been the same for decades. The one fit on our Foretravel in the fall of 1992 is the same design used today. So, for those on a strict budget, a truck wrecking yard followed by trip to a place that makes fuel hoses will get the job done. There are also a few coach makers who speced a primary filter and secondary filter WITHOUT manual primer pump. Retrofitting the manual pump on these is really simple. The secondary filter housing will have a block-off plate held by two bolts. Remove the bolts/plate and with new gasket primer pump and two bolts, just bolt it in place. If there is not room for the pump to fit straight because of where the secondary filter is mounted, Caterpillar makes both 45 and 90 degree mounts that bolt right up. I just hate to see the agony caused by trying to prime 30' of fuel hose and a filter when the alternative (as you and I have) is to just fit the filter on dry and use the manual pump to prime, then start the engine and drive away.

Bill, I strongly suggest that a motorhome not be driven with one of two tires on a dual location flat/removed. That severely overloads the remaining tire, often resulting in structural damage. Here is a quote from the Michelin RV Tire Guide: When one tire in a dual configuration comes out of service due to under-inflation/run-flat damage, the other tire in the dual configuration should be inspected immediately. If the unservicable tire was under-inflated, that means that the servicable tire was carrying more and more of the load for that wheel position. Consequently, it too may have suffered some casing damage. Brett

Reasons TO carry a spare tire: 1. Saves time in case a tire is needed. 2. A corollary of #1-- the more remote the area traveled, more unusual the tire size, and more critical your time schedule the more importance to be placed on #1. Reasons NOT TO carry a spare tire: 1. Weight of spare tire. 2. Takes up a lot of bay storage. 3. Ages and needs to be replaced even if not used. 4. You still need road service to install it. Brett

Linda, Welcome to the FMCA Forum. This thread makes good reading: http://community.fmca.com/index.php?showtopic=288 Brett

Have you called Monaco-- a good place to start? Brett

This Flying J Website gives the price of all grades of gasoline, diesel and propane at all their location in North America: http://www.flyingj.com/flyingjPortalWebPro...sPricesPrint.do If you scroll to the bottom, you will find this note regarding Indiana: **Indiana - Assumes no sales tax with ICC# (6% State Sales Tax not included).

Jim, The lift pump is driven off the back of the HEUI pump. Freightliner installed the filter-- so they can tell you on which side of the lift pump the filter is installed. Give them a call-- have your VIN handy: 800 385-4357 Normally, it is not necessary to access or bleed at the lift pump. If the line from tank to filter and the filter itself is primed, the lift pump should be able to prime the system. Brett