wolfe10

Welcome to the FMCA Forum. Start by checking sway bar bushings, both center bushings and end links. Brett

What chassis? I would start by making sure the chassis is set up properly: 1. Weigh the individual wheel positions (best) or axles and set tire pressure per your tire manufacturer's recommendations for your actual weights. 2. Check ride height. 3. If problem persists, next would be to check front end alignment, particularly caster. Set it to the high side of factory spec for better tracking. Brett

Raise the front wheels off the ground and check RUN-OUT. Ford had a series of wheels that had sufficient "slop" to allowed the wheels to be mounted such they had excessive run-out. Any good tire dealer has a run-out gauge, and it only takes about 2 minutes per tire. Ford did come out with a "shim" kit to help in centering the wheels if this is your problem. If not that, indeed check the driveshaft balance next. Brett

Good job. I recommend a light viscosity non-detergent oil such as sewing machine oil as preferable to 3-1 oil. 3-1 tends to get more viscous with time. Brett

Simply stated, OCCC (Occupant & Cargo Carrying Capacity), the industry-wide standard mandated by the Federal Government which went into effect 6/2/08 equals: GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) -- how much the coach can weigh totally loaded/how much can "sit on the tires." Minus UVW (Unloaded Vehicle Weight)-- the weight of the coach WITH full fuel and propane, but NO water, people, personal gear, dealer added items, etc. ________________________________________________________________________________ As you add water, personal gear, people, tongue weight of any trailer, etc you "use up" OCCC. And your added "stuff" can still be within the OCCC (i.e. under GVWR) and still have one axle overloaded/one axle well underloaded. Bottom line is you need to weight the coach when you have it loaded as you go down the road. Two reasons-- to make sure you are not overloaded AND to allow you to choose the correct tire pressure per your tire manufacturer's inflation chart. Brett

I made a quick call to the Cummins Hotline (800 343-7357, 0) . The short answer is that this is a non-problem. Brett

What is ambient temperature? What viscosity oil are you using? What is reading after warm at idle/cruise RPM? Brett

Welcome to the FMCA Forum. Here is a good resource from FMCA when shopping for towables-- whether new or a 10 year old model: http://www.fmca.com/motorhome/towing/204-towing-index According to this guide, it IS towable 4 wheels down with no modification. Of course, it is always wise to confirm this with either Nissan or even better by reading it in the owners manual. Brett

Jim, Did you measure the extended length of old and new shocks? And, yes, checking ride height may be in order. But, as I stated above, "While you are under there, determine what, if anything serves limit suspension travel on extension. Some air bag suspensions use HD straps from axle to chassis to limit suspension travel on extension." It may be that CC did not properly limit axle travel on extension, leaving the shocks with a job they were not designed to do. It should be easy to determine which is the cause of the issues if you go through the steps discussed in this thread. Brett

JD, Welcome to the FMCA Forum. While not specifically addressing your "Big Rig" question, this recent thread has a lot of information on the Parkway: http://community.fmca.com/index.php?showtopic=1713 Brett

Ed, Welcome to the FMCA Forum. There are no concrete answers to whether you can reasonably combine two new (same kind and brand is best) with 2 that are a year old. Much of the answer depends on whether the existing batteries have been well cared for: not deeply discharged, never deeply discharged and stored that way, never run low enough on water to expose the plates and never severely overcharged (kept over 14 VDC for long periods of time). If they have been well cared for, I would just add the two new ones. If not, replace all 4. Brett

In the absence of sun on that tire, my first suspect is that the sender may be off. Use/borrow an IR gun and calibrate it. Normally, the inside dual runs hotter than the outside as there is less air circulation. Brett

First question-- was that tire in the sun as well as having the very high ambient temperature? Brett

In order, to control sway: HD sway (aka anti-sway) bar, better shocks, steering dampener. Here are installation instructions for your chassis from Roadmaster, one of the largest makers of sway bars for RV's. This will help you determine if this is something you can do or something you want to hire out: http://www.roadmasterinc.com/pdfinst/1139-147.pdf Brett Wolfe

Thanks for the post. What coach do you have so we can compare? Brett

We stayed there last winter on the way to the FMCA Convention in Albuquerque. It is an acceptable CG and our choice in the Deming area. As with all CG's in this area, if the wind is blowing, it can get dusty. Be sure to allow at least several hours in the Museum down town. Brett

Paul, Energy management can be as basic as adding up all your electrical draws (in amps) times the time they run to give you total AMP-HRS of consumption. Then look at your battery capacity, again expressed in amp-hours. IF in like new condition and IF fully charged, you can reasonably discharge deep cycle batteries to 50% of their capacity. Said another way, a 200 amp-hour battery (or multiple batteries tied into one large battery bank) can theoretically provide you 100 amp-hrs before you need to recharge. If you need to run the generator to recharge (i.e. you are dry camping) most efficient use of generator time is to recharge from 50 to 85%, discharge to 50%, recharge ........ Once a week or so they will need to be fully recharged, but it will take longer to go from 85% to 100% than from 50% to 85% and the amps the charger puts out diminish as the battery becomes charged. Can you find expensive automatic power (amp-hr) meters that do this for you-- sure? Brett

Tim, Also consider adding window insulation along with upgrade from 13.5 to 15K BTU A/C's. And verify that your dash HVAC is on recirculate. Taking in 110 degree outside air and trying to cool it is not a reasonable proposition. Taking in 80 degree air from the interior is a LOT better. Brett

Welcome to the FMCA Forum. When you say the wires and coils are clean, that really doesn't address the LP flame area. In your Dometic book is a description of the "burner area tune-up". No parts and no special tools are needed. This is done through the refrigerator outside access door. Things that will be addressed in the tune-up that cause your symptoms are: 1. Improper igniter gap. 2. Dirt or rust in the burner tube that reduces the flame to where the thermocouple is not triggered. 3. Soot or dirt on thermocouple/igniter. After the tune-up, stay by the outside refrigerator access door and see how far the sequence goes when someone else puts the refrigerator on "gas": 1. You hear the igniter click. If so, how many times. 2. You hear/feel the gas valve open (same time). 3. You see a flame (blue) from the burner tube. 4. The flame turns the igniter/thermocouple red hot. And, while you are there, it is always a good idea to check the 12 VDC wires to the back of the refrigerator to make sure they are clean and tight. Brett

Jon, Will you have shore power (so that you could put in a thermostatically controlled heater)? Brett

Don, My next move would be to measure static shock length. Said another way, measure pin to pin with coach on flat ground, suspension at proper ride height. Yours would not be the first time I have heard of incorrect length shocks speced by a chassis/coach manufacturer. After you measure that and know your Koni shock part number, give Koni a call to discuss whether you have the correct shock for your set-up: Koni Shocks Jim Ryan (859) 488-0339. I would much rather see you get the proper length shock than look for one that is strong enough to work outside normal shock design specs. No one designs a shock to support the weight of the rear axle on extension. My definition of the proper length is: doesn't support weight of rear axle on extension and doesn't serve as bump stop on compression. While you are under there, determine what, if anything serves limit suspension travel on extension. Some air bag suspensions use HD straps from axle to chassis to limit suspension travel on extension. BTW, I have an older Koni shock book. Let me know the part number and I may be able to tell you the min/max working length of the shocks. That would give you a good starting point when you do your measuring of static length. And, please don't misunderstand. I am not recommending against Road King or any other shock. But I would like to see you only ask a shock to do what it was designed to do, not that plus act as as the limiter on suspension travel/support the weight of the rear axle. Brett

Resistance heaters should do the trick. Check out your 120 VAC breaker box to make sure you are not plugging all of them into the same circuit (which would trip that outlet breaker). If you have a microwave, may also be a good excuse to make some popcorn or a pie. The converter will also take some, as will the refrigerator on 120 VAC. Brett

Don, VERY first thing is to determine what broke the shocks. The number one cause of a quality shocks (Koni is a quality shock) breaking is incorrect ride height. If ride height is too high, the shock can be pulled apart on extension-- they are not designed to support the weight of the axle/not designed to act as the travel stop for suspension travel. If ride height is too low, the shocks can be crushed on compression. Again they are not designed to act as the stop for suspension travel. Properly speced, shocks will not reach their minimum compressed length on compression and will not reach their maximum extended length on extension. Improper ride height in the rear also leads to other significant problems. That short drive shaft was designed to run at a certain angle to transmission and certain angle to the rear axle. Raise or lower ride height, and you materially affect drive line angles. Please let us know what part of the shock broke (pulled apart, crushed, etc) and whether your ride height is to factory spec. Brett

Paul, That will work-- consider it a semi-permanent installation (vs one wired into the house 120 VAC system). Be sure to fuse the positive lead at the battery and use the correct (read that LARGE gauge) cable from battery to inverter. Brett

Don, If the Allison ECU is under the dash in the area they worked in, it would be a good idea to unplug and replug the two large gang plugs that connect to it. If loose, it could cause your problem. There is a "push to release" tab in the center of each gang plug. Depress to release, then push it in hard enough that it clicks. While apart, look closely and verify that none of the pins are bent. Brett