wolfe10

Check voltage going into the back (outside) of the refrigerator. Should be 12.2 (50% discharged battery at rest) to 14.2 VDC (max charge rate with alternator or charger in bulk mode. 12.7-13.5 is closer to what you should see most of the time. High voltage WILL shorten bulb life (as well as battery life and that of other 12 VDC appliances). Brett

OK, recommendations in order: Add a Safe T Plus. If you still want more help with the sway issues, Roadmaster does have a larger front sway bar for the Roadmaster 8 bag suspension. Lastly, I suspect you have Monroe shocks. Upgrading to Konis would certainly not hurt. Brett

Montie, We have over 100,000 miles on a Safe T Plus with no centering issues-- it is bolted in place so it would surprise me if one got "off center". BUT, let's look more closely at what you are trying to achieve. Do you have the 4 air bag or 8 air bag suspension? And if you can go into more detail on what you are wanting to improve-- is it sway (side to side), vague steering, directional stability when encountering side winds, etc. We are currently at the FMCA Convention-- I would be happy to visit with one of the suspension guys I know who has designed quite a lot of the motorhome suspensions over the last decade and get his recommendation. Brett

For more information on Nitrogen in tires, see this thread: http://community.fmca.com/index.php?showto...rogen&st=20 Brett

Just a quick reminder. The Forum Fever on FMCA.com get together/seminar is tomorrow (Thursday) 9:45- 11:00 am in Seminar 2. SEE YOU THERE. Brett

Yup, a not infrequent EXPENSIVE Mistake. 50-amp RV connections have two HOTS (on opposite "phases" so 220 VAC between the hots), one NEUTRAL and one GROUND. 30-amp RV connection has ONE HOT, one NEUTRAL and one GROUND. A house dryer connection has TWO HOTS and will destroy a lot of equipment in an RV! Brett

YUP, just got back to our coach and had a note from Roadmaster that they had serviced and lubed our tow bar as well. Brett

Greetings from sunny Albuquerque! Clear skies and a high of 58 degrees today. We are looking out the window at beautiful snow-covered mountains (over 5,000' higher than where we are parked but only a few miles away!). Hope to see many of you at the FMCA Forum Seminar on Thursday where we can all "Put a face with that screen name." Brett

Welcome to the FMCA Forum. The water heater bypass valves are normally in the back (inside coach) side of the water heater. Brett

Harry, Welcome to the FMCA Forum. First thing I would check is ride height. Get the dimensions from Freightliner. If, for example ride height is too low, suspension travel is severely limited and hitting small bumps can cause the suspension to bottom out/crash. It is easy to check and easy to adjust. As with any ventures under a coach, make sure to use safety stands. And, I assume your tire pressure is that recommended for your actual wheel position/axle weights by your tire manufacturer. If Koni FSD shocks are available for your chassis, yes, they will likely give you an improved ride. Brett

Beggert, Welcome to the FMCA Forum. What year? One of the old air cooled beetles or one of the new front wheel drive water cooled ones? VERY different drivetrains.

Excellent. A good example of why it is desirable to contact the manufacturer directly if the dealer is not able/willing to assist with a reasonable service or warranty request. Brett

Don, While in storage, I cover all appliance openings with inexpensive fine nylon screening (usually by just opening the outside access panel and closing the screen in the door). Never had a problem with critters in a tail pipe, but it would sure be easy to use a rubber band to hold a piece of screening over the pipe. Brett

Welcome to the FMCA Forum. It is actually a little more complicated than that. You are correct, you can not reliably run a load of 10 amps on a 10 amp breaker/fuse. I suspect the pump manufacturer speced a 15 amp or so breaker/fuse-- you might look that up or contact the pump manufacturer. But, breakers/fuses are generally sized to protect the WIRE, so you will need to verify that the wiring (and relay if pump voltage goes through a relay) is appropriate for the higher load and breaker/fuse. Hopefully, it will be, but it is something you need to verify. Brett

After confirming that your Jeep IS towable 4 wheels down, if you want to see the installation instructions for the Roadmaster bracket NWJeeper is talking about: http://www.roadmasterinc.com/pdfinst/1425-1.pdf Brett

Wayne, Glad you caught it before it caused an accident. Any time a tire has been run flat be sure to have a tire professional dismount and check it for internal damage. If in a duals location, they will need to check the other tire at that wheel position as well, as it will have been run EXTREMELY overloaded. http://www.michelinrvtires.com/assets/pdf/...re_June2009.pdf On page 8: UNDERINFLATION This condition is often referred to as a “run-flat†tire. It is caused by operating a tire at very low or zero air pressure. When a tire is run at normal highway speeds, underinflated, it flexes too much and builds up heat. This heat damages the inner liner, casing, and outer sidewall of the tire. If not remedied quickly, the tire will be irreparably damaged. In extreme cases, the sidewall of the tire is destroyed, from the excessive heat and the weight of the vehicle crushing/cutting the tire against the wheel as it rolls on the uninflated sidewall. According to guidelines put out by the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA), any tire that has been run at less than 80% of recommended air pressure for the load it is carrying should be inspected for possible damage. 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 unserviceable tire was underinflated, that means the serviceable tire was carrying more and more of the load for that wheel position. Consequently, it too may have suffered some casing damage. FATIGUE RUPTURE This type of damage is sometimes called a “zipper rip†because of the zipper-like effect it creates in the steel casing cords of the damaged tire. When a casing cord is damaged or repeatedly and excessively bent due to overload and/or underinflation, it will eventually break and subject the cords on either side to even more stress. When enough strength has been lost due to additional cord breakage, a rupture occurs and can progress rapidly along the path of least resistance in the upper sidewall. This can happen hours, days, or even months after the initial damage event when all evidence or memory of the initial damage or overload/underinflation is gone. Casing cords in the MICHELIN® truck tires used on motorhomes are very strong twisted steel cables. Extreme over-deflection of a tire, that can occur during improper blocking of tires or high energy impacts, may weaken the structure of the cable so as to make it less tolerant of the repeated bending stress encountered in normal use. If in addition, the integrity of the steel cords is degraded by corrosion from moisture reaching the cords through cuts or tears in the rubber, their tolerance of these conditions will be even further reduced. This corrosion may result from mounting damage, foreign objects left inside the tire, road hazards, tire mishandling, or even improper repair of a nail hole.

Bill, Welcome to the FMCA Forum. SCA= Supplemental Cooling Additive. It is added to the coolant of all diesel engines (with the possible exception of the Cummins B engine which does not require it). It is consumed in the normal operation of a diesel engine and must be replaced to protect the cooling system. Look it up in the cooling system section of your engine's owners manual. Test strips are available that check for SCA, freeze point and pH. They are around a $1 each. The DO have an expiration date-- do not use expired test strips. Do NOT just add SCA, as too much is as bad as too little. Test and then add if necessary. We just wrapped up a Rally of the CATERPILLAR RV Engine Owners Club (an FMCA Chapter)-- one of the things we did is check the SCA, freeze point and pH of every coach that had "regular low silicate for diesel with SCA". Brett

Phil, Welcome to the FMCA Forum. It sounds like you are going about the troubleshooting the right way. One thing I would suggest is to use another (portable) charger to fully charge the batteries -- like overnight and then have them load tested. Most auto parts houses, Sears automotive centers, etc will do it for free. You could also check their SG after fully charging them (SG testers are generally under $6). If the batteries test good, then I would call Intelepower for their recommended test procedures. Brett Wolfe

You are storing the coach long enough that even if disconnected, the batteries will self discharge. So, you will need either a medium/large solar panel, controller and connection to BOTH battery banks or two smaller solar panels, each wired to a battery bank. Fuel tank full, and added Biocide (from a marine store) if Diesel; Stabil if gasoline. Be sure to run both main engine and generator long enough after adding the additive to get it fully distributed. Tires to full inflation on sidewall unless that exceeds rim maximum. Oil changed PRIOR to storage (so acids/moisture not stored in the engine) if over 3000 or 4000 miles on it. Same for generator. Cover the tires to protect from UV damage. Can't help with advice about water inside to add humidity as we live on the Gulf coast and have the opposite problem (we keep a DEhumidifier in the Brett Wolfe

Welcome to the FMCA Forum. To identify the source of the noise, buy a roll of 2" blue (easy to remove) tape. Start taping off areas on that side of the coach until the noise no longer occurs. BTW, from your mention of wind speed in knots -- are you a sailor? If so what area and what kind of boat? Brett Wolfe

Beth, Welcome to the FMCA Forum. You might want to read through this thread here in the FMCA Forum, then would be happy to entertain specific questions. http://community.fmca.com/index.php?showto...&hl=storing

RJMASON, Welcome to the FMCA Forum. As has been posted before, please verify that you have the NEW STYLE trailing arms, not just replacement old/bad design arms. There have been numerous posts by people who had the original trailing arms replaced under the campaign with new old-style arms and those failed as well. Be safe out there. Brett

Post as much information as you can about the problem you are having-- there are several here who are familiar with 12 VDC electrical systems. Brett Wolfe

Indeed, this time of year, weather IS a consideration anywhere. But, east of Albuquerque, I 40 is a LOT lower than west of Albuquerque. Brett

Actually, I suspect many are already on the road to pre-rallies with limited Internet access. We are headed to one right now -- to the Caterpillar RV Engine Owners Club Rally in Amarillo on the way to Albuquerque. Brett