wolfe10

Note from moderator: I KNOW (yes, capital KNOW) this is close to a religion up there. Remember, religious posts are not allowed (unless about the University of Texas). Ya, certainly not this year for UT!

David, A caution before you proceed to the "which one should I use". Check with both chassis and more critically coach maker to make sure the skid bracket IS structurally strong enough to support the weight of the back of your coach. If a frame extension was added, you could do thousands of dollars of damage of you tried to support the rear of your coach on an extension of the frame rail rather than frame rail itself. Many of us faced with the same problem have found easy "work arounds" such as board ramps temporarily placed in the low area, approaching drive at an angle, air bags to temporarely raise rear, etc rather than put weight of the rear of the coach WAY behind the rear axle.

Jim, Thanks for the update. This will certainly help someone else in the future.

All good information (and in complete agreement on the N Little Rock CG right on the river-- one of our favorites), but we seem to have moved about a thousand miles too far east! Let's get back to the original topic: New Mexico, Carlsbad and Albuquerque Areas Thanks.

There are some floor plans that are absolutely out of balance left to right and the designers knew this before the coach even left the drawing boards. But, interior designers often trump engineers in coach design. The "poster child" for this is galley slides. Weight of slide, galley cabinets, and appliances are on one side, with perhaps a recliner and maybe a table on the other side.

Have they given you the "cause" of the excessive blow-by? Was the engine "dusted"? Another option (in Houston): https://houston.craigslist.org/rvs/d/caterpillar-diesel-engine-and/6413992337.html No first hand knowledge on it, but had a link to it forwarded to me.

Actually with that much EXTRA oil, the oil would likely become aerated (crankshaft splashing in the oil). That could easily lead to damage, particularly on a HEUI injection system.

Have not worked on the 2000 model Safari, but your mention of reservoir "under the bed" is different than on earlier Safari DP's. Please confirm it IS the jack reservoir and also the brand. Earlier Safaris did not use the HWH system.

Go to the FMCA homepage: fmca.com Click on "Conventions" and then on "Chapters/Areas" to find out the schedule for the upcoming year.

Last post deleted. OK, this one is closed!

Yup, thinking the same thing. I would not run full heater current through the "smart switch". Just use it as a switch to close a RELAY. 40 amp 12 VDC relays are less than $10.

Would suggest your next call be to the technical support department of your inverter/charger manufacturer. If possible, do it from the coach so you can let them listen to the sound. Also, have written down: Shore power voltage (120 VAC ideal) House batter bank voltage Any readings from the inverter/charger remote control panel.

You mention "converter". Are you talking about your inverter/charger? Or do you really have a separate converter? And, if inverter/charger, do you really have the ability to turn off/on the charger function?

Yes, IF used on rear axle. No change if only upsized in front.

Wow, a new title, and a much better one than the last one. Nope, left everything in Belize as we found it. Did an 8 hour drive across the country to some magnificent Mayan ruins on the border with Guatemala yesterday. Fit Bit showed 57 flights of stairs. They built TALL buildings/pyramids. With three temples lining up with/corresponding to the summer, spring/fall and winter solstices. In Roatan Honduras today, then back north. Ya, I know Tax Code Reform isn't too popular a topic, but let's wander back to it.

While it is common to use 6 VDC batteries for house batteries (least expensive deep cycle batteries, since a LOT of them are used in golf carts) they are ALWAYS wired in series (to make a "12 VDC battery in two pieces"). Said another way, your coach systems all run on 12 VDC. You could just as easily use 6 two volt batteries in series-- again the goal is 12 volts to the house systems. So, to check batteries individually (positive of that battery to negative of that battery) they should be 6.4 VDC or so (so the pair in series would be about 12.8 VDC) with the batteries at rest. Yes, higher with charger on. It is the speed at which you had voltage drop that indicates a likely bad battery. So, with the inverter/charger working (shore power or generator) all looks good as the inverter/charger is doing all the "lifting". But when shore power is off/no charging going on, voltage should quickly drop to about 12.8 VDC (as voltage above that is just surface charge and easily dissipated ) then drop very slowly from there. The drop you experienced indicates either a very heavy load on the batteries or bad batteries.

Before buying new tires, I WOULD have front axle weights. It is certainly possible that the previous owner found the front tires overloaded and went to the next larger size/higher load range. If the larger size does offer you more safety reserve and larger tires are not interfering with body/suspension as you turn, only other question is to verify that the wheel size is OK with the wider tires. Wheel size will be on the GVWR plate and you can also read it off the inside of the wheel (look at one of the rears, as the markings will be facing out).

" We checked the batteries and the 4 house batteries are 6.9 to 7.1. The 2 chassis batteries were 13.54 and when I turned the engine key on they immediately dropped to 4. " You need to fully charge both battery banks and have them LOAD TESTED. Most places that sell batteries will do that for free. Voltage dropping that fast is a good indicator of bad batteries that is masked by being on the inverter/charger. If wet cell batteries, be sure to check water level. Exposed plates kill batteries. As far as inverter-powered circuits not working, are you sure your inverter control panel was set to INVERT?

Oh, man. When the moderator is away (yesterday on land excursion across Belize to the Guatemala border to see a Mayan ruin) things can go off the rails. But, in the spirit of the holidays NO ONE IS IN TIME OUT. But, how about getting back to the original topic. Thanks.

Indeed, even small "out of spec" on ride height can have material impact on weight distribution. How many of your really strong friends would you have to line up to lift, say, the right rear corner or your coach up an additional one inch? Yes, thousands of pounds can be shifted using ride height adjustments/out of adjustment. In fact, I have used ride height spec tolerances to help balance weights. So, if ride height spec, is say 8" +/- 1/8" to help equalize weight side to side, you could set the heavier wheel position ride height valve at 7 7/8" and the lighter wheel position ride height valve at 8 1/8". Yes, these adjustments also affect weight distribution on the other axle. Four individual wheel scales make fine tuning ride height a LOT easier.

From the original post: " When weighed the front driver axle weighed 5700 LBS. The front passenger axle weighed 3770 LBS. "

It is the RIDE HEIGHT VALVES that determine the amount of air to the air bags. Said another way, air bags "just do what they are told" by the ride height valves. With very rare exception, coaches have three ride height valves-- two on one axle, one on the other. Adjustment is started on the axle with two.

I agree with RayIN, Very first thing to check with out of balance weights is RIDE HEIGHT. Don't know whether your coach has two ride height valves in front or rear, but start on the axle with two and get it to spec. Then "average" the measurements on the other axle.

Agree, but that does not mean that someone could not (by mistake) use the DEF nozzle to fill the diesel tank!

Depending on which inverter/charger you have, you are likely just fine. Most have a built in transfer switch. So, when the inverter/charger sees 120 VAC from either shore power or generator, it "passes through" that power to all circuits downstream. It also charges the batteries. So, it is really not "inverting" to power the outlet when on shore power. Again this is how most are wired-- what inverter/charger do you have?