Keggar

Herman - It seems I owe you an apology. After our most recent exchange a few weeks ago regarding the steering lock on towed vehicles, you stated my Avalanche could have the key removed and the wheels would steer to follow the motorhome when making corners. You are indeed correct. I am currently on a 3,000 mile cruise and have been towing my Avalanche with the key removed... and, as you also stated, the odometer does not reflect the towed mileage. Thank you... DTR

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/26249506/gotomsg/26250404.cfm

Herman - With my key in the OFF position, that is the position where I can remove the key, my steering wheel is locked... and the front wheels are not free to turn left and right in tow when the coach turns. My Avalanche is a 2002 1500 Z71. Perhaps the later models have the pins removed to allow the steering to follow in the turns? Most times when I turn the key out of the OFF position I have to jiggle the steering wheel to unbind the wheel lock in order to be able to turn the key out of the OFF position... because the steering wheel is locked with the key either removed or in the off position.

The direction of power goes 1) engine, 2) transmission, 3) transfer case, 4) drive lines, 5) differentials, 6) axles, and finally 7) wheels. Everything behind the transfer case turns together, or not at all. I tow an Avalanche 4-down... transfer case in neutral, but I leave the key in the first "ON" position to allow the front wheels to turn left and right with the coach on left and right turns, respectively. The Avalanche is 4WD and has the same power train configuration as your Jeep... unless, of course, Jeeps have completely different DNA. Hmmmm... actually, I have never owned a jeep.

When the generator is still running, then the a/c thermostat should restart the a/c when guided by the set temperature on the thermostat. Or, if the generator has been stopped for whatever reason: (On my coach, the a/c is not powered by the inverter.) Because the auto-gen-start is an inverter function, there is no way the generator knows to start if the thermostat signals to turn on the a/c.

If you go to Alaska, then you might think about towing a small, covered trailer to hold all the gas-money you will need. lol I talked to a fellow today at a gas station (the Pilot station at Stanfield, Oregon) who went to Alaska (last year, was it? Not sure.) and he said the gas cost was about $8.50 per gallon... and diesel was even more. That might make the cost of ferrying the coach a bit more acceptable. Just a thought... and no stone chips, eh?

If the transfer case is in neutral, then the transmission is not connected to the drive train. So the wheels would not be locked when in park or turned when in any gear by the transmission. They are detached from each other when the transfer case is in neutral. The key is placed into the first forward position so the wheels are free to turn left or right as you make corners while towing it. If the front wheels aren't free to "follow" your coach through turns, then the front wheels will tend to be dragged sideways through the turns in order to follow your coach.

I did a Google Advanced Search for "1999 Allegro BUS 39" and found several for sale... generally from $40k to $60k. I have no idea how long these coaches have been for sale, or if they are still for sale. Several coaches were noted as already sold and did not state the sale date, nor the seller's asking price, nor the price used for the sale. Mileages for the group I saw ranged from 25k to 125k.