kaypsmith

It was in Dothan Alabama, police are not the same everywhere here, but I think it is at the officers discretion, I've seen others doing the same thing in many places that I was doing but there is always that one officer in many places. Most are very helpful thank goodness. Joe, $109.00 for the gold plan is what I pay.

I broke down in a busy intersection, I was at the back door about to open the door and look for the problem, Police pulled up behind me with blue light on, ordered me to get into the coach, he couldn't take a chance on me getting hit, (he was directly behind the back door of the coach) I told him that it only take a few minutes to get going again, his words were, I told you to get into the coach and I mean now, he called a wrecker for me and the driver was there in about 30 minutes. Wrecker towed me to nearest truck stop, two miles and dropped me off. I had to pay the dude cash money $578.00. I then opened the back door found broken wire to the fuel solenoid, spliced it back together and was back on the road in fifteen minutes. I then called AAA and told what had happened, they sent me a reimbursement form, 12 days later I received a check for the entire wrecker bill. My insurance carrier was also informed, maximum with them $50.00, they then upped that to their maximum $200.00. I want be without RA, it has saved me several times and paid much more than I paid them so far. Hope you never block a busy intersection. Incidentily, I called the police chief of that town to complain about the officer, his reply, he did in exactly as instructed by the laws of the state.

There is also two types of flagpole systems that work well for antenna mounts while parked. I use a receiver mount, slides right into the receiver hitch and I use a 20 foot extendable flagpole to attach my portable antenna. There is also a neat unit that has a flat plate with the pole mount welded to it, you simply place the plate just under a tire and drive the coach onto the plate, I've seen several of these in use. Thanks Ray for pointing out my mistake about the rivets, I meant to go back and make the correction.

Yes Carl, mine is also air operated, but have an override which unlocks the door and will allow me to operate the door manually. I measured the opening and the widest place is at the bottom, 28.5 inches and this dwindles to 23 at the top, and because of the way the opening is designed the maximum bulk opening is still 24". Although my windows have a maximum height of 32" and width of 54", I am able to load and unload bulky items through any one of those. To utilize the window opening, I have scaffolding that lines up with the bottom of that opening. I simply put the object on the scaffold and slide that item right into the coach, I'm pretty sure that a Mandalay will not have that convenience. Here is the newest model Splendide spec sheet that I could find, it indicates that front to back dimension is less than 23" which should fit fine through a 24" door. http://www.splendide.com/WD2100XC_DataSheet.pdf

What type of hat is that Wayne? Sounds interesting for Easter, I would like for DW to get one.

So far I've only seen one that was wider than 24", it was factory ordered handicap equipped. Not saying that there are not others, only I have not came across any others yet. Well there is an RV show this weekend here, I'll take my ruler just in case.

From what I read, regional tires are designed for short distance delivery, not long distance trucking, hence they are not rated at the higher speeds encountered while driving on long distance hauls.

Mesquite TREES? I drove all the way across Texas and still looked for them. Of course I go to florida and look at their RIVERS, our creeks in Alabama are larger than those rivers. And of course there is the mighty Rio Grande in place to keep those Mexicans out of Texas.

Or just add a nice set of driving led 10/30 volt to the front end for those places that really need more light, usually easy to conceal in order to not take away from the antiquity of the coach. These type work great on any voltage from 10 to 30 volts, if interested, I have a source.

Correct only if you verify 10/30 volt operation. They are available in both 12 volt and 10/30.

Richard, here is what MCI uses, which is what is used on my bus. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vanner-High-Efficiency-80-Amp-Battery-Equalizer-65-80-/292359153516?hash=item4411f6a76c All you need to do is install this unit in your coach, hardwire the headlight circuit to the first battery for 12 volts. The equalizer in turn monitors both batteries to keep the two charging and discharging at equal rates to make sure that both batteries are working correctly. Wiring is very simple I can copy and send you the schematic from my coach manual. The headlights and ecm are the only two devices that use 12 volt on my 24 volt system, but I also charge my house 12 volt house system with this device while traveling.

That's a good looking rig. here is what I use to use two different hitches at one time. The one shown is about a 5" spacing and works great but I also have another that I cut the two bars that space the two receivers and put a 12" extender there, this is very handy. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Steel-Dual-Hitch-Bicycle-Rack-2-Receiver-Extender-Trailer-Boat-Extension-Black/391952409899?epid=8017023527&hash=item5b422f252b:g:swkAAOSwiqFaXmov:rk:44:pf:0

Carl, I carry a jack that looks like a floor jack but it has a low profile air over hydraulic bottle jack built in that actually raises the coach, it does require that the air bags are at ride level to be able to get under the bus. I have also a regular size 20 ton bottle jack as well as a 20 ton air operated bottle jack. I also carry an eight gage 2' X 2' steel plate just in case of soft ground. I will call RA since I have RA coverage but I like being prepared.

I'm 74 and changed one last weekend, I have a tire roller, not hydraulic has 4 castors and is indented the shape of the tire, just place the t+r on the device and raise or the jacks under the bus till the tire rolls right into place.

It looks as though that Richard has the right idea, looks a lot like exhaust may have been a factor.

I recommend taking the good plate to a vinyl graphics shop, have them make a photo and save that into a file. Almost all of these type shops can take that photo and reproduce in vinyl an exact duplicate that has backing that you simply peel off and apply that graphic to any place that you desire that is smooth enough. If you need to remove the decal for any reason, just heat it slightly with a hair dryer and peel it off. Most of these graphics are good for about ten years as long as you keep your coach including the graphic appropriately clean.

Last September, I came back from Pigeon Forge Tn., thirty miles from home there was a blowout on inside dual drive tire, I had a spare tire, not wheel with me, I called for roadside assistance and had them replace the tire. I drove home (30 miles), then had the other tire of that same dual set replaced. I moved to a local campground for a month, (15 miles away) from home. While there I noticed that the tag axel tire directly behind the new set of duals had leaked and was low. I then put a new tire on that spot, looking for what caused the leak on the leaky tire, I found a small thread of the steel belt from the blown tire had entered the tag tire. Yes anything goes with tires.

On a fiberglass coach, I would recommend using rivets for several reasons. #1 is the fact that the compression of a pop rivet probably cause a splintering effect of the fiberglass #2 is the weeping effect of a pop rivet, when the stem is pulled backward there is only compression and no sealant to keep the water out of the walls. If you are going to add something to a wall, you will need to make sure that that area is adequately backed to support the weight of the item that you are adding, there are locations that are designed to support add ons, such as the awning but you should make sure that those are in place in your coach, and if using those places I recommend a sealant be used along with the attaching screws. Somethings added on such as placards or light weight items can easily be added with a good adhesive rather than puncturing the fiberglass skin.

bigpapaporshe, as Carl said welcome to the forum! I also sometimes overlook the jist of a question when it is part of the subject line, please forgive Carl for jumping the gun. For that matter we all certainly make mistakes. As for your question about whether to or not to carry a spare tire is certainly personal choice, as for me, I will not knowingly leave home without a spare tire, although my coach tire is quiet a bit heavier than yours, and just guessing, mine weighs in excess of 250#. Very rare to have a flat but I would rather be prepared than to wind up paying $900.00 for a tire that I can buy at my home base for $450.00.

Reminds me, I drove a DrPepper sales/delivery truck in the early 1970's, a country route, I was returning from my last stop with a nearly empty load of pop, and a nearly full load of empty bottles, an open bay truck. I was traveling about 55 mph at the time, I saw something whizzing by on the right side of the truck, about a half mile later I saw a tire on rim on the side of the road, I stopped to check it out, a quick glance at the right rear dual wheels, the outer wheel was missing, quess who the tire/rim belonged to. Good thing empty bottles don't weigh too heavy.

Joe, this one came with a 4 ah battery, extra is $50.00, and there is a 6 ah for $80.00.

Great question Joe, I changed the tag wheel today, and did not think to check clearance on the drive axel, so I just went out to the coach in the dark with flashlight in hand. Yes it is just small enough to fit all the way down to the lug nuts on my 12/22.5 with stainless wheel covers, and the stainless hub cover both in place without an extension. I will try to take a picture and post it tomorrow while there is daylight to snap a good picture. There is not a great deal of extra room but sufficient to achieve the intended goal on my size tire, probably not on 16, or 19.5 but the torque is not that great on those sizes, so an extension will be no problem on those.

There it is: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-24-volt-Max-1-2-in-Drive-Cordless-Impact-Wrench-1-Battery-Included/1000604927

I chose tires for discussion instead of general because I think it is better suited here. I have been pondering a new impact tool for changing coach tires in case of an emergency. I have all sizes from 1/4 to full 1 inch in pneumatic, but sometimes when on the road air is not readily accessible except coach air, and that sometimes does not work like I would like for it to. A friend suggested a Kobalt brand 1/2 inch 24 volt from Lowes, I just snarled a little and said that would not work. He replied that his neighbor has one and uses it to change dump truck tires all the time. This morning I paid Lowes a visit and found one, but before buying it, I verified that I could return it if it was not adequate for my job. I took it home and proceeded to just remove a lug nut and to my surprise it worked. The battery was too weak to pull any others so I put it on charge for 2 hours and it was fully charged when I returned. I pulled the last nine nuts, removed the tire and replaced it plus all 10 nuts. I pulled out the torque wrench with cheater bar and determined that all nuts were properly torqued and found they need no more tightening. Just thought I would share in case others were interested.

Since it is coming from the middle, my first thought as Herman said, the linkage on the ride height valve may be binding or possibly broken. If it is broken, the front is probably riding much too high. The popping sound at the bottom sounds as though the chassis has bottomed out.