kaypsmith

Since there was a lot of discussion on jbrunson's topic of a torque multiplier, I decided to start this as a new topic. Here is a very worthwhile article to read on the subject by a major coach builder. http://www.mcicoach.com/fyifrommci/maintMatters/0214.htm I hope that you find it useful.

Yes the newer pilot wheels require less torque than stud pilot wheels, I have the maintenance manual for my bus, and that is what MCI recommends, they are also known as bud wheels.

In 2009, I went to Evolution coach, located in White Haven Pennsylvania, to drive my coach home after purchase. I had them replace six tires before I would drive her home. They used a one inch torque wrench, the overall length of the handle was fifty two inches, the wrench uses a a dial to set the exact torque, it was set to 800# and two guys pushed down on the handle, was unable to achieve 800, a ten foot pipe was placed on the handle, when pushed again, the wrench that they used made a clicking sound, when pushed against again, it made the same clicking sound again, the owner of the establishment was present and assured me that the torque was correct. Yes without proper tools it could be very hard to do. With disc brakes torquing is much more critical than drum brakes, because uneven pressure on the lug nuts is the main contributer to warped disc.

May be so, I used a high polymer thinset with the granite, and used locking floating wood floor. Granite has been in place since "13", wood only four months now, floor heat has not been called upon so far this year.

What happens when you plug a two pronged lamp into the outlet? Have you checked for reversed polarity? If you don't have a polarity tester, use the VOM tester, the narrow spade to the round ground should read 120 volts, the wide spade to the round ground should read no AC voltage, be sure the tester is set to read AC. If not in this order then polarity is reversed, many UPS's and other charging circuits are not friendly to this condition, also they do not like a circuit that the earth ground has been omitted, the test specified will verify if this is a condition. The op states that 120 volts present at the outlet, but this does not verify that there is not a loose connection, or a reverse connection, or if earth ground is present. The lamp test is to verify that there is not a breakdown in the outlet itself, sometimes voltage will appear as long as there is no load, but will break down when current is called for, "resistive load". I should have clarified, I'm speaking at the receptacle level, not the coach level.

At this point in time, what does it matter!Famous quote! And I'm not tellin who.

Hard to beat a good old cheater pipe.

There is a specially made mat that is placed on the floor with the heat elements threaded into that, a thermostat is used to turn it on and off, very low amperage is necessary. I replaced the carpet in my parlor with wood 4 months ago and added the heat there, already have heat strips under granite in galley hallway and bath area. Incidentally, I do not use basement heat any longer because of this.

I would suspicion a grounding issue at the pedestal, ground fault issues can be a key factor in charging circuits misbehaving.

If going back to ceramic, granite, or wood I would strongly suggest the under floor heater wires, they really do a great job in the winter. I'm sure Ernie has some good suggestions for them. Not only are they good for heating the floor, but help reduce other heat sources from being used as much.

A locksmith would my suggestion also, most of the round keyed locks are called H-Locks. My old Sportscoach had this type and I was able to get a replacement on ebay, but that was several years ago now.

Good point Wayne! Also, don't know if you have checked for AC (alternating current) on the chassis side with motor running. TO do this you will need a digital VOM, place the meter to AC and place the two probes on the appropriate terminals at the battery, if the meter reads nothing, no worries, if you see any voltage in this setting, this is an indication that one or more diodes are bad in the voltage regulator, usually inside the alternator. I owned a pickup truck once and found this to be a problem, causing the battery to drain. Replaced the alternator, problem solved. Not always the case, but a very inexpensive test, just remember that the motor must be running to perform, as it will only show up if the alternator is in output mode.

I use Google Chrome exclusively for the FMCA forum, only one that I haven't had a problem with.Wayne, are you kidding, Carl hold his mouth?DUH!

Kudos Joe, I have a Magellan RV GPS that has served me well, but Tom Tom let me down.

Weight and height restrictions and sometimes width (because of narrow bridges) are my greatest concerns. In addition to posted restrictions such as propane, I still have propane on board for the generator and stove.

If the old caulking has any scale and cracks, I would remove any loose from those areas and clean thoroughly before recaulking.

Glad you didn't pay for that advice, google searches are notorious for those type search finds because google gets paid for results. It is always best to look lower into the results, I always try to go to the one that is the actual website of the manufacturer, most of which usually do have a reasonable tech department.

Carl, try setting your primary DNS to Google (8.8.8.8), by far the fastest dns in most areas, you might see a noticable difference.

If you have a typical roof vent on the roof, a metal one instead of plastic preferrably, a 1/4 wave magnetic mount (only 19.25 inches), stuck onto the roof vent, and the coax down through the vent hole will work about as well as any antenna possibly can. Plastic will be ok, but you will need a ground plane for a 1/4 to work well. Most of the newer radios have auto shutdown for power level if SWR is out too bad, but surely you have a meter or can borrow one.

A fully charged no load bank while on charger should read 13.2 to 13.8 volts. A fully charged battery bank at rest (no charging or discharging for several hours) should read around 12.8 volts. If both banks read this then you should be able to see very close to the same on both lugs of the solenoid. You should use a continuity checker, aka an ohm meter to make sure that the solenoid is open when the rocker switch is open, have someone push the rocker switch while you are still check continuity, if it shows a dead short at this time the solenoid is working, Of course if both battery bank reads a high reading the coach should be cranking without having to use the assist. All this item does is to combine both chassis and house batteries for emergency purposes such as the power plant doesn't start, and or sometimes the generator is started by the house batteries (not always the case) according to who and how the manufacturer chose to wire your particular unit. If you have the manual for your unit you should be able to find drawings there, if you don't have a manual I would suggest acquiring one as no two brands are wired the same, and sometimes that is not true with the same coach year. One other note is that if there is one or more dead cells in either bank, that will pull enough current away from the system to prevent starting from happening.

It sounds as though the topper spring tensioner may need some adjustment to correct the sag, instructions can be googled with the name brand of the topper, most likely same as with any awning arm and roll assembly.

My former coach had the gas struts that got weak after 3 months or so, I installed latches that actually were strong enough to hold the bay doors open, replaced the gas struts at the same time as the latches. This way the doors were no problem lifting and lowering, and then the doors were open I simply applied the latch to keep the extra weight off of the struts, and ultimately released those just prior to lowering the doors. Two plus years later, prior to retiring that coach, the struts were still performing well.

The resistive load is the key in his case, I got in a little late for the discussion, but an old fashioned analog meter is also a better measurement for a MSW inverter, it is not as sensitive to the abrupt rise and fall of the sine wave. An osciliscope is the best possible means for an accurate measurement, but few these days even know what that is much less how to read it.

Yes that's how they treat us when they don't know us, try calling Hewlett Packard about a lazer printer or a 5500 designjet, without a schematic in hand. Used to be HP dealer, never again, Lexmark now.

I am N4WQP, agree with Wayne, for two meter, through the glass 1/4 wave mounted as high as possible on the windshield will give adequate coverage while in range of most repeaters, most are using tone to access, so you will need a list of PLL's for the various ones that you come into range. Of course there is always a chance that you will find someone lurking on 146.52, but my luck on single frequency has been pretty sparce except ocasionly late night in larger cities. If course you could use a 5/8 wave mounted on a mirror, If you use mini 8 coax, it can easily be allowed to be run through the driver side window using the foam strip top to bottom so seal out the wind. Many years ago I drove a 35 ft. diesel pusher with a rubber roof, I mounted wire dipoles for 20 and forty meters 8 inches above the roof, using a Yaesu 757, worked 43 states, and over 50 countries on those bands. Had loads of fun back then. 73 for now! PS A good two meter handy talkie is all I carry now, No more antenna worries.