rlbarkleyii

Add to your "To Do List" check the manufacture date on all tires. If the fronts in particular are more than five years old, I would replace them. The rears duals can go a little longer because in most cases a blow out on the rear is not as dangerous. The second thing is to check all fluids, send to a oil anylysis lab and pick up kits for engine oil, train oil, radiator fluid, rear end fluid. These four essential fluids tell the same type of story that your doctor gets when he does a complete blood work panel on you. A good lab tech can determine the present state of wear and condition with these lab reports very accurately. Routine results are placed online in your account in 3-4 days. Mail copy's of each report are received in a little over a week. If serious maintenance issues are found they will call you and email you ASAP. The advance warning of serious problems can save you lots of money and avoid down time and inconvienence. I use a company called WEAR CHECK USA, Cary, SC each mail in sample is about $12.00 dollars (total cost per sample) 800-237-4050. No connection, just a customer for the last twenty years.

I have Geico RV Insurance with Road Service and Good Sam Road Service. I have never used Geico, but for $20.00 it can't be bad, they will send someone for tire repairs and towing to nearest repair facitity. I have use Good Sam twice, once to repair slide out problem, and another to tow vehicle off the road. Both occaisons Good Sam did a splendid job of taking care of me and reimbursed me for !00% of tow charge.

It may depend on the design of the MH. I run a Journey 34 and tow a Nissan Xterra four down. I have only mud flaps and whiskers type rock guard, it works perfectly to keep the toad clean.

Would like to hear from motor home or other users of Hitch Helper, Trailer Toad, or other brand devices to tow heavy trailer behind their motor home or other vehicles. Please relate the pro's and Con's to this particular brand device and your experience with manufacturer. I am trying to determine whether this product is suitable for a special towing project.

I need information from those of you that tow a trailer with your motor home that exceeds six thousand pounds. I am running a 34' Journey with a 275HP Cummins, 2000MH Allison Tranny on a Freightliner XC chassis. I want to haul a six thousand gross weight tandem axle trailer with a hitch load of 1500#. I plan on using a product such as Trailer Toad which has a axle to reduce the tongue weight to less than 400#. My concern is the Allison 2000MH transmission, which I think is the weak link. I would like to know about the experience of others pulling trailers in excess of 6K with the Allison 2000MH tranny, and a 275HP diesel on flat land. Also any comments about Trailer Toad or similar products would be appreciated. I don't need anyone to address the gross weight, insurance and legal issues, been there done that.

No need for dishwasher, but washing machine is a must have!

Most Honda products are great towable vehicles-- no additional equipment required. No particular preparation required except the addition of a base plate and tow bar. Towing four wheels down is much easier to hook-up, un-hook and takes up less space at home or in the campground. I have done both and as a senior the thought of the car dolly and it's particulars is not something I would want to do again. Towing four down is about the same cost for the Honda as to purchase a quality tow dolly or a little less. If you don't have to tow different cars, and do not expect to change towed vehicle for a few years, I would with out a doubt go for four wheel down towing.

I too have several million diesel miles under my belt. Now retired, I drive my RV 10-20k per year. The reason they don't generally put 10-13 speeds in RV's is because it is not necessary. All transmissions have final ratio in the neighborhood of .87 and if gross weight of vehicle and power/ torque of engine allow, the least number of gears possible to obtain reasonable performance is preferred. Heavy haulers require more gears to narrow engine performance and keep engine in sweet spot thru entire operating range, but these trucks may gross over 100k. I have operated motor homes with high cube V8's, & V10's and there is no comparison between them and a well designed diesel. My puny little Cummins 275 is blast to drive compared to any gas unit on long trip. If spend significant time on road, diesel is the only way to go.

I run a cummins ISB 275hp with Allison 2000 5 speed , journey 34'. Average 9.8 flatland towing 4300# Nisson Extera. Mountain average 8-9 to 9.4 average.

Sounds like sail switch may not be closing. That would be the first thing to check. The air movement from the fan blows the sail switch paddle and closes a circuit which then allows the opening of the gas valve and ignition. Often mud wasps or other debris prevent the sail switch from operating properly. Clean the exhaust tube and air intake tube by removing outside cover. Check for movement of sail. Can be prevented by use of screen cover.

This whole license thing is a mess. It seems Texas is the worst. A problem that I and many others have run into, if you pull a trailer behind your class A and it has any writing on it like "race Team" Company Name", or anything that identifies the trailer as non-personal and you do not have commercial plates and CDL, you have a problem. Also if you pull a trailer and travel to craft shows in Texas with a clean sided RV & trailer, but get stopped in Texas and the officer wants to see inside the trailer, you better have commercial plates on all and a CDL. Texas recently has been enforcing this regularly. They seem to be looking for larger trailers with tandem axles and ramp doors, venders at shows, ect. If you do crafts in your trailer, or sell out of same, make sure your plated and licensed correctly for their laws-- regardless what your state says. It is a expensive learning experience. A friend of mine from Georgia got arrested for driving without a license (CDL) and un-registered vehicle, (was not commercial) for hauling a bass boat behind his personal class A that had sponsorship decals all over it. He is a professional fishing guide, been hauling his boat for almost twenty years in and out of Texas. Cost him more than a grand to get out of it.

Check your repair parts cost and figure out if you would be better off with a new toilet. The parts prices are sky high and the toilet prices are down some. We changed to a Sealand, great toilet.

Now that the winter season is here, be careful buying south Texas and particularly fuel of Mexican origin and returning north to sub-freezing weather. Texas fuel is notorious for not containing anti gel additives required for sub freezing northern operation. No problem however, there exist in most truck stops anti-gel products that can be added to your fuel tank. I case some of you have not experienced it, southern fuel can turn to a consistency similar to butter in your tank and fuel lines when the anti-gel additives are not present. If this happens, there are commercial products that can be added to the fuel tank and in a few hours will liquefy all the fuel again. Do not use alcohol, it contains water and will not help. Product I have used for many years in made by Texas Refinery Corporation, it is called De Gel Supreme. This stuff works! Whether completely gelled or just a little cloud in the fuel, add to fuel tank and wait a while or in worst case total gelled situation, add to tank and open fuel filter and pour in casing, close up and wait about a hour, and i guarantee you are de-gelled and ready to resume your trip. Used it trucking all over the US and Canada for twenty years, this stuff works! I don't diesel without it in the winter months. Not affiliated with this company in any way.

Cummins engines have a 135 amp circuit breaker located near the engine, on Freightliner chassis it is located on the drivers side attached to the frame behind the axle. It is a 3" or so breaker with two heavy cables attached and at least one 4-8" guage wire attached. The smaller wire provides current for dash and a signal to relay in front to close and provide power. Don't be confused by a similar looking circuit breaker on the other side of the engine in roughly the same place, this is for the start up heater for the engine. The precise event you described happened to me and it was a loose signal wire on the circuit breaker i just described. Due to proximity to road film, water, dirt etc. this device has a high failure rate and needs to be cleaned and protected from corrosion frequently. You can test the breaker by bypassing it with a jumper and see if your dash becomes functional again. (Do not try to start engine with bypass wire in place). If so that is the problem. Freightliner told me that in a emergency you can bypass the breaker by putting both heavy leads together on one terminal to get home or to a repair facility. This will not hurt anything as long as you do not have other problems. They also recommended that it might not be a bad idea to carry a spare breaker. Replacement is a ten minute job but the part is not available in auto parts stores, and many Cummins dealers don't stock the part.

Resolved my HWH hydraulics problem. Near as I can tell problem had to do with batteries and their contacts. Disassembled all leads on batteries and cleaned them, applied dielectric grease to same and reinstalled. Fully charged batteries to 13.4 VDC and everything worked fine. Now I must replace the coach batteries because it is obvious that they are aged and take to long to reach full charge. When used to heat coach during cool night while parked without shoreline they go below 11.6 VDC before daybreak. Sams Club sells group 31 baterys (AGM) for less than $150 each, that seems like good price, will look into that. Any info about AGM versus lead acid would be helpful. Also how much difference between premium batteries and regular.

Thanks All, I will be updating this post shortly when i have taken my second sample! I will post the results!

Thanks All. After several additional incidents with the HWH hydraulic system, found that my negative terminal was not torqued properly. Cleaned and re-torqued to specifications all battery terminals and seemed to have cured the problem. BTW applied dielectric grease to all terminals prior to tightening. Thanks everyone for your help.

Thanks All Found that pressure regulator was clogged. Replaced same and problem resolved.

Medico you are right! The Good Sam Road Assistace RV tech tightened the negative terminal hardware on the top of the battery's and suddenly everything worked as normal. RV Tech pulled up in small tow truck, (young 20 something) took one look at cables and got a socket. He went straight to negative terminals, and tightened only the main post. He warned me not to tighten too much the plastic bridge device put on by coach by manufacturer. He stated they break easy. He suggest that when I get home, clean terminals, apply dielectric grease and re tighten to spec. Good Sam paid him to come out, and I paid $30.00 plus tip for labor. All in all a good day because i don't need battery's and Good Sam came through again. "Never judge a book by it's cover", when this very young man who looked like a high school kid arrived, I thought, oh my, he probably didn't know anything, I was pleasantly wrong, he was polite, knowledgable, and competent, obviously having done this many times before.

The first replacement of motor was $284.00 for the pump order, and aprox $400 for relays and labor. The second repair of rear switch short, was around $200 labor. I have again today had a problem with slides, and believe it is because of defective (old) battery's. I thought that I had discharged them and they just needed charging, but I sat all night n 50 amp campsite and monitor indicating that they were charging. However in the morning I could not retract slides. I am waiting for RV tech to retract slides, then i will replace battery's when I get home. I wish the RV dealer I had do the work had tested the coach battery's and recommended replacement. I believe the previous motor replacement and my current problem were a result of low current from defective coach battery's.

Have a 2002 Journey with two slides. Purchased early 2013, Have replaced the HWH pump motor approximately six months ago. Bought brand new motor, relays and switch from HWH and had dealer put it on. Now I am stuck again in a campground and can't retract my slides or level the coach. Haven't had time to trouble shoot yet. I would like to know if other Journey owners are having problems with the HWH leveler and slide systems installed on their Journeys and what they did to correct problem.

My drivers side jack was slow retracting, put new springs on same story. Used WD-40 just before retract and it went right up, but would stick again the next time I used it. I decided to experiment and cleaned shaft and applied petroleum jelly to shaft. Unit started retracting as designed and has continued to do so for the last several months without further application. Please note someone on this or another forum said it was not good to apply petroleum product to shaft, something about seals, I decided I would take a chance since it seemed to work with no leaking the next step would have been replace the cylinder!

Simplisafe System starts at under $300.00 with shipping, RV Nanny is over $900.00 not including shipping. Had my Simplisafe for over a year, absolutely reliable. Additional devices available at low cost. No wiring , system monitors each device, tells you when something is open or defective. Much better deal for any application than competitors .

Forgot to mention, the Simplisafe control device has a eight hour backup battery that allows it's cellular transmitter to work when no AC power. I installed my device with a 75 watt inverter that provides the necessary AC power indefinitely when I am parked and not hooked to shore line. The system can be monitored, controlled from your smart phone. Instructions can be changed as to your location as often as necessary or you can direct no police be called and have all calls directed to you and a secondary.

I installed Simplsafe in my coach several months ago it works great when entry into coach or compartments occur, it calls the monitoring company and they contact me within seconds. Motion detector inside and sensors on all compartments. I have siren, smoke and CO sensors installed as well. Costs is $24.00 per month,