MadHungarian

Thanks for the info y'all. The coach is an '86, but I just bought my new TV in January, so it should be HD ready. Should be able to pull power for the antenna from the existing amplifier leads. Might even be able to hook up a warning buzzer and light over the dining area, since it would power up when the coach power came on KOEO.

True that!! I have heard rumors that post WWII the Electric Boat Company experimented with a screen-door design seized from the now defunct Deutches Zinken Und Schwimmen Unterseeboot Fabriken Werks during the war, but it was supposedly a flawed design and the prototype never finished her maiden voyage ......

LAMPS MK1 & LAMPS MK3......... AKA, Helicopter Antisubmarine Light Squadrons...... Submarines.... are the enemy!! Besides.... there's a design flaw somewhere when a ship is DESIGNED to sink !! Ahoy shipmates - even if ye be bubbleheads!!!

Yeah.....

Yeah - what Bill said. Suggestion: if you come down the 81/40 route, try to avoid rush hour through Knoxville, which is around 3:00 to 6:00PM. Drivers are animals there during rush hour, and the police patrol the West side of the city (40) in full force looking for (and catching!!) speeders and reckless drivers. Enjoy your trip!!

Was thinking about the Biobor as well. We use this a lot when treating diesel that has been sitting in tanks for long periods of time before we filtrate. Like Brett said, carry lots of spare filters - and possibly a spare pump...... slime does a number on pump impellors...

Ordered the batwing yesterday, got my new awning put on today. Couple more little things and I think we'll be about ready to hit the road.....

Spring has finally sprung, and I started looking our coach over yesterday to get an idea of what I need to do to get her in shape for a little traveling this year. I thought it would be a good idea to get on a ladder and check out the roof to see if it needed to be coated - I'd rather do it now than wait till June when it's 100+ degrees outside. Figured I should also take a look at the TV antenna, since it wouldn't crank up when we were at the track and we got nada for reception. Upon inspection I found that there was an antenna BASE, but no antenna, and that someone in the past has siliconed the antenna base up and had left it. So, I get online last night and start looking at new antennas, and I see that Winegard has this really nice RM-DM61 HD/Satellite combo antenna... I'm thinking "For the money, that's just what I need!!".......unfortunately, after reading the instructions, I'm not too sure that the unit will work on our Class C, because I don't think there's enough room for the unit to rotate so it can be aimed due to roof obstructions such as the A/C and the fridge vent. So I'm wondering what my options are now... can I mount a unit like this Sensar... On the roof to replace the old style non-HD antenna and still pick up "off the air" channels? Any help would be appreciated....

HuffyPuff, I'm assuming you are referring to my post, and that's not what I said brother.... I was pointing out that it doesn't matter whether you have a $250,000 Class A or a $3000 Class C like mine, it all boils down to: A. Making sure that maintenance gets done so that it doesn't break down on the side of the road, and..... B. Finding someone reliable enough to be trusted with your RV repairs that'll do them right the first time. BTW - Like I posted above, I personally happen to just like the Chevy chassis for its simplicity and ease of finding parts.... not that the class A chassis is a dog or is more expensive to get parts for (although, I can't help but believe it is). I can go to any parts store in Podunk USA and either get or order parts for this thing, and it serves my purposes. A place to sleep, a place to cook, and a place to.... well, you get my drift.....

You know, as a mechanic I have found there are two kinds of vehicle owners in the world, whether it's cars, motorhomes, or pickup trucks - there are the people who realize that no matter how well built a vehicle is there is bound to be a repair needed sooner or later - because it's a machine and machines break. Then there are people who think a vehicle should last forever and not have a problem or need maintenance - and usually those are the people you see broken down on the side of the highway, because they were either too lazy or too cheap to do any preventive maintenance before they went on a trip. My old Coachmen class C got a complete going over when I got it so there wouldn't be that nagging question in the back of my mind about whether or not it was going to make it while driving up the highway. I personally tore this thing down and did the water pump & fan clutch, alternator, all the belts, complete tune-up, new carb, oil change, etc., etc., etc. because this is a 28 year old RV with 70,000 miles on it and I know that stuff breaks. I'd take this thing anywhere, anytime. The thing I really like about it is it a Chevrolet chassis - you can just about buy parts for this thing at KMart if you need something or it lays down on the side of the road in the middle of Podunk, USA.

Frank, my experience with alternators has always been to take the original one to a respected rebuilder and have them go through it, then ask them if they have another one in stock they will sell you. Always a good idea to have a spare in the coach just in case one dies in the boonies somewhere......

When I was crawling around in the back of my Coachmen Class C the other day I noticed that the water system in this thing is fitted with the dreaded "PEX" style water lines. Has anybody ever had problems with these lines leaking? Ever replaced them with CPVC? As a side note, I also noticed that the fresh water holding tank feed line has been cut and capped on both the tank and system sides, which leads me to wonder whether or not the tank has a leak in it. The fresh water fill line had also been disconnected from the tank. Rather scary, as the fill line is awfully close to the AC converter!! I could see a major catastrophe happening had I tried to fill the tank!!

You know, I hadn't even thought of that, and you are both correct!! I'll have to check the wiring on those two units and see what's up.....

Luckily, the only electronics in this thing is the module in the HEI distributor, and I always disconnect the battery on stuff before welding. And yes - the trailer already has a breakaway box installed. Can't be too safe ya know.....

I'm going to do all the hitch fab work and welding in the shop, then weld the hitch to the frame. The angle iron is two inch, but it's only 3/16th's, with the cross braces bolted to angle iron on either end. I do metal fab work all the time at work and do roll cages, etc. at the shop here at home. Trust me, if you saw this cobbled-up mess of crap you'd see what has me worried....... I think we'll be good - my 18 foot flat trailer weighs in at about 890lbs, and the race car only weighs 2450, so we should be well within what the rig would be capable of towing. Plus, both axles have brakes, so stopping shouldn't be a problem. I try to avoid steep grades if at all possible...... harder going up with this rig than it is going down, and we live right next to the Cumberland Plateau and have to cross it to go East. Anyone who's been on the I-40 East going towards Knoxville from Nashville knows the stretch of road I'm talking about.......

I bought some of the "cool white" LED's on EBay. They are plenty bright, and I like the fact that they don't pull a lot of power from the coach battery. All the lights in these older coaches are designed to use an 1156 automotive bulb, and these bulbs went right in with no problem. Funny thing is, I have a couple of lights over the rear bunk that the LED's won't work in, but if you swap back in an 1156 they light right up. Wierd!!

Unknown, but I'm sure it would be able to legally tow a flatbed trailer. I gave up trying to find someone to purchase a hitch from... I procured some box tubing and some 3/8" plate, plan to start fabricating the new hitch after we get back from Road Atlanta. Gotta be stronger than 2" angle and the solid rod the old one is built with....

The trailer hitch on my Class C looks a little whimpy, and I was wondering if anyone had a source for welded class V hitches in the Nashville area. Any help would be appreciated...

Too cold to be out in it long. Moved to Tennessee from Indiana to get out of it, it followed the son home after his Christmas visit with his Mom...

Santus Gore - "The Mad Hungarian" United States Navy 1980-1992 Aviation Machinists Mate Second Class (E5) at discharge. Helicopter Antisubmarine Light (HSL) 30 - "Neptunes Horsemen", NAS Norfolk, VA Helicopter Antisubmarine Light (HSL) 40 - "Seawolves" - NAS Mayport, FL AIMD JOAP Lab - NAS Sigonella, Sicily AIMD JOAP Lab - USS Saratoga (CV-60) "Fighting *****" Two Honorable Discharges Veteran - Gulf War # 1 1986 Coachman Class "C" On Chevy G30 Chassis Co-Owner, "Mad Hungarian Motorsports" Racing Team, Competitors in the Optima Batteries / ChumpCar World Series endurance racing series. Greetings to all the shipmates here, and to the other veterans as well !!

And to you as well!! Going down to Chattanooga to see the new great grand son!!

True. Not to be argumentive, but he did state that he has a "glow plug wait light", which I'm assuming illuminates when the ignition switch is turned on.......

Rob, from a mechanical standpoint, it sounds like a either a bad ignition/start switch, or the switch could possibly be out of adjustment. Since you have to turn it back past the accessory position to get it to engage the starter, I'm leaning towards the switch being bad and possibly having a burnt or broken contact. One way to tell is to use a multimeter and check the resistance of the switch - probe the battery and start circuits while operating the switch with the harness unplugged. If you aren't seeing continuity while operating the switch normally then the switch itself is probably bad. EDITED**** Just had a thought..... since this is obviously a diesel unit, do you know whether or not the glow plug timer is designed to keep the starter disengaged until the glow plug temperature is optimal for ignition? Never heard of a diesel engine that had this feature, but since this is a motor coach anything is possible. Might check the owners manual just to be safe.....

Is there a vent somewhere in the system? Might have some trash in it.

New guy here! Wife and I bought the unit in my avi about 3 weeks ago, have replaced all the mechanical stuff under the hood that was either worn out or suspect, about ready to go take it out on it's maiden voyage before we start seriously towing to races with it. Nice clean unit - got really lucky when I found this one - 0nly 65,000 miles and well taken care of - not like some of the "junk" we looked at when we started shopping. Anyway, nice to meet y'all !!