jleamont

Today on GMA they reported that the accident was caused by a Dry rotted tire. ObedB we are also running a dash cam in the RV. Mostly to capture the scenic views.

texaswrrr, it sounds to me like the ignition system is cutting out then back on to get a back fire, while the fuel system continues to deliver fuel thus the reason for the back fire. Seems like I said above fuel continues to spray but the spark drops off and comes back unexpectedly. I just got a response back from a friend that works at a GM dealer as I was typing this, he told me to tell you to look for broken supply wires to the coil at each coil (12v power and ground) and inspect the connections at the other end of those at the computer. Also he recommended to run it with a diagnostic computer connected and see what cylinder is dropping off when you experience the problem, that will help isolate which cylinder is of concern, I explained you may not have the ability to do so. Also they have wiring concerns with the main harness chaffing that feeds the engine on a truck chassis, its always near the radiator area where they chafe, he is not sure on a Motorhome chassis, GM also has wiring connection problems at the coil plug and at the ECM. I would follow that harness from start to finish (Computer to engine coils) If the wiring looks good and all connections look good replace that coil if you can isolate it down to a specific coil. Hope this helps and you have enough space to follow that harness. Good Luck Joe

I would love to hear the root cause of the tire failure, as we all know that type of news doesn’t sell very well so we will most likely never know.

Please do, my wife and I will look forward to it. Thanks, Joe

I saw this earlier today, just glad they walked away, hard to believe when you see the video.

Kaypsmith, nice work. My wife and I considered a bus conversion up until last year when we settled for the Class A we have now. Do you have photos of before and after? Joe

Loved it! everyone of those was so true I can remember saying those on our last trip. Thank you for the good laugh.

ddbecker, ITC 86430-LED If you copy and paste this on their web site it will give you color options. I figured I would share this, since I know I am not the only one having this problem, most are thinking they need new handles. Good luck. Joe

Ok, I answered my own question. Very simple, remove handle, clip wires, (note your colors) remove upper mount (just a press fit) replace light pod, reassemble, my o-rings were bad so I used A/C o-rings I had in the garage, reconnect wires (I used butt connectors, so did Monaco) Reinstall and caulk the outside handle. To my surprise I removed LED lights from the handles. Start to finish took less than 1/2 hour for both handles. I bought the lights on Amazon for $9.95 each and they looked just like the original lights I removed.

Anyone ever successfully replaced their grab handle lighting with an LED upgrade? The interior and exterior handles do not light anymore and they both have power and ground. New old stock replacements are too expensive. My current handles appear to have light tubes molded into the handle. Just wondering if anyone had an experience to share with retrofitting these into their existing lights.

I ran 15W40 in our's when we had the gasser. It was a Microlite 4000 Onan. Seemed like the best fit for all seasons, I had called Onan at that time and they recommended it. Just my two cents . Joe

Honestly I would look at a Magellan and Garmin. I have a Garmin in my co car, it also had some serious problems. I called them and together we went through a reset process and updated it, still not working properly, I sent it back and they swapped it out, the replacement works great. After their customer service experience at Rand McNally I'm not sure I would by a paper map if they printed it. Joe

Herman, I like your quote "I'm making a list and checking it twice to see which is wrong or nice". Thats how we roll from now on!

Dan.duwe, thanks for the advice. Good Sam was taking me I-390 to NY436 through Portageville NY then RT39 to RT19 to RT78. Are you familiar with this route? I actually mapped this route out and I was thinking it might be a good way to go since from the map the roads looked larger.

dkreuzen, What shocks were on your coach from the factory? Was there a brand name on them?

Campcop, Wow, thats a bad way to start your trip. Funny you mentioned the towing. While I was on the side of the road in OK you could hear off in the distance an engine wound out getting closer...... and here comes an old Chevy 1500 pick up pulling a fifth wheel TT with a car trailer hitched on the back of the TT with a truck on it. I looked at the police officer and said "and you stopped me?" His response was, "whats wrong with that"? I just shook my head and responded "UHH, the truck is extremely overloaded and how well do you think that stops, or handles the winds out here on these flat lands"? he shrugged his shoulders. And I am worried about towing a 3400lb jeep wrangler behind a 40' bus in a 60' combination, just depends where you are traveling. I will say we have seen some really funny things on the highway traveling.

Anyone camped here before? I am looking for some help with driving directions to the campground. We will be coming from the south east up I-390 (from PA) and across NY436. Or should we take I-86 and up NY16 to NY98 and enter from the southwest? I cannot tell if this is in the mountains or not, and we have never traveled into NY with the motorhome, before. Thanks, Joe

Thanks Shelia. We are also using two now and my wife has a map collection and it seems to be working to see which route is the one to take.

Thanks for the information. After reading this yesterday I measured our combo last night. We check in at 60'.2" I struggle with the thought of a jeep wrangler 2 door being too long to tow behind a 40' motorhome (actually 41'6") but none the less it seems odd. I only seem to get stopped in Oklahoma, twice that is on the same trip on I-44 at the toll booths. Both times they claimed I did not use my right signal when the officer was sitting on the driver’s side of the unit at about the 11:00 position, not sure about you but I cannot see through any vehicle let alone a motorhome. I explained to the officer that when you are turning right only the right blinker will flash, when you are sitting where you were you view is blocked. The first one got mad the second trooper laughed and that’s when he admitted they stop most of the RV's that pass through. They make it a point to stop RV's looking for illegal aliens or drug runners. Both times they asked me what I was doing, where I was headed and where I came from they asked my wife the same question while we were separated. Neither time was a citation issued, which was good since I had my turn signal on.

Brett, do you have an updated "Motorhome regulation Chart"? The link above no longer works and I wanted to see what states have changed their laws since. Thank you, Joe

Tom, Just as ObedB stated, once you cross the Tappanzie bridge DO NOT get on rt15 (Merritt Parkway). The parkway is a beautiful ride in a car but the bridges are low (9-10'). It's well posted but a GPS will most likely try and send you that way. Safe travels. Joe

Wildebill, I know all about your winds down there. We took our last coach (Coachmen 311SB) accross the country in the summer of 08. While driving accross the Panhandle the wind and rain were so strong I had the steering wheel at 5:00 to go straight, by the time we got to Arizona all of the caulk on the bunk was gone and we started to de-laminate. Good times, best vacation we ever had other than the beating the coach took.

I would really like to switch my shift pad to the newer type that displays the actual gear you are in, when I am trying to relax and take in the scenery I find myself counting shifts in my head. Not sure if this can be accomplished by just changing the shifter? Brett, I will have to try your recommendation and rethink if I should have that changed or not. I do always run in economy mode, another thing is when I need to power it doesn't seem to down shift enough to give it, once I recall manually pulling it down, I have tried this with the Economy button on and off, doesn't seem to matter on down shifts but does make a difference on upshifts. Bill, the last time I checked mileage was running up I-81 from TN to PA I was holding it at 65 mph and I got 10.05 mpg, it just felt great to have a coach that could handle 65 so I did it. We just went to Ocean City MD last weekend and I ran at 60 down and back with my eyes on the tach and my mind counting gears, I havent topped off the tank yet to see what MPG I got but it looked great from the little the gauge moved (less than 1/4 used in 280 miles round trip), more to follow on this. Your shift points do the same as mine it upshifts at 63 into 6th and down to 5th at 59, at 62 I am at 1600 rpms in 5th (which is way too high for me) so I find myself paying too much attention to this when I should be relaxing. I purposely run up to 64 and back down to 60 and set the cruise which I think I recall the tach being at 1400. Mother nature is always fighting us....we only seem to travel when its windy so it never fails a gust hits the front of the coach and I'm back into 5th grinding my teeth doing it all over again. Overall I am really pleased with the ISL's performance and fuel MPG given the size and weight of the unit, if I could master the shift points I might be able to keep more money in my pocket.

Here is an example of what I had discovered as the root cause of a no start condition. This is photo is from a B20 mixture in early March in South Eastern Pennsylvania on a customers vehicle. I seem to have lost the photo of the cartridge filter that was pulled, but it looked like someone buttered it. I avoid bio diesel, if I must use it in a pinch I always put an additive in the tank just as a precaution and only purchase enough to get me to the next fuel location.

WILDEBILL308, I have almost the same shifting pattern as you. I shift into 6th at 63MPH which has made me want to run at 64. I would rather prefer to run 60 in 6th since the RPM's are more desirable for fuel economy and the HP on the ISL is plenty strong to hold me there. I have tried to manually up shift but it will not let me. joe