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obedb

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Everything posted by obedb

  1. New members may not know how to send a PM.
  2. Joe/ Your reply is priceless.😂😂😂
  3. Brett Just talking about my experience. Career spanned 46 years. Covered a lot of ground in that time and drained a lot of crud out of filters. All Diesel engines need clean fuel reaching the injectors if they are to live a long life. Big rigs many 100,000s of thousand miles / pushers no where near those numbers, but your Foretravel lasted a ton of miles comparatively speaking. I would never depend on an electronic sender to tell what is going on with a fuel filter. Just sign me/ Skeptical.
  4. If you not seen any water in the bowl to drain, then you have a fuel/ water separator that is not up to the task. Since 1977, I have used Racor Fuel Water Separators on my truck. The bowl is large and plastic. Water and sediment is easily observable. Usually drained the mess at every fuel stop, but then I was burning more fuel than now. Usually 200 or more gallons between fills. The Racor was easy to drain the crud from . Open the drain petcock, loosen the T handle on the top, lift the lid in order to break the vacuum, drain the crud, drop the lid and tighten it. Never had a problem loosing prime. To repeat/ if you never see a reason to drain the filter you have a sub standard piece of equipment.
  5. Parkinson's can cause hallucinations. They need help. Kay/ maybe you could tow your dinghy. I live a very long drive from Maxwell Field and I have a wife that is not well, otherwise I would volunteer . Born in the Maxwell Field Hospital on 8/13/44. My dad was a flight instructor.
  6. Have a friend that worked in a number of professional shops. Even worked for one of the current candidates for PA Governor that owned a big local waste (garbage) hauler. He LAUGHS when air dryer proponents talk about shop air needing to be dried. Drain the big and I do mean biig air tank at the start of the day shift and get to work. He is also a trained diesel mechanic. He is a fountain of knowledge. Never had a question he could not answer. In my case, if I need new steer tires, I would request that they be changed on the still bolted rims. My balancers would take care of things.
  7. A local small fleet owner always replaced his steer tires without removing the rim. Swore by it! Had fifteen 18 wheelers. Don't want to get Brett mad at me ,but I also carry a Porter-Cable 150 PSI 6 gallon compressor for tire inflation. However I never travel into areas with high ambient outside air moisture. I carry the portable compressor in the back of our Subaru Forester.
  8. Kubota builds very durable engines. Have a three cylinder 4wd Kubota Tractor with a 23 HP Diesel engine that is almost 40 years old. Still runs like a charm. Doubt that your Onan is powered by a Kawasaki.
  9. Will not have to negotiate any 10% on your way to the Grand Canyon via US285 to I-40 and whatever route from Flagstaff you choose. Ten percent is a serious gradient.
  10. Absolutely the best way to go. Are you headed to Albuquerque or actually to Sante Fe? To Santa Fe/ stay on 285.
  11. Checked a few forums on Diesel engines and I found a few references to cavitation on Ford's V8 diesels. Have not heard about Duramax Diesels(GM) with a problem. Joe indicates the some 3126 cats have a problem with cavitation in newer years. Those are parent bore engnines (I call them solid block but I am uncouth😎). Cavitation occurs on the wet side. Must have been a flaw in engineering. CAT was in their death throes for surface transportation near that time. If you own a parent bore engine, you should probably call the manufacturer with the engine number at hand. Ask the representative their reccomendation. As Joe pointed out, the additive is cheap insurance, but once you get started on that maintenance program, testing is necessary for it to be effective. Testing Strips and bottles of additive have to be in "your tool box." In my case, I wound up with CAT extended life coolant because I gave a local shop the go ahead to fix things up to a point without a phone call. Previous owner had kept no maintenance records. Joe is a well respected fleet manager for an area trucking company. He deserves everyone's respect.
  12. Am I missing something amongst all of the replies? SCAs are only needed in engines that are typically used in commercial service and designed for quick inframe overhauls. Complete overhaul kits contain cylinder liners kits and many other parts. The old worn liners are removed and the new ones are installed sometimes with some necessary machining of the bore before installing the new kits. I have seen a Cummins engine inframed in two working shifts with a second mechanic helping. In other words, from 7AM to 11PM and the big rig is ready to go for many more miles. If the cooling system is properly flushed during the procedure, then Extended Life Coolant can be installed and the worry about SCA testing is not necessary. If non ELC coolant is used, then an SCA additive must be added and periodically tested with test strips. The strips have a relatively short life in terms of how long the engine can last after the inframe. The reason engines that are built for quick inframes requirng SCAs is another interesting discussion. Most diesels, but not all ,that are typically used in pushers are solid blocks needing no SCAs to extend the life of the non existing liner kits. The bigger DPs using high horse power commercial style engines do need extended life coolant or supplemental coolant additives with the properly installed antifreeze. Extended Life Coolant should only be installed after a thorough flush is done following the directions for cleansing the engine of standard coolant.
  13. Seems to me that the company that makes and ships the FMCA placards also sells the brackets. I remember placing my order by phone.
  14. The reviews that I have read about the Amish conversion have all been positive. Installation of the new cooling unit done at the factory seems to be the best. Most people know that the Amish " never use electricity off of the grid"😎 Or phones 😉 So they need dependable refrigeration that will not burn their houses down.
  15. Depending on the state that you live in. If the state requires an annual inspection, the windshield may have ro be replaced. I have two friends with state inspection licenses in PA (they have to be proficient ) . A crack requiring a replacement is at the discretion of the mechanic. Joe Leamont probably has one. Get a chip fixed quickly and you could save a lot of inconvenience..
  16. I like my eggs lightly scrambled with biscuits and gravy. The TA Truck stops used to have a good breakfast buffet with biscuits and gravy. Maybe they still do. Had to eat where I could park. Betty prepares them for us occasionally. They go back to my southern lineage on my Mom's side. And Beans were mentioned also. My aunt Mazie made the best ever pinto beans and the cornbread was coarse and delicious. They were very poor. Farmed with mules and did not own a car, but my aunt could cook.
  17. Firststring/ Carl's idea to go north on US395 to Susanville is a good idea, but 36 takes you through Feather River Canyon and adds unnecessary miles. Pickup CA 44 off of 36 west of Susanville about ten miles. 44N will join CA89. Follow 89N to I-5 and Mt. Shasta. The roads may look skinny on a map, but they are all good for 18 wheelers and therefore for motorhomes. What could a trucker from south central PA possibly know about such a route? Easy! I loved running the western states. I loaded wooden doors in Weed for a back haul east and fruit in Medford Oregon for the same. Used the routes described in both directions. Even in the winter. Normally used I-80 east bound on the return to the east coast.
  18. I will be darn , Firststring. Your route around LA is exactly what I recommend. As to 99,i it has always had a lot of chop and I mean for years. The ride depends on your rig. Wheelbase and the hook up for your toad. I used to stretch things out when running an 18 wheeler with moveable trailer tandems , but of course, you can't do that. I-5 gets pounded beyond a pleasant ride also. What orchestra do you play with!?
  19. Thank you. Just knew it wasn't a 250. Have a friend that has hauled big fivers around for years with the inline Cummins engine that Dodge offers. Even had a customer at his shop that used one commercially transporting cars. Lasted many years.
  20. Blue Ox 877-895-1276. Tell them what you want to tow.
  21. Our home is 41 years old. Wall sockets are 15 amp. Our thirty amp dryer socket is 240 volts..
  22. As Bill308 pointed out, San Antonio is the ultimate town for a military retiree. The winters are mild, and the summers just aren't that bad for a town in Texas. Have spent many weekends in the area through all seasons and never found the climate objectionable. When the hurricanes hit the coast, the Navy sends a lot of aircraft inland. San Antonio and even San Angelo where I lived as a kid. Remember those Navy Pilots setting there fighters down on the numbers with smoke flying from the tires. That is what they were taught even though the runway was easily over a mile in length. We lived a short distance from the main runway. Remember it well. Why settle somewhere you may want to leave during a stormy summer? I forgot how much appeal San Antonio has. Waco would definitely not be a pick for me.
  23. Clam chowder is a favorite of many people including me. Would go well with fried fish as the entree. Goodness. I love wooden boats. They are just plain cool!!
  24. Ten Amps 120volt will keep your batteries up via the CONVERTER which makes 12 volts available to charge your coach or house batteries. The furnace ,if propane fueled, will run fine to keep things warm assuming you have winterized the unit. By the way, between motorhomes , we owned a travel trailer and dry camped on Lake San Cristobal Colorado (9000 feet above sea level) for 10 days with our 2K Honda Inverter Generator running continuously except stopping for oil changes every 50 hours. Overnight temp was in the teens. Of course not winterized. Nothing froze. We were snug. Good luck with your learning curve! As an edit/ Motorhomes designed to be used in winter usually have a rear furnace that is designed to keep fresh water and holding tank( black and gray) from freezing as well as the bedroom comfy. If you have only one furnace and critical areas are not heated, there might be trouble ahead. In our case, one heater kept everything from freezing while in the teens. Loved every minute of our solitude on a very beautiful lake.
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