blakeloke

Folks, Fantastic ideas! I'll take a closer look at the attaching bolts to see if they're tight. If so, then a piece of foam as a cushion would certainly help me stay sane. I hadn't thought about the hinges and will inspect those too! We're parked for the next week or so and will update you all when we get back on the road! Thanks much! Blake

Carl mentioned in an earlier post that these big DPs have inherent rattles and noises (paraphrase). I've been able to track down most all of our rattles but the door bracket that stops the door opening at 90 degrees is driving me batty. Once we hit a pothole this thing starts rattling for the rest of the drive. I've replaced it once and that worked for a couple of years but the rattle is back. Has anyone had the same rattle and been able to fix it? I've even wrapped the arms with electrical tape but that didn't seem to do anything but make the door harder to open and close! Thanks........Blake

I've always worried about rodents. In fact, we saw evidence of a rat in our MH garage/shop recently. A couple of days ago we caught the bugger. These guys are so smart that they just eat the cheese & peanut butter off of the spring trap. Then they leave thank you presents on the garage floor. I was worried that they'd get into the coach so went to step 2 of the process. Tom Cat bait from Home Depot worked like a charm. We found her two days later under the tractor. Sadly, she left behind 5 young'uns who were nested under the stairs in the garage. No way to get them out and impossible to take the stairs apart. Shop vac hose modified to accept 1/2" PVC sprinkler pipe did the job. Vacuums them right up! Deb went through the coach with a fine tooth comb and luckily found none inside. No evidence of them in the engine, generator or storage compartments. This is the first rat sightings we've ever seen on our property. I think the heavy rains and flooding have driven them to higher grounds as our neighbor has the same problem. Storm blew through Amarillo last night and it's a nice 67 degrees! Prayers to France. Blake

Welcome to the forum! Have you tried silicone spray to free it up? I wouldn't use WD as it might degrade the seals. Blake

Hey Folks, Wanted to let you know of one of those "last minute oh darn moments" that threatened a well timed departure for the north. Yesterday the boom on our Winegard Satellite antenna wouldn't move or stow. It seemed to be stuck at half mast with a failure code of EL Motor Home Failure. This morning, we contacted Sats2Go in Houston (they performed the install) and Winegard for potential solutions. Both responded quickly with a set of instructions on how to recalibrate. David with Sats2Go also told me how to perform an emergency stow in the event the recalibration didn't work (we didn't need that but appreciated his instructions). So, the good news is that after following the instructions, the satellite antenna stowed perfectly. We ran it back up, locked on our satellites, watched a bit of Fox news then returned to the antenna back to travel mode. Below are the instructions in case anyone else needs them. Again, thanks to Winegard and Sats2Go for excellent customer service! It's 100 degrees here with 77% humidity.......we're headed north! Blake The EL Calibration is as follows: -Press and hold "enter" on the interface box until "enter user menu" appears. -Press "select" to move the * next to yes, and then press "enter" -Press "select" 2 times until the * is next to "installation" then press "enter" -When asked for password, press "enter" 4 times -Press "select" until the * is next to "calibrate EL", and then press "enter" -Press “Select” to move the * to yes, then press ”enter” -It will then say “calibrate el in progress” -It will then say "on EL hard stop." Verify with customer If the satellite is still pointing straight up press "select" to move the * next to yes, and then press "enter" -It should say calibrate EL success. Once it does press "enter" -Press "select" until the * is next to "exit" -It should now say "power off: yes/no." Press "select" to move the * next to yes and then press "enter" -It may come up and say EL MOTOR HOME FAILURE again, if it does press enter and it will say STOWING

Great news Byron!

Carl.....sounds like you started a trend. Please let us know where about on Amazon you got it. Maybe I can be sporting new lights when we visit Bill. Happy Independence Day all......we are headed to our neighborhood lake and gonna enjoy the fireworks and fellowship (hold my beer and watch this!). Blake

Carl, Are you looking for a solar operated unit that is self contained? We just installed a 21' flagpole on our property so we could proudly display the American and Texas flags. The store we bought the Texas flag sells solar operated LED lights ($99 - $130). I'd have to go back and look at them but may be a great option to mount on the roof....no wires etc.. Our outside lighting on our coach is poor at best and certainly not good enough for us to grill a 30+ day old dry aged steak that was aged from a Prime Rib in our True Commercial refrigerator with built in circulation fan. BTW.....Deb and I are still laughing our guts off from your previous responses..... Blake

Here's an article I found doing a search....Electro Magnetic Interference. http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/programs/NLPIP/lightinganswers/pdf/view/LAEMI.pdf And, here is something on this forum (one of a handful) Blake

Byron, This may seem way out in left field......but here it goes. Last summer our front air conditioner would not cool. Fan ran on low but there was no cool air. We had a mobile RV repair guy out to the coach since we were at a park and he said he could find nothing wrong with the A/C unit or the thermostat. Long story short, with a bit of research on this forum, we found if we turned off the fluorescent lights in the front of the coach the A/C would work. So, we converted all the fluorescent lights to LED and the A/C has cooled ever since! RV parts tech told us that the ballasts in the fluorescent fixtures creates interference with the thermostat. I'm an oil guy and only understand the basics of electricity but maybe someone else can explain why. If you haven't already, try turning all fluorescent lights off in the coach and reset your thermostat. Blake

LCHammer, Welcome to the forum! You'll find the folks on here are very helpful, friendly and oftentimes funny and funnier. Congratulations on your new coach. Many of us started with sleeping on the ground, pup tents, pop-ups, pull behinds then moved to motorhomes. Hopefully you will be able to impart your wisdom and experiences to us also. Enjoy your Monaco Knight....it's a great coach! Blake

Good to note the speed traps on 287. We've only been on 287 once and had a hard time keeping up with the change in speed limits. As Mike eludes to us Texans escaping the heat to the mountains of Wyoming. We will be leaving here soon to the cooler climes of Laramie and the Badlands. It is hot and muggy here! Blake

Mike and Cindy, We are north of Houston in the Conroe area. When we want to get away for a short weekend we go to the Lake Conroe KOA. This is a destination park, with pools, lagoons, basketball and other fun things. Lake attractions and restaurants are along Hwy. 105. Try Fajita Jacks on the Lake! I feel your pain with the long hours and little rest. Deb and I went through it too many times in our 30+ years with Chevron. Now we are always on the go and our vacations are long enough that sometimes we "can't wait to get home" rather than "can't wait to leave"! Blake

ASTMI, Our recall safety device activated last year and cut power to our refrigerator. The red indicator light came on right after washing the coach. After calling the manufacturer (not much help), our local RV repair facility and finally researching on this forum, I was able to reset it myself. Blake

Welcome to the forum Bob, Apologies for being elementary, but do you have greater than 1/4 tank of fuel? Most diesel pusher generators will not run if fuel level is less than 1/4 tank. Not sure what coach you have. Blake

Jodan, Herman's explanation above isn't too far from what I was thinking. Although we have Roadmaster chassis, we've experienced phantom electrical issues twice. Both were tied to failed coolant level sensor. Once sensor was replaced the issues went away. Weird thing is, is that my diagnostics reader did not show a code. Last time it happened it took a wiz mobile mechanic with a fancy computer to get the code. Part was cheap. Price of the expert mechanic was well worth it. Blake

Dianejobe & Jlandon, Thanks for the heads up. We are headed north through Denver area in a few weeks and will stay away from Dakota Ridge, Spruce Lake and Elk Meadow. Blake

Roadking, Welcome to the forum and thank you for your service. Bill.........".....small kind of startup aviation place.....? Lockheed Martin? Blake

Oldgrape, Search "recliners" on this Forum. Take a look at the double recliners Joe (Jleamont) installed in his coach. Blake

Oldgrape, Interesting wear pattern. Looks almost like the original color dye or paint was worn off in this spot. Nonetheless, easy fix. Perhaps time consuming though. I used to restore and show cars back in the "olden days". When we had worn vinyl parts such as armrests and interior door panels we used vinyl spray paint. There are many manufactures out there but I've found Eastwood's to be the best. Link here: http://search.eastwood.com/search?w=vinyl%20paint I don't know if you'll be able to match and blend that small area but you can always repaint the entire piece. Blake

Welcome to the forum. I agree with Bill. You may not be able to find anyone local that can give you corner weights on your tires but a truck stop like TA/Petro with a CAT scale can give you axle weight. Take your axle weight and divide by the number of tires on that axle. Then look up load rating vs air pressure for the make and model of your tires (hope it is available). I would be suspect if your loads require higher PSI but previous owner only ran 80. Especially if the outside of the tires are seeing unusual tread wear. I'm not sure how old your tires are but you might check the manufacture date on the sidewall. If over 5 years old, have a qualified tire service center inspect for serviceability. Blake

Although your DP can probably handle a 3,200 lb toad without supplemental brakes you should check your local towing laws before going without. Personally, I wouldn't tow without supplemental brakes. Supplemental brakes, with break away feature, will also stop the towed car in the event the car and coach gets separated. Without, the car would hurtle along and possibly hit another vehicle.

Bennie, Thank you for your post and information on Steer Safe. We don't usually have an issue when big rigs pass us. But, the ride in our coach can get pretty interesting during gusting crosswinds out West and highways with uneven driving lanes. We've done a couple of things to improve our coach's road manners which include upgraded tires and shocks which has helped tremendously. Also, before we enter West Texas towards New Mexico and Arizona I try to keep our fresh water and fuel tank as full as possible to help us stay glued down to the road. I'm not sure if that helps much but from a physics perspective it makes sense to me. I'll look into Steer Safe for an added improvement! Blake

Glad to see Ernie joining this thread. He's the professional expert and has retrofitted countless coaches. Blake

Hey Herman.......I do the same thing. If the island is sloped a bit I use the fill spout on the uphill side to make sure I get as much fuel as possible! I've long given up on our system levels such as propane, black, grey and freshwater readouts. I've removed, repaired & cleaned all of the sensors, except the propane, and they work fine until the next time you use them! Black and grey is a nasty job. Now I guestimate when I need to dump those and just look at the water tank to see if what the level is. Blake