richard5933

Maybe because my limited time available for traveling puts me in various parts of the country when the local events are taking place. Maybe because my schedule hasn't worked out. Maybe I don't have the time necessary to investigate the chapters by visiting an event with each one before choosing which to join. Or, maybe I just don't see why I should have to join anything other than FMCA to have a vote in what goes in with leadership in FMCA. Will I eventually join a chapter? Likely. But until then it seems I'll be without a vote on leadership issues. Is chapter membership a deal breaker for everyone? Of course not, but I suspect that not everyone is interested in doing all the parliamentary procedure steps which were so popular in organizations decades ago. I had enough of that belonging to civic organizations in the 70s and 80s, and really think that things could be more streamlined than how they are.

Curious why you think that there is no downside to running at a higher pressure than necessary? It's not just a smoother ride - there is a negative effect on handling and braking when running higher-than-necessary air pressure. Also, the information on the Federal placard is static and often just represents one possible setup available on the chassis. If I were to follow the information on my Federal placard I'd still be running bias-belted tires and an air pressure way out of line with what I run in the current tires. The Federal placard on my coach presents the max load with the standard OEM tires. The operator's manual on my coach has about 4 pages of load & inflation tables which give detailed information for the available tire and wheel options. This has long been a more complex calculation than just looking at the Federal placard.

I understand the possible benefit of chapters to those that choose to join one, whether it be a geographic based or interest based chapter, but isn't it really just making double work of getting new members to be involved and active? It seems like it's hard enough for us to recruit members to FMCA to begin with, but we have system that requires members to join a second time in order to become full members? If all members were automatically members of a chapter they could begin full involvement much easier. Or just skip the chapter requirement and allow at-large members. I've been an FMCA member for a few years, and it's always surprised me that I have absolutely no voice in choosing the leadership of our membership-run organization because I don't belong to a chapter. The reason I haven't joined a chapter so far is I haven't found one with events that interested me which were held at a time and/or place I could get to. We are not retired yet, and so our travel calendar is limited. Making our travel calendar more difficult is that we live in the north and our coach is parked from Nov thru May. Really hard to get to events when the coach is still winterized or there is still salt on the roads. With the time limitations we work around and the long list of places we want to go around the country, it's just really hard to fit in more than one or two rallies per year, and that's in a good year. Perhaps if we knew more FMCA members from non-rally events we'd be more inclined to spend our limited vacation time at rallies, but that's not the case yet. I just don't understand why this double-layer involvement is still necessary for FMCA members to gain full membership and participation in the conduct of the organization.

1952 Ford Crestline is my guess for what they started with.

Yes - there was a problem with the tires on the Ford Explorer from those years. Not the only tire problem that's happened over the years. However, the exception doesn't make the rule. Auto manufacturers have used tire pressures to balance comfort and economy since the early years of the auto industry. The problem with tires on the Explorer aside, the answer to the question is still 'yes', lower tire pressures are used for a smoother ride in cars. Rarely will the recommended tire pressure for a car be the sidewall max.

Yes Within the margin allowed by the tire manufacturer, but many luxury cars have achieved their soft ride by running the pressure at the lower end of the acceptable pressure range. Those manufacturers interested in fuel economy tend to inflate towards the upper end of the range, comfort the lower. With modern suspension systems this is not as common, but it's been a practice of manufacturers for a long time.

How does that work? Whatever you choose as the pressure you want in the tires, you'll need to adjust as the weather gets cold. If you set to the placard pressure in August you'll have to readjust the pressure as fall and winter come on, unless you're staying where the weather never changes.

Interesting, but need more information. How are these holding up in actual use? One thing that I noticed looking at the specs is that they are heavier than lithium batteries. Losing a few pounds while increasing my battery capacity was a big plus for me when considering going to lithium batteries.

Not trying to diminish what chapter do at all or to say that they aren't doing some of this. It does seem though that many members of FMCA do not ever join a Chapter. I've explored it myself, and quickly became frustrated. The ones I would have interest in joining are not near me, and there is no way I can commit to attending rallies or events in my coach at times of the year when it's still winterized and parked. I'd love to just be able to gather together with other FMCA members in the area, regardless of chapter affiliation. I understand that there are chapters in which members develop close friendships, but not everyone has a chapter near them or that works with their planned travel schedule. For those of us in the north, I think that it's a wasted opportunity to only have events which involve our coaches or RVs, as that puts FMCA off the calendar for half the year. Lots of FMCA related activities which could take place, even up north, in the off season.

Seminars... That's another area where I think that FMCA could branch out and reach more people. We attend the two RV shows here in Milwaukee each year (at least till Covid) and there are always lots of things to do and learn. What if FMCA had a traveling RV seminar series, just like at the rallies, that followed some of the larger RV shows around the country? Or, in areas where the RV shows are put on by competing organizations, what about just hosting RV seminars at larger RV dealers around the country? It wouldn't be difficult to get mailing lists of new RV owners in these areas, and I'm sure that dealers would welcome the extra foot traffic through their doors as people attended the seminars. I guess my biggest point here is that having smaller and more local events throughout the year would give members and potential members lots more opportunities to get value from FMCA.

The problem with lithium batteries and cold weather is that they can be damaged if charged at freezing temps. The lithium batteries I'm seeing out there now with built-in heaters seem to be set up so that the incoming charge current is diverted to the built-in heaters until an acceptable temp is reached, and then they begin charging. They don't just keep themselves warmed all the time, since they can be discharged at colder temps. Seems like a pretty slick system, and I hope that the cost drops a bit (or a lot) before I get ready to swap to lithium.

To me you've pointed out two things that could be something to build on... 1) Chapters - I'd love to see a way for members to have more direct input without having to join a chapter. It seems to me that people nowadays aren't 'joiners' like they once were, and if we can get people to join FMCA it's a good thing on its own. Pushing to get them to also join a chapter is asking more of members than many are willing/able to do. 2) Socialization - I think that there are lots of FMCA members near me here in Wisconsin, most of who I've never met. I'm sure that's the same for everyone around the country. While attending events with our coach is the ideal way to participate and socialize, I'd also support having events without the coach. Perhaps just a meetup at a local restaurant or something, even if it's just going out for a fish fry or meeting up at for frozen custard. I'd be a lot more inclined to attend rallies if I knew more FMCA members, and having local events would be a great way to meet them.

Got some Marvel Mystery Oil Air Tool Oil today - it's now the top contender. It has a very thin consistency, and there is a faint hint of dry cleaning fluid odor mixed into the oil. I am running a test to see how well it wicks. I've got a spare Kysor airline filter/oiler, so if it looks to wick well I will put some of this oil in there and see how much oil gets picked up by the air as it moves through.

Glad to hear that you're moving forward in recovery.

Yeah - I posted on there about a year ago. Didn't get a definitive answer, just a suggestion to use ATF.

That link led to an ad from 2018. It was marked as sold in Feb. 2018.

If I could find some of the fluid, even just a little, I could run some tests on my own. The concerns I have are: Proper viscosity Ability to wick through the oiler and be picked up by the air flow Compatibility with rubber & leather components.

Good suggestions. Best I can find on the PAG oil is that it's about 30w in viscosity. Probably too thick for this purpose. Would love to find some documentation on what Shutterstat Fluid actually was - both viscosity and the makeup of it. Sounds like there was some type of solvent added to help it flow through the wick and to get picked up by the air flow.

Carl - I understand what you're saying and it's sad to hear you say it. First problem I see in what you said is why don't the members of the EB visit the forums more often? Seems like they'd want to know what the members are talking about, especially when it's about FMCA itself. Second, can't believe that all decisions regarding marketing have to wait until the summer convention. Seems like there should be an ongoing effort in this regard. Anyone know who is responsible for marketing and related functions? Sounds like it's time for me (and hopefully others) to pick up the phone and make a few suggestions.

Air tool oil is what I'm hearing a lot for this. Most air tool oil I'm seeing is 10w mineral oil. I guess it would work. Take a look at note #2 on this PDF. It's from an old military technical bulletin and talks about using either Shutterstat fluid OR a mixture of 1 part 10w oil and 4 parts dry cleaning fluid. I've heard that Shutterstat fluid had some penetrating oil qualities, so for me part of this is trying to learn what it was and why it was. Since this document calls for thinning out the 10w oil that much with dry cleaning fluid, I'm trying to learn why.

So, how do we get this idea pushed to the people that can make something like this happen?

Assuming you mean 3-in-1oil, it comes in various formulation. The most common one out there contains an ingredient which can be problematic. Not sure what the specific ingredient is, but when I used to restore antique sewing machines you could always tell if a previous owner used 3-in-1 oil as it turned to a varnish-like substance and effectively glues parts together when they sit for too long.

Easy to do this. I connected the shop compressor to the coach to test the shutter system out, and all is functional and works as intended. There is a slight air leak at the gasket sealing the lid of the oiler, and I've got a rebuild kit on the way. It contains a new gasket, new felt pads, a new wick, and a new filter screen. The only thing missing is the Shutterstat fluid.

My only concern is if the air tool oil is thin enough. The airline oiler has two compartments - the one on the left contains a few felt pads with a wick winding through them, and the one on the right has the filter screen and water trap. The wick goes from the left compartment into the right one, and as air flows over the wick oil is picked up. Not sure if air tool oil has a low enough viscosity to make it through the felt pads, into the wick, and then into the air flow. My guess is that Shutterstat fluid was super thin so that it could be used in this way. Otherwise, I'm there with you.

Thanks for the suggestions. From what I've seen, air tool oil is typically 10w. It seems to be the suggestion I'm getting most commonly for this application, although it's slightly thicker than the Shutterstat fluid. I've seen one military technical bulletin which called for either Shutterstat fluid or a mixture of dry cleaning solvent and 10w oil. Seemed like that might be really thin, but I've never actually seen Shutterstat fluid so I have no point of reference. One thing I was considering was something like Sea Foam Deep Creep. Their tech suggested that it was safe for rubber compounds as leather seals, so it might work. I do find it odd that there is no cross reference for things like this.