[Robert]

I am not sure I would blame the blankets Greg.

During the years we had our 8V92 I replaced three of the turbo inlet pipes plus 2 cast iron manifolds or manifold gaskets. That was over a 250,000 mile span covering 14 years. I had no asbestos blankets on my exhaust. I also had to replace one of the pipes from the turbo to the muffler as well as a muffler. They also had no blankets. I think you got more life out of yours.

[Robert]

Jon,

I hesitated a bit to toss this out there but then decided to go ahead an hope this post is taken in the spirit in which it’s given. I am new here and have just over a year in the new bus and have been full timing in it since May with my wife and 3 kids. We don’t have OTR but there hasn’t been a single day yet that we have not been comfortable in the coach. Our marathon is setup to allow the use of two of the roof airs without running the Geny and in most cases my wife and kids are complaining that it’s too cold with just one or two of them on… At least once a month I run the geny just to exercise it and I run all 4 roof airs to keep it good and loaded and they are literally wearing coats and covered with blankets… so based on my experience I must respectually take issue with your assertion that you cannot keep the coach comfortable on hot days without the Geny running and all four roof airs on. At least based on our experience that isn’t the case… Since you requested that Gil talk BTU’s… I have 4 15,500s on the roof plus the Prevost Driver’s air and Aux air up front.

Again you have been super helpful to me in so many ways… so no disrespect is intended with this reply at all. I guess my only reason for responding is I would hate for someone to elimante a non OTR coach from consideration. I just wanted to offer another perspecitive from a NON OTR owner.

Thanks!

Bill

[Robert]

Thanks for the explanations. Lots to learn.

[Robert]

Greg,

Any chance you used the wrong card, one will not work at Love’s and is for fueling at other than Love’s stops.

[Robert]

Thanks all, I was hoping for the possitive feedback.

I thought this made sense and I must not be the only one that thought of it,,,,,, just have not seen it. Glad to hear it was incorporated in some other coaches. My Webasto exits up near the middle of the coach so I am not going to change that. It would be too far, otherwise I like that idea also. I am just tired of cleaning the coach engine stainless tip every time I run the generator due to the exits being so close together.

I know the folks at Parliament, in fact that is where we bought our coach. We are only 20 miles from them so I may take a ride and see if they have any coaches with this exhaust configuration.

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas and thanks again for the conversation.

[Robert]

This is going by memory so take it with a grain of salt.

I seem to recall the late Don Hoffman of Hoffman coach merged the generator exhaust into the Prevost exhaust either at the muffler or slightly ahead of the muffler with the prupose being to add the coach muffler as additional sound deadening.

Personally I really do not see a problem as long as where the two merge, both exhaust flows are aimed in the same direction so exhaust from one is not backing up or pressurizing the other. At the time Don was doing that to his conversions I don’t believe the generators he was using had turbos. I suspect the generator is not going to have enough flow to create a vacuum and spin the engine turbo (easily checked on the 8V92) but the engine might have enough to spin a generator turbo. My only concern with spinning the turbo is unless the engine is running the turbo is not getting lubrication.

[Robert]

Besides the exhaust from the generator getting all over the stainless coach pipe, I think the 2″ generator pipe looks like an after thought. Just my opinion but I like the looks of one pipe. I am not taking a chance, I plan to check out the modification before welding it in for good. also plan on stainless strap clamps to connect to the rest of the generator exhaust so it can be removed for repairs. The wind is hitting the 2″ pipe now so that will actually be protected inside the large pipe, my only concern is the coach exhaust. I think running the 2″ pipe parallel inside the large pipe will prevent a vortec effect but we will see.

I know,,,,,,, too much time on my hands, but I have always tried to have something a little different than the norm.

[Robert]

Removed the Raycor,,,,,, full of black goop. The check valve seat or (washer is what it really looks like) was warped and definately not sealing with the check ball. Found a kit at SouthEastern Power but they were 30 minutes from closing and would not wait,,,,,,, will have to wait till next Thurs. I am hoping this is the cause.

Thanks for all the help, will let you know next week.

I am going to pursue the next project while waiting and will start a new thread on running the generator exhaust through the main engine exhaust tip.

Thanks again,

[Robert]

Sounds like that man might be worth continuing to work with. If the door height is the only problem

it is a simple fix to raise the opening and add a section to the door, assuming the interior ceiling is tall enough.

Might not happen this winter but could br a long term solution.

Jim Brown

Fort worth

[Robert]

When the erratic start happens it does seem to be starving for fuel and actually skips on a few cylinders and then smoothes out. I agree with the idea of air getting in the system somehow and that is one of the reasons I installed the electric fuel pump. But I was baffled when it did the same thing with the electric pump running before starting. I thought the electric pump would keep the system primed. Maybe the mechanical pump pulls more than the 5PSI the electric pump supplies ??? It just seems to me that if there was an air leak the erratic starting would be all the time. It is so hit or miss that it does not correspond to the time between starts, temp or any other thing I can put my finger on. I was wondering if their is a solonoid for the fuel shutdown, or does the fuel shutdown just close the injectors ?

[Robert]

I obviously have little or no control over weights. They are what they are because I can only move the stuff in the coach to a limited extent.

But I weigh all my coaches as soon as I have them loaded with our personal possisions and use that to determine what tire pressures are called for by Michelin. I add 5 PSI to that just because it makes me feel better to have a small margin. When I shoot temperatures they are always consistent from tire to tire. But if one is out of range it becomes a warning to me that something is wrong.

So I will do a pressure check of the other tire(s) on that axle. I make the assumption the tire that has the same temp as the other tires on an axle reflects what the pressure should be. The hotter than normal tire has something wrong and it could be a dragging brake or low pressure. It is worth the time to check as much as possible to find what might be wrong, but if I cannot find anything I inflate it to the same pressure as others on the axle and keep monitoring it often.

I am limited on my air system to 120-125 PSI so I may have to wait for the tire to cool down before I add air.

I had a screw on the inside tire on one trip and I lost about 5 PSI every 3 or 4 hours. I couldn’t see or find the screw because it wasn’t in the tread, but entered at the point where the sidewall and the tread joined so I was able to get home just by adding air every time we stopped. I over inflated it easily because as I recall it never got over 105 PSI when it was hot on the tires on that axle so I just went over that pressure by 5 or 10 PSI.

[Robert]

You are correct. The seat# is your space #. I bought our tickets for the concert from stub hub. We are in section 335 I believe. Its on the 45 yard line in the third tier. I’ll bring the binoculars. I paid almost $1200 for 2 tickets by the time they added their fee. Crazy I know but I haven’t been to a concert in years and this should be a great one. Besides that my wife almost peed her pants when I told her so it was money well spent. We will definitely have to get together in the parking lot.

[Robert]

Through FMCA they should be around $4400 plus mounting and balance.

Joining FMCA IMO is a no brainer when it comes to discounts associated with them. Especially the tire program.

[Robert]

Hector,

I’ll have to see if I can find it. However here is the short version.

First it requires the emergency brake to be released so make sure the coach is chocked to prevent it from rolling.

The procedure does not apply to coaches with automatic slack adjusters. All manufacturers of automatic slack adjusters do not recommend manual adjustment. Automatic slack adjusters will look different than the one shown below.

In the photo of the slack adjuster look above the white label and note that there is a 9/16 hex head adjusting bolt. Surrounding the hex head is a spring loaded sleeve. Using a 9/16 wrench, push the sleeve down and once the sleeve is down rotate the hex head adjusting bolt clockwise until it will not turn any further.

You will have just tightened the brake shoes to the drum. Then turn the wrench 1/4 to 1/3 turn. That backs the shoes off the drum. The wheel should turn freely without brake drag and the brakes are adjusted. When you remove the wrench insure the sleeve returns to its original position around the hex head adjusting bolt because that locks the bolt in place and prevents turning.

Hope that helps