[Roger]

Our 2005 Marathon I changed all belts at 50,000 miles. Consideration was the age of belts which I believe would be around 7 years. With the chassis age at 2004 I was now at 8 years. On examine there was some minor cracks, some glazing.

I think it’s all preventive and in the bus barn 4 belts was an easy change.

Along with the belt change I also changed out the belt tensioner attached to the engine. I was able to purchase the exact same brand with a little research rather then do a cross reference like part.

[Roger]

My ears are tuned to the generator start which is a rumble, then the whirr as the radiator fan spins up to speed because its power is generator power. I can’t say I sense when the generator supplies power because I am aware of the other noises and their sequence. Whatever it is however works.

There will never be an instantaneous switch from shore to generator power even if the “generator start on shore power interrupt” is engaged because my generator start cycle has a time delay for the glow plugs. If it has not been run for a while the generator cranks a few turns also so whatever has dropped off when shore power was lost like Cruiseairs or the satellite receiver all have to be restarted. I would guess the generator start takes 15 to 30 seconds.

[Roger]

Glad I could be of so much assistance.

[Roger]

Just replaced the TPS today. Thought it would be an easy swap but no such luck. New sensor has a different connector so it came with a new cable. Instead of just swapping sensors, I had to remove the whole pedal assay. Worst part was crawling into the bumper compartment to find the connection on the other end which was tie-wrapped in a hard to reach area.

Did they use child labor to wire this bus??

Better than a day at the office though.

[Roger]

A very nice campground is Aces High in East Lyme, Connetticut. It’s about 65 miles west of Providence. We’ve stayed there in our bus and enjoyed it.

http://aceshighrvpark.com/

[Roger]

Find snother tire shop! There simply too many reasons to have the tires balanced and the incremental cost is near nothing. As for balancing, i have used beads and weights and both seem very effective. I have had a tire job say weights aren’t effective on tires of our size. It seems there are a lot of opinions on balancing methods.

I see road force mentioned. Do they really do road force on wheels and tires of our size? Road force is one method of balancing using weights where the tire is spin balanced against a resistive roller to simlate the effect of weight on the tire. For cars, especially for low profile tires, road force is the way to go.

Peter, do you have the part number for the front balance ring handy? I’m thinking about going that route instead of equal. My only reservation is how these may restrict brake cooling.

[Roger]

Thanks for the advice. We’ve had pleated shades in our prior coaches and that seems to be the standard. I wonder why the cellular shades are not commonly used in bus conversions when they seem to be far more popular in general (based on the far greater variety of cellular shades available through online sellers).

[Roger]

Susan,

Ditto with Tom, the fitting in display reminds me of ones used in marine applications for liquids.

The check valves used in pneumatic lines do not look like that.

Sealant looks OK ….. with this application.

[Roger]

You should always retorque wheel nuts after a run in period of 50-100 miles then again at 10,000 miles. Buy a torque stick and carry it with you for those over zealous tire tech’s who want to run your nuts on as tight as their impact wrench will go.

[Roger]

DKO,

I have a dash cam mounted with a suction cup on the windshield and it points straight ahead so whatever happens in front of me is being recorded. The card only holds 15 to 30 minutes so it is constantly overwriting itself. I bought it on Amazon and it is no longer listed, probably being superceded by newer technology.

You can buy very sophisticated dash cams that allow you to not only download the video, but to also display data from Google maps as well as speed and sound. Some have all the features such as those installed on police cars so they are acceptable in court.

Mine is pretty basic but I don’t know if the lack of date codes or a GPS map renders it inadmissible.

A search of Amazon for “dash cams” or a google search will literally bring up hundreds of choices. One of our members has a sophisticated video cam that he has used as both a dash cam as well as a camera for a radio controlled plane. My point being having video proof is far better than trying to tell a cop the reason your bus ended up in the back seat of the car ahead was not because you were tailgating, but because the driver of the car you rear ended pulled 15 feet infront of your bumper and then spiked his brakes.

[Roger]

Hi Lee. Those are interesting posts. I must admit that one reason I am back in a bus after going over to a plastic motorhome for a while is the safety factor, both in chassis systems and structure. Coming home from our Memorial Day trip in our motorhome this year we encountered a large 5th wheel toy hauler and pickup which had rolled several times on a steep grade on the freeway. The fiberglass skin had come off in one piece and the remainder of the trailer was literally nothing but a pile of broken sticks. The pickup was destroyed as well, and the occupants very badly hurt. Obviously its not fair to compare a big diesel motorhome to a fifth wheel trailer, but there are some structural similarities. A month later we traded in the RV for a bus. I don’t think my RV was unsafe, but I do think the bus is more safe.

Since you asked, I do have a couple of comments on your blog posts. One is that you might want to emphasize the importance of working CO, propane and smoke detectors in an RV, and perhaps installing additional units to supplement the ones that were installed by the manufacturer. I think every RV should have a CO and smoke detector in the bedroom even if there is one mid-ship.

The other thing I would mention is that many RV fires originate in the gas refrigerator. One manufacturer has gone through many recalls to install safety shutoff devices, but not all owners got the message. We encountered a burned out rig at Motorcoach Countryclub in Indio last fall with a perfect “norcold” shaped hole in the sidewall. Staying up with the recalls, and making sure the safety equipment is not defeated, is a big safety factor.

Have you ever taken a deposition in your bus? I have. I’m sure the stenographer still talks about it.

[Roger]

Happy to share what I have learned.

I sent you an email with my contact info.

Paul

[Roger]

Rodger I have that special arm and for the life of me I can’t figure it out. At least I was told it’s a ZipDee special tool when I bought the coach. What’s the trick?

[Roger]

Jon,

It really shouldn’t be so hard to write such an article. It will just take time. The challenge would simply be to make sure information is presented in buckets, such as facts, pros, cons, and owner’s opinions. I would imagine opinions may find their way into the facts bucket too often negating the objectivity of the article.

[Roger]

I think there are two ways of using the Autostart feature.

One is for storage, to maintain the batteries so if the non-use voltage gets low the generator comes on and recharges the system, the setting is 12.2 so you stay above the 50% charge.

The second usage is to back up the inverter/batteries while using the system, ie enjoying the creature comforts. During normal usage the battery voltage may dip below 12.2 Voltage but for only a very short time, ie microwave and coffee pot on at the same time. Once the microwave stops running the voltage will jump back up above 12.2v, say 12.6, do you really need the generator coming on for such a short period? But if the draw is really high on the inverter and batteries and the voltage drops to the low 11 volts for a long period, ie heaters, morning coffee and toaster and the Misses drying her hair you want something to kick in to back up the batteries maybe not to recharge but just for more power. Therefore the setting of 11.?.

So I think you need to consider two settings and each for difference reasons.

One for non-use of the Coach to make sure your batteries stay charged if unplugged or lost of charging power and the other setting to assist the batteries for very deep draws.

The Converters I think are assuming you bought the Coach for the reason they made them to be used. Therefore they set them at the factory for a deep draw back up.

I am not lucky enough to use mine like it was made for so I have my autostart set at the 12.2 setting but if I was to take it on the road and dry camp between power poles I would have it set for 11.8 or lower.

Just a thought