[Tim]

I agree Tom it’s bad news it will over speed the engine if going down hill for a bit then it might shift up if it’s on cruise or you push down on the throttle ,but it’s not for me . I always liked sixth to be the gear then I could do it l

[Tim]

Tim you can push the arrows to down shift or up shift , try it push D then push the down arrow it should go down as many times you push the arrow button until in first gear drive it you will see how fast it will go then push arrow for up shift fourth should go up to about 50 mph and if you down shift too soon for the gear it will not shift until it is safe I always go down a big hill in fourth if it gets to gaining ground I push on brake pedal firm and slow down then let off brake you can over speed the gear going down hill so don’t let it gain over 2100 rpm I use 2000 rpm if it does I gear down after I slow down then down one gear more

Most of the time they are set up so when on cruise control or your foot comes of the throttle the jake will come on in sixth, then down shift from there when safe , you can get allison to change that setting easy so when you let your foot of the throttle it will hunt to go to fifth gear or fourth and so on down to I think second , I have try them all and I liked sixth the best , but fifth gear was ok to until you use cruise and it tries to shift down to fifth on a little rolling hill and when the cruise goes back on it shifts again back to sixth , so I liked it to come on in sixth and then down from there with the brakes or the jake slowing it down, I tried it so when your foot came of the throttle or you touched the brake in cruise it would try and go to fourth gear when safe but I was driving in the hills at about 55 and if I touched the brake or let the coach slow down with the jake or pushed the decelerate button it would get to about 50 then shift from sixth down to fourth I did not like it , I had it set back to sixth. That was many many years ago I am smarter now!!!!!

[Tim]

So Peter,

Those with Jake Brakes, can you control your descent gear, since it seems like my Jake Brake engages automatically, and I really don’t control the actually gear for the tranmission as I would in “downshifting” in a car or manual transmission.

[Tim]

No I would put in drive and that should be economy mode and if in the hills push mode button and then it will be in performance mode to hold the gear longer , in all my coaches I have always done that and in the trucks I have had same thing , unless you are pulling a heavy trailer then I would put it in performance mode , or going up and down hills other wise economy, if you feel like the trams is having a hard time finding a gear to stay in because of speed you can push the mode button so it will hold longer in that gear and not hunt for one,

Tim you should drive it and see what it does in both so you know how it is set up and if it shifts sooner or it holds the gear then u will know what’s what!!!!! And when to use which mode

[Tim]

Peter,

Any worries about running the LED light bars on the hi-way? I was wanting to add them where my bumper mounted fog lights are. That 34″ bar would look the space ship in Close encounters…

Steve

[Tim]

Per,

I like Tom’s set-up too, and apparently the previous owner of our coach did as well, since he did what Tom did.

Our LED TV is mounted on plywood which has a piano hinge which allows it to flip up for access to all the electrical connections in back. There is “a lot” of space in our front mounted cabinet, which contains wiring for our DirectTV, BlueRay, Apple TV, sound system, AMP, equalizer, tech-link CPU, radio speaker wiring, etc.

But Jon’s right, there most likely is some type of wood blocking holding your old TV in there to prevent the TV from sliding out while rolling down the road.

[Tim]

See whether it is intermittent. I noticed my odometer display is temperature dependant. When cold, it is sometimes blank or garbled. Next day it is just fine. Keeps miles ok, so it is just the LCD display. Probably a borderline capacitor in the display driver. In any case the Detroit ECU and VMSpc keeps track of miles and hours.

Gerald

[Tim]

Tim I can go a little over 12 hours and the batteries will be at 24.4 V with light loads , I never let it go below 24.4 when dry camping , I had a brand new set of dekas that liberty put in before I bought the coach they lasted one and a half years , then I put lifelines in , all the other buses I have had , had lifelines in or I put them in they are the best if you want five years and no hassle

[Tim]

Brought this foward as many are talking about this again. Facts and figures in my post. bob

[Tim]

Tim,

If your generator starts at around 24.3 which I am guessing is less than resting voltage because there will be some load on them you are at a safe point. Tom can verify this, but in general you are lightly discharged and will have an extended life as a result.

But just because batteries are two years old it does not mean you can’t have a problem. I am not saying you do, but a defect such as a bad cell can cause a premature failure, as can abuse such as deep discharges. To be sure of your true battery condition you have to disconnect the cables so they are isolated from one another and all loads and test them individually after they have been fully charged and the inverters go to float.

Our batteries have proven extremely reliable and if properly maintained I think it is safe to say you will see at least 5 years of good performance from them, and if you are willing to push their life a little you can probably go as long as 8 to 10 years but you will see a substantial loss of the ability to hold a charge as they age. If you see evidence of bulging do not hesitate to replace them and if you get the smell of rotten eggs they are ruined because the pressure relief valve has opened.

[Tim]

Thanks Dick. I think we will try Bluewater Key and see if we can get in there. We have 3 slides and it can get tight if the site isn’t wide enough. I don’t like to have stuff rubbing on the coach when it is parked.

Have a good time there. We are thinking of late April or first week of May, so it will be a bit before we get done that way.

[Tim]

Well I figure it’s like a CPU which has its own fan which never shuts off …

I could disable it since it has it’s own power cord, but I’ll let it ride …

[Tim]

See the above Tim, LBCO and LBCI.

LBCO – Low Battery Cut Out – When the inverter see’s this volage for 15 minutes, it shuts down. This won’t happen if the Auto-Start is active because the gen will start and the inverter won’t shut down.

LBCI – Low Battery Cut In – When the inverter see’s this voltage, it turns back on. If you’re using Auto-Start, you’ll never see this because the inverter has not shut down.

Look at it this way… If your bus is stored, no shore, no generator and no auto-start, when the inverter see’s the LBCO for 15 minutes, if shuts off. It won’t turn back on until is see’s the LBCI that would have to come from the inverter chargers (shore or gen) or the engine alternator.

[Tim]

Sorry for short delay, but was traveling for work.

It was only slightly dusty. We had water front site, so no one could pass in front of the bus, and the bus was towards the front of the site. Dust was not a significant problem.

[Tim]

Good one Jon!

I knew air leaks were going to be an on-going maintenance and I still bought one … go figure!

But I love to drive her!