vanwill52

Among close friends, Paul is known as "Pooper Paul" or "Sh*tter Whittle." 😄

I will see what I have saved as pix. I cannot speak to the conversion if you have a Dometic furnace below. The Suburban is the only one I have personal experience with. Both my 93 Dynasty and my present 2000 Dynasty had a Surburban furnace.

John, when measured at the rim of the steering wheel, what does the lash measure? The steering wheel not being centered after the installation is normal. It does NOT indicate alignment is needed, just that the splined joint beneath the steering wheel has to be repositioned. When the dead straight-ahead position of the wheels coincides with the exact midpoint of the crown in the internal rack gear of the steering gear, it can be adjusted to zero lash. That is the function of the witness line on the gear housing and gear output shaft. When those two lines are aligned, you are at the midpoint of the crown of the rack gear. It is still very common for even experienced mechanics to get this part wrong. In that case, the straight-ahead position of the gear is to either side of the highest crown on the rack gear, and if in that position, if you adjust the steering gear to zero lash, there will be a slight binding when you "cross centerpoint" of the crowned rack gear. Bottom line is that you should be able to adjust to zero play at the center position. I'll give you a call this afternoon. I have some appointments today until about 4:30 EST. Van

Richard is correct about not using the ether for starting. And he was correct about the reason--there are powerful, high-amperage grid heaters in the intake manifold to aid in starting in very cold weather. I can't verify this from personal experience, but it is my understanding that by the time the "Wait to Start" light goes out, they are glowing red. On iRV2 there is a post about a fellow who took his coach to a CUMMINS facility and a novice mechanic used ether for some reason. The resulting explosion caused enough damage that a total rebuild was required. Luckily, Cummins owned up to it and did the repair without charge. If an engine DOES NOT have intake grid heaters it is certainly a common procedure to use ether. In your case, it is very dangerous. There are several reasons the engine will de-rate after the Check Engine light comes on. It would be best to have the engine codes read before continuing so that you have a better idea of the cause. I hope you are luckier than me. My problem was a faulty ECM. VERY expensive repair.

If your furnace is a Suburban, that is a zero underclearance model. That is, the furnace is rated to sit directly onto combustible material. So, if it is sitting on 2x4's, you can remove them and place the furnace directly on the wooden floor. You must bore another hole in the side of the coach to reposition the inlet/exhaust lower. I covered the extra hole with a polished aluminum plate. Specs for the furnace call for just 1" clearance above. I welded a frame for the fridge to sit on. On my 2000 Dynasty, these modifications allowed me to install an RF18 with only about 1/4" clearance to spare in height.

Rebuilt mine last year with parts from a local hydraulics repair shop. Cost of all new seals--approximately $15/

At Bill D's suggestion, I replaced my rusted-out stock muffler with an Aero 4040XL eight years and 80K miles ago. Modified the original brackets by bending only the inboard straps (discarded the outboard straps). It still looks new. 100% stainless steel construction. The difference in sound level inside the coach is zero, even with a window open. Standing outside, there is only a modest sound level increase. I think it might be slightly louder at WOT (wide open throttle), but not loud like a Jake Brake. I ease out of campgrounds and I'm sure I've never disturbed anyone. It is simply an inexpensive, high quality replacement muffler. Does it increase power?...Only for those with vivid imaginations.

There may be obstacles that many competent DIY RV'ers can overcome, but I have yet to read a SINGLE post about someone converting from absorption to residential fridge and REGRETTING it. I replaced the Norcold in my 93 Dynasty and ran it from a tiny Heart MSW 1200W inverter. My wife and I were both pleased. I replaced the Norcold in my 2000 Dynasty with a Samsung RF19(?) and retained my underneath furnace. It ran from an OEM MSW inverter, which I later upgraded to a Magnum 2812 PSW. We were both even more pleased, and continue to be to this day, six years later. As Bill D so often repeated, "Tell us what you KNOW from your personal experience...NOT what you have read."

Sometimes I think folks would be justified in getting tired of me saying this, so I'll try to keep it short. Your Roadmaster chassis needs only ONE thing to make it a dream to drive. IT NEEDS TO HAVE ITS WHEELS NOT WALLOWING AROUND UNDERNEATH IT, CAUSING YOU TO MAKE CONSTANT STEERING CORRECTIONS TO "REALIGN IT". The COACH is not wandering...its WHEELS are. The coach can only go where its wheels are pointed. Front and rear, the wheels are attached to a subassembly that is constantly "squirming" when influenced by the smallest outside forces--like wind, changing road crown, or passing vehicles. Once you cure the CAUSE (stabilze those subassemblies), rather than treat the symptoms, your problems disappear. Although I am a staunch believer in having a steering gear with ZERO lost motion (at least at the straight-ahead position), the interstate highways are rife with tractor-trailers equipped with Sheppard steering gears...and consequently as much as 3" lost motion in the straight-ahead position. You never hear those guys complaining about being "blown to the shoulder" by passing vehicles. BECAUSE THEIR WHEELS STAY IN ONE POSITION EVEN WHEN ACTED ON BY OUTSIDE INFLUENCES. Almost every (every?) road tractor has leaf springs for the front axle...RIGID! We OTOH have...squishy air bags, long spindly trailing arms, and only ONE Panhard rod. Granted, there are some other reasons that tractor-trailers don't suffer wandering, but for Monaco owners it has been proven by HUNDREDS of installations that stabilizing the front and rear subassemblies (commonly referred to as "H-frames") eliminates 99% of all "wandering" complaints. The OP (original poster) has totally another problem, one that I think will be diagnosed by simple visual inspection. He might have a truly unique, one-of-a-kind problem with his TRW steering gear...but I doubt it. When the major problem is diagnosed and corrected, I suggest he contact Mike Hughes at www.monacowatts.com. Mike took over morphing my "prototype" designs into slick, professional "plug and play" solutions. Mike's social skills are excellent and he truly enjoys solving folks' problems. You will love dealing with him.

It certainly sounds like a fault in the steering gear, but I have no knowledge of any case similar to yours. Knowing how the internals of the steering gear work, I can only imagine the torque bar that actuates the hydraulic assist has somehow come loose from its actuator shaft, but I can't imagine how that could happen. Check to see that you do not have one of the hydraulic steering dampers installed. They are heavily spring-loaded to center. If the clamp on the end that attaches to the relay rod is loose, it might slip to one direction or the other, then get another "bite" in that location. When those devices are even slightly misadjusted from center, they cause a great pull in one direction or the other. I agree with others that if you can't find some obvious reason for your problem from a visual inspection, take it to any heavy truck repair shop. I think your problem is likely to be quickly diagnosed. Good luck and let us know the outcome.

I've had the FASS system for quite a while now, and although I constructed and used a homemade 25 GPM "fuel polishing" system prior to installling it because of algae growing in the fuel, soon after installing the FASS system, I clogged two primary filters about 4000 miles apart. I installed the FASS not because I had any issue of any kind. I simply have the CAPS pump system and wanted it to have positive pressure at its inlet, rather than the Negative 5 PSI at which it normally runs. Even though I thought my fuel was quite clean, constantly filtering it with the FASS system clogged new primary filters quickly. That tells me it was not nearly as clean as I thought it was. When the primary filters became clogged, it was not an issue, because I changed them before there was any fuel starvation. I could do that because I installed a fuel pressure gage AT THE CAPS PUMP INLET (not between filters). Long before the filter clogs to the point that you have an operational issue, the fuel pressure at the CAPS inlet will fall noticeably. It is usually 15 PSI, even at WOT. When it dropped to 10 PSI at WOT, I removed the primary filter and it showed significant contamination. Same thing 4000 miles later. The FASS system alone will not tell you that--you might still only know you have a problem when engine power is significantly reduced. But with the fuel pressure gage AT THE CAPS PUMP INLET, you can change filters only when necessary. I previously changed them annually. Now I only change them when CAPS inlet pressure is reduced. I have a 2 micron secondary filter. I'm not suggesting a FASS system is your answer, although I think it will eventually "polish" all your fuel. But a system as contaminated as yours may well cause you problems for a very long time until you have managed to rid it of most of the contaminants. You could power on the FASS system without the engine running and constantly filter your fuel for days...the pump is Continuous Duty. During that time, you would likely change primary filters several times. And with the FASS system, changing filters is a breeze--no dependence on the multiple ON-OFF cycling of the ignition switch powering a wimpy lift pump. Since it was not practical in my case to mount the FASS pump AT THE FUEL TANK, I added a valve at the inlet to the FASS pump which I close when changing filters. That prevents the fuel from draining back into the tank and the FASS having to pull through 30 feet of air-filled hose

John, read the last entry I posted here a couple of days ago. It summarizes most of what you must be careful with. I think it might be easier to disconnect the drag link. You don't need a puller. Just loosen the nut on the tie rod end, hold a heavy hammer on one side of the knuckle where the tie rod end stud is and whack it sharply with another hammer from the opposite side. The momentary, microscopic distortion of the knuckle's tapered bore will free the taper. Works every time. Most common mistake is turning the steering box to get the drag link to align. You MUST adjust the drag link overall length when the steering box is at mid-position (marks aligned) and wheels are dead ahead. Just for edification, check that the witness lines on the steering box output shaft and the corresponding witness line on the steering box casting are aligned after you remove the Pittman arm and before moving the steering box locating bolts (front wheels dead ahead). Any steering gear can wear out, but it's rare and would surely be unusual with the low mileage you have on it. If, when the coach is driving in a straight line, you are not at the point where the steering gear is at its midpoint, there is lost motion (by design) to either side of center. Having to reposition the splines in the input shafts under the steering wheel to get the steering wheel perfectly centered is common after a procedure like this. It DOES NOT mean you need an alignment. It's not a ten-minute job, but entirely doable by anyone mechanically inclined. Van

Actually, Craig is the master technician regarding TRW swaps and he will answer, either here or iRV2. His "hands on" experience far exceeds mine. Craig and I discovered as a team that Sheppard-equipped coaches would require a steering gearbox change, and ALL coaches needed cross-braces and Watts links to cure a design problem in the Roadmaster chassis. But Chris is correct. When you say you have more turns of the steering wheel in one direction than the other, two things are probably wrong. Your Pittman arm is indexed incorrectly, AND you are not operating in the "zero lost motion" position of the steering gearbox. The Pittman arm has to be indexed correctly--the witness marks on the steering gearbox CASTING and the steering gear OUTPUT shaft have to be aligned BEFORE attaching the Pittman arm. Next, insure that the wheels are very ACCURATELY pointed dead ahead (use a string stretched horizontally across the front and rear tires, if necessary. That is what *I* do. Craig has an eagle-eye and just eyeballs the wheels dead ahead). AFTER accomplishing these two tasks, the drag link (the double-ended rod that connects the Pittman arm to the wheel spindle) may not align with the Pittman arm. Adjust it until it connects to the Pittman arm. DO NOT TURN THE STEERING WHEEL to get the drag link to connect. DO NOT!! In trying to make this more clear, think about this--1) BEFORE you connect the drag link, you have already gotten the steering gearbox to its EXACT center position (the ONLY position in which the lost motion becomes ZERO inside the gearbox). 2) You have gotten your wheels pointed dead ahead. What you are trying to accomplish is to connect the drag link to the wheels without moving EITHER the gearbox output shaft OR moving the wheels. You get the drag link to connect by LOOSENING AND ADJUSTING BOTH its tie rod end clamps (NOT just one end). Since the tie rod ends are RH and LH, you have an infinitely fine adjustment. You WILL be able to adjust the drag link until it connects perfectly without upsetting EITHER wheel dead-ahead position or gearbox centering. And if you did it PERFECTLY, your steering wheel would be centered. But it usually is no longer centered, and that annoys most folks, including myself. SO, you may still need to UNCOUPLE the splined joints that connect the U-joints and shafts connecting the steering wheel to the steering gear. You can usually do that from inside the coach, after removing the plastic covers that surround the steering shaft. Once uncoupled, you can move the steering wheel however many splines are necessary to get it to be centered when you are driving down a straight highway. This might take a couple of tries, but it DOES NOT REQUIRE ALIGNMENT!! This is a difficult point to get across, but replacing a steering gear, a Pittman arm, or even the drag link (connects Pittman arm to wheel spindle) has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with alignment. Don't blame otherwise knowledgeable truck mechanics for telling you that you need an alignment after changing the steering gearbox. They usually swap one component for an identical one--replace a Sheppard box with another identical Sheppard box. At the end of the procedure, though, they will almost always see the fact that your steering wheel is no longer centered as an indication you need an alignment. NO. NO. NO. Most of them don't understand the underlying principles and technology...they just repair things, and they are under pressure to replace your Sheppard with a TRW in the "flat-rate" time. However, you can rest assured that changing a steering gearbox under ANY CONDITIONS does not affect your alignment one iota.

The last pix you posted in the first series of pix shows a rusty patch on a flat area between two bolt bosses. On most of the TRW gears, that is where the model number is located. It is pin-stamped and faint, but if you clean the area with ScotchBrite the numbers will show up. Looks like someone has already done that in the past. Does your Pittman arm fasten to the gear with a bolt through its steering gear end? Or does it use a clamp bolt that squeezes a split in the steering gear end of the arm?

Good catch, David. I don't know if the pix are mixed up between Sheppard and TRW. Our true guru on these issues is Craig French, who has sold his Monaco and will soon be constructing from scratch of a mega-monster off-road coach based on a 5500 (?) Cummins diesel powered 4x4 cab & chassis. He seldom contributes since selling his Monaco. I sold him two machine tools from the closure of my business that I expect will play a significant part in that build. But in my experience with adjusting the pinion engagement of 50+ coaches with TRW gears, I don't recall any Sheppard having any adjustment whatsoever. I even machined a special two-piece adjustment wrench for Craig because he offered to adjust anyone's TRW gear at each Gathering. That speical wrench/screwdriver was machined to fit the slotted adjuster/locknut shown in that picture. Craig is quite an impressive engineer, even though he has no formal Mechanical Engineering experience. The Sheppard was a steering gear built with a fixed engagement pinion (straight-cut gear) and a simple (straight-cut) rack gear. The fact that the rack gear was straight-cut, relegated any adjustment of pinion engagement moot, because any increase in engagement on a worn-in-the-center straight-cut rack gear would only cause binding at any position other than dead-center. To my knowledge, NO Sheppard gear ever had any adjustment. And the "blueprinting" of a Sheppard gear (Red Head was one company offering that service) involved simply choosing the largest pitch-diameter pinion and pairing it with the highest pitch-diameter rack gear. It was essentially a process of pitch-diameter parts selection, not of changing anything whatever about the construction of the gear. To give it due credit, the Sheppard gear is arguably more robust than the TRW, and its design is well suited to extreme loads in moving the steering linkage of a HUGE off-road Terex machine which moves at very low speeds. However, motor home owners want something with a dead-ahead "zero-play", much like they are accustomed to in automobiles, which all (as far as I know) have an adjustment for zero "dead ahead" play. The TRW, on the other hand, has a pinion which is cut with a very slight taper in pitch diameter. The further you adjust its engagement into the rack gear, the larger its "effective" pitch diameter becomes. This cures any "dead-center" free-play issues. But the true genius of the TRW gear is that its RACK is cut "bowed up" in its center. That is, its "effective" pitch diameter is greater at its center. therefore, you can always adjust the gear to "zero backlash" in the straight-ahead position without any binding at positions other that "straight-ahead" I don't know how it happened, but I think the pix of the adjustment screw is of a TAS-95 (?) TRW gear. If not, I stand corrected. But one thing my vast experience with wandering problems of Roadmaster chassis has taught me is that an owner like Jim with a "very tight" Sheppard box is rare. If you own a MH with a sloppy, large "dead center" position of the steering wheel, it is possible it is a TRW needing adjustment...but more likely it is a Sheppard which can only be replaced to cure the problem. Forget "blueprinting" your steering box.

Your pix show the sector shaft depth engagement screw of a TRW box. Refer to the (voluminous) posts on iRV2 about how to adjust lost motion. IT AIN'T ROCKET SCIENCE, AND ANYONE TELLING YOU THAT YOU NEED AN "EXPERT" TO ADJUST IT HAS PROBABLY NEVER CHANGED A FLAT TIRE. If you have a TRW gear, the chance that it needs service (other than adjustment for lost motion) are miniscule. Rear cross-braces and a front Watts link will further improve your driving experience beyond your expectations. No need to replace your trailing arm bushings. Most coaches after 2001 have the latest design of Monaco OEM trailing arm bushing and increasing that stiffness with the ATRO bushing replacement results in only modest improvement. The three big things to improve your driving experience are 1) adjust your TRW gear or replace you Sheppard with a TRW. 2) Add a front Watts link from www.monacowatts.com 3) Add rear cross-braces from www.monacowatts.com. Mike Hughes has done far more installations than I did for "proof of concept". Mike is a wealth of knowledge. (And a helluva nice guy!)

A wet/dry vac with cobbled-up adapter can sometimes clear a clog. Worked for me on the AC roof drains.

I would have the steering gear replaced and THEN evaluate whether you need anything else done. Again, changing the steering gear will not affect alignment one iota.

Jim, I don't see the exact FASS system that I installed. It was 95 GPH. Perhaps it has been replaced by TS D02 100G, approximately $649 from the FASSRIDE.com site. This is a 100 GPH pump assembled onto a manifold with the two filters attached. Titanium Signature Series Diesel Fuel Pump 100GPH Dodge Cummins 5.9L 1989-1993 (TS D02 100G) - Fassride You have the choice basically between the pump with or without the filters and manifold. I chose the pump/manifold/filters version simply because I wanted to have the full-time filtering. With this version you MUST install a separate 1/2" return line. You cannot utilized the existing return line from the lift pump manifold. With full-time filtering, it might surprise you how quickly your first primary filter needs changing. I now have three fuel filters, and the final one is 2 micron. I installed a remote pressure gage to give me an advance warning of when filters need to be changed. Be aware that you must purchase directly from FASS or through an AUTHORIZED distributor to get a warranty. None sold on Amazon come with the warranty. The prices seem to be almost identical no matter where you purchase. Let me know if I can be of more help.

The Monaco Watts installations should not have caused the pulling to the right or made any change in your alignment. Check for something obviously awry, like one of the cross-bars unequally tightened. Do you have the Safety-Steer (?) device installed? It's the one that looks like a huge shock absorber with one end fastened to the front axle and the other end to the relay rod that ties the two spindle ends together. It is easy to get it clamped a tiny bit too far in one direction or the other, causing a pull. To check that, disconnect it from the relay rod, tie it up out of the way and test drive. That happened to me. Most alignments are a waste of money. The only thing commonly adjusted is the toe-in and you can set that yourself with a tape measure. To change caster requires shims under the axle perches and is almost never needed. Changing camber requires powerful hydraulic apparatus to bend the axle. Unless the coach has been in a serious accident, the caster and camber will not need adjustment for the life of the vehicle. To get the correct TRW steering gear and replacement Pittman Arm, contact Weller and give them all your coach info. Once you have the components, any heavy truck shop can replace the steering gear. Again, changing the steering gear does NOT affect alignment whatsoever. If, after replacing the steering gear, your steering wheel is not "straight up" when you are driving straight, disconnect the splined U-joints (behind the plastic cover below the dash) and rotate as many splines as necessary. Anyone telling you that you need alignment after replacing the steering gear simply does not understand the installation. When you have the cross-bars, Watts link, and TRW steering gear, you will have transformed the way your coach drives.

Oops! Yes, of course, it's GPH. Thanks for catching that.

Note that one of the major differences in these systems is whether they are pump-only, or pump + filters. Some of them have very high delivery rates, but I can't imagine anyone with a Monaco needing more than the "standard" of approximately 95-120 GPM. Bear in mind that there is no performance advantage. You are simply hoping to extend the life of your CAPS pump and make filter changes easier. As one poster noted, you can change your final filter to a 2 micron. If you choose the additional filter version, you get full-time fuel filtering.

Jim makes a very valid point, essentially that "there ain't no free lunch". Any service YOU access might not cost YOU directly, but providing the service isn't free. Just because it's free to YOU (like Bill D's Monacoers) doesn't mean SOMEONE isn't paying for you to use it. If this group ever finds it must go to subscription to stay alive, I'll be first in line to pay my share. Yes, I've used Duck Duck Go and probably every other search engine that has come and gone. Duck Duck Go is not bad for a fifth-rate, under-funded offering. If its users were willing to "pay their fair share", it might be a contender. Would you like to subscribe and help them out? But nothing compares to Google. I dislike their ethics and politics, and I KNOW they make money off me even if I never click an ad. But the service is worth it. And Facebook Monacoers? Never been to Facebook, let alone Facebook Monacoers. But Mike Zueck is a truly genuine, want-to-help young man of immense talent, and he recently disclosed on iRV2 that he was abandoning FM because of the "climate". In talking to him, he is exhausted from irrelevant personal opinions about his posts. iRV2 (like Bill D's Monacoers) is moderated. Dissention is allowed, but when it takes a subject off the rails, the moderators correct it. It is my understanding none of the moderators are paid. They are volunteers for the good of the community. I believe one of the moderators is a member of our group. If iRV2 ever makes money off something I've posted, I'll be proud...not PO'd. I authored one of the longest running threads ever, that survives to this day because of the relevance of the content. I'm not the least bit annoyed. This is a thread about new engine technology, NOT about anyone's personal opinions about capitalism. Let's get back on track. It's an interesting engine, even if it may be over-hyped.

The problem with making a sweeping statement like, “I won’t visit any site that makes money off my contributions or simply because I am a member” is that (if you HONESTLY pursue that line) you cut yourself off from waaaay more than you realize. Is there a major credit card company that does not have ads onsite? I use Chase, and they are rife with ads…non-obtrusive, but ads nonetheless. Even my tiny regional bank, that has supported my machine shop business for decades, has a website that refers me to other services “You might be interested in…” How would you like to make your choice of financial institutions based on whether they do not refer you to “partners”? It might be a long search… Why is Google the undisputed top dog of search engines? Because they are (arguably…and let’s don’t argue minutia, PLEASE) the best at what they do. I’m not endorsing their politics or their ethics. You cannot open a Google inquiry and not see ads. It’s the nature of the beast. But no one has even come close to knocking them out of first place. And even if you never used Google (how does ANYONE do that?), when you read some instructions about how to do something and they do not seem clear to you, what do you do? You search YouTube, if indeed Google did not lead you to it. And if you are sworn not to use YouTube, you miss not only a great entertainment NON-TV source, but you miss the best, most detailed, and most professional tutorial ever posted anywhere about the fine details of replacing Monaco air bags (posted by Mike Zuech, an amazing young man from Utah that I have met personally). Even though I originally thought of YouTube as a place for folks to “get themselves on the Internet”, I long ago abandoned that condemnation. Crusty ol’ Bill D defined the propensity to post something ANYWHERE when it is of no benefit to anyone as “digital diarrhea”…just someone posting a personal opinion no one was interested in. I always loved the colonel’s way with words. I got that one over breakfast at his house one morning. But I digress (digital diarrhea?). I defy you to find any mechanical/electrical/electronic/hydraulic/carpentry/plumbing/HVAC subject on which there are not loads of videos, many of them exceptionally good. I have even found help diagnosing failures in the complex $200K+ machine tools my company operates. A few of the videos are amateurish. (“Hey y’all, hold my beer and watch this!!—thank you, Dave Pratt for all those hilarious links you have sent me!!) It’s your intellectual job to sort out the truly useful ones. And even though I know next to nothing about Aqua-Hot, studying several YouTube videos helped me diagnose and repair a traveling companion’s system while in Alaska several years ago. But no matter which YouTube video you choose, YOU WILL SEE ADS. So, YouTube is making money off you even if you never click on an ad. I cannot imagine NOT having YouTube as a resource. I use Amazon extensively, both for my business and personally. I recently bought an industrial filter mask from Amazon for less than $30, and got it in two days. One of my normal industrial (online) suppliers can supply the exact same mask for $58…in two weeks. Which am I going to choose? I cannot imagine being without Amazon…even though I know they are making money off me when I only browse their site. I have not even bought a pair of shoes from a retailer in over a decade. Is that tough on the small biz that is a brick-and-mortar shoe store? Yes, but look how many of them have adapted to change and sell their goods through Amazon. I’m sympathetic to these small businesses, as my business is among them. Sorry, but only the strong and innovative survive. And efficiency, customer service, and low price drive the marketplace of the world. You can do your best to resist change, but you will be swept aside in the marketplace if you do. And iRV2.com compared to Bill D’s Monacoers? Our beloved site tends to filter out the BS posts. Yes, a contributor on iRV2 named “Wild Card” recently admonished me for posting methods for increasing boost pressure, because I could “cause burning pistons from lean mixtures”. Let that sink in. The leanest “mixture” you will ever encounter is idling or very light load when there is much excess air stoichiometrically. But with only infrequent BS posts like that, by and large when you access iRV2 with a question (or just to read) you have a truly VAST audience, and the chances that a truly competent poster will respond is even higher than with our beloved site. Many, if not most, of our members regularly frequent iRV2. And if my meager contributions can help any fellow RV'er, I am more than happy to have iRV2 host my contributions. The development of the Watts link and cross-braces would have been impossible without them. And I never expected one penny in return. I just wanted to help the RV community. And as for individuals who have never owned a business, or worked only for a large company…or no longer work for anyone…you may have excess time on your hands and eschewing capitalistic sites whose main motivator is profit, for altruistic ones of mediocre ability may suit your personal desires. But time is always too short for me. I have more projects on my list than three men could complete in a lifetime. I work on them every single day. And I keep marking them off my list, often with online help from sites that “make money off me” by having ads. I have no quarrel with anyone whose life is complete without the “information superhighway” (that Al Gore invented 😊). But it’s hardly a badge of distinction. For the rest of us poor swine who are constantly in need of and CRAVING technical information, thank God for capitalism which gave us such a vast resource…and the most wonderful life of any country on earth. Eliminate the profit motive, either by government or phony moralistic/social pontificating and see what you end up with in only a couple of generations. God bless the USA!

Ernie, you have always been a great resource for this group and for all coach owners. I saw the job you did on Paul Whittle's coach--AWESOME! Van