woodylmiller

Those "stab in" connectors are garbage, as you can see. ALWAYS wrap the wire around the screw terminals. You can get away with stabs on very low amperage devices, but not a 20 amp circuit. AND, never us the device as a splice, pig tail the wires that go to the device. Only a GFCI receptacle can be a splice since that's how it's designed for down stream protection, but again, wrap the wire around the screws or under the screw wire grips. Woody Miller

Mobile internet is about as frustrating and the air leaks that pop up from time to time. We settled on a Cradlepoint cellular wireless router and have been very happy with, as long as you have a cell signal. This router can have two sims from different carriers and it will default to the best signal. On our winter trip this time our space comes with free cable internet from Spectrum @ 200mbs unlimited. So it comes down to you first need cell service. We tried a cell omni directional antenna mounted outside, junk. It was not a We Boost which some say works well. Really hoping Starlink can get off the ground and they can make it mobile. Until then, good luck. We now have AT&T, dumped Verizon which we had for years but they throttled us after 30 gigs. Our AT&T is unlimited, so they say, but we haven't used it since we have the cable internet here in the park and it's free. I speed test it from time to time. We have never been below 100 mbs and I've had as high as 230mbs. Now if they can just harness that for over the air RV use. We tried the AT&T Spark with the adaptor, which works but it times out and you have to reboot is every 20 or 30 minutes. Word of advice, should you try the Spark be aware of the fact that 95% of the kids working at the AT&T store will not know what you are talking about and will tell you you need a separate account for it, not true. It's just a piece of hardware you buy and then pay the monthly fee, no contract, no separate account except for the month to month service. This is a last resort, but it does work IF you have a cell signal. There is a good store in Idaho with some folks that know there stuff on this, the name I can't recall, but they helped me with the Cradlepoint. Good luck. Woody Miller 09 Dynasty

AAA is no longer any good. Good Sam?, no way. I have Coach Net and so far have needed them for tire issues, which I found to be worse than nothing at all. The first thing they want to do is replace the tire, the call center folks don't know a lug nut from their rear end. I tried for an hour arguing with the call center that the bead had broken and it was an air failure, the valve extension failed, surprise, but no they wanted me to wait on the side of the road for a new tire. I gave up. Went with a Les Schwab tire center, another piece of sh*t outfit in the Dalles in Oregon. They charged me two hours for an idiot to come out and re bead the tire which Coach Net paid for one hour. Coach Net will pay to get a guy to you, they do not cover any parts or labor to fix your tires, so beware of that. I hate Coach Net, but I have them due to their towing coverage and I will keep them for that. On the side of the road another time, exhaust pipe separated at the turbo outlet, after dealing with the call center for 30 minutes that got me nowhere, they said a "tech" had to call me to get me some help. I fixed it myself enough to get home. The "tech" called me two hours later. All I needed was the name of a mobile mechanic to come and help me, but no, that was too much for the call center to deal with. Did I mention I hate Coach Net? I had to tell one of the call center guys if he raised his voice to me again I would need to talk to his supervisor. Different roadside company: gen wouldn't start, problem was no 12 vdc to lift pump. Call center solution: a tow instead of a mobile mechanic. The call centers seem to be the biggest problem. No offense but it seems like before working for the roadside companies they had worked on a phone bank boiler room trying to sell solar panels in the Antarctic. First clue you're dealing with really stupid people is when the first thing they want to do is tow your 45 foot class A, or, replace your tire instead of fixing it. Nuff said. They are all garbage, good luck. If you need a tow, then Coach Net is the best. Woody Miller 09 Dynasty

That's the cleanest valve train I've ever seen. Good luck. Woody Miller

My ISM500 would take several miles, maybe more than that of driving to get to temp. On idle I'm not sure it would ever get to normal. As to slides; coach is built on a concrete floor which is perfectly level to begin with regardless of coach "height", therefore my reasoning would be to bring coach to level for both extension and retraction of the slides. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. Also, my "ride height" has never been spot on level under any circumstances. For the most part everyone is pretty much on the same page and it seems to be working. No reason to sit and idle for 30 minutes prior to leaving. I have air only with my Valid system, no jacks. From time to time while parked I have to relevel after the Valid "brain" goes to sleep. But I wait till daylight hours, run the engine long enough for the low air alarm to stop and then hit the auto level button and shut down. Since I'm beginning to see more and more "gas" class A's, maybe the diesel idle thing is going away, NOT!! 3 Tiffin gas coaches in this park right now, OK, whatever, saved some money. Maybe it's just me, but lugging around 40,000 lbs with a gas engine after 50,000 miles, what's left in the tank? Re-sale?? Friend bought a gas class A, tried to sell it, couldn't give it away, finally let the bank come and take it. But that's a whole different topic. Woody Miller 09 Dynasty

I search a long time and couldn't find them. IF you can't find them we got ours from RNR RV in Spokane that found them and ordered them for me. Expensive, way too much. They are out there, and cheaper. Let me know if you can't find some and I'll find out where they got them, but like I said, way overpriced with their mark up. I might add, they are not as bright as I would have liked considering the price. The old ones were rusted and not able to get them out and apart without destroying them. Woody Miller 09 Dynasty

We also have a 45 footer and have little to none with problems finding city/county/state/fed parks that can get you in. They are not pull throughs most of the time, but you can get in. Forget REV as mentioned, useless is kind to describe the help you get from them. Our '09 has the ISM 500, no DEF, no DPF. Would I buy another Monaco?? In a heartbeat. And you can't beat the woodwork in a Beaver unless you drop a couple million on one of the nicer customs. IFS? Big deal, IMHO. The ONLY thing I would watch out for is the Kongsberg chassis multiplex. We skipped the smaller coaches. I used to travel for construction work and had to live out of a 28 footer, by myself, so I knew what cabin fever is like. Go big the first time and save yourself some money. That's my 1 cent opinion, that used to be worth 2 cents last year. Woody Miller

First, I'm no fan of Cummins service centers. Everything they have touched on our coach has cost us double to have it fixed within a few hundred miles of leaving their shop. So, if it were me, I'd get out of the Cummins shop and find and independent and have a rebuilt/used engine installed if it made sense money wise. Woody Miller 09 Dynasty

We can bring the slides in with the engine running. And, once the you go into gear the Valid system switches to "travel" mode and airs up the bags to "ride height". So, about 5, 10 minutes at the most and we are under way. I will get everything disconnected, do the "get ready" stuff on the toad, slides will usually be in, using shore power, by that point thanks to my DW/co-pilot, give a once around and then start the engine and bring the air tanks up to at least 100 psi, and after that as soon as we get buckled in, we're off to the races. As to length of idle, I had always heard it was not a good idea due the engine not running hot enough to get a clean burn and unburnt fuel getting past the rings and into the oil. Woody Miller

Once the gov gets involved all logic has left the building. Even if Cummins pulls it off, how long for the truck stops to offer the natural gas? Can't use pipelines. New wells will cost too much to install. Not sure if it's true or not, but I heard the saviors of the Earth in this administration are only granting 5 year leases for new drilling. Who in their right mind would sign a 5 year lease on a well? There is plenty of natural gas, it's safe to get it and it burns pretty clean. My money is on the gov creating such a PITA to drill that it will be cheaper to import from our "buddies" in the middle east, or Russia. I'd also wager that Cummins is hoping for gov incentives for this type of power, natural gas vs diesel. Woody Miller

Funny this topic came up. Two days ago we sat and watched, and listened, to another start up in the morning. And he set the idle way up, 1200 to 1500 rpm. A lot of noise. He then proceeds to go through his tasks to leave. 15 minutes into it he shuts the engine off. He still isn't done disconnecting and other stuff. Then the engine gets started again, and again it runs for maybe another 10 minutes. I mentioned to the wife that is what folks are complaining about, a rig sitting there idling for 30 minutes for no reason. Maybe some owners just like to listen the diesel engine??? Woody Miller 09 Dynasty

Closure with the Tadi Brothers. Finally all said and done with them. It took quite a while, months. Disputed credit card charges, waiting and waiting to return the 4 cameras. 24/7 customer service????? Good luck. My mind is playing tricks on me right now, I can't remember the name of the company I finally bought the side view cameras from, I think "Rear View Safety" or something like that. Great company, would buy from them again. Just a heads up on Tadi Brothers. Woody Miller

I have the original Frigidaire res. refer. Has the cherry wood door panels to match the cabinets. As far as I know they don't make anything like that now. To say the DW loves the cherry wood drawers is an understatement. Therefore, I will be looking to "rebuild" the guts of this thing at some point. Seems like it will be the compressor or controls that will fail. Anyone ever have a res refer rebuilt? Can get to the backside of the refer with no problem to change the compressor. My first cab-over camper had the Nevercold, and the travel trailer had one, too small and they never worked well. Love the Frigidaire. Woody Miller 09 Dynasty

I have safeco. Not a full time policy. It's an agreed amount policy @ $200k for total loss. Just went up to about $1600 per year after a $400 dollar increase with no claims. Liability limits at $300k with a $2 million umbrella. Had one glass claim that ended up costing them $4,000 for the driver side fixed window replacement, or Safelite paid after a faulty workmanship claim when the first window almost fell out. DrDon4u, if you wouldn't mind sharing your coverage details, I'd like see if I'm paying too much. I think I have a $1,000 deductible, and $300k liability plus the umbrella. But as stated, it's an agreed upon value policy which I'm sure adds to the premium. Woody Miller 09 Dynasty

It's very hard to pay a lot of money on tires, but it's important. It is not fun to throw tires away due to age and not being worn out due to mileage. All 8 of my tires had thousands of miles left in tread. 6 had hit the 7 year mark and the other two were new Goodyears that I did not want on the coach based on reputation of the tires and not science. Now I have peace of mind with 8 new TOYO's and less money. In the process now of trashing the braided valve extenders. Woody Miller

We have the gen running all the time while underway for the refer, so we run the rooftop A/C's as well. Economical?? A 50k pound beast being fed diesel is a hungry beast to begin with, I don't think I'll worry about dash A/C, which we do use until the heat overwhelms it, or roof A/C, about which is cheaper to use. Comfort first, it the reason we bought the beast. I'll pay the fuel any day to avoid lugging the DW's 80 pound suitcase into a hotel room. I have a bad back. And I'll be damned if I want to take off my belt, shoes and empty my pockets to get on a plane. Woody Miller 09 Dynasty

I bought 8 TOYO's, 16ply, out the door all taxes and fees at $4,000 online. Had to pay a shop to install and add beads. Finding the tires right now is quite a challenge. May have to pay what ever their asking and take what you can find. Not a good time to need tires. Woody Miller

Vito, yea, I see where the washer and A/C share the same breaker. That being the case the dryer is a separate animal and would not be part of the load sharing or shredding. At which point it would be a matter if a 50 amp service could handle 3 A/C's running with the dryer going at the same time. So, that would mean that the dryer running would not stop the 3rd A/C from running at the same time? There was some thought that the I would have to manually turn off the third A/C at the T stat in order for the dryer circuit to energize. In reality I don't think the 50 amp shore service could handle the load of everything on at once. We do as a matter of principal turn off the third A/C at the T stat before doing laundry so I don't have to go out to the pedestal and reset the 50 amp breaker. Woody Miller

Trying to figure out if the third A/C has to be turned off to use the 230 volt clothes dryer. Looking at the schematic it appears not. The clothes washer does appear to go through the system, and the third A/C is turned off. My reading is the dryer connects to lug only in the subpanel and the circuit protection is a separate circuit breaker panel located near the dryer. I have also heard this system referred to as an "EMS" and is located in the bedroom wardrobe closet. This is for a 2008-9 Dynasty. I say 08/09, registration says 09, some chassis stuff say 08 which I will say is most likely just the rolling chassis. We have the dreaded Kongsburg Chassis Multiplex and dang if I haven't lost another switch module, the front windshield visor is having a constant 12vdc applied to the motor in the shade. Temporarily Joe Mageed that until I can get to Coberg and have the REV techs plug their laptop into the CADET system. d*** the luck. My question is just for discussion since it is causing no problems, just curios if I'm reading the schematic right. Thanks, Woody Miller 09 Dynasty Regal IV

Check ALL your circuit breaker connections in the rear run box. That was where I found my problem with what you describe. One lug on the load side of a 150 amp breaker was so loose it all but melted the lug. Tightened everything up and that was that. I have since replaced the circuit breaker, they're cheap. The heat from a loose connection can melt copper. Woody Miller 09 Dynasty

I replaced my dated headlights and got them from WalMart of all places and the price was incredible. Great projector type lights with LED surrounds. Now, do they have lamp adjustment shops anymore? Woody Miller 09 Dynasty

To the gentleman using zip ties, I suggest using the black ones and good quality if you haven't. Cheap ties will not last long, even the black ones. UV will eat the cheap ones in a couple of years. A shop used some cheap crap to hold a small box on our toad and they broke and the box dropped. They were 3 years old and the thick ones, 1/4", but cheap. I replaced for the time being with Thomas/Betts black ties, which are high industry standard zip ties. I have thought the same thing about all that wasted space in front of the gen. Great place to store something for sure. Woody Miller

Something also to consider: tire shortages. Good luck finding TOYO's right now. I just bought 8 and that took me a few days of looking. Had to buy them online and had them shipped to me. So, will the price and availability improve over the next year or get worse? My money is both will get worse. Container ships are stacked up like cord wood and can't get unloaded. Inflation will add a $1,000 to the set of 6 new tires in my opinion depending on brand. My tires were right near the 7 year mark on the drive and tag, the steers were less than a couple years old but they were Goodyears that I was stuck with while stranded in New Mexico and it was all they had. All tires had good tread left, but supply and inflation led me to believe it was the time to bite the bullet. Then after buying 8 TOYO's, I opted for some Bullet Rye Whiskey, which didn't lower the cost of the tires, but I felt better. Good luck on your project. Beware, 315's would not fit on the steer position on my Dynasty, they rubbed, also the tire chart said 295's for all 8. Lot of money for 8 tires, but have you been to a body shop lately and priced just a paint job? My 8 TOYO's cost me $4,500 installed, delivered, taxes, disposal fees and balance beads in all tires. Now, where's that bottle Bullet Rye? Woody Miller 09 Dynasty

Thanks for all the responses. I went with the shade sails. Just got the shade sail today, waiting for the support poles. Very windy today. Our table and umbrella blew over and the umbrella was not open. So now I need to just find an anchor point on the coach. About $100 for a 20x16 shade sail and two support poles, much cheaper than replacing an awning. Thanks, Woody Miller

Girard awning. Main big awning on curb side of coach. We are spending the winter in Desert Hot Springs just outside Palm Springs. The wind really whips here, it's the reason there are several million windmills in the area. Coach is parked where the curbside is "downwind" to avoid all this wind. Would like to keep the awning out in spite of the winds. The wind thingee on the roof doesn't seem to work in terms of bringing the awning in during the gusts. So, my plan is to place supports under the arms of the awning and then tie down the arms to anchors in the ground using bungee or shock cords to allow for a little give up and down. Anyone see a problem with this? I also plan to disconnect the wind thingee just in case it decides to activate a retract while I have the awning tied down. Thanks, also, no rain expected in the next year, had a down pour yesterday with flash floods that closed roads, hadn't rained in a year. I will cut the vertical supports to allow for a slight slope for run off should it rain again. Woody Miller 09 Dynasty