FLynes

1 hour ago, Ray Davis said:

Wow,  I bet that made your xxx pinch the seat cover.    What came loose?

The pucker factor pegged the meter for sure, it’s a terrible feeling knowing that you can’t do a thing to stop what’s happening. It could have been worse, I couldn’t find my safety cables before we left on the trip and decided to leave without them…it was the flat we got on the toad that convinced me to stop and buy new ones.

The nut on the stinger’s ball stripped right off…never seen that happen before, and the stinger was two years old and used maybe a dozen times.

I should back up a bit and say that we were towing our Jeep CJ-5 at the time, which has an a-frame hitch that fits on the front bumper and uses a 2” ball mount.

For all intents and purposes, once it’s attached to the stinger, it’s not supposed to go anywhere. The drawback is that there’s no shock absorption whatsoever. When we turned right, toward the fuel pumps, the a-frame shock-loaded the ball, which stripped right off the nut.

Now that we have the Jeep JKU, we have a NSA ReadyBrake system.

3 hours ago, JTerry said:

I want to say a great big thank you for all the responses regarding my ladder. I had not tried the new avenue thinking it would not be available due to the age of my RV. I will definitely call Rev Group in Oregon. And to Mike Wardell, thanks for the offer of the bottom section. I need the top section. I backed into the gutter on my garage and ruined my ladder, cracked the fiberglass and crushed the gutter. Ouch!!!! $$$$$. We really haven't used it yet and I completely forgot that I have a rear camera. 

Jay, are you fully insured? We had an issue with our toad coming uncoupled, thankfully the safety cables prevented it from continuing on its trajectory toward the Texaco Mini Mart, but it slingshotted back into the coach. Our insurance took care of everything, and you’d never know anything had ever happened.

2 hours ago, major_west said:

The center section of my ladder was damaged by the previous owner backing into a tree.  I purchased a generic RV ladder from Amazon for under $200.  Because the generic ladder was not a perfect fit,  I reused the top portion of the factory ladder where it rounds over the top and bolts to the RV roof.  I replaced the damaged straight section of the factory ladder with the straight section of the generic ladder.   I used an inexpensive plumbers pipe cutter to cut the ladder sections.  

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006ERQ1JW

https://www.amazon.com/RIDGID-40617-Quarters-Tubing-Cutter

The generic ladder was about 1 inch narrower than the factory ladder, so that required drilling some new holes to mount it to the RV body with pop rivets.

Ours was damaged by the dealership and replaced with an aftermarket, which made my OCD twitch beyond control, and it couldn’t hold a candle to the quality, fit & finish of the REV replacement. 

6 minutes ago, Steve P said:

@Ted Carbonaro Just out of curiosity... What does a reasonably priced roof ladder from REV cost these days?  And is it full length, only top half, or only bottom half?

$824.75, which DOES include shipping. $464.75, if you pick it up at REV.

15 hours ago, Dr4Film said:

Ahhh, gasser motor-homes, now I understand!

Yes, my first Class A was a 1992 36 foot Airstream Landyacht with a 454 engine.

Driving it home from MO to CA I was on the grade between Flagstaff and Phoenix when I thought I was done for it and they would find me over the cliff at the bottom of the ravine.

After trying to use it for Full-Time RVing for one year, I decided to upgrade to the 2002 Monaco Windsor PBT and have never looked back. Now we are enjoying our 2006 Monaco Dynasty with a two stage engine brake and a chipped ISL-400.

No more coaches in our future. This is our last.

I always felt bad for the Land Yacht MH owners, as there were too many snobby pull-behind owners who never considered them to be real Airstreams and did what they could to prevent their membership to the WBCCI. It was one of the many reasons why we sold our Sovereign.

Wok Creek Pass is one mother of a work out, we went up it in ‘06 with our ‘05 2500 Ram pulling our 31’ Airstream. While our trans temp stayed at around 190°, I was more concerned with what my pyrometer was reading, 1400° at one point…35 MPH up that monster is spot on.

Out of curiosity, do you DP owners use pyrometers?

Weldex actually makes a plug-n-play color replacement…the new LCD monitor just slides right in, with the use of the new provided brackets. The quality of the new camera is really nice. I don’t have the P/N on hand (drinking beer in downtown Boise @Prost!) but if you Google “Weldex color upgrade”, it’ll get you in the right direction.

15 hours ago, Dr4Film said:

Bill, it is used for the engine coolant overflow. It is a plastic tank that looks like a football. Why they ever decided to use something as stupid looking and totally useless versus installing one that actually works is above my pay grade.

I would have a real tank custom built and installed in a heartbeat. Then be done with it forever.

Same reason every other manufacturer uses plastic in a hot engine compartment…it saves on their bottom dollar and gives their parts department a reason to exist.

5 hours ago, Ivan K said:

Someone doing a first fluid change should not blindly follow their database to find the right filters. Back when I did, Allison indicated a shallow pan for my SN. Did not sound right so I measured it and have a deep pan = longer filters. 

Is it possible the previous owner replaced with a deeper pan? I ask because I did that with my ‘05 Dodge Ram, right after I bought it new.

12 hours ago, Ivan K said:

Ha, yeah, ATF expands with temp significantly so it has to be meassured hot. I think 160F was the minimum for the system to even start. I suppose at you normal cruising temp would be the time to do it.

A quick look into the library says this: 

To ensure an accurate check, operate the transmission until the sump fluid

temperature is 160–200°F (71–93°C); converter-out temperature is

180–220°F (82–104°C).

If anyone on the forum is not a member of the Allison Hub, joining is free, and it gives you access to all of the digital files for our transmissions. Here is the link to access the site: https://hub.allisontransmission.com/login Once you're a member, you can navigate to https://hub.allisontransmission.com/my-transmission and enter your transmission's serial number, which will give you access to everything Allison has to offer for your model transmission.

I'm attaching a few files for your perusal.

Allison Motorhome Series.pdf Allison Transmission Fluid and Filter Change Recommendations Rev. Y.pdf Allison Oil Analysis Test Recommendations.pdf

13 hours ago, TomV48 said:

You can just call CalTrans at 1 800-427-7623 speak  the highway number and it will give you up to the minute road report on the requested road.   Traffic feature on Google maps is sometimes more comprehensive.   But also sometimes wrong completely.

Waze saved us on the trip home from Yellowstone...two-hour backup on I-84 near Mountain Home, ID, due to construction, so we took the back roads home.

Jim, for grins and giggles, when you get home take a sample of fluid and send it to Blackstone for analysis. That will tell you 100% for sure if there’s any cause for concern.

Keep in mind your toad, if you have one, will add to the overall length of your rig.

23 hours ago, Tom Cherry said:

Done YNP twice...one in a tent and one in a MH.  We stated at a park in the NW corner in West Yellowstone.  GREAT.  We drove up from Idaho falls....really great drive.  We left via going North and crossing Montana to avoid the grades.  Stopped at Custer's Last Stand.  That was awesome.  Had our daughter and two teenage GK's with us.  

The photos below were taken from our 2008 Hummer...  We leaned out the sunroof and took them.  Buffalo was just out "wandering"....then the traffic was one lane and we passed....see the bronze car in front....and the shot from the window as we passed him....

NEVER MESS WITH THE WILDLIFE....Too many injuries and deaths.  

We toured the "Lodge" at Old Faithful and ate there.  There are ranger walks everywhere.  One of the most interesting were the pools around Old Faithful.  The "Grand Canyon" of the north of the falls at Yellowstone are awesome.  We spent at least 5 days inside the park....as well as take a day trip down to the Tetons.  If you every want to "see" amber waves of grain....  the trip down from West Jefferson when you go in the back way...STEEP GRADE to Jackson (Hole) is truly inspiring.  I take a LOT of photographs...but I never even tried to catch the majesty of the grain fields and the grain gently swaying back and forth.  Something that Google or Apple could do for a slow motion video from a drone....

Enjoy....a trip worth taking....  FWIW....the first Yellowstone trip was in the early summer....and the fire season had hit Rocky Mountain NP and we left early and headed to YS.  The second was in Early August, 2015.  If you are a "geo" whatever buff, we drove over to Idaho from Salt Lake city and spent the night near Craters of the Moon....and then drove up.  There is a "restricted area there that rivals a few of the NE states combined.  Busses with blacked out windows carrying in workers to secret operations....and the GPS didn't exactly work....We replenished our supplies in Idaho Falls.  That Walmart was one more big FREE RV Site.  I have never seen that many RV's at a Walmart before....

We ate at the Old Faithful Lodge as well, and the food was pure shyte. We were told that everything changed because of Covid, which seemed to be the excuse given for a lot of the restaurants.

10 minutes ago, jacwjames said:

I enjoyed the park but it was crowded and what make it worse was they were working on the loop meaning you could drive clockwise about 75% of the loop and then have to turn around and come back, making the traffic even worse.  

I read a recent article about people wanting to relocate the wild horses from Roosevelt NP.  I guess they don't consider them native but they've been there a long time.  https://apnews.com/article/north-dakota-national-park-wild-horses-a52558ff00a6694bca0eae81904cf060

The northern portion of the park was far enough away to not attract a lot of people.  I dropped my Jeep at the entrance to drive the park, glad I did as they were doing a bunch of construction and the road was terrible.  So I drove through in the Jeep which worked out fine.  

Another one marked off the Bucket List. 

 

Jim, were you by any chance fly fishing? I saw a Cherokee with Tennessee plates and a guy fly fishing in the northern part, on the way to Cooke City.

13 hours ago, Donflem said:

I’m going to spend next summer in Montana. What time of year do you guys recommend going to the park? I would love to hear some of your recommendations on things to do and not to do in Yellowstone in a 40 foot motorhome lol?

Don

The people with whom we went recommend going there in May, which is when a lot of the park animals give birth.  It’s still relatively quiet, because kids are still in school and there’s also still snow. Personally I loved being there at this time of year. As far as going there with the motorhome, having a toad is a must, especially if you want to visit some of the side roads, which don’t allow RVs. We spoke to a few Class A owners who told us that there are a few spots in the park where you can park and “hide” from the park rangers, but I don’t think I would try it. Buffalo Valley Rd., three miles off of Hwy. 87, has RV spots, so we’ll probably try going there next year.

Just to be clear, we did NOT take our coach on this trip. I wanted to, but our friends have a 1989 Alpenlite 5th wheel and a 2023 Dodge Ram 3500, which was just involved in a bad accident, and they didn’t want to stay in the coach with us, so we hotel’d it the entire trip.
 

Prices, according to our friends, have increased substantially in the last few years. We paid about $200/night for our room at the Super 8 in Gardiner. One restaurant owner there told us that Covid was a major factor in the prices going up, but I imagine that foreigners play a part as well. I should have had my head examined for paying $15 for a grilled cheese sandwich in Jackson Hole.

18 minutes ago, timaz996 said:

I went there off and on June through August of this year and way too many people for my liking. It is a beautiful place. Thank you for the pictures.

What caught me by surprise was just how many Chinese tourists were there, as well as Germans who had shipped their off-road earth roamers from Germany, which I can imagine costs a pretty penny.

1 hour ago, cbr046 said:

I hope you have a really big telephoto lens!  GREAT PICS!

- bob

Our friends had a Vortex scope with an iPhone attachment, which we used for the Grizzly pics, all of the other pics were taken with my iPhone 13 Pro Max.

The moose pic was taken at Grand Teton NP…he was only about 15 yds away.

2 hours ago, klcdenver said:

Great photos. Last winter I did a 30 mile snowmobile trip into the park. It was a blast.  

I hear that is the best way to travel Yellowstone in the winter.

Hi everyone, Brooke and I are on our way home, after spending six wonderful days enjoying the spectacular beauty Yellowstone has to offer, with our friends. If you’ve never been here before, I highly recommend it. Here are some pictorial highlights:

6 minutes ago, JDCrow said:

Yes I wouldn’t touch newer stuff at all. Sounds like the DD15 was designed with emissions in mind. Many engines of  that era were not, the had emission parts scabbed on. These engines you are basically putting back to stock by putting them on a weight loss program. 
 

My 6.7 Ford is perfectly fine with emissions. Ford drew this engine from the grouhd up. It had 2 cooling systems, serviceable oil coolers, reversed intake/exhaust for down tube replacement etc. 

I had a 6.4 which was a grenade ready to explode,  but after its weight loss, it was insane.  I’ve never had anything come close to the raw power that truck had. Check out Rudy’s Diesel. Their Drag Truck used to have a 6.4

https://www.dragzine.com/features/car-features/rudys-diesel-6-4l-powerstroke-f-250-drag-truck-aiming-for-the-7s/

Same thing with my 6.0, it really woke up, after its weight loss, 270,000 miles and still going strong. Ford’s divorce from IH was a blessing in disguise; Ford engineers really did their homework, when they designed the 6.7, it’s a beast, the best engine to come along, since the 460.

Kinda makes me glad I replaced my entire step system. Of course mine was the result of the door open being open and not knowing it (our friends opened the door but didn't close it and I ASSumed they had), and then hitting a boulder with the steps, as we were leaving our RV spot. Moral of the story, never be in a rush, when you're leaving.

4 hours ago, RoadTripper2084 said:

But is the DD15 reliable?  Or does it share the same poor reliability record that most of the other 1st gen emissions diesels do?

The DD15 is a spectacular DDEC engine. It has a few known issues, but all are the result of improper preventive maintenance. As long as the fuel system is properly primed, and gaskets are periodically replaced, it'll last a long time. The only thing it won't do is give you that nostalgic 2-stroke Detroit sound.

I’ve always subscribed to the K.I.S.S. principle…no need to write a novella, when you can answer someone’s question in one paragraph. 
 

And, remember everyone, there are no stupid questions, but there are plenty of inquisitive idiots!

5 minutes ago, tmw188 said:

I have a 1/2” drive electric impact from Harbor Freight that I used for both off and on that worked really well, if your wanting to add another tool to your arsenal. 

I've had my Harbor Freight 1/2" corded electric impact for over 20 years now, and it is a great tool. Not quite as powerful as the Milwaukee cordless 18v Fuel, but it can get the job done most times. I've only had to replace the brushes once.

18 hours ago, JDCrow said:

While I love those, they made a lot of noise. Had a dump truck ran for years with one, a 1978 GMC General 8V92 with 13 spd. Only thing it couldn’t out run was the gallon of oil I kept on the floor

The noise is what makes them great! Loved those Generals, spectacular trucks. I follow a guy on YouTube, "Ol2Stroker"....guy has forgotten more about Detroits than I could ever learn. He has the ability to make the Detroit Leakers leak-proof.