1 hour ago, dl_racing427 said:

I'm not sure about the smaller Allison, but in the larger 3000 series and up, when accelerating from a stop, the converter clutch locks part way through second gear, and remains locked through all upshifts and downshifts until you slow to the point it drops to first gear.
It doesn't shift similar to any common automotive transmission.
This is done to reduce tranny temps and to make the engine brake or exhaust brake more effective.

Makes sense, and it's probably what I'm feeling.

6 hours ago, 96 EVO said:

Torque converter lockup 🤔.

Possibly, but I would think the TC would lock up at cruising speed, not hard acceleration. I liken what I feel to the 5R110W in our F350. Ford officially calls it a five speed, but it actually has six speeds. In different acceleration scenarios, and depending on the temp of the engine and tranny, the 5R110W “skips” a gear, thus giving you the feeling of five gears. IIRC, the pattern is 1/3/4/5/6 or sometimes 1/2/4/5/6. Every once in a while I can feel it going through all six gears, so my ASSumption with the MH2100 is that it was shifting the same way as the Ford.

1 hour ago, Tom Cherry said:

...The other rule…whatever speed you shift into top gear 4 - 5 on the lower Allison’s or 5 - 6 on the MH3000 or higher….one or two MPH above is your sweet spot…for FUEL EFFICIENCY...

Side tangent, just for clarification, the MH2100 officially became a six-speed in 2006, but I can tell you that ours goes through six gears, when I'm accelerating...two of them (2/3 shift) are almost instantaneous.

56 minutes ago, Les Hurdle said:

My garage mechanic keeps plugging Amsoil.......

 

 

Opinions are like....well, you know the saying. If you want cold, hard facts, check out "Project Farm" on YouTube. This guy has tested all sorts of oils, pays for everything himself, and he isn't sponsored by anyone. His videos are the most objective I've seen.

12 hours ago, Martinvz said:

Interesting ….. We have one on the dash and another on the control panel where the Magnum remote is, and both work. Talk about a change in model year, to add a second generator remote switch. 

At least you have redundancy, if one of your switches isn't working.

For those wondering about year differences, here is the hallway panel, as well as upper and lower dash on our '05.

2 hours ago, Martinvz said:

Do you have a remote start on the control panel in the middle of the coach? I have one in this panel. 

Ours sits below the radio, right above the wooden cup holders that sit over the doghouse.

Don Colton at Paint Tech, in Boise. He just redid the rear cap of our coach and did a spectacular job. All of the RV dealerships in the Treasure Valley use him, when someone brings them their coach. I found out about him from a friend who owns a Tiffin. The dealership he bought it from quoted him three times what Don charged him. My repairs came out to $2916.60....he repaired the fiberglass that was damaged, then he sanded the rear cap, from the middle down, and repainted. We couldn't be happier. His number is 208-841-5316.

5 hours ago, Paul J A said:

Did Christianson say or did you ask them what fasteners should be used for your installation? 

You know, I never thought to ask, because I assumed the hardware to install the ladder was included…it was not. I still think that using longer and bigger aluminum rivets is better in the long run, since the rest of the ladder is aluminum, and galvanic corrosion is an issue.

10 minutes ago, Paul J A said:

Have you called  Christianson?   Try IRV2 site. 

I did, and I will tell you their customer service is second to none. I was originally going to have Christianson make a new ladder for me, but there were slight differences between the years, and I couldn't confirm that the numbers I had would have worked on our coach, so I opted to go the more expensive route and buy a Christianson ladder from REV....it fit like a glove. What I detested about the old Stromberg Carlson ladder was that it terminated on the fiberglass cap and not the aluminum roof, like the original ladder did. The replacement Christianson ladder terminates in the exact same spot  on the roof as the original ladder.

I'm going to add to this, you DP owners don't know how nice you have it, with easy access to the wiring harnesses under the coach. One of the issues I've had is that the remote start button on the dash neither starts nor stops the generator. In looking at another post where someone cut the red wire and bypassed the plug on the harness and then reattached it on the other side, I decided to inspect my harness. Imagine my surprise, when I crawled under the coach this morning and found that either Workhorse or Monaco installed plates of sheet metal on top of the frame crossmembers. When you look in the crossmember lightening holes, you can clearly see the different harnesses laying on top of these plates, and there is approximately 8-10" space between these steel plates and the bottom of the RV floor membrane. In short, there is no way to get to the harnesses, unless you whiz wheel the steel plates off, but then the bottom of the floor is exposed to the driveshaft, as well as debris from the ground. I'm thinking my problem might end up being an RV technician's problem, which then becomes a problem for my wallet. Right now I'm okay with just going to the generator itself and starting it.

8 minutes ago, Paul J A said:

Perhaps a CALL to Stromberg Carlson may provide what they recommend. 

The correct mounting hardware has to be addressed during the design of the product. 

Given my dissatisfaction with Stromberg Carlson's aftermarket ladders, which was on our coach when we bought it, I'd rather call Christianson, one of the OEMs of our ladders. Aladdin was also an OEM, but Christianson now owns them.

8 hours ago, dl_racing427 said:

They shouldn't need to be anywhere near that long.
The fiberglass layup is probably in the 1/4" to 3/8" range, more or less. Ad another 1/8" or so for the bracket and a 5/8" to 7/8" rivet should work well.

I think the tri-fold rivets would be less likely to expand inside the hole and stress the fiberglass.

I can't remember if I posted the pic or not, and I of course deleted it from my phone, but I have roven woving on top of the sprayed chop in the areas where the brackets are supposed to attach...I'm pretty sure it's thicker than 3/8".

I would think that Monaco was smart enough to know to avoid galvanic corrosion,,,SS and AL don’t mix well at all. My money is that they used AL rivets.

26 minutes ago, Chipper said:

My 2008 Safari Simba step failed when a 300 pound tech stepped on it before it was fully deployed.  Oops.  Just flopping so I tied it off in the retracted position to get home. I replaced the motor then found it was the plastic gear.  I replaced the gear and kept the motor.  The steps failed again several years later for no apparent reason and the RV tech (not the 300 pounder) said it was the controller. The steps would hesitate when deploying or retracting but if kicked, would go to the proper position and stay locked. I replaced the controller which did not fix the problem so I swapped the motor with my spare and all is well.  I will fix the failed motor just to have a spare on hand. I am pretty sure it's the gear again and I also kept the old controller.  Lying on my back under the rig working on the steps in no big deal.  The problem is getting up afterwards.

Chip 

2008 Simba Gas, Jeep Wrangler sport with ham radio antennae.

The worst problem for me was trying to fit our new 75lb triple steps into place, and I had no help. I dubbed it Motorhome Yoga, because my legs were in the wonkiest positions, trying to hold those steps in place, while I quickly tried to put the washers and nuts onto the bolts. Motorhome Yoga involves a lot of cussing, btw, it's mandatory.

👍🏻

Even better news, and I have Walter (wamcneil) to thank. He PM'd me and asked if I had the build sheet to our coach, which I do.....the key codes for ALL the TriMark locks are on that build sheet and labeled accordingly.

Walter, you are the man.

17 hours ago, VinceB said:

As many of you know, I had my coach painted recently (12 months ago to be exact) and I’m still working thought the final punch list.

The ladder was removed, repaired, and then remounted to the rear cap using the factory holes with S Steel pop rivets. 2 weeks ago I noticed that the fiberglass has a small crack where one of the pop rivets is. The crack is new since the ladder was R&R'd.

I can feel from behind that the pop rivets did not go all the way through the fiberglass and thus expanded inside the hole instead of outside of it. 

I’m thinking that the pop rivets are too short and I’ll eventually have cracks in all the mounting holes.  The paint shop owner says no; that’s the way the factory did it originally.

What say you all?

 

I have to agree with your paint shop owner, as the holes on ours are like yours. I was able to take the tail light out on the curb side and visually see that the original rivets never punched all the way through. I'm not saying it's right by any means, but I have no doubt that that's how Monaco did it.

13 hours ago, Jdw12345 said:

The rear cap on that one looked like it had been buffed, just curious what happened there! Buffing black is tough to get it correctly done! Nice inspection, looks like the previous owners left in a hurry!

Looks like it's a repo.

5 minutes ago, JDCrow said:

I think he could make a lot of money doing a master class type of set up. I’d pay to learn how to do some of this stuff 

He’d probably be too busy, seeing as how he seems to always be redoing Winnebago roofs. 😂😂😂

1 minute ago, JDCrow said:

Yep I watched the video last night

Ditto. I wish James would be a member of this forum, because he has a vast wealth of knowledge he could contribute, added to the fact that he owns a 2001 Beaver Patriot Thunder.

3 minutes ago, Tom Cherry said:

Fascinating.  The Dorman “where used” lists all the vehicles….but not the WH.  BUT, IF you keep searching….the OEM Delco Remy, is out there….as long as the harnesses are OK, then the Delco Remy OEM GM (who used it first), is $45.

D6221E Turn Signal Switch

https://www.carparts.com/turn-signal-switch/ac-delco/acd6221e

If you look at the “where used”, you see many GM vehicles from Cadillac’s to HD 3500 GMC big boys….which would be similar to the MH.

Guess one takes a chance with the “aftermarket Dorman” or orders the Delco Remy one or the Brazels….  They all appear to be interchangeable….

One could also go to a GM dealer and give them any of the where used model on the Dorman site and get a price.

BTW, Amazon sells the Delco Remy (OEM that you buy at a GM dealership) for $35 or less.  Parts are notoriously marked up and such…

I guess one needs to dig deep and find the best part (new, OEM, aftermarket, etc…), then make a decision.  Lots of options for the OP and if his harness matches all the parts….Brazels or Dorman or Delco Remy OEM or such….then decide if just a replacement switch is needed or the entire assembly.  

Thanks for doing the research…got me curious….and that helps out our members.  We will add the numbers to the Parts List

@Frank McElroy  should be enough info to add….

 

If I remember correctly, there is an issue with the Delco part fitting, and I think it has to do with the hazard switch, but I don’t remember exactly, I just remember being bummed out because the Delco price was cheaper. The one thing I will say about Brazel’s is that they may be more expensive, but their customer service is second to none. I have never once had an issue with anything I’ve received from them.

30 minutes ago, Tom Cherry said:

That is the Dorman 2330814, that was posted.  It, the OEM, Dorman, is all over the internet. Advance Auto is closing out due to age and demand.  You can buy it NEW, yes, a real Dorman, for under $80….

Also on Amazon.  Good luck

 

I just got off the phone with both Brazel's and Dorman....Brazel's does not get their multifunction switches from Dorman. When I spoke with Dorman, they confirmed that they are not and never have been OE suppliers to the automotive industry, they make aftermarket parts, including this multifunction switch. They even say on their website that, "Since 1918, we have been the automotive aftermarket’s pioneering problem solvers. We have released thousands of parts and components that people could once only buy from original equipment manufacturers."

There's a reason the OE part is more expensive. Caveat Emptor.

Tony, this is the part you need from Brazel's: W8000543 - Multi-Function Switch Asm (Indicators, Brights, Wipers, Cruise Control). I paid $221.56 last year. You can take your chances buying aftermarket junk, but I personally feel more comfortable with OE.

+1 on what Martin wrote. Brazel’s, AKA Workhorse Parts, has the stock OEM parts we need for our coaches. I replaced mine last year. The hardest part was getting those two screws out that you can see, when you’re sitting and look down the top of the column, where it flattens out, as it goes in toward the dash. Mine were a bear to remove.