zmotorsports

I'll add to the comments about LP furnaces being a "propane hog". During our first 20+ years of marriage we used our motorhomes for snowmobiling in the winter. Our first two coaches had LP furnaces and they would go through the propane, but they did a relatively good job of keeping us warm. Our first coach was a 30' Travelcraft gasser and we didn't use the water in the coach for the first couple months of each snowmobiling season. Although it was a fairly well-built coach, we didn't trust using the domestic water system fully until around March~ish when daytime temps were in the mid to upper 30's and overnight temps only dipped into the mid-20's, that's when we started filling with water and using the coach normally. That routine continued for the 6-years we owned that coach. Our second coach was a 38' Beaver Contessa and a much higher quality coach, so we utilized the full domestic water system the entire season. In the 7-years we had that coach we only froze up one time when the temps got into the single digits. The line running along the outer wall froze up and I was able to thaw it with a hair dryer the next morning and continue on with our trip. When we bought our 2003 Monaco Dynasty in February 2007 we started immediately using it that season and couldn't believe the difference the Aqua-Hot made. Aqua-Hot was on our "must-have" list for the coach when we were looking and I was immediately impressed. Although I had a good feel for it because my aunt & uncle had Aqua-Hot in their 1996 Beaver Marquis that we would sled with so we were familiar with the pros and why it was on our "must-have" list when looking at coaches. We used our Dynasty for nearly 5 years before selling our sleds and getting out of snowmobiling. In those 5 years we never did freeze up or have any issues with winter use. We generally did not deploy the slides when winter RV'ing though and I feel that reduced area also helped. We would power our enclosed trailer via the Onan 10kw generator on the coach and that sure spoiled us on the mountain. I also was very impressed with the dual pane windows for winter use as we didn't have any of the issues we had with our first two coaches.

I'm not sure if you're talking interior comfort or parked and just wanting to keep it from freezing. We have Aqua-Hot in our 2003 Dynasty and for the first 5 years or so that we owned it, we used it for snowmobiling so we routinely saw overnight temps in the mountains of teens to twenties. Never had an issue with freezing water or being uncomfortable inside. I will say that when up on the mountain we seldom deployed our slides as we really didn't need the interior room for 2-3 night stays and I didn't want to risk slide topper or seal issues at those temps. The basement heater kept the plumbing from freezing and the generator aided in keeping batteries charged and the Aqua-Hot functioning as designed. Never had a shutdown due to low voltage like some people do and we don't have anything to speak of in terms of solar. We would run the genny for a couple hours in the evening while fixing and eating dinner and maybe watching a movie, then shut it down overnight and fire it back up in the morning while showering and getting ready to hit the trails and shut the generator down while we were out and about playing all day. Then rinse and repeat the next night. This was all without shore power. The few trips we made to placed like Island Park or West Yellowstone in the winter and stayed in campground we figured it was a bonus having shore power. Our previous coach, 38' Beaver Contessa, just had a standard 32k btu LP furnace and while it worked well, we were much more comfortable in our current coach and I worried less about freezing. We actually did freeze up one time in the Beaver in the 7 years we owned it. During a snowmobiling trip we got hit with a winter storm and high winds dipping temps down into the low teens and the next morning we had no running water. I had to plug a hair drier in and thaw a line that ran next to an exterior wall that had frozen. Other than that never another issue and never an issue with our current 40' Dynasty, although we sold our sleds about 11 years ago and no longer use it in the winter months. I will say though that the first few years of owning our Dynasty I did blow out the domestic water system for a couple of months that we didn't use it until we started sledding each year but I highly recommend that you don't rely solely on blowing out the system. I recommend that you use the RV antifreeze as the domestic lines that run around the outside of the boiler tank on older units (2002 and older) or on the inside of the boiler tank on the later models can freeze as water collects at the low points in the domestic line. In my opinion it isn't worth the risk so I started using the antifreeze after the first couple of years as added insurance until we started using the coach for the winter. Some years when we had early snow and started sledding closer to Thanksgiving timeframe I didn't winterize the coach and just kept it plugged in and set to around 50-degrees interior and mid-40's in the basement and never had an issue with freezing.

Thank you. I've only had this shop a little over 6 years now. We sold our previous home of 26 years and bought this newer home and built the shop in late 2016 through mid 2017. I was finally able to take what was in my head and build my "dream shop", but for the 26 years prior to that I did all RV work outside in front of our old shop. Like many others I imagine, I had to plan my work around the weather. My new shop spoils me but I've been wrenching for 35+ years now to finally be in a position to have our current home and shop. Seems like a lifetime ago since I started wrenching as an Industrial Maintenance Mechanic but not having to rely on anyone else to work on my stuff is priceless. I agree Jim. The company I work for steps over dollars to save pennies when it comes to safety. We had an old boom lift that we used for nearly 20-years but because they were no longer in business and the weight capacity tag was missing we had to scrap the entire piece of equipment so we could purchase a new one that had the proper safety tags and labels. The sad thing is the old one was 10x the quality of the new POS. Newer isn't always better. I am just counting my days until retirement when I don't have to deal with that kind of stupidity any longer. While I agree that there are some pieces of equipment that are not safe and should have been sent to the scrapyard a decade or more ago, there are so many things that are working perfectly and no need to spend money to replace. It is sad that we have become such a disposable society and what this once great country has become all due to frivolous law suits and regulations that do nothing but line certain people's pockets. Thank you. I am not a shock expert, but I have been pleased with my Koni FSD shocks that I put on our Dynasty. As for Blacktech air springs, I have no experience with them at all. The only air springs I have used are Firestone, Goodyear and Continental (Contitech). I am not a Goodyear fan at all, so I have avoided using their air springs on anything of my own and have only used them on a friends coach as he purchased them. I have had good results with the Firestones I have used in the past and for the last 10 years now all we've used at work is Contitech so that is why I went that route when buying air springs for my personal coach. I appreciate everyone's kind words and hope this documented thread is helpful to others as they go about the maintenance task of replacing air springs.

Kurt, I don't have any pictures of them assembled. I used 3" x 3/8" wall thickness steel tubing to slide into the jack stand bases. I cut a slight V in the top and bent another piece of .375" thick plate to act as a saddle and welded the saddles into the V notch of the tubing. When the extensions are inserted into the jack stands they make for a very solid and stable support for the front end of the coach. The caveat is that these won't bode well if on any kind of angle so the floor/ground must be perfectly level because if any side load I wouldn't trust them. I found placing them directly behind the steer axle provides a nice solid connection point with the frame rails of the coach and allow the front H-frame to move up/down as needed without any interference from the jack stand extensions. For the rear, I just use the standard 22-ton jack stands with the original inserts/extensions and grab up under near the engine that is all reinforced below the frame rails. I have four (4) total of the 22-ton jack stands so I place them and then dump the air using the HWH controller, then dump the tanks. Even then there are some check valves that will retain a small amount of air but once you remove an air line that last bit escapes. Just don't take chances and make 100% certain that everything is solid and secure. As for tire/wheel removal, although I've had all the tires/wheels off our coach at the same time before, when I replaced the air springs I just removed both fronts, replaced the air springs, then moved to the rear and removed drives, replaced the four drive axle air springs, then moved to the tag. If you only have two of the heavy jack stands that is one way you could do it but make sure you have the opposite end supported properly by something other than just the air springs, such as some cribbing between the H-frames and frame rails. Thanks Tom. I appreciate that. It's funny because it seems people like us look at something and just make a plan, then execute the plan, whereas many people simply cannot grasp the concept as you said. I'm not saying I'm any better or not based on what someone does for a living, it's just interesting the way our minds work. I will say I don't go around throwing rocks at what others do or criticize their techniques when I have no idea what I'm talking about. I just try to stay in my lane and do what I do to the best of my ability and hope my works stands out from the masses in my field.

I don't have hydraulic jacks to work with so on one hand I don't have that fuss or components to have to work around but on the other, one less option. The way you did it will work well too, but you still had to contend with the tires/wheels being on the coach. Having the tires/wheels out of the equation was a game changer in my opinion. I had the entire coach off the ground so I could remove all tires/wheels. I had two 22-ton jackstands at the rear of coach engaged with the frame rails and two 22-ton jackstands at the front engage with the frame rails just behind the steer axle. I fabricated extra tall inserts for two of my 22-ton jackstands which allowed them to reach up to the front frame rails and cradle the tube framework just behind the steer axle. The only awkward part was them being so tall I had to slide them under the coach lying down and then right them vertically in position. It wasn't too terribly hard but more awkward trying to manhandle them upright. I so agree. This was the first set of air springs I had done this way because others have just been one or two here and there. This was much easier on the body. 😏 Thanks for the welcome Greg, and I agree. I don't understand the criticism from people when all I was trying to do was help and show them an easy, or easier, way to perform the task. I have gotten equal criticism almost any time I have welded something on the coach which is often why I just don't show it. I get comments like "are you certified to perform that repair?" Are you $@#!ting me??? Certified in what exactly? I've worked as an industrial maintenance mechanic and automotive mechanic my entire life and have just seen what needs to be done and find a way to do it. I guarantee my welds are at least as good and solid and anything else on this coach. People have gotten so wrapped up in the whole legal aspect and political correctness in our society that they have forgotten how to think for themselves and definitely how to do anything for themselves. Now that being said, I do think there are people that probably shouldn't touch some jobs as I've seen their welds. 🤣 I was almost tarred and feathered when I showed how I corrected the thrust angle by shortening my control arms on the driver's side and welding them back together.

Sorry, I deleted it a couple of years ago.

I guess you could cut the studs off, but mine actually came apart so easily that it would take much more time to cut them than unbolt them. Most of mine once I broke them loose I could get an air ratchet or impact on them and they zipped out fairly quickly. Also, and this is just a personal reason, I don't like to cut things apart when disassembling as I like to evaluate them once apart and more importantly, I like to use the removal process as a precursor to the installation process. I've been this way my entire career and avoid destructive disassembly as much as possible. Thanks. Hopefully it will help others as this seems to be more and more of a popular repair lately as these coaches age.

You're welcome. Agreed. There are certain things that I insist on using only OEM parts and these air dryers are one of them.

Yeah, the tags look terrible at first glance but it only takes a few minutes to remove the lower control arms, one side only at a time obviously, then it goes much easier.

Thanks Robbie. Hope the tutorial is helpful. It's not a terrible task, but it sure is a dirty one. 🤣

While digging through some past posts on another forum I also ran across the rebuild with pictures of the Meritor/Wabco purge valve rebuild. With the air drier so hard to access on these S-Series chassis, I figured while I had the left rear tag tire/wheel off replacing air springs, I would rebuild the purge valve. It hasn’t given me any issues but over time they can begin to build up deposits in the valve itself and then not seal completely resulting in an air leak. With 130k miles on the coach I opted to tear it apart, clean it and reassemble with new software components. The Wabco/Meritor kit that I purchased came with all of the internals so in they went. It was due as there was some buildup just waiting to cause an air leak. Nothing too awfully bad though, just enough that I feel good about my decision to rebuild it. New parts in the background, old in the foreground. I’ve seen people leave these steel washers out by mistake but it’s important to put them in place to keep the steel spring from gouging into and wearing the brass valve as well as the plastic cone. One steel washer goes into the seat of the plastic diffuser cone. I put a little of the supplied grease on the washer which helps hold things together during assembly. The other steel washer goes on the brass valve, again using some grease to hold everything together plus lube then new o-rings and seal. One o-ring on either side of the steel seat before installing and the grease helps hold things in place. Usually if doing this on the bench it’s not so important but I didn’t feel like removing the entire air drier to just rebuild the purge valve so I’ll be inserting the parts up into the drier and fighting gravity. Parts greased up and installed into position. Now comes the fun part and the hardest part when doing this on the coach. The plastic diffuser end has to go in place and you must compress the spring enough to install the heavy snap-ring into place. If your lucky enough to have three hands you’re all set otherwise you have to devise a plan to push the diffuser up into the bore far enough to then install the snap ring and the spring is fairly stiff. I grabbed a piece of steel tubing approx. 2’ long that just fit around the reduced section of the diffuser. Then grabbed my floor jack and positioned it directly below the purge valve. I raised the floor jack GENTLY and just enough to push the plastic diffuser into place. Be sure to put the snap ring over the tubing prior to using the floor jack. Then simply use a pair of snap ring pliers to compress and put into place. Easy peasy. Purge valve rebuild complete. Thanks for looking and hope this information is helpful.

So with the influx of posts I've been seeing lately pertaining to air bags/ air springs I thought I'd try this here to see if it helps any Monacoer's.org forum members. I'm not gonna lie, a few years ago between the Facebook page and more recently the crap I received on irv2.com, I had deleted most of my posts pertaining to this procedure. I deleted the video I had made as well but recently was reminded me of the procedure I documented on another forum so this is more or less a cut and paste from spring 2021 when I replaced all ten air springs under our 2003 Monaco Dynasty. I had originally posted this on the Monaco Facebook page a few years ago but was so horribly ridiculed over my process from the idiots over there not knowing what they were talking about, I ended up removing my posts and deleting the video from my YouTube channel. So I’m going to try this here as I think most are more tool and shop minded than the idiots on Facebook and maybe I won’t get verbally abused like I did on Facebook. Let me try again...... The air spring replacement is not a difficult task and there’s no need to cut holes in the sides of the coach like I’ve seen some do and even recommend. I also feel this is much easier and faster process than "cribbing" the suspension. Most I've seen perform this repair are using blocks or “cribbing” placed between the coach’s frame rails and the suspension’s H-frame then lifting and supporting the axle as normal. Once the air springs (air bags) are unbolted you then must fight to compress the air bags enough to get the upper and lower studs out of the holes in the upper and lower mounting brackets. This works perfectly other than the efforts needed to compress the old then the new air bags for removal and installation. I chose to go a different route with my replacement. I used my tall 22-ton jackstands with the weight of the coach sitting straight down on them. Before beginning I raised the coach as high as I could with the coach’s air system and placed the jackstands just above the steer axle with positive engagement with the chassis. Now this allowed me to only need a smaller 3-ton floor jack to raise and lower the front suspension. I raised one side slightly and removed a steer tire/wheel. Now I can sit up under the coach and have access to the air bags. I removed the mudflap and hulla skirt material that protects each air bag for better access but that only requires removal of a few tech screws on each. Now I could reach around the H-frame and air bag to each of the fasteners and the 90-degree air fitting. I removed the air line, then the air fitting, then the 3/4” NPT to 1/4” NPT adapter and lastly grabbed my 1/2” drive fine tooth ratchet and 3/4” socket to break the two upper nuts loose (I hit them with some Aerokroil just before starting). Once the nuts were broken loose j could use my Snap-on FAR72 high torque 3/8” air ratchet to zip the nuts off the top of the air bags. I was able to do this on all but two upper buts where I had to use a ratcheting wrench due to gussets being in the way. The lower bolts were easily accessed with a 1/2” impact gun and 3/4” socket in which were easily zipped off in no time. Once the fittings and upper & lower nuts were removed came the easy part. I simply and slowly lowered the 3-ton floor jack and the suspension pulled away from the chassis allowing the air bag to sit there with plenty of space to reach in and lift the old one out and set the new one in place. Then raised the floor jack and made sure the studs properly engaged with the holes and reassemble the nuts and air fittings then move on to the next. Easy peezy. Now for the pictures depicting the process. Mudflap and hulla skirt (brush) removed for better access to the old air bag. Using 1/2” fine tooth ratchet with about a 16" long cheater on it. Here you can see a slight gap at the top of the air bag as it fell away during fastener removal. Lowered the suspension down and the air bag is completely free from the upper bracket. Now simply lift the air bag out. They were due for replacement. I’ve been keeping an eye on the previous couple of years. They started as just weather cracking a couple of years prior but then a year before I noticed some advanced deterioration on the lower roll and by the end of last year’s travel season there were small pieces of rubber flaking off. None had developed leaks yet and I’m sure they could have gone a bit longer as I’ve seen worse still in service but I’m a big proponent of replacing things prior to failure. I figured this would be much more problematic of a repair out on the road and ruin a vacation so I opted to replace them prior to this year’s travel season. New one ready to install the reducer and apply anti-seize to the studs prior to installation. New air bag easily slid into place. Raised the suspension up using my small 3-ton automotive floor jack. This is the part that confused people. I was ONLY using the 3-ton floor jack to raise up the axle and H-frame assembly to meet the air springs and chassis. People on the Monaco Facebook page commented about how unsafe I was trying to lift the coach with "only a 3-ton floorjack". They were too stupid to even make sense of what they were saying as they were typing it. There is no way I would be lifting the 40k pound coach with a 3-ton floor jack. Nor did they read what I had specifically laid out on the coach's weight being supported by four 22-ton jack stands and only using the 3-ton jack for raising and lowering the suspension. In the picture you can see the bases of the 22-ton jackstands (red bases) just behind the axle. These are up to the main framerails supporting the coach's weight. Air bag fully engaged in the upper and lower mounting brackets and ready to install the nuts and tighten in place. That air bag replaced and shock reinstalled. Ready to reinstall the hulla skirt and mudflap then move on the next air bag. Next air bag showing the hulla skirt before removal. Driver’s side front of steer tire didn’t require shock removal. The easiest air bag to replace. Old air bag removed. Moved around to the passenger’s side. This one on passenger’s side in front of the steer tire was the most difficult due to several large wire looms/bundles complicating access but just took a few minutes longer. Passenger’s side just behind steer tire replaced. Ready to reinstall passenger’s side mudflap and hulla skirt then tire & wheel and the front is complete. Forty percent of the air bags completed. Rear still to go. I reinstalled the hulla skirt and mudflap on the driver’s side. Then reinstalled the driver’s steer tire and torqued to 450 ft/lbs before wiping it down with some 3M Final Inspection. Now I can move on to the rear suspension. The rears were easier than the front ones. I got all four replaced in about three hours. All that is left are the two for the tag axle. I’m 80% done with the air bag replacement project. Removal of the drive tires/wheels make access easy. Rear air bags were slightly worse than the fronts as far as condition. Air bag replaced and shock bolted back in place. Drive axle rear air bag was the easiest of any of them to access. Didn’t need to remove the tag tire & wheel but having the drive axle tires/wheels removed made it a breeze to replace. Zipped the 3/4" nuts off with my Snap-on FAR72 3/8” air ratchet. After reinstalling the passenger side drive tires & wheels I moved on to the driver’s side. The rear driver’s side drive axle bag appears to have been struck by something and even did damage all the way to the cords. I noticed this the previous fall and this was the one I was most concerned about. Only two remaining. The tag axle ones were definitely the hardest due to limited access. I’m not the smallest person but I think even a 5’6” 150lb. guy would struggle to fit up in between the transmission and the control arms (suspension) to reach those two air springs which are the only two mounted inboard of the frame rails. First, I removed the tag tires/wheels using my IR2235 1/2” impact gun. 33mm impact socket. Long prybar to walk the tire/wheel outward off the hub. Once off the hub walk the tire out of the wheelwell. Removed the tag axle lower control arm at the axle pivot. Remove at the chassis pivot. By having the lower control arm out of the way I could sit up between the transmission and the tag axle to reach around the tag air springs and remove all of the fasteners. What made these more problematic was the fact that they were mounted inboard of the framerails and were less easily accessed. And just like that, all ten air springs were replaced. I hope this is informative for anyone wanting to take on this task themselves, or at least now you know what is involved if you take it to a shop. Although I'm not sure they'd use my method or not. In closing thoughts, I'd like to share a few things I learned while performing this task on our Monaco/Roadmaster S-Series chassis. First, if at all possible, support the coach by the chassis rails. This will allow the ability to raise and lower the H-frame suspension members allowing easy air bag removal and insertion without having to fight compressing the old nor the new air bags to fit into place between the mounting brackets. Secondly, the brass reducers that Monaco/Roadmaster used have a 1-1/8" hex and are only slightly oversized for the hole in the chassis bracket. The first two air bags I fought to remove this brass fitting as Monaco/Roadmaster did not apply sealant to the threads and this created a very tight bond between the brass fitting and the steel top plate of the air bag. I found that once the nuts were removed a little coercion with a prybar easily pulls the brass fitting through the hole in the mounting bracket and just knocks the peaks off of the hex of the brass fittings. I chose not to reuse the original brass reducers and had actually purchased some new ones prior to beginning this job. I purchased some Fastenal part # 69857 (3/4" MNPT to 1/4" FNPT) brass reducers which have a 1-1/16" hex and easily slip right through the hole in the mounting bracket so the brass fitting/reducer can be installed on the work bench before installing in the coach. Here is a link to the Fastenal 69857 reducers. https://www.fastenal.com/products/details/69857 Third, I suggest using anti-seize on the threads of all of the studs to not only aid in removal in the event that they ever need to be removed again, but also to aid in installation as the fasteners are easily zipped on using air or even manually with some lubrication on the threads. I also recommend a good quality thread sealant be used on the air fittings, NOT Teflon tape nor plumbing "pipe dope". Use a good quality thread sealant as sealants have good sealing qualities as well as polymers to prevent dripping out due to heat and aid in installation and removal. I like either Permatex, ARP, or Loctite. I am not a fan of Teflon tape on systems involving air, fuel or hydraulics as the strands can get into places they don't belong and cause lengthy and difficult diagnoses down the road. Fourth, air bag part #'s. Through my research I have found out some information that I would like to share pertaining to Monaco/Roadmaster air spring/air bags used. On earlier models (mid-late 90's) Monaco used 3/4" air lines front and 1/4" air lines feeding rear air springs. Somewhere around 2000 (give or take) they went to using all 1/4" air lines for the suspension air springs. When using the 3/4" air lines they used air bags that had 3/4" NPT threaded ports in the front air springs and 1/4" NPT ports for the rears. Monaco/Roadmaster then switched over to just using air springs with the 3/4" NPT ports and used 3/4" NPT to 1/4" NPT brass reducers in all of the air springs. They used Firestone air springs from the factory and they served well on our coach for 19 years and 130k miles. That being said, I have found that Contitech (made by Continental Rubber Co.) are equally as good. We use them on all 46 of our OTR trucks at work and 235 48'-53' box trailers with excellent results. The Monaco/Roadmaster part #'s for air springs were as follows: * Rears W01-358-9376 (1/4" NPT port) * Fronts W01-358-8897 (3/4" NPT port) The Continental branded Contitech crossover part # for the Firestone W01-358-8897 is AS8897. These are readily available from a multitude of vendors. In early 2021 when I performed the air spring replacement I had purchased mine from Fleet Pride which was local but also I have seen them quite frequently at the company below and they usually have decent pricing for the Contitech air springs Part # AS8897@ truckandtrailerparts.com in Nebraska. https://www.truckandtrailer.parts/Co...91_p_1509.html If this is useful, maybe the moderators can make it a sticky to help others as air spring replacements are becoming a very popular topic over the past couple of years.

Thanks Jim. Yeah, the finish on our Dynasty is not OEM. I try to maintain it as best I can and am quite anal about it. It looked ok for a 14-year-old coach when we dropped it off in 2017 for a complete repaint, but looks even better now for a 22-year old coach. Another reason I can't bring myself to look for something else at this time.

Agreed. Back when we first purchased our coach in 2007 it had two damaged compartment doors and I had to repaint the front cap after removing the failed 3M clear protective material. I contacted Monaco directly and with the VIN# they were able to get me the mixing codes for the Diamont B/C paint, which was a perfect match. Fast forward several years later and I needed to paint the eyebrow, bedroom slide and area just ahead of the bedroom slide and wanted to use PPG paint instead of BASF's Diamont. Mainly because it was what I was more familiar with and because my local paint supply store carried PPG and not BASF. I had my local paint supply store come out and use their digital scanner to scan the paint. They were able to get the correct mixture for PPG paint and the job went smooth as could be. It looked great until I finally had the entire coach repainted 7 years ago.

When we first purchased our coach I had a hell of a time getting the lugnuts off due to whomever worked on it prior. I had to resort to my 3/4" impact and a lot of patience. Since then, when installing my wheels, I use my Proto 3/4" torque wrench that has a 120-600 ft/lb. range and it makes the 450- ft/lb application nice and easy. Although I've got enough a$! to not need a cheater bar. 🤣

Turned out good Jim. Nice job.

Yes, that is one way to do it. However, much of the time the gaskets blew out because the manifold warped creating uneven forces. Getting to the fasteners and removing them out is hard part. Personally, after going through all that work there is no way I would not pull the manifold, true it up, run a tap through the holes in the head to clean them, run some Scotchbrite over the head's mating surface and then and only then reassemble and torque everything to spec. But that's just me.

Without watching the video I can say that in the 35+ years as an Industrial Maintenance Mechanic and automotive & powersports mechanic I have tried a multitude of products, several of the ones in the picture/video above. I even used a mixture of acetone and AFT with some success. While from my experience all did a fair job and obviously some better than others, the one I keep in my tool cart and reach for the vast majority of the time is Aerokroil (Kroil). They claim it's the fluid that creeps and it does in fact do that. It will penetrate better than anything else I have personally tried. Now I need to watch the stinkin' video and see what they think and hope I didn't make a fool of myself. 🤣 **Also, while we're on the subject of valve lash adjustments, I haven't done as many as some full-time heavy truck mechanics because I work on such a wide range of powerplants, but I have done probably close to 100 valve adjustments in my 35+ years, between motorcycles, automotive, diesel and power generation and I can count on one hand and have fingers left over how many I have found loose valves on. They almost always will be on the tight side rather than the loose side. Reason being is that as the valves open and slam shut, they will impact the seat which will do two things, one it will ever so slightly alter the sealing surface of the valve by some wear and secondly, because it will hammer the seat into the casting of the head. This will show more prevalently on the first adjustment than subsequent ones because the castings when new are "green" and take many heat cycles to become seasoned. The second, third and so on I have found less adjustment necessary, but mainly on that initial check is when I have found them to be a couple/few thousandths on the tight side. In order for the lash to be loose, it would have to point to one of two things, either wear in the valvetrain, or a jam nut has backed off allowing the lash to increase slightly. In order for that much wear to occur, there would have to be some reason such as neglected preventive service intervals (oil changes) or something wearing to the point that it should be questioned. I had read and heard about several CAT C7's and a few ISC's over the years that people have found loose jam nuts on their initial valve lash adjustment and on one RV forum (can't remember which one) someone had dropped a valve and upon investigation during teardown, they found several jam nuts loose on other valves where the clearance was excessive, pointing to the possibility of an improper torquing of the jam nut from the factory.

Cummins doesn't recommend performing the valve lash check until 150k so I wouldn't necessarily pay to have a shop do it too awful early as there would still be tolerances. If you're doing it yourself and can spare the time then by all means as I know a few guys who have checked theirs around 100k. Personally, from my experience I haven't seen too many that far out by 150k so I think Cummins has a pretty good handle on the mileage recommendation. Although our coach isn't quite to the 150k mark it is very close after passing 140k this past RV season and I was more concerned about passing the 150k mark mid-next season so I opted to do mine before it comes back out for the 2024 travel season. It really isn't a terrible job but much more invasive and awkward than in an OTR truck where you can stand next to the frame and get to each valve with little effort. Standing on your head reaching through the closet floor and in and around door tracks and openings does add some time and a bit of frustration but something than anyone who is mechanically minded can do. ^^Resurfacing is actually my preferred method of fixing blown exhaust manifold gaskets as long as the manifolds are not cracked or broken. I have done a lot of exhaust manifolds over the years between gas and diesel powerplants and I always try to save the original manifolds, especially after they have become "seasoned" with tens of thousands of miles and many, many heat cycles as I feel they have already moved around as much as they are going to and hate to start over with new "green" castings. I would rather take a good used, but warped, exhaust manifold over a new "green casting" any day of the week and twice on Sunday. I have seen even new exhaust manifolds off by as much as .006" or so and although the spec's generally show .004"-.006" is acceptable and the gaskets will seal, that's too much for my liking. I end up closing that gap down to less than .002" before I ever install one. I know many will use much thicker gaskets but I'm also not a fan as it spaces the manifold sealing surface out too far from the head for my taste and creates much more opportunity to blow out after heat cycling. Personally, I like to keep the manifold as close to the head as possible and do this by truing up the manifold rather than filling that gap with a thicker gasket, but that's just me. Although a milling machine, or even a flywheel cutter, is the most common piece of equipment for resurfacing, and I have a full machine shop at home, I have found that a flat belt surfacer does a better and faster job of truing up a warped manifold so no need to take it to an actual machine shop as that is a quite common piece of equipment in a lot of shops. When I first purchased our coach back in 2007 it had an exhaust leak with only 55k miles. I removed the manifold and found it was warped by around .025" and had three broken bolts and two sections of gasket blown out. I trued up the manifold halves on my belt sander to within .002", installed new OEM gaskets and all new OEM fasteners and it lasted until the manifold cracked around 115k miles when I had to actually replace the exhaust manifold with a new OEM manifold. The nice thing about that time was that I had used anti-seize on the fasteners and they all came out without any drama, although I still replaced the fasteners with OEM ones again. I have a video that I show the replacement and even that new manifold I purchased from Cummins was off by a few thou and had to be trued up, which I show how well it trued up in the video where it was closer to .001".

Thank you. I've tried a few of the newer products as well but find myself sticking to what's worked for me for 35+ years now. I do however, use the Meguiar's #21 Sealant that I never used in the past as a last step to protect the paint and seem to like it. I'm usually not one for DA polishers and stick with my old Buffmaster orbital polisher. The orbitals are a bit more aggressive than the DA's and I've been using it for decades so maybe that's why I stick with it. Although I do like my Griot's DA polisher for applying the sealant. It really isn't meant to cut per se, but it applies the sealant in a nice even manner and then I wipe it off with a microfiber towel. It's just a bit slow going on that much real estate. I don't know about anyone else, but there are times when we are in campgrounds and the coach gets water on it from hard rain or the campground's sprinklers and upon arriving home I have had difficulty removing some of the remaining water spots. However, I have found a vinegar/water mixture in a spray bottle works wonders to remove these stubborn water spots, about a 2:1 ratio of water to vinegar works well. A little spritz on the offending area and a wipe with a microfiber towel and the hard water spots are gone.

Thanks Jim. Being able to keep these things parked indoors when not in use is paramount in keeping them pristine. We've only been able to keep ours indoors for the past 6-1/2 years now since we built our 50x60x16 shop with RV parking. The first ten years we owned this coach it sat outside at our old home. I still kept it very clean and detailed but it was much harder. Actually, had to wash it twice as often, once when we returned from a vacation and again the night before we left. So I guess having her inside has cut the washing in half. 🤣

Personally, I'm a 3M fan and have been for the past 35+ years that I've been painting and polishing show cars, street rods, boats, motorcycles and race cars. Now on our coaches I generally don't make it a habit of cutting and buffing the paint but several years ago we got caught in one hell of a dust storm just between Goblin Valley and Hanksville, UT. The sand blowing across the road ended up dulling a few spots due to being sandblasted so upon arriving home I got the orbital polisher out and the medium cut 3M polish with a yellow pad and it worked well enough that I didn't have to go to the coarse compound and white pad. It did a really good job bringing the gloss back to the passenger's side. That is a LOT of real estate so I was thankful I only had to do one side as the sand was blowing across from right to left. Going up and down the ladder was a pain in the you know what but other than that it was just time consuming. After the polish and yellow pad, I switched over to the 3M Machine Glaze and black foam pad for the final finish. Once a year, usually after the last trip of the season (Oct/Nov.) I wash the roof with Meguiar's Wash 7 Wax before a full detail of the sides. Than upon returning home from each trip our coach gets a full wash job of the exterior, less the roof, before it gets backed into the shop. I use deionized water so I generally just hit the brightwork (chrome & stainless) with a chamois afterwards, otherwise the water sheets right off. However, when I feel like I have a bit more energy or on the last wash of the season before it gets put to bed for the winter I do run over the entire exterior with a chamois before backing it into the shop. Tucked away from the elements for the winter. So it looks good and is ready to hit the road as we pull it out of the shop for each trip. Unfortunately, sometimes the weather doesn't cooperate and we arrive at our destination with it not looking as good as it did when we left home. ☹️ I will generally just apply a coat of Meguiar's #21 Sealant about every other year using a DA polisher doing a section at a time. I really need to get on that this winter so I can keep the ole' girl in tip top shape. She turns 22-years old in two months. 🤔

Same as Jim. This is the sensor I used when I built my new surge tank. Fits an F-800 Ford with a Cummins engine. I purchased mine from Rock Auto. More Information for STANDARD MOTOR PRODUCTS FLS164 (rockauto.com)

When we bought our 2003 Dynasty back in 2007 it had just started leaking and I fixed it the first time. I think they originally made the hose just a little too long so it had a hard stop when the slide was retracted and therefore I feel it added undo stress to the coupler. I replaced the hose with spa hose and made it just a little shorter. It lasted 15-years until last summer when we noticed a leak after a trip. Although I was happy it lasted 15-years I wanted to investigate a bit further. I noticed that it still appeared to break right where the flexible hose was glued into the rigid coupler so my solution was to add an extra strain relief further back to keep the hose from kinking right at the glued joint. Here is the leaking hose after 15-years. I was able to find some spa hose the same size. This time I went to a spa specific supply store and feel the hose is a bit more flexible than what I purchased at Home Depot or Lowes last time. I used a large truck axle socket to thread the new connector into the black ABS plumbing. I used a length of 1"x .125" angle iron for an extended strain relief and drilled holes for screws in which to fasten into the moving "trolley". Here is the hose along with the PEX and supply lines all benefitting from the extended strain relief. I have since opened up the compartment multiple times to ensure it is working and thus far it is holding up well but it's only been a little over a year now.

Agreed. Easy procedure to change the Allison trans. fluid. I've done mine several times over the years.