Bikemike

I tried putting a spair tire mounted bike rack on our Escaper with disconcerting results. It seemed like too much torque on the back wall of the camper. I switched over to a bike rack that slides into a receiver hitch that bolts onto the square bumper. This meant that I needed to replace the rusty old bumper. It is still holding up, although I would have liked to have had a heavier gauge steel used for the 4 in bumper.

Thanks for the good advice. I just pulled out the (Toyota) starter and replaced the contacts. It wasn’t the first time that it had been done (90,000 miles). Starts perfectly. It cost me $1.90 to fix it! And California prices at that!

Things are thawing out in Montana and it’s time for our yearly trip to SoCal. Every spring I service the mountain bikes at a fancy high school in Santa Barbara. We are looking forward to warmth and waves w/ friends. Planning to head out of Missoula in mid March and go straight to the OR coast and then make our way south. My wife made a new awning/bag for our hand-me-down carefree bag awning and now all we need is the telescoping uprights to hold it up. We have the arms that go back to the camper already and would buy them from a member enroute if one is available. Otherwise I plan to use bamboo or something Also, I still haven’t found a tan/brown steering column cover that can accommodate the gear indicator. If anyone enroute has one and wants to sell it, please let me know. 86 truck body. Thanks.

Now lookit! No leaks and now my propane tank Is pretty! Thanks Totem and every one else. John at northern energy in Missoula is great also; full of knowledge and helpful. He even purged my tank for free. Little wonder that my gauge was leaking, it was barely more than hand tight. I braced myself for the battle with a wood frame to hold the tank and a pry bar but, thankfully, it came off quite easy.

Ahh, I just found totem’s thread. Excellent.

Yes, permanent Manchester horizontal tank. The pictures should now be above.

Has someone does this and is able to give me some pointers? *thank you [moderator] for fixing my post.

I have worked on gas and water lines before and I would feel comfortable doing this if I felt like I thuroughly understood the system. I read on a post that the tank needs to be removed so the gauge can be placed upward to avoid bending the float...is that the case with this model? Also, I seem to remember something about a need to get the tank purged of air after the gauge is replaced/resealed. Of course the tank should be emptied as much as possible and I should be aware that this is very dangerous (disconnect battery, be vigilant about sparks/pilot lights, etc.). I would pay to have someone do it if I had to... but I don’t want to if possible.

A propane smell coming from the tank area led me to hunt down the leak with soapy water. I found that several small patches of bubbles were coming from the threads in between the fuel gauge and the tank. Can I fix this myself by taking out the gauge, cleaning the threads and using pipe dope?

I already have a wooden roof rack up there. It shouldn't be too challenging to run a tight rope above the camper between two trees and then secure some lumber wrap to it.

Thanks, the frig won't be operating. No, we won't be living it. My wife and I are expecting our second child around the first of the year, so we are "nesting" in a mobile home this winter. We are both from the north and looking forward to a real winter for a change. Not migrating with the snow birds this year.

Oh, I see. Blocks under two wheels so the vehicle will be slanted and the water can drain off of the roof. I thought that there was a concern for the tires or something. We are planning to overwinter in Montana and plan to set up an A-frame shaped tarp on top and yes, park the vehicle on a slant.

Interesting...what is the concern about water pooling?

Ok, thanks I'll look into it when I get a chance.

Our camper usually just starts right up but in recent months it has developed a pause in between turning the the key and starting to crank. It usually happens when it hasn't been started for awhile but it seems to be happening more regularly. It will hesitate for up to about a second before it starts to crank and turn over. i thought maybe some corrosion somewhere? Any ideas?

I don't know if this relates but I had a little drip of brownish water coming in at the ac. At first I thought it was the ac seal. In the end it turned out to be from a leak on another place on the roof that migrated over and leaked out at the ac. It was before I coated the bare aluminum roof to seal up all the tiny holes that had developed.

Here we are going up the Grand Escalante last spring.

Well, I don't think that mine was like that when I set it up. Air lift was really helpful when I called them w/ trouble shooting questions.

Duh, I see what you mean. The stabilizer I need has a threaded end on one side. No way that that Monroe with the double eyelets will work. Strange that both oreillys and napa said that it was a suitable replacement for mine. I will get the moog.

Good call. No, not the firestones. Load lifter 5000 (air lift) is what I have pictured.

The bag has about 70 psi

Yes, they expand. This is what mine look like when they are blown up.

Hmmm, that looks pretty close. My set up is a little different. There is some talk on this site about disenabling the brake proportioning valve once air bags are installed because it will no longer function as it should.

Yeah, mine has been out since last winter and I haven't noticed that much of a difference. At first it seemed a little more loosey goosey coming down from a pass on swervy roads. I just wanted to get it back to how it was designed to function.

Do you think that the moog will fit even though my part # is different? The reason that I wondered if the SC2939 Monroe would work is two different part shops (oreileys, napa) suggested it when I gave them this part # 45700-35030. And that's what came up when I googled the part # also. I wasn't persuaded that the Monroe in the post I found was exactly right because the author reported a slight difference in sizes. Thanks for letting me know that it won't fit...now I'm really confused!