Kale

Thanks! It's kind of a full-timing trial run, no concrete plans yet. I'd try to get as close to the range Linda posted as possible, 11" max might be a bit low for some spots.

As Jim mentioned, 11 inches is likely too tall. FYI, I'm leaving town permanently the end of this coming week. The wheel is free if you come and get it in the next few days, saves me the trouble of figuring out what to do with it.

Interesting, this actually reminded me of something else I saw when I was fiddling with it this morning. There were a couple wires attached to the frame just dangling down into the engine area, I pulled them up and out of the way so I could reach the starter. Didn't think much of it other than a mental note to remove them, but they conceivably could have been touching something they shouldn't have been and shorting. If it happens again I'll look for what you described, thanks!

Yesterday I went to dump the tanks on my rig and stopped at a station that allows free dumping with a purchase of >$20. So I turned off the Toy and filled her up. When I went to start it I just heard a "click." Tried a few more times and still just "click." Since I had my multimeter with me I checked the battery voltage, which was 12.6, shouldn't be a problem there. As I've mentioned before, I don't have a lot of engine knowledge, so I googled a bit on my phone. The first site said that it was likely to be a bad connection, starter solenoid, or starter itself. The battery connections are clean, but the wiring is old. It was late at this point and I was tired, so I didn't really want to go messing with things that I didn't know much about. The gas station had an attached mechanic shop, but it was closed, they said I could stay there the night if I pushed it out of the way. Which I did with the help of a good samaritan. When I got up this morning I checked the voltage at the starter (or where the battery connects to it, I guess that would be the solenoid), which looked good. I went ahead and tried starting it again, and it fired right up, so I dumped the tanks and drove home. So given the information above, what should I do next? I assume that it's most likely a connection issue. Should I replace the battery cable? Take it to a mechanic? Do nothing and hope it doesn't happen again while in the middle of nowhere? Thanks!

Forgot to mention, I went with a 12 ton low profile bottle jack from Harbor Freight that I saw someone recommend on these forums. I have to crawl way under the vehicle to get it on the rear axle, but it probably wouldn't be as bad on a 18'. Mine came with a jack, but it was small and rusted.

I decided to keep the 5 lug under mine and go without a 6 lug spare, instead opting to rely on a patch kit and compressor if any of them are punctured (won't help if there's more than a small hole). Speaking of, if you're in the market for a 6 lug rim and willing to drive out to Sac for it, I've got one I need to do something with. (I've also got a brand new toilet and rear sway bar.)

Yeah, no bumper. I never really thought about it before. It would be nice to have one that could store the sewer hose, but I'll probably defer that for now and take my chances with the law.

Not sure what class my hitch is. Seems to be welded pretty solidly to the frame. Took this photo yesterday after I got it put together. Doesn't show anything about this hitch, just thought it might be of interest if anyone else was looking at the Champion generator and this rack. BTW, I bought it refurb off eBay for 600 shipped from this seller. From what I've read it's the same internally as the more common yellow Champion, except that is has covers for the sockets and a cigarette lighter style 12V output instead of the "\ /" shaped socked. Only weird thing about it is that it came with the gas tank about half full, didn't think that was allowed.

Alright, I'll heed the collective wisdom of the forum and go get the aluminum Harbor Freight one. I wanted to optimize space buy putting the gen in front to back, but I suppose that doesn't matter if I can't use the additional space without overloading my rig.

Agile RV restoration?

That sounds like a smart move.

Hmm, I'd probably be around 200 with carrier/gen/extra gas. I did just have new Bilstein 4600 shocks put on, maybe that will help out a bit? I think I'll give it a try, worst case I'll return it or sell it. Don't like wasting money, but this was the best solution I've come up with so far. Someday I need to learn how to weld so I can do something like you're doing, seems like an incredibly useful skill. When I was in my teens I worked at a golf course and they had a shop to repair carts, if I had been smarter I would have tried to pick some of that up, but I was more interested in getting home to play video games.

Ha! I must have been looking at a different one, been interneting too hard. Thanks for pointing that out!

Heh, kind of reminds me of when I was working for an IT VAR (value added reseller). The sales guys would commonly come to us technical folks demanding a quote with very limited information. We'd always say "10 million dollars" and of course the sales guy would balk at the exorbitant figure. We'd then explain that without scoping we couldn't provide anything accurate, but we figured we could handle most projects for 10 million.

In my continued preparation for the drive north, I picked up a 2800W Champion Generator. As there's no room for a generator of this size inside the coach, a hitch cargo carrier seems to be the most reasonable option. I'm looking at this 24" x 60" one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001G4Z5J0 I like it because the 24" inside width would allow me to place the 22.4" x 17.3" generator front to back, leaving more room for other gear. It also raises up a bit for additional ground clearance. My biggest concern is adding too much extra weight. It's listed as 4.3lbs, which is obviously incorrect. The reviewers mention that it's probably 43lbs; about double what I've seen for an aluminum carrier. So it sounds like I'd be putting a minimum of 146lbs on the rear hitch (gen + carrier). I'll also want to carry an extra gas can, some tools, and possibly a spare wheel*. What do you think? Go with the heavier rack or make due with a smaller aluminum one? As always, thanks for the advice! *PO included a spare 6 lug rim, I haven't decided whether to buy a tire for it or try to sell it. I have a quality patch kit and portable compressor, so I kinda figure I could make due with that instead of carrying around the tire.

You could always disconnect the fan, it'll probably last a while... probably.

I picked up this PowerTech recently. Haven't done much more that hook it up and verify that it does indeed work. Fan doesn't run continuously. Nice that it includes battery cables, though I needed to mount it further away from the battery, so I ended up grabbing some 2 gauge / 6ft ones from Harbor Freight. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0131L8NLM

That was my guess too. I figured it was very unlikely to be anything standard or important, but wanted a sanity check. I'll probably pull it out, don't like having the useless wire mess. Thanks!

I noticed a bunch of wires coming in to the cab from the engine area that go nowhere. I started tracing them to find out if I could remove them. Several didn't go to anything and I pulled them. The others go to this grey box. I tried pulling it off to get a better look, but one of the screws is in an awkward position. Any ideas what it is? Looks to be aftermarket. A couple of the wires go to what I assume are door open/close sensors. Makes me think it's an old alarm, but I could be completely wrong. Thanks

I installed the flooring and cabinet handles a couple weeks ago. Ended up going with the original plan of the cheapest laminate at Home Depot. I used a little more than one case, I doubt it's adding a significant amount of weight over another type of flooring. I bought the more expensive insulating underlayment, it ended up costing more than the laminate. I used 1/2" white vinyl quarter round, saved me the painting effort. I've been out of town for the last week, so not much other progress. It's currently in the shop having the brakes replaced and new shocks installed. Probably could have saved a bunch doing it myself, but I don't have a good space or jack/stands. Oh well. When I get it back: Curtains Cover the exposed fiberglass in the back Put some plywood under the rear dinette seats (They're just wedged there now, the old stuff was broken and not very sturdy.)

I hear you there. There's a section in Amazon where you can get order history reports and total spent, it scares me to look at it.

How about Amazon? https://www.amazon.com/Atwood-K8011-05-Manual-Lift-Arm/dp/B00LNKURQS

If the windows just need to be resealed, that's relatively easy. I've done most of mine. Remove the window, clean off the outside and frame, stick on some butyl tape, and put the window back in. I also had to clean up some dry rot in mine, which added time/effort. You can see some of the progress here: My roof doesn't leak as far as I know (it doesn't rain often), so I can't help you out there. If you're not handy and don't have the time/willingness to acquire those skills it's probably better to get out sooner rather than later. I'm by no means an expert on any of this, I read these forums, ask questions, watch youtube videos, and muddle my way through it. While frustrating sometimes, the remodel process is much of the fun of it for me.

Heh, already gone. Probably just as well. I'm going to be near there for the 4th, I might have bought it even though I don't need a second one.

Good info, thanks!