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Forum
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RE: Hensley Arrow or Equalizer Hitch?
OK Folks - let's keep it civil here... It always seems like we get a good start and then the post goes personal for some reason or other...
Keep on topic, and lay off the personal remarks or I'll lock the thread down or delete it... This is a good thread and I would prefer to see it remain but I will not tolerate any fighting or any more personal remarks...
Moderator
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LAdams
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11/26/09 10:57am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Page advance on fourm
It happened when the side bars were added - IT staff is working on it - hopefully will be fixed soon...
Moderator
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LAdams
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11/25/09 07:46pm |
Forum Technical Support
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RE: Trailer Brakes - Adjustment in Reverse ?'s
Oops, I stand corrected - the Dexter's are firward adjusting brakes not reverse as I previously stated...
Les
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LAdams
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11/25/09 07:35pm |
Towing
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RE: Third brake light, center brake light whatever you call it
I have used one of the flashing brake lights for years on my motorcycle and consider them to be a great safety device especially on a bike... Mine was made by Chris Electronics whom I believe are now out of business but they are still available from other companies...
I don't believe they are really legal as they are a flashing red red light but that said, I have never been stopped on the bike regarding it...
If your going to use one try motorcycle shops like "Cycle Gadgets", Wing Stuff, and Niehaus Cycle in Litchfield, IL - they should list them in their adds...
If you have a rear window on your rig, you might consider just installing it there rather than cut holes and have to fish wires down the rear wall...
Les
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LAdams
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11/25/09 10:12am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Satellite Dish Holder Mod
I've made and use a similar one for my round dish... I drilled a hole in the T's at each end and simply stake mine down to the ground for stability with tent spikes... I usually don't level but look for a pretty level spot of ground to put my dish on... I think that leveling may be more inportant if you have an HD dish and skew is involved in the setup... Not an expert - just my thoughts...
Les
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LAdams
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11/25/09 10:00am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Sherline Trailer Tongue Scales
A valuable tool and IMO a "must have" for everyone who tows a trailer... A great early Christmas present :B I've had mine for many years now and it's always in the toolbox in the truck bed and still works great!!!
Les
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LAdams
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11/25/09 09:53am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Trailer Brakes - Adjustment in Reverse ?'s
Dexter just came out with a retrofit brake drum assembly a few months ago that are self-adjusting in the forward position... JBarca, a forum member has installed them on his Sunlime TT just recently... Do a search on John's posts to find the article dealing with them... I think the jury is still out on just how well they work as they're too new at this point...
When I have to change brake shoes, I'll put the self adjusters on rather than the mnauals...
Les
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LAdams
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11/24/09 02:42pm |
Towing
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RE: Thermostat
Most people change to a Hunter Digital Thermostat... It's a fairly easy modification and the Hunter runs about 20 dollars at most big box stores... Other digital stats will owrk like the Lux and others as long as they are battery powered...
Click on the link in my signature for the original article that was done in 2000...
Les
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LAdams
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11/24/09 02:37pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Axle Spacing
33" or 35" is "normal spacing"...
Les
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LAdams
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11/24/09 02:03pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Has any one noticed lately...
IIRC, one of the mods mentioned the "tips" column was introduced in a couple of portals, with the rest to be phased in over time.
That is correct... The tips were first rolled out to the RV.Net and TL forums, the others will be coming shortly...
Moderator
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LAdams
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11/23/09 10:29pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Gas tank sensor in Fleetwood Flair 1990
I repaired mine in my 1987 Class C Mallard with 460 chassis... On mine, I had to drop the fuel tank and remove the fuel pump/sender... On the 1987 chassis, the sender unit was controlled by a small hollow brass float on the end of the sender arm which was a few inches long - don't remember the exact length... The float on mine apparently developed a leak as the gauge was not reading accurately, about 1/2 scale most of the time...
It was a bit of a job for me to drop the tank, and my wife gave me a hand where she could... The Class C was high enough off the ground that it was easy to crawl and slide under the chassis... I removed the two straps holding the tank and then lowered the tank using a floor jack with some 2X4 stock across the tank...
Then I removed the fuel pump sender, about 6 or 8 bolts IIRC, and repaired the float by first emptying the gas out of it and then resoldering the seams... I also jury rigged the fuel pump on the RV to pump out all the gas in the tanks into my 2 cars before I started to drop the tank...
Just reverse the process when installing... The only difficult part is the weight of the tank while your on your back... Kind of like "hugging a hog" :W
Like I said, not a real difficult job technology wise, but a bit daunting because of the weights involved and working on your back... The bottom line is that doing it myself saved me a bucket load of $$$ IIRC the dealer wanted in the area of $500-$800 to do the job, and that was back then in the late 80's!!! I can do a lot of work for that kind of money :W
Good Luck :B
Les
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LAdams
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11/23/09 11:25am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Hensley Arrow or Equalizer Hitch?
Well, the Reese with it's detent can't lock the trailer too tightly or it would never be able to turn... The w/d bars are held in the detent by the downward force of the spring bars in the detents... It is the FRICTION generated by the downward force of the spring bars in the detents that tend to hold the trailer in a straight line... If there were no friction, there would be no detent...
Both the Reese Dual Cam and Equal-i-zer accomplish their anti sway by means of friction... The Hensley and Propride are 4 bar linkage hitches which effectively move the pivot point of the trailer further forward of the hitch point ( hitch ball)...
The Pullrite acomplishes the same thing (moving the pivot point further forward) by locking the TT coupler to the ball via a slightly differnt methodology of w/d bar and forces the hitch to pivot at it's pivot point at the end of it's drawbar which is located just behing the tow vehicle differential thus emulating a 5th wheel hitc, but under the tow vehicle rather than in the bed of it...
The Reese and Equal-i-zer are both good hitches but they BOTH employ friction as their anti sway component... They accomplish this is in a slightly different manner, but none the less, they are both friction type anti sway hitches...
Les
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LAdams
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11/22/09 10:13pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Thermastat question
Many, many on the forums have made this Modification... Probably the most popular digital thermostat for this modification is the Hunter - about 20-25 bucks at WalMart and other stores...
Most any digital thermostat that is BATTERY POWERED will work...
Click on the link in my signature for installation instructions and PM me if you need help beyond the instructions :B I have helped many forum members do this modification with great success...
Les
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LAdams
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11/22/09 06:47pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Recording a streaming video?
Also look at MP3MyMp3... It's freeware and it will record anything you can play on your computer and save it as either a MP3 or .wav file... Works well...
Les
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LAdams
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11/22/09 06:37pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: external wifi antenna
Jeff,
I use an external hi-power adaptor and an external 8db gain antenna... Works pretty well in most locations...
Here's the link where I bought it and below are a few photos...
Les
http://www.wifi-link.com/set_usb.php?gclid=CMCQvIfF75kCFQHyDAod_UyZSg#usb500
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b191/nomad27/New%20WiFi%20setup/CIMG0149.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b191/nomad27/New%20WiFi%20setup/CIMG0144.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b191/nomad27/New%20WiFi%20setup/CIMG0140.jpg
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LAdams
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11/22/09 06:31pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: Ford 250 V10
It's a towing beast... Especially with the lower gearing... I have a 2000 model, the 2V motor with a 3:73 and I put a full Banks kit on mine - it was good to start with before the Banks, but it's even better now... The new 3V motors with a 4:10 are really good...
My truck is a 4X4 and I average 12-14 MPG solo and 8-9 MPG towing a 31' (34' overall) TT at #9400... Less in the mountains - was down to around 6.5 MPG in the Black Hills 2 years ago...
The newer ones are even better than the older ones although with my Banks kit I make about the same HP and torque as the newer 3V motors...
Yeah, you could get a diesel which I suppose are better for towing real heavy loads but the new diesels don't get the mileage the older ones did and they are pricey compared to the V10... I couldn't justify the extra money when I bought mine and I still can't for the few thousand miles I tow every year...
And let's not start a flame war here with the old diesel vs. gas debate... If you want a diesel, buy one - knock yourself out... For me they don't work and I would buy another V10 in a heartbest, especially the new 3V motor...
Les
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LAdams
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11/21/09 07:34pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Jack Nife clearance between truck and trailer
Just went to the Pull rite site, looks pretty cool but pricey I bet..?
Used Pullrite's both the 10K and 20K versions can be had quite reasonable... Check www.hitchtrader.com...
I have towed with a Pullrite before my Hensley and I personally think it's the better of the two hitches... If the opportunty presents itself, I will go back to a Pullrite...
Les
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LAdams
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11/21/09 07:03pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Spark plug change for 2000 RV
I agree with Harvard... The 1999 motor had only a few threads (4 I think) for each plug... even with the newer V10's there is a definite methodology for changing them and they are very critical to torque requirements...
First thing I would do is to ascertain what year motor you have in your 2000 MH chassis - it could be the 1999 or it could be the 2000 depending on build date... IIRC the 2000 had a few more threads and later model year cyclinder heads were improved even more...
I would suggest you go to the FTE V10 forum and ask for guidance if you decide to tackle this job - it may save you a lot of headaches and $$$... If your going to have your dealer do this talk with them and be sure they understand the importance of the proper plugs and torque requirements... They may not like you questioning them on this but it will make them aware that you know how critical this operation is to prevent a blown plug which is a BIG EXPENSIVE repair!!! :E :E
http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum49/
Les
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LAdams
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11/21/09 04:16pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Recommended Drill for using speed socket on stabs
I have used 12 volt in the past but my newer 18 volt ones work a lot better... Just hang on to the 18 volt as they have a lot of power and can easily be jerked out of your hand if you hit the leveler stops and your not paying attention... You can guess how I found this out :B
Les
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LAdams
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11/21/09 04:08pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: The effects of uncontrolled sway.
I really hate to see things like that - a good reminder that things can happen to anyone even with the proper equipment... We'll never know what caused it but it's a good thing to keep in the back of your mind while towing...
Les
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LAdams
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11/20/09 10:42pm |
Towing
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