Ok so i have a smoke detector and a carbon monoxide detector which are both cheap items to buy but which let me sleep better knowing they will alert me to a life threatening problem. To add to the fire safety i have 2 large Coldfire extinguishers and 5 or 6 of the smaller aerosol type Coldfire extinguishers scattered around the bus and the jeep. Much greater overall cost but there again i sleep a lot better knowing that if i do have a fire i have a chance of either putting it out or at least slowing it down enough that we can get out. I am a little parnoid about fires since i once lost almost everything i owned in an apt. fire. I also bought a U.S. Gears tow brake system for the jeep that i think paid for itself the very first day we were on the road with it because i think it saved us from a head on with a car that was passing a semi-truck in a very bad place....it wasn't cheap, but well worth the money i spent,... more peace of mind. Now ever since we started fulltiming, ( almost 3 years now,) in the course of talking to others on the road or in reading on some of the other websites that i visit, one of the topics that concerns me is damage done by tires blowing out or even just going flat. Only have had one tire in my life that actually blew out on me and that was on a van on a road with a deep gully on my side of the road,(of course,) just a few monthes before we bought the bus. When we are traveling i can not see the jeep, no rearview camera yet, unless i go around a sharp corner. We have gone as far as a hundred miles and not known if it was still there and ok. Sometimes depending on the angle of the sun i can see its shadow off to one side or the other. For the last couple of years i have been looking at tire pressure monitoring systems and just bought the Doran system. Not cheap but compared to the damage that could be done to the jeep or the bus by a low tire or a sudden blow out i think it will be well worth it just for the peace of mind. These items will not raise the resale value of the bus any but i think it is all worth it just for being able to sleep better at nite.

Shadow, get yourself a backup cam. It reduces the pucker factor about losing the toad. Been there, done that.

Trouble is, with all the other stuff you've done, if you take this step you'll feel so safe you're likely to fall asleep at the wheel. Then you'll have to get one of those gadgets that tracks the driver's eye movements & gives him a jolt if he starts to nod off.

Seriously, I don't know how much is enough or how much is too much. When you're herding a 15 ton residence with a 2 ton auto dragging along behind, the more safety devices the better as far as I'm concerned as long as you don't put all your trust in the gadgets.

In this age of GPS & autopilots that can be programmed to take you to a destination, we have boaters getting in trouble because they never learned to read a chart, or tide & current tables, or how to navigate by any other means than pushing a button. When the system fails, they're S.O.L.

Even with tire pressure monitoring systems, one should occasionally get out & bang on the tires to be sure the machine hasn't malfunctioned.

Roy, I could not find a monitor that would fit the space available until this summer when i finally found one at Camping World. Right now i could only afford one or the other so the Doran won out. I don't rely on gadgets, but i do use them. I check tires every time we stop and i use a laser temperature guage to check brakes, wheel bearings and anything else i can think of at the time. Bought a GPS to use for back east but our plans changed and i don't need/use it out west because i know where i am going, plus i am a map kind of a guy anyway.

"Bought a GPS to use for back east but our plans changed and i don't need/use it out west..."
Yeah - Sure - OK...
August; overheard a co-worker on the telephone: A friend was coming to visit and was ecstatic because her new GPS (or other electronic device) was directing her through the Wyoming wilderness -a national park- via a county road, saving 85 miles of travel!! Locals know this county road begins in Idaho as an asphalt neighborhood street, degrades to dirt, degrades to unkept dirt trace, thence to unmarked 4-wheel drive track which is virtually impassable after a rain and usually impassable to cars when dry. Typical scenario: driver, trusting in his expensive state-of-the-art electronics, keeps going until he can't proceed, in an area where it is difficult to turn around, 40-50 miles from the highway where he started. It is marked as impassable on maps where it is shown, including R-Mcnally!
Moral: Don't rely on these gadgets, especially Out West. They are a convenience, but can hurt you.

Yeah, I have thought about a tire pressure monitoring system. I cheaped out and put Tyrons on the front, as a front blowout could be dicey. Also a Steer Safe. Previous SOB blew out a rear tire and there was no effect on ride or handling. Just stopped and aired the mate to max pressure and continued on at 45 mph until it was convenient to put on the spare. The remaining tire did not get too hot. I monitored it diligently for the next year, and it seemed to suffer no ill effect from the overload. I have to uncreak every two hours, anyway, so I use than opportunity to shoot the tires with a Raytek.

I have had several boat trailer tires let go, and no drama at all. Even on a single axle trailer, I was first alerted by the cruise control increasing throttle. Never had a toad tire let go, though. Cross fingers.

That said, a tire pressure monitor system is on the list. But double glazed windows is above it, I think. Since you mention resale value of the coach, the system could be moved to your next coach or sold.

My next safety project is a powerful water pump connected to my full water tank and dedicated exclusively to fire prevention. It will have a curly hose with a hose end AFFF or Cold Fire dispenser. That will effectively give me a 50 gallon Cold Fire extinguisher with good range.

Had an acquaintance years ago who lost a tire on his toad, & the car burned up. In another case a MH owner was in a heap of hurt when an overheated flat on his toad started several forest fires along a mountain highway. The gummint was trying to collect from him.

I don't know how much help a backup cam would be in this situation, but a pressure monitoring system would prevent it.

My tow brake system will activate the brakes if the jeep comes loose but i would still like a camera just so i can see if anybody is hiding in my blind spots before i change lanes. .... More peace of mind, quite a while ago i discovered that i had no tow hooks on the front of the bus, so i called MCI to see about new ones. The gal said $364 each. I said that seemed like an awful high price, or words to that effect, and she re-checked and said it was $364 for the set. I looked and asked around for months and finally found them used for $25 each + $16 for shipping from Kansas. Put them on today and tonite i can sleep better knowing that if i break down somewhere and need a tow it will be no problem to do. So what is the best thing any of you have done to your Barths that gave you have more peace of mind?

quote:

Originally posted by Shadow man:
So what is the best thing any of you have done to your Barths that gave you have more peace of mind?

A new engine and a really good rebuild on the trans.

On previous SOB I wanted a rear view camera setup and put one together for $79. Found a B&W security monitor with 2 cameras at Sams. It was an AC unit, but a quick look at the brick that plugged into the wall and provided power indicated it provided 12V to the monitor and cameras. Chopped it off, fused the positive and connected to 12V under dash.

Mounted the two cameras in the rear window using provided brackets and screws on the inside frame. Pointed one down sharply at the hitch and most of the toad. Pointed the other to look over the top of the toad at traffic. Hardest thing to do was run the two cables the length of the coach keeping them out of sight.

This setup made it easy to monitor the toad when moving. Easier to monitor just where the back of the coach was when backing into a slot. Nice for watching approaching traffic behind me.

Not sure if it would have shown me much if tires blew on the toad - unless there was accompanying wriggling or smoke - but at least I could tell it was there.

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Shadow man:
So what is the best thing any of you have done to your Barths that gave you ... more peace of mind?

I removed and bypassed the noisy air pump for the emission control and removed the dash air conditioner pump. The emissions air pumps and a/c clutch or pumps are known for seizing up.

I followed the belt routing for a full length 1988 Ford School bus with carburetor. Based upon several conversations that I've had with other owners of Oshkosh/Ford Powered chassis the 1991 Barth's came with either a carburetor or MPFI, just like a Ford powered 1988 bus.

If you have a transmission prop brake and the belt stops turning the hydro boost pump you could loose power steering, power brakes, alternator, water pump etc.

The first time you place the coach back into park that's were your going to stay until the hydro boost pump builds up enough psi to release your prop brake again.

Bill N.Y.

Ed, what made you pick the Doran system over the other tire pressure monitors?

Don't have the names for the others but one i looked at is a sensor that basically uses a large hose clamp that goes around the center of the rim on the inside of your tire. Have to demount and remount your tires to put it on. If you have a flat and put on a spare, or if the battery in it goes dead, you have to either have a spare sensor in that one or drive with one tire not monitored until you get your tire fixed. With the Doran you can take the sensor off the valve stem of the flat and put it on the spare and recalibrate it in just a few minutes. I have the option to monitor the bus tires only or the jeep tires only or both together. I can also take the monitor out of the bus and plug it into the jeep if i am just using the jeep by itself. One other bonus is that i met Jim Shepard 2 years ago and have done business with him before, ( got my Cold Fire extinguishers from him ), and have a lot of respect for what he does and how he does it. Besides,..... he owns a bus. Seriously though, i prefer to deal with somebody i know personally rather than someone i have never met. There is another system that is almost identical to the Doran and the prices are close to each other but i can't remember the name for that one.

Quick update. Put the Doran on and headed out Sun morning. Valve stems have to be in good shape and i have one that is marginal. One inside dual lost about 15 lbs of air overnite before we headed out. But the system told me that when i checked it before we left and i refilled it and kept an eye on it. Interesting thing is how much the air pressure increased while going down the road. The jeeps tires went up about 3-4 lbs but the bus tires which are 11-22.5s went up about 14 lbs on average. This morning i checked them again and even though we have frost here in Vancouver, ( brrrrr! had hoped not to see that before we got out of Wa.) all of the tires are within a lb. of what i filled them to except for the one inside dual which is low again. It looks good and thumps hard but is 15 lbs low again. When we get to Yuma i was thinking of having the wheels painted so will have new valve stems installed at that time. So far i like the Doran, will update more in a few weeks.

quote:

Originally posted by Shadow man:
Valve stems have to be in good shape and i have one that is marginal.

Is this because of the extra weight of the transmitters? Are your stems metal or rubber?

Head south.

quote:

Originally posted by Shadow man:
It looks good and thumps hard but is 15 lbs low again.

This is why thumping alone isn't good enough. The extra 15lbs. would cause the outside of the tires to wear faster.

quote:

Originally posted by Shadow man:
So far i like the Doran, will update more in a few weeks.

Just for the heck of it - swap out the sensor for the wheel that's 15lbs low with another wheel sensor. This would tell you if the sensor is causing it to leak down...

I never trust anything until it get verified by other means.

Bill N.Y.