Amen to that. I know the feeling. When you send a buyer off on a long trip, you just hope you've done everything you can to make sure they make it home safely.

It was the best of times, it was the worse of times, but we made it in one piece, 17 hours later, getting in at 3:00 AM. I did pretty good backing it in, in total darkness. Another thing to repair, the back up lights.

And never trust a GPS. We took the Northern route, route 70 all the way to DC but the GPS sent us South to West Virginia, something I wanted to avoid because of the hills. We spent 5 hours in those hills. But the Barth pulled it off and we came out on the other side unscathed. It was a stiff ride to say the least. So the suspension will have to be dealt with. But first I disconnected that funky old converter. It just kept humming and clicking and doing funny stuff with the lights. I just ordered the Progressive Dynamics 60 Amp RV Converter Charger W/Charge Wizard PD9260C and should be here by the 14th.

So here's the story.....We got to the Pioneer camp site around 3:30 AM Saturday morning and the Barth was waiting there on the hill, just as promised. Thanks Michael. It's a great camp site. Very rustic just like Mike said. Very quit and woody. Wish I could have stayed longer. Anyway off to sleep we went. I think I slept 3 hours before the wife called. So now to prepare the Barth for travel. We topped off all the fluids and checked the tires and we were out of there by 10:00 AM. Got into Indianapolis and stopped for lunch and gas.

Later we stopped at a rest stop and encountered our first criminal element. A scam was set up where a guy came to your camper or truck and tried to convince you to go check out some dude who just won $175,000 and he was giving most of it away. There were 4 of them trying to convince you to go see the guy. So this one guy has a bunch of cash in his hand and there are 3 cards on the floor and you have to pick up the right card and he gives you 100 dollars. I smelled a rat and we got the hell out of there right away, peeling off in the Barth and never looking back. So be careful out there everyone.

Those roads are terrible and you better have a properly working suspension before venturing out. There was construction everywhere so they are making an effort to fix the roads.

So then we hit the West Virginia hills, all of them. The Barth did pretty good but it was slow going, keeping an eye on the temperature gauges of the engine and tranny. The tranny ran hot most of the way so a cooling fan for the cooler is in order. Or maybe the gauge and sender is bad, I don't know. Anyway I'll add it to the list. The rest of the trip was uneventful but added an extra 5 hours. So 17 hours later, the Barth is home safe and sound. Actually in one of those bumps on the road, the bathroom door came flying off and broke near the hinges.... add that one to the list too... I love RVing.

Yeehaw! Glad you made it. I just got back to the land of wifi to check in.

I, too, had high trans temps in the hills. I ended up installing 2 Hayden coolers in front of the radiator instead of the OEM cooler in the radiator. No more trouble.

You will like your Progressive Dynamincs equipment. I have one and it takes really good care of the batteries. They are always charged up and I haven't had to add water for a year.

Good luck with your coach now that you're home to relax and enjoy it!

quote:

Originally posted by Steve VW:


I, too, had high trans temps in the hills. I ended up installing 2 Hayden coolers in front of the radiator instead of the OEM cooler in the radiator. No more trouble.

After installing the 502, I found it worked the converter pretty hard, and built a lot of heat. I kept adding coolers to make it climb cooler. I ended up using all the real estate at the front radiator with two Long 4739s and one B&M 70274. This gives the transmission a cooling capacity of 109,200 BTUs, and a towing capacity of 120,500 lbs, according to the ad writers at the cooler manufacturers.

I don't know whether or not the copy writers at these companies are using ASHRAE tests for their BTU specs, but I am quite sure they have never climbed a mountain on a hot day.

The remainder of the space in front of the radiator is taken up by a B&M 70266 engine oil cooler, fed by -12 lines.







Total BTU capacity in picture is 140,000, not counting the heat exchanger in the left side tank..
.
.
.

Since you are a new owner of a tag, be sure the tag brakes are OK. They are often ignored.Many owners and even mechanics don't even know they are there or where the reservoir is.

Just in case, the master cylinder is underneath, and looks like an old Mopar part, with a round cover, held down with a single bolt.

The tag brakes can be tested by dropping both tag bags to zero, and applying the brakes. If they slide, squeal, or shudder, they are braking.

OK so the 4 bags at the rear are shot, no air pressure so new air bags are in order as well as new plumbing. I figured I'd try something different instead of manually adjusting the air bags, I'm going to install Pressure Regulating valves (PRV) one for each axle and utilizing the existing air tank and adding a VIAIR air compressor and pressure switch. Mount the whole contraption in front of the radiator and just adjust and forgetaboutit.
Has anyone else done this kind of setup?

The tires are coming off and all the brakes will be checked, replaced and rectified. Emergency brake too. Hey I like to stop every once in a while

There appears to be 2 coolers in front of the radiator and I'm assuming these are for the tranny and motor oil cooler. I'll have to spend some time down under to investigate further.
Also there are 2 electric fans in front of the A/C condenser with a manual switch in the cab and I had those babies running the whole trip. Now should there be fans in front of the tranny coolers as well? Steve and Bill, where do I get those coolers from?

Thanks

I have a Viair compressor and a small tank under my couch. Works great. It is attached to the tag bag system using the existing controls. (I have a regulator in that line set at 50 psi since that is the max pressure for the tag bags) Also good for tires, air horn, etc.

Try here: (Also pictures of radiator and cooler)

https://www.barthmobile.com/eve...203924477#3203924477

I was thinking of connecting the drive bags but haven't done it yet. Still manual there.

As luck would have it, I have the radiator, etc out for the engine swap.

The original setup had AC with fans in front. I dumped the AC but kept the fans. Yours are probably similar. The fans were mounted on brackets that spanned the radiator. The Hayden coolers I used mostly because they were really easy to mount behind the fans. One was not enough, two have shown to be very good so far. I also have a manual fan switch I use on hills, in stop and go traffic, etc.

time to cancel the ads, which are still running

http://rvs.oodle.com/detail/19...VIEW-_-www-_-NA-_-NA

So half way home I saw that the voltage was hovering around 12 volts. Earlier in the drive it was at 14.5 so the alternator was probably on its way out. If those diodes fail, can current flow back to the alternator and discharge the battery? Or does the battery just die due to lack of charge and accessory use? And do I go by a P30 or P32 GMC truck chassis in order to get the right alternator or just go by engine size? I'm sure RV's use a high current alternator but which one? I saw a 100 amp alternator at summit. Is 100 amps enough for a motor home and is it internal or external regulation?

So off to Lowes I went to look into tying the RV to the house. They had a neat 50 amp receptacle in a box just like the ones at the camp sites, well sorta. It didn't have provisions for a breaker so I got a 50 amp breaker, #6 wire and am ready to install it today. Luckily the breaker panel is just inches away to where I'm gonna mount the box. Should be a piece of cake.

I tried to start the Barth this morning but with only 11 volts showing on the gauge, the starter would not engage, so I put the battery to charge before I went to work. Probably should check the battery level too.

I think I need a second job
Love the Barth though.

quote:

Originally posted by jumanjii1:
OK so the 4 bags at the rear are shot

,

Maybe not. Air them up and try to find the leak with soapy water.

quote:

I'm going to install Pressure Regulating valves (PRV) one for each axle and utilizing the existing air tank and adding a VIAIR air compressor and pressure switch. Mount the whole contraption in front of the radiator and just adjust and forgetaboutit.
Has anyone else done this kind of setup?

My preference is manual control of each bag. It allows more flexibility for differing loads. Full/empty tanks, for example. Motorcycle on the back. Trailer tongue weight for different trailer or boat, etc.

quote:

There appears to be 2 coolers in front of the radiator and I'm assuming these are for the tranny and motor oil cooler. I'll have to spend some time down under to investigate further.

Trans coolers generally have 5/16 or 11/32 hoses, clamped at the fittings. BTW, be sure the line is marked transmission line. Some will use fuel line, and it can soften and slip off under high pressure conditions.

Engine oil coolers have metal lines or larger flex lines. In either case, they will come from between the oil filter and the block to the cooler.

quote:

Also there are 2 electric fans in front of the A/C condenser with a manual switch in the cab and I had those babies running the whole trip. Now should there be fans in front of the tranny coolers as well?

Best is a large puller fan behind the radiator. I use a Perma Cool 19117 puller fan behind the radiator and a thermostatic control. A virtue of the control is that it runs for a while after shutdown to prevent heat soak, which can be more damaging than operating temperatures.

I have removed the AC condenser to improve airflow.

Be sure and check your fan clutch.

quote:

Steve and Bill, where do I get those coolers from?

Thanks

http://www.amazon.com/Tru-Cool...2&keywords=long+4739

http://www.amazon.com/Long-Tru...transmission+coolers

The alternator is internally regulated, and 100A should be plenty.

High voltage indicates the battery is charged; lower voltage can indicate heavy charging, a bad alternator, or bad battery. I'd suspect the chassis battery before the alternator, but either or both could be bad. Alternators are pretty reliable, although not perfect.

When Rusty said it could be heavy charging, I recalled that jumanji had told me he unplugged the convertor before the trip. The alternator should be charging the house batteries while driving. Would that charge voltage be carried back to the convertor to the 12v side of transformer, causing a heavy load?

It also came to mind that if there is a bad battery, it might be the 2nd house battery (middle). The chassis battery is newest and held a charge well for 2 months of storage. After 1 month in storage, the left house battery was good, the middle one showed a low voltage, maybe 8? After 2 months, I didn't check house voltage and chassis battery was about 12. (see video)

Maybe disconnect the house batteries (or convertor)and see if alternator voltage returns to normal.

My last pics of the Barth. (uploaded to the photobucket album)

quote:

And never trust a GPS

My 'adult' children kid me about it, but I always have a paper map with me when I travel. I traveled the East Coast for 40 years, and never got lost. At least in some things, this old brain is better than any computer.
J

The converter only charges the house batteries; with the engine running, the isolator/alternator charges both house and chassis batteries.

The 8V reading on the one battery could be the cause of the heavy charging.