ejc1214
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Re: Settle an argument for me, please!
wny_pat wrote: Using A Transmission with Tow/Haul Ignore the "Ignoring the Barking Dogs" article and skip right down to the towhaul article. With the Duramax I used to just click it off and get in into 6th gear and then click the TH back on and it stayed in 6th gear. You can always speed up a little to get it into 6th and then back right down. I can't imagine that it would do much for mpgs. I do know that with the Duramax/Allison, the tranny would run a little cooler with the TH on when I towed my Montana 3474RL. I'm suspect the same with the TorqShift. I have done mostly all mountain driving so far and i'm getting a little over 6MPGs. Mountains are rough on MPGs!353Views0likes0CommentsSettle an argument for me, please!
My buddy and I have been arguing over this for a few weeks and I keep telling him that he is wrong about this. He says that I should not drive with the tow-haul on all the time because it hurts my MPGs and I am saying that it does not make a difference once at cruising speeds as if I take it out of tow-haul my rpms do not drop and stay steady at about 2400rpms at about 62mph. Even when I was towing with my Duramaxes I just put it on tow-haul mode and forgot it. I never saw a difference in MPGs. I just like the way it holds the gear a little longer getting going and the help it gives me with the grade breaking even on the highway. So, who is right?7KViews0likes21CommentsRe: Help spend my Money
Lipets, I'm my own personal opinion, you're making a big mistake not even looking at the gas units, at least that is what I'm gathering from your posts. I had a 2005 Holiday Rambler Endeavor DP with a 400 ISL engine in it and air ride suspension and it did not ride that much better if at all than the F53 based Itasca Sunstar 36D we just got about a month ago. The 22.5 tires and the chassis technology on the gas units have come along way to give them almost the same ride as the bigger DP units. Also, my 22k chassis has 4600 CCC and can tow 5000lbs. That's some crazy numbers! A lot of DP do not even come close to the 4600 CCCs. Being a diesel man(owned several GM trucks with the Duramax/Allison trannys) I wanted a DP and all the power that I could get. Well, this F53 surprised the heck out of me for its performance coupled with the Ford V10 and the Torq**** tranny. We have gone up the same NC mountains that we did with the truck/5th and the Endeavor and we lost very little as power was concerned and we could actually carry on a conversation with a normal tone with the wife even with the engine working hard at around 4500rpms while towing a Prius on a dolly which would come close to about 3800lbs behind us. Steepest grade so far has been 8 degrees for about 4 miles and we went up at about 50mphs. I think I could have gone faster but did not push the coach. Came down same mountain leaving it in auto and letting the Torq**** tranny do its work and it held my coach at 30mph with very little effort that I did not manually downshift. I just tapped my brakes at top of the grade a couple of times and the tranny took it to the right gear and away we went. Anyway, my point is that you can get a fairly nice late model unit for the amount of money you're budgeting for and you do not have to worry about things breaking down in the near future. Mine is a 2011 and had 8600 miles on it and barely used and we got same rate as a new coach and got a 5 year bumper to bumper warranty for $2,600.00 because it was only 2-3 model years old. AN older unit would have cost at least double that. You get to the 8-10 years old range, things are bound to go wrong with the unit like fridge, air, ect ect and those are not cheap to fix. It's your money but I think you would do yourself an injustice if you did not at least drive a Winnebago or a Tiffin gas unit which are well made and have a huge amount of storage and CCC. Yes, those are the 2 I would look at as far as gas units. DPs are not what they are cracked up to be, IMHO, unless you get into the 500k plus units. Also, make sure that the state you live in does not require a different class drivers license to operate anything over 26k. NO, I'm not talking about a CDL but you could need a regular class A or B t operate something that heavy. I can run mine on a regular drivers license.379Views0likes0CommentsRe: Help spend my Money
You're not saying whether you will be using this for a weekend use and a couple of weeks vacations here and there. I have had 5THs, DP and now a gas MH and for me the gas mother home in that length make sense. The unit i just traded my truck and 5th wheel for is a 2011 Itasca Sunstar 36D in the price range you are looking for with a lot of upgrades like full body paint, auto levelers, ect ect and has 4600 CCC and can tow 5000lbs and my Prius on a tow-dolly does not even feel like it's there. The F53 is a great chassis and the Torq**** tranny slows my MH down 8 degree 4 mile long road and holds it at 30mphs without any brakes in tow haul mode without manually downshifting. The MH does not get thrown around when passed by big trucks and rides pretty nice. A good gas unit may not be a bad way to go. I used to say that I needed a DP and got a new one but the upkeep on DP is more and diesels do not like to sit around. Also, I would look at floor plan before deciding the type of unit. Having had a DP and a gas now, we also prefer the mid-body entry vs passenger one. Anyway, good luck with your choice. Lipets wrote: Starting to look for a 2001-2005 DP in the $50-75,000 range Just the two of us, not looking extra sleeping capacity. Thinking 34-36' From reading here these brands keep popping up tiffin newmar Monaco Beaver What other brands are worth considering? What brands to avoid? I'm very mechanically inclined so I can crawl around & under to check stuff. I'm looking for a rig that has good drive-ability, not be bothered much with semi's passing us at 90. Things not falling apart driving down the road. What other items need careful attention on inspection so I don't get hit with a big repair bill for ball joints or brakes.297Views0likes0CommentsRe: Down Hill Braking on a Ford Chassis
BillMFI, Tow-haul does not take the tranny out of overdrive. you have access to all 5 gears. All it does is hold gears a little longer for more torque before it shifts into 5th gear. It just changes shift points. And add grade braking, of course.295Views0likes0CommentsRe: Down Hill Braking on a Ford Chassis
I just got a 2011 Itasca Sunstar 36D and I have driven diesel trucks with Allison and turbo brakes and I had a Holiday Rambler Endeavor 40PDQ with a 400 Cummings engine and I have to say that this F53 with the Ford Torqshift impressed the heck out of me going up and down an 8 degree mountain to Boone a couple weeks ago(our first trip with it) I was worried about power and grade breaking and it was a moot point. It towed a Prius on a dolly and the grade breaking worked as well as the Allison's and the engine break on the Endeavor. I put it on Tow-Haul mode and let the tranny do it's work. I never even downshifted manually down the 4 mile 8 degree mountain road, the tranny did it all for me and held the 30MPH even while hitting about 5000rpms. I'm a believer.227Views0likes0CommentsRe: Generator in Itasca Will Not Start?
I had something similar to what happened to you on my 2011 Itasca Sunstar. It turned to to be the 12v solenoid. When you turn the house battery switch on doe it click? If not , it's not giving you 12v. I had shore power but not 12v at all. I am always plugged into 50amp even at home so I decided to leave it on until RV season is over for us, Late Fall to get it fixed. So, if you have shore power and not 12V power then it's the solenoid on the house battery.158Views0likes0Comments
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