PUCampin
Explorer
Joined 22 years ago
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Re: PVC roof failure
I purchased a kit from classAcustoms on Amazon, they seem to be a large supplier for rv parts. I don’t know who the actual manufacturer of the material is. Since it was a kit it was likely cut from a big roll. I noticed classAcustoms is not currently selling pvc, only tpo and epdm, so maybe I am not the only one though I have not been able to find any other examples of pvc failing like me, so it doesn’t seem the norm. Bits like the uv resistant material was left out of the batch. I posted because it is such an unusual failure and I wondered if anyone else in our community had experienced it. ClassAcustoms is replacing the material According to warranty but I still have additional damage to repair now. Thanks for the feedback, not trying to scare anyone away as it seems this is the exception, but I have read about other issues with other materials being manufactured incorrectly in the last couple years.1KViews0likes0CommentsPVC roof failure
Has anyone else has issues with a PVC membrane roof? I kept reading goo things about PVC so I bought kit in March of 22 to replace my dead rubber roof and installed it on my trailer. After the tropical storm hit us in SoCal I went to check on it and there was significant leaking in a couple areas. I was able to get on a ladder today and I found the roof was trashed. Several large pieces missing and lots of cracks. The material is brittle and just crumbles in my hand. Now I have to scrape the whole thing off, repair damage and get a new membrane. This is only 18 months old. It looks and acts like it has no UV resistance. I sent a message to the company I bought it from but I don’t have a lot of faith they will do anything. Anyone else have anything like this?1.7KViews0likes7CommentsRe: Tire pressure gauge
For vehicles with TPMS sensors, if the light blinks or is on and the pressure is verified good, the sensor is faulty or has a bad battery. My wife's car currently has this problem, the light will randomly come on for a couple days and then go off. Each time it does, I check and the pressures are good. Tires were recently replaced, so I will be returning for a new sensor when I have time. For cars like my Mazda3 that use the wheel speed sensors, there is usually a button on the dash somewhere to "zero" the calibration when you have refilled the tire.666Views0likes0CommentsRe: Atwood Water heater trouble
I had this same problem with my gas only Atwood water heater. If a new probe did not fix the no spark condition, then the only thing that can be done is replace the control board since it is the LRU (Lowest Replaceable Unit). If you can't get it replaced under warranty, you can use a board made by a third party company called "Dinosaur" It has been several years, but when I had to replace mine, the Dinosaur universal water heater board was about half the cost of an Atwood board and works just as well. The Dinosaur board was around $100. Even if under waranty, if it means your time and gas to hook it up, take it to the dealer, leave it for who knows how long, go pick it up, it may be worth your expense and agrevation to just do it yourself. There were several small things on my trailer I just fixed myself rather than trying to get warrantied at the dealer. Of note, the screw holes are in slightly different locations so be carefull. I managed to put one through the aluminum tank when mounting it! I then had to pull it all apart and take the tank to a friend to weld it.666Views0likes0CommentsRe: Ford V-10 Techs Needed, Diagnos My Erratic Coolant Temp
Most likely causes have been addressed already, I just want to add that locking into a lower gear and crusing the hill at a higher rpm like you did is the BEST thing you can do in that situation. The higher rpm circulates coolant faster, runs the fan faster, and keeps the engine in the fat part of the powerband. Locking in 3rd keeps the trans from hunting and has a better chance of keeping the torque converter locked. The modular Ford engines are all overhead cam and designed to run. I have pulled numerous long grades here in CA including Towne pass East in Death Valley from Stovepipe Wells at sea level to the summit at 4955ft in around 16.5miles. Average grade is 5.6 percent with a max around 9 percent, but once you start is one loooooong pull! Once the Expy downshifts I manually select the gear to hold it as long as necessary, or I will sometimes manually downshift before the computer wants to. If I downshift I always lift off the throttle for the shift.480Views0likes0CommentsRe: 40 mph uphill? Other Armada or Titan TVs?
There have been a lot of great posts but I would like to add a little more. Something I caught in your first post is you bypassed the transmission cooling loop in the radiator when you installed the aux cooler. This is a bad idea. Oil / air heat exchangers (like an aux trans cooler) are not terribly effecient, especially when there is not much airflow over them, like when you are climbing a steep hill or backing into a campsite. Without active cooling the trans fluid heats up in a hurry. The oil / water heat exchanger in the radiator is very efficent and works even if the car is not moving. The coolant in the radiater is a pretty big heat sink and will take a lot of heat from the trans fluid before it starts to get too hot. You really should run the loop in the radiator and the aux cooler in series. I had a 2004 Explorer V8 and towed my 5200lb loaded trailer (similar to your trailer) with it. Explorer was rated for 7000lbs and I was within all specs. It had the radiator loop deleted at the factory and just used a stacked plate air cooler. Twice after towing home fluid overheated and leaked past the front seal while I was backing into my space. It also went into protection mode more than once where shifts were very firm going up slow hills. I would have had to do something if I had kept the Explorer. I currently have a similar setup to you, my 2007 Expedition EL 5.4 has 300hp and 385ftlbs torque with a 6spd transmission. My experience is same as you describe When towing up significant grades especially at elevation I definately slow down to 40-45 and be in 2nd or maybe 3rd. I do not have tow haul mode, so I often will manualy gear down before the transmission wants to and hold the gear as long as necessary keeping the engine at 4000-4500 rpm. I always lift off the throttle when I shift down. OHC engines make power at higher rpm and are designed to run there. For those who have been around awhile and are used to old big blocks this is the opposite experience. While a big block may be close to blowing up, a OHC engine is just getting warmed up at 4000. Higher rpm will usually keep the torque converter locked, it will also run the water pump faster and if you have an engine powered cooling fan (I do) it will run faster too. It is better to go a few mph slower with the engine rpm up than to go a little faster with the engine rpm lower. Here in SoCal I have to climb a mountain to go just about anywhere. I have towed over everything from mild to moderate interstate grades, more significant secondary highway grades, and some steep mountain road grades that had me in 1st. I have been satisfied with the Expedition's towing performance and love it for people / stuff hauling the rest of the time I am not towing. Would I love a new ecoboost Expedition? Heck yes, but I am really enjoying NOT having a car payment!429Views0likes0CommentsRe: Transmission Cooler
Most of the more recent transmissions have a thermostatic valve, so fluid goes out to the coolers only when it gets above operating temperature, a lot like the engine coolant thermostat. This allows the transmission to quickly reach and maintain proper operating temperature. This is why the above poster jodeb720 continues to see the temperatures, the transmission is purposely maintaining operating temperature. The extra coolers are useful for high load conditions like climbing and for quick recovery following high load conditions. The 6R75 in my Expy warms to 195 in the driveway under zero load, and then stays there. Both the transmissions and the newer fluids have been designed for this. This is also why flushes are not as effective on many newer transmissions, to get flow you have to bypass the thermostatic valve, or get the fluid hot enough for it to open, which is very hard without actually driving the car. In my case, the thermostatic valve is inside the case so it cant be bypassed. A flush machine is pointless. Just drain and fill. One other note, the above post regarding the water oil vs air oil heat exchange is correct. The water oil heat exchange that takes place in the bottom of the radiator is substantial, and it happens no matter how fast the car is moving. The oil air coolers have to be massive to accomplish the same heat transfer as the water oil cooler, and the vehicle has to be moving to create the airflow. If you are pulling a steep grade, or backing into a campsite, those oil air coolers are not effective.498Views0likes0CommentsRe: Boondocking and Phantom loads.
OP I am a lot like you. I have changed to LED, I only turn on the water heater want hot water, my CO / smoke detector is one of those lifetime lithium battery powered ones, stereo when off has no memory back up, TV is LED etc. etc. My parasitic loads are pretty low. I have 2 6V GC2 batteries rated for 205AH, meaning you have about 100AH if you only take them to 50 percent. If your parasitic loads are about 1/3A, then they only use 8AH per day, or 24AH for a 3day weekend. In my case, I can go 3-4 days being conservative. I also sometimes go below 50 percent if necessary. Doing so can reduce the total number of cycle life of the batteries, but I camp a few times a year so it is not as much a factor as someone who cycles the batteries daily.233Views0likes0CommentsRe: What's the WORST Experience You ever had at a RV/Camp site?
I know from reading other threads that people have lost their rigs, lost family, and such my stories are not nearly as terrible. Trip to Yosemite in November 2004. It was me, my now DW and her parents. We were in a 8ft 1981 pop up trailer. We were sitting at the table after dinner playing cards, it was getting dark. The winds had picked up. We heard a loud crack and crash, like an explosion. We went outside to see a tree less than 5 feet from our little pop up had fallen over. It fell away from us into the road. Had it fallen the other way, we would have been crushed inside the pop up. It was dead and marked for removal but apparently had been missed. Now we always check our site for marked trees! Another time my wife, myself, and our 1 year old were going camping to the San Bernardino mountains. By now we had our 22ft Pioneer and a 04 Explorer V8. It was a long drive from where we lived, and by the time we got to the bas of the mountains it was after dinner time so we stopped and got food, which too 30 min and was terrible. By the time we started up the mountain it was dark, and then as we gained elevation the fog rolled in. Fog on highway 18, rim of the world highway is almost legendary. It got so thick I turned on the flashers, locked it in first and had to roll down my window and watch the center line. I had some cars behind me and when I finally found a turnout they simply pulled in behind me, no one wanted to lead! Fortunately I am intimately familiar with this road so I knew the turns and where the campground was. Still, trying not to drop me my wife and baby with a 5000lb trailer off the side of the mountain was very stressful. Once in the campground I had to get out several times to verify where the road was going so I would not just drive head first into a site. Finally got to our site, DW and the now screaming baby went inside the TT while I unhitched. The site was sloped down towards the back with a steep drop I got the TT level and I though secure. At this point I had been running on adrenaline for a couple hours and was spent. I unhooked the car, walked back towards the trailer and heard chains dragging. The chocks had slipped on the wet ground and the trailer rolled off the blocks with DW and DD inside towards the steep drop at the back of the site. Thank God it did not have enough momentum for the second axle to get over the first set of blocks and it stopped. I hurriedly reattached it to the car, then sat and cried for a while.216Views0likes0Comments
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