Kenneth
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Joined Mar 20, 2001
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Re: RV Fuel Issues & Prices - Post 'Em Here!
THE FACTS ABOUT DRILLING IN ANWR --quote-- According to the Energy Information Administration's Petroleum Basic Statistics for the year 2007, the United States uses 7,554,601,000 barrels/year of oil. Let's call that 7.55 billion barrels/year. According to the USGS ANWR survey, the absolute best case scenario from the ANWR oil fields --which includes non-federal land (i.e. State and Native areas)-- puts it at 15.96 billion barrels of oil. In the absolute best case scenario for recovering ANWR oil, it would provide 2.11 years of oil. That "2.11 years" is assuming the Magic Oil Fairy™ comes along and zaps all the oil out of the ground in one fell swoop. Here in the real world, that ain't going to happen. The EIA did a study that was released just this month. In said report, every scenario they run numbers on assumes ANWR oil production beginning in 2018. That makes "ANWR drilling as a solution for current gas prices" even sillier than a federal gas tax holiday. The EIA study also found that "ANWR oil production is not projected to have a large impact on world oil prices." Why? Because those dang OPEC countries would just lower their output to keep total world production in the supply/demand/futures market sweet spot it's in right now. Oh, those tricky bastiches! So we have 2.11 years of oil that we can start getting to market in about 10 years. Under the EIA's high-resource-case scenario, ANWR production would peak at 1,450,000 barrels per day in 2028. For perspective, that is 7% of today's daily usage. What all this jumble of numbers and research points to is that ANWR drilling is not going to help our current gas prices. In fact, it wouldn't help gas prices at all. It will not do anything to relieve us of our dependence on foreign oil for perhaps a decade. Should drilling occur, it could provide as much as 7% of our current daily usage for a very short amount of time. Even while in production, it will not significantly reduce our dependence on oil imports. If the U.S. Government were to aggressively pursue a policy of higher fuel efficiency standards, energy efficiency, conservation, and alternative fuel sources, don't you think we could come up with something more substantial by 2018? What about 2028? This is the country that went to the moon in under a decade. --end quote-- http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/28/10498/2730/680/524102410Views0likes0CommentsRe: Annual Brake Inspection and Axle Re - Lube (Pic's)
With my Dexter hubs, the nut is too big to pass through the center of the drum and pull off the seal. I use a $5 seal puller from a local tool store. It destroys the seal, but I always replace the seal anyway. Seals are cheap...a wreck caused by grease on the brakes is expensive. In case there is much wear, check the prices for replacing the complete assembly vs. just buying parts or remachining the drum. My local auto parts store sells new drums for less than the cost of refacing the inner face (magnet contact face) of the brake drum. They can resurface the inner rim cheaply enough. A complete "loaded backing plate" with shoes, new magnet, new springs, and everything is cheaper than buying the parts. Four bolts and two wires are the total replacement job. I don't use WD-40 for much. It is great for what the name says, WD for water-displacing. I've found it to be a poor lubricant and poor penetrant. I'd use a very small dab of grease on the adjuster threads. It is OK to mix greases if they are the same base material or compatible base materials. If you aren't sure, don't mix. Grease is a mixture of the base (thickener), oil (conventional or synthetic), additives like graphite, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), or teflon particles (OK in grease, no-no in engine oil), and maybe dye. If you have one lithium complex base grease, you can mix with another brand of lithium complex grease. Mixing a calcium base grease with a lithium base grease may result in a watery, runny mess and bearing failure. http://www.boucherandjones.com/grease.htm I prefer to adjust the brakes with the wheels removed. Without the momentum of the tires, I get better feel for just when the shoes are beginining to contact the drums. I like no shoe contact, one click away from making contact. Ken747Views0likes0CommentsRe: 3000W Chinese Gensets Info.
Neuen wrote: My ELM3000 arrived today, a day early. Fired up on the first try, and ran for a hour and a half before I shut it down. One thing surprised me...the two 110 VAC plugs have a sideways 'T' shaped slot on one side. I can't plug anything in until I swap out the receptacle. The T shaped slot identifies a 20 amp receptacle. It'll work fine with straight blade plugs and is heavier duty than a 15 amp receptacle with parallel slots. Ken367Views0likes0CommentsRe: Hensley Arrow: How does it REALLY work?
The HA looks something like this: (use your imagination...it looks fine on the compositon screen) __|__ /_____\ | The tow vehicle is at top and the trailer is at bottom. All four corners pivot. The upper inverted T (in this diagram) and lower T are rigid. The upper T is solidly on the drawbar, and the lower T is on the ball for lateral and transverse tilting, but held in position by the struts. (The pivots are tapered roller bearings much like wheel bearings. I had my '95 HA apart for new grease and new seals. The old grease was hard and dry, but no bearing damage.) Ken476Views0likes0CommentsRe: Hensley Arrow: How does it REALLY work?
Hensley's new 2005 patent hitch drawings The new Hensley hitch Patent #6,851,696 --quote-- Briefly stated, the invention is a hitch assembly comprising a hitch bar assembly coupled with a hitch receiver of a tow vehicle for transferring pulling and stopping forces to and from the tow vehicle. A hitch box assembly couples with the hitch bar assembly for transferring pulling and stopping forces to and from the hitch bar assembly, the hitch box assembly having a first pivot point. An overcenter latch assembly secures the hitch box assembly to the hitch bar assembly. A front support member pivotally connects to the hitch box assembly at the first pivot point for transferring pulling and stopping forces to and from the hitch box assembly and for pivoting during turns. A strut assembly pivotally connects to the front support member for transferring pulling and stopping forces to and from the front support member wherein the strut assembly can pivot vertically for accommodating uneven roads during driving. Also, the strut assembly includes a second pivot point. A ball mount assembly pivotally connects to the strut assembly at the second pivot point for transferring pulling and stopping forces to and from the strut assembly. The ball mount assembly laterally pivots about the second pivot point within the strut assembly during turns. The ball mount assembly includes a tail tube extending rearwardly. A ball plate assembly attaches to the ball mount assembly for transferring pulling and stopping forces to and from the ball mount assembly. The ball plate assembly includes a hitch ball for removable attachment of the trailer for transferring pulling and stopping forces to and from the trailer. A tail support assembly attaches to a trailer frame and couples with the tail tube whereby the tail support assembly restricts lateral movement of the tail tube and the ball mount assembly so the trailer remains relative to the ball mount assembly at all times. A slide assembly resides within the ball mount assembly such that forces inherent in towing the trailer are not transferred through the slide assembly. The slide assembly slides forwards and backwards to accommodate the change in radial movement of the converging links during turns. Converging links pivotally connect between the hitch box assembly at the first pivot point and the slide assembly whereby the angular position between the first pivot point and slide assembly can be varied. The converging links effectively move the pivot point between the tow vehicle and trailer forward of the hitch assembly. In addition, forces inherent in towing the trailer are not transferred through the converging links. A hanging support assembly attaches to the strut assembly including vertical links pivotally attached to the ball mount assembly for transferring tongue weight from the ball mount assembly through the strut assembly and front support member to the hitch box assembly and hitch bar assembly so tongue weight is not exerted on the converging links or the slide assembly. A jack assembly attaches between the trailer frame and the front support member for distributing tongue weight among tow vehicle wheels and trailer wheels. --end quote-- The original hitch Patent #4,722,542 --quote-- Fishtail sway is caused by the large distance between the rear axle of the tow vehicle and the hitch assembly and is aggravated by lateral forces against the vehicle caused by winds or passing vehicles. Previous attempts to solve fishtail sway involve stiffening the connection between tow vehicle and trailer by using various methods of friction. While these methods help some, none completely correct the problem. Fortunately, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,722,542, hereafter referred to as the "Hensley hitch", the sway problem is effectively corrected by forcing the hitch to turn through converging links that effectively move the pivot point between the tow vehicle and trailer to a point near the rear axle of the tow vehicle. Therefore, this design provides better steering and control of the trailer by eliminating trailer sway. While the converging links do this very well, the gross trailer weight is limited by the size and design of the converging links in '542 because so much of the tongue weight is supported by the converging links. As a result, increasingly heavier tongue weights require larger links, larger bearings, larger spindles, and larger related support systems. Increasing the size of these parts also increases both the hitch weight and the cost of manufacturing. In addition, the Hensley hitch needs workable brakes on the trailer controlled from the tow vehicle. Without trailer brakes or even with surge brakes the converging links tend to move to one side or the other due to the trailer pushing on the hitch assembly when the tow vehicle brakes are applied. --end quote--474Views0likes0CommentsRe: Hensley Arrow: How does it REALLY work?
From the patent: --quote-- Fishtail sway is caused by the large distance between the rear axle of the tow vehicle and the hitch assembly and is aggravated by lateral forces against the vehicle caused by winds or passing vehicles. Previous attempts to solve fishtail sway involve stiffening the connection between tow vehicle and trailer by using various methods of friction. While these methods help some, none completely correct the problem. Fortunately, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,722,542, hereafter referred to as the "Hensley hitch", the sway problem is effectively corrected by forcing the hitch to turn through converging links that effectively move the pivot point between the tow vehicle and trailer to a point near the rear axle of the tow vehicle. Therefore, this design provides better steering and control of the trailer by eliminating trailer sway. While the converging links do this very well, the gross trailer weight is limited by the size and design of the converging links in '542 because so much of the tongue weight is supported by the converging links. As a result, increasingly heavier tongue weights require larger links, larger bearings, larger spindles, and larger related support systems. Increasing the size of these parts also increases both the hitch weight and the cost of manufacturing. In addition, the Hensley hitch needs workable brakes on the trailer controlled from the tow vehicle. Without trailer brakes or even with surge brakes the converging links tend to move to one side or the other due to the trailer pushing on the hitch assembly when the tow vehicle brakes are applied. --end quote-- The original patent, #4,722,542 http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=4,722,542.WKU.&OS=PN/4,722,542&RS=PN/4,722,542 The new hitch and its 2005 patent, #6,851,696 http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/search-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=ptxt&s1='hensley+hitch'&OS=472Views0likes0CommentsRe: Hensley Arrow: How does it REALLY work?
Yet another recent model I heard of from 'UniCacher' on here, suggests the pivot point is actually BEHIND the trailer ball hitch. Not sure I understand that, but would like to hear the reasoning behind that. Depends on where you stand when you look at it. If you're standing behind the hitch looking forward, I guess one could say that the pivot was behind the hitch...actually meaning closer to the tow vehicle's front. Ken124Views0likes0CommentsRe: Weight Distribution (WD) Hitch --- How it Works
Ron, The excess weight the WD hitch is distributing is part of the tongue weight plus added weight in the back of the truck. It certainly doesn't reduce the tongue weight. In any case, tongue weight per se isn't what we seek. The tongue weight as a proportion of the total trailer weight is just an analog for the distance the longitudinal center of gravity (LCG) is forward of the pivot point (wheels). The farther forward we get the LCG the more stable the trailer is, other things remaining equal. Here's how I describe the weight distributing hitch.... Ron and I hitch up his trailer. The rear of the truck sits way low, the front is way high, and the front wheels don't steer or brake worth a darn 'cuz of this. We stick a long pry bar into the back end of his truck frame and pull up hard. The rear rises and the front drops. I have Ron trot along holding that bar up as I drive...the truck drives really well now, but Ron is getting tired. He chains the bar to the trailer tongue so he can take a breather. This works OK on the straights, but is a big problem on curves. We figure out a pivot system for the point the bar attaches to the truck. It turns well, but is really bumpy. Ron's Mrs. says to use spring steel bars. Duh!...Why didn't we think of that? Ron and I, and his Mrs., just invented the weight distributing hitch. Ken220Views0likes0Comments
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