| |
Subject |
Author |
Date Posted |
Forum
|
 |
RE: Towed vehicle safety cables vs chains question
Don't think you want to go there. Putting that much faith in the baseplate manufacturer can have catastrophic results. Found the thread from 2007. Here it is:
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/20128352/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1
Shortly after that one, there was 3 more just on RVnet.
|
Daveinet
|
05/01/12 05:40pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: Towed vehicle safety cables vs chains question
If a baseplate came off, it was more than likely a crappy installation, or a home-made baseplate coupled with a crappy installation...JimNo it was a crappy design, and as I recall, I believe it was a Blue OX that came off. It was about 2 years ago, there were 4 vehicles that broke loose, all within a short time period. The problem often run into, is that modern cars often have no frame, because you can build a much stiffer lighter vehicle without one. It also allows from crumple zones. Of course the draw back is that there is no single point that is strong, so you can get tear outs and metal fatigue. In one specific case that I recall, it was a small Ford pickup. The "frame" actually tore out because the load was not spread out over a large enough area. It obviously was a slow tare, as the initial crack had started to rust. The tare kept spreading, till it finally came off.
|
Daveinet
|
05/01/12 04:25pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: Towed vehicle safety cables vs chains question
Big huge thing often neglected when talking safety chains is where they attach to. Most base plates have convenient hooks to connect the chains, however what happens when the base plate comes loose. This has happened several times here on RVnet, which resulted in the safety chains not doing anything. The safety chain must be secured separately to the frame, otherwise their redundant function as a safety device is moot. After reading several of these failures, I added new chains that wraps around the frame. When I connect the chains, I connect into the baseplate and the extra chain.
|
Daveinet
|
05/01/12 12:47pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: RMP/ZEP The final word :)
BTW:the post intent is not looking for a solution, I now have done the sanding, and it now looks reasonable. It was more just passing on observations on gelcoat.
|
Daveinet
|
05/01/12 11:27am |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: Thinking of crossing to the dark side
No one did suggest what vintage DP to look at. If you are looking, the minimum I would consider would be a mid 90s Foretravel. You will need a late enough year to get 300 HP+ and a 6 speed.
|
Daveinet
|
04/30/12 06:17pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: RMP/ZEP The final word :)
At no time did anyone (except, perhaps, you) say that RMP#3 will remove oxidation. Always, the key step has been to FIRST remove ALL the oxidation, any stains and residual wax, etc. THEN apply the RMP#3. Face it, you did a poor job of surface preparation, despite the preponderance of instructions that clearly state to remove all oxidation. Your junk science is nothing more than a pathetic attempt to obfuscate your inability to follow directions, assuming you actually tried to use the product.I never said that I expected RMP to remove oxidation. As a matter of fact, the first step that I did was to use Barkeepers Friend, which is what every instruction states. The issue is that Barkeepers Friend was not aggressive enough to do the job. The only thing capable of doing the job was sanding, which was specifically stated as not necessary in a previous thread.
|
Daveinet
|
04/30/12 06:14pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: RMP/ZEP The final word :)
On the contrary...nearly every post (as well as the "instructions" posted here), have made it very clear that the prep work is key, and that shouldn't be short-cutted. ...
Is RMP "easy"? Yes. Is the prep required easy? No, and if you thought it was, then you were reading only what you wanted to read and skipping over the rest.I wish I could find the post/thread that I was referring to. The only thing I can conclude is that the negative post and responses were removed. Unfortunate that the responses were not allowed to play out, as my post and perception would make more sense. If one does read through the thread on FiberglassRV, there is a description of someone's work, who stated that once "prepped", their tan RV looked white. This would imply there was still a lot of faded, deep oxidation still left. Once they applied RMP, the RV came back to its original tan color - or so according to the post, implying that the product would soak in.
The one thing good from this thread, is that if there are any others who have perceived RMP would bring back the original color, or that oxidation can be "cleaned" off, that misperception should now be corrected. RMP/ZEP will just make what ever is there very shiny.
|
Daveinet
|
04/30/12 11:19am |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: Thinking of crossing to the dark side
add towing capacity/power....Towing capacity yes, power, highly unlikely, particularly if he is looking vintage. Diesels only recently and only on larger newer coaches have more power that gas engines. Most of the older diesels have HP numbers in the 200 hundreds. High 200s probably somewhat tolerable, but lower 200s will be very slow getting going. You will also slow down pulling hills. Diesels give the perception of power because it does not donwshift as often, but flat out, a gasser typically has greater reserve power.
|
Daveinet
|
04/29/12 10:04pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: Workhorse Brake Recall Questions
Unless you have been riding the brakes there should be no need for changing the pads at that low mileage.? The reason for the recall is that the brakes stick. That would cause the same type of damage as if someone was riding the brakes.
|
Daveinet
|
04/26/12 07:17am |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: rear view camera
Okay I'll bite, why is it so important to see behind the toad with a camera? I can't see behind mine and I've drive all over the place and never had an issue. Semi-trucks don't have cameras so they can't see what's right behind them at all. There is no law that says you have to have a camera, only the mirrors are required. When I don't have my toad with me I usually turn the camera off. I'm not saying it isn't nice to be able to see traffic with a camera, but most large vehicles can't.Semi-trucks can see the end of their trailers, because their trailers are the same width as the cab. The toad is hidden, because it is narrower than the rear of the coach. To me, its an issue when passing other vehicles. It helps me to judge how far in front of the last vehicle I just passed, so I know when I can pull back in. This reduces the time I'm in the left lane, and potentially holding up other traffic. This is even more of an issue on a 2 lane road, as getting back over to your own side of the road as soon as possible, reduces the risk of meeting on coming traffic. Perfect example is when you pull out to pass someone, and a car decides to enter the on coming lane from a driveway. I need to be able to return to my lane quickly. Also my mirrors are adjusted to so I can see what is directly beside me. The reason is that in an emergency situation, if I have to swerve quick, I want to know if someone is next to me, and I need to know that quickly. For a normal lane change, I have time to check my mirrors and the camera, make sure I'm not cutting anyone off, and then change lanes. In otherwords, my driving resources a geared towards an emergency situation. That is the first priority. Everything else is just secondary.
|
Daveinet
|
04/25/12 12:43pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: RMP/ZEP The final word :)
In a previous thread, someone mentioned that the only way to get rid of the oxidation and restore the original finish was to sand, rubbing compound, and polishing. Everyone jumped all over his case. Stated he was not qualified to comment, as he had never used it. The claim was "why go to all that work?". That kind of response turned out to be very misleading. The claim seems to be that somehow magic will happen. Especially when you observe that getting a surface wet really does hide the oxidation till the surface dries. The claims tend to overstate the results, suggesting that it is a universal "fix". I'm really just trying to give this a reality check and show what type of circumstance really does require " all that work". I also am suggesting that light colors - which is usually the case with older coaches, are much easier to deal with.
|
Daveinet
|
04/25/12 07:03am |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: rear view camera
.. I think the main purpose of the rear view camera is to help you in backing up. I can back my motorhome to within inches of something behind me and that's what I use the camera for.That may have been the original purpose, but many are discovering that being able to see behind the coach turns out to be more important than being able to back up within in inches of and object. The reality is that the need to be able to back up within inches of something is much more rare, than the need to see behind the toad. In one trip, I can easily need to be able to see behind the toad toad, 20 or 30 times, but only need to see to back up once. I look at it as a safety issue. When driving, I need all the resources possible to know what is around me. Things can change quickly on the road, so being able to instantly see what is behind me ends up being very critical. If I'm just backing up, I can take my time or get help.
|
Daveinet
|
04/25/12 06:47am |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: RMP/ZEP The final word :)
I havent read any posts glorifying it's use on boats. Nor have they been about correcting the degradation of the gelcoat itself. They just rave about how shiny it is afterwards, and it is. Because it puts a clear coat on top, and since pretty much all rv's are light colored it works very well. As far as I can tell, you are mixing apples and oranges. Is there a difference between gelcoat on boats as opposed to the gelcoat on RVs? I assumed its pretty much the same thing, which is why I dare bring it up on an RV sight.
|
Daveinet
|
04/23/12 07:06pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: RMP/ZEP The final word :)
So if you are going to question my prep, how much cleaning with Bar Keepers Friend do you believe it would take? I started with Bar Keepers Friend doing it by hand. Since it was not making any difference, I switched to the orbital. That still did not make any difference. Basically the Bar Keepers Friend was also pretty much a waste. It may work for soft paint, or to remove chaulkiness, but it really doesn't do much for oxidation. Gelcoat is porous. Oxidation penetrates deep into the gelcoat. Cleaning the surface, or even cutting into the surface slightly with a rubbing compound like Bar Keepers Friend, is not aggressive enough to get through the oxidation and remove it.
BTW: I also tried regular rubbing compound, which is much more aggressive than Bar Keepers Friend. This still would not cut through the oxidation.
|
Daveinet
|
04/23/12 04:32pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: RMP/ZEP The final word :)
Yes, I did. The surface was pretty smooth and somewhat shiny before the first trial. Bar Keepers friend would hardly touch the surface. I ended up trying to use it with a orbital buffer. Still really would not cut it. I think with light surface, you don't see how deep the oxidation is. There is oxidation on the surface which is chaulky, but then there is discoloration that can go pretty deep. The white areas were probably oxidized just as bad, but you don't see it, so once coated, they look good.
|
Daveinet
|
04/23/12 01:06pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RMP/ZEP The final word :)
First of all, it does not work. So for all the naysayers, you are right. Secondly, it does work, so for all the proponents, you are right.
So here is the deal. I just tried to RPM/ZEP my fiberglass Gelcoated boat. It does nothing to effect the oxidation/discoloration. Zero, Zip, nada. It never will. The only way to correct, or get rid of oxidation is by a lot of sanding and buffing. No amount of cleaning or chemicals will have any real effect on the oxidation. The only way to get rid of it, is to sand down to a fresh unoxidized surface. You can pretend all you want, but that's the facts.
So why all the rave reviews? Basically what is happening is that oxidation is primarily white. If you are working with white gelcoat that has oxidized, it has oxidized to the nearly the same color as the original white gelcoat. Therefore, if you coat the surface with something that will make it shiny, what you are actually doing is shining the oxidation. It doesn't cover it, mask it, or change it, it just makes it shiny. So really the end result is that it is difficult to see the difference between shiny fiberglass gelcoat, and shiny oxidized gelcoat, because both surfaces are white and both surfaces are shiny.
So what is the conclusion? If you are working with a white or fairly light colored surface, you can cheat the system and make oxidation shiny. All well and good, and worthwhile. BUT here is the warning. If you are dealing with a dark surface that is oxidized, making the oxidation shiny means that now you have faded, light grey colored ares that are shiny. It does not make those grayish white oxidized areas dark again like the original color. If you have a dark color that has turned light grey, do not waste your time covering it with RMP/ZEP. Because that is exactly what you are doing, you are wasting your time. Not only that, but then you have to strip it all back off again, and then do the actual work of sanding, polishing, and buffing. Once you have sanded all the oxidation off, then it may be worthwhile to put a final coat of RMP/ZEP on it, as the product does shine. But if you are starting with an oxidized dark color, you have to do the hard work.
I just re-did a dark blue boat that was heavily oxidized. I made the mistake of thinking I could play the game, clean it, and coat it with ZEP. I ended up having to strip the ZEP back off, go back and wet sand the surface, and rub it out. When I was all done, I did end up recoating it with ZEP, so the end result looks good, but it took me a lot longer to get there and required a ton of sanding. Hopefully this information will save someone some time. Its not that hard to strip it off when you've discovered it doesn't work on dark colors, but it but it wasted one of my weekends - mainly because I put on about 5 coats, hoping that it would eventually darken up. (like what you see when the surface is wet). Incidentally the top white part of the boat looks good.
I plan to do the motorhome next. Because it is a light color, I believe it will work just fine, without having to do any sanding.
|
Daveinet
|
04/23/12 11:54am |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: How to judge how much to "gear down " on mountain roads
Its very simple, when the people behind you start honking, you are in the correct gear.
|
Daveinet
|
04/22/12 06:49pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: Toad Braking System
Hi,
I have a $35 system installed in my toad, it works using vacuum from my gas engine in the RV, and uses a junkyard cruise control motor to apply pressure to the brake pedal via it's cable.
You have a diesel coach, so nevermind.
Fred.So that's an interesting set up. What do you use to trigger it?
|
Daveinet
|
04/19/12 06:02pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: Toad Braking System
Any chance you can have the monitor fixed? At night I can see my Jeep brake lights go on and off through the camera. Is there a light on the box that lights up when it is active. If so, remote mount the indicator light on the dash of your car. You should be able to see it in the camera.
BTY: I am also a ReadyBrake user. Its a simple system that works very well. If you search back a bit, you will find that every time a breaking system is brought up, there are typically quite a few positive responses about ReadyBrake.
|
Daveinet
|
04/19/12 05:11pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: Fuel mileage
What kind of mileage should I expect to get with a 34 ft Monaco with 300HP Cummins? THks...AlExpect a little less than the average of what people claim they have gotten.
|
Daveinet
|
04/16/12 08:18pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
