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Date Posted |
Forum
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RE: Post your tow vehicle pics here
65 Chevy Van, 292 6 cyl engine, TH350 trans
guess the picture didn't post, not sure how to do it, oh well
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LVJJJ
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05/20/12 07:33pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Washing the TT
PB Blaster cleaner polish removes all black streaks
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LVJJJ
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05/20/12 07:28pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Better to have the hitch too high or too low?
were'd you get a tape measure that accurate?
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LVJJJ
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05/05/12 07:41pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: New to us trailer, Leak in ceiling after 1st trip out
Icirelli, don't feel bad, ALL trailers will leak, have leaked or are leaking right now. Whenever a hole is cut in the roof (or anywhere) to install a vent or skylite, etc., that hole has the potential to leak, and it will if not caulked regularly, and sometimes even if caulked regularly. Caulking is a secondary stopleak, the primary being the putty tape under the flange of the skylite or vent when mounting it to the roof. So, remain vigilant and inspect the whole trailer inside and out once in a while.
I'm rebuilding an '85 Wilderness that looks almost new, but had extensive water damage in the corners and bathroom floor. All fixed now. I reset the roof vents with butyl rubber tape and re-caulked. The previous owners had caulked three times, but over the old caulk, trapping water under the first two layers.
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LVJJJ
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04/25/12 06:49pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Refrigerators
you got the amonia moving thru the system. sometimes you even have to take the fridge out and set it upside down for a while to get the amonia in the right place and moving around.
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LVJJJ
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04/25/12 06:34pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: When to replace bearings ?
Whenever I buy a used TT, the first thing I do is repack the bearings and check all brake components. Very cheap insurance. Just bought an '85 Wilderness, the bearings still had lots of (very old) grease and were in perfect shape. Brake shoes were good but magnet swing arms rusted shut. Replaced all brake wires and got rid of all scotch locks.
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LVJJJ
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04/24/12 09:26am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Peeling Graphics - can they be repaired??
I guess it depends on where you live and where you camp. When we were living in Las Vegas the decals on our new Arctic Fox were beginning to show signs of peeling. After moving back to NW Washington, we bought an '85 Wilderness that has almost pristine decals (no sunshine to ruin them).
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LVJJJ
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04/22/12 09:19am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Has anyone else noticed this? (Does anyone care?)
As Wandalust2 mentioned, we have square windows! We're fixing up an '85 Wilderness with Square windows, lots of big ones with jalousie openers. Here in the rainy Pacific NW you need lots of untinted square windows to let in what little light there is.
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LVJJJ
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04/22/12 09:12am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Fender Skirt crack
For smaller cracks, drilling a hole at the bottom of the crack, slightly larger than the crack, has kept mine from cracking further for the past 4 years and several thousand miles.
This also works good to keep that crack in your windshield from spreading.
Drilling a hole in your windshield?
Just sorta kidding (April fools maybe)?
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LVJJJ
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04/09/12 05:01pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Saving on gas
Irbjet, totally agree with you, we need more like us to vote.
As for this thread and gas mileage, I was (in 1988) and (in 2012) very happy with the 10 mpg. Even though the 292's pistons look like buckets, the inline 6 is very efficient and has gobs of torque. I built it for towing with headers, 3" exhaust, HEI, electric fuel pump, fuel regulator, 2 bbl Weber carb, and specially built TH350 trans. It's also a people magnet, wherever we tie up for the night at a campground, soon folks will drift over to ask about the '65. Some walk right up and wonder if it really can tow that 24' TT. Others slowly wander over and ask what it is. We meet a lot of nice people that way.
We even got an escort into Sturgis one year by HD bikers. They hate to have an RV slow them down, but when a bunch of them passed me and saw what was towing the TT, they gave me thumbs up, lined up in front of us, slowed down to 55 (this was in 1992), and lead us into Sturgis. Was scared at first, but then felt real safe.
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LVJJJ
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04/03/12 09:28am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Louvered vent door behind fridge.
UP, it's amazing how many areas the manufacturers leave uninsulated. Between the bathtub wall and under the fridge area it was wide open to the outside vent door. Discovered that when replacing the tub walls that were water damaged. There were even factory holes in the floor above the holding tanks that let cold air in. All fixed now. For some strange reason, I love rebuilding and fixing up trailers. The DW thought it would never be towed again, but it's almost ready for the road.
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LVJJJ
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04/02/12 01:22pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Saving on gas
here's a photo from last year (4th of July). Not so shiney anymore, but it had been stored outside for 18 years. The first one was from 1992. Towed that Nomad over the Cascades and Rockies to Yellowstone and Badlands, never a problem. I think the '92 pic was on the beach in Oregon. http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee111/LVJJJ/VANFIXUP036.jpg
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LVJJJ
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04/02/12 01:10pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Saving on gas
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee111/LVJJJ/TRLRVANONBEACH.jpg
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LVJJJ
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04/02/12 08:38am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Saving on gas
Picture?http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee111/LVJJJ/vantrlr.jpg
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LVJJJ
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04/02/12 08:34am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Louvered vent door behind fridge.
On our '85 Wilderness I'm restoring, I found that the side walls in the refer compartment were not insulated. I got some 3/4" thick polyurethane (the rigid stuff), cut it slightly larger than the 3/4" framing "studs" and shoved it in place. It's a little tight in there but it's manageable.
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LVJJJ
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04/02/12 08:26am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Fender Skirt crack
For smaller cracks, drilling a hole at the bottom of the crack, slightly larger than the crack, has kept mine from cracking further for the past 4 years and several thousand miles.
This also works good to keep that crack in your windshield from spreading.
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LVJJJ
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04/02/12 08:18am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Saving on gas
thanks for the compliment '68. With the flat front, it's true you are first to arrive at a head-on, but I have much better visibility with the picture window up front. I think it might give me a little more time to react. I've driven it since 1970 without a mishap. On the VCVC website (Vintage Chevy Van Club) some of the members have had head-ons with their vans, and are still around to tell about it. (those that didn't aren't on the site)
I'll try to post some pictures but I always seem to have trouble doing that. maybe the moderator could help me.
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LVJJJ
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04/02/12 08:11am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Downsizing
In '06 we downsized from a 30' Arctic Fox w/2 slides to a 22 foot no-slide Rainier, towed by an '05 Chevy Van. Had to sell both new vehicles last year and now have downsized-cheapened to a 22' 1985 Wilderness, and got our original 1965 Chevy Van TV out of storage (towed a 24' Nomad thousands of miles from '88 to '93). Both paid for!!!! We are soooo much happier, the Wilderness is a 3000CL light weight TT with a very aerodynamic front end and built low to the ground. As the '05 and '06 vehicles were so new they didn't need fixing, so I got real bored. Love working on the Wilderness, bringing it back to almost new condition, and I can always find something to fix or upgrade on the old van (no stupid computers to deal with). Because I keep it well maintained, it has never failed us since I bought it in 1970.
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LVJJJ
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03/31/12 06:37pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Saving on gas
I tow with a very unusual vehicle, a flat-front 1965 Chevy Van (I often wonder if I'm the only one to do so). In 1988 I installed a 292 inline 6 cyl, TH350, headers, HEI, etc. It gets 10 mpg towing no matter what, uphill, downhill, no hill. It's kinda ironic that lots of us are slowing down to 55, cause that was the speed limit when I built the engine, and that's almost my top speed anyway. I'm right back where I started.
As for gas prices, I do not look for the cheapest because it's important to me to only buy top tier gas (76, Chevron, Texaco, Shell) because they have the additive package that protects your engine, AND I look for gas with no ethanol, it reduces mileage and can hurt your engine.
I learned a long time ago (back when it cost me $75 to fill up the 40 gallon tank on my '88 Suburban 454), you are not going to enjoy RV'ing if you worry about gas mileage. I don't even look at the gas pump when filling up.
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LVJJJ
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03/31/12 06:22pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: My worst fear - soft floor!
I just got done completely rebuilding the bathroom floor, came out quite nice. would have been easier putting it back together if I had taken more pictures when tearing it apart. culprit was a leaking p-trap under the sink. why the previous owners hadn't replaced it I have no idea. I used the stick on floor tiles. had to cut into the floor outside the bathroom door a foot or so. I cut a piece of the vinyl from under the dinette seat to replace the vinyl I had to cut out, worked great. One product I discovered that can save a lot of time and money is CPES. It seals and restores wood that has rotted so you don't have to replace every piece. You do have to wear a gas mask while applying it. the company in Seattle who developed it is a boat repair service, they really have water problems. Was about $40 for the two-pints of epoxy.
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LVJJJ
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03/12/12 08:03am |
Travel Trailers
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