1/5 of 33 gal seems too conservative anyway. 1/8 is better
2005 Trail Lite 213 B-Plus w/ 6.0 Chevy
'06 Phaeton 40' QSH
'14 Ford Flex SEL AWD Toad
'04 R-Vision Trail-Lite 213
Scottiemom's Pet or husband to Dale
RV.net Rallies 13, Other Rallies 21, Escapades 7
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Snowman: Since I'm so new to this 213, barely a few weeks and but one camp trip down, I have some catching up to do.
I was specifically told by my previous owners there WAS some kind of reserve built in but they were sketchy on the details.
So far the biggest issue I've had is one of the stainless steel wheel covers clicks noisily each revolution. My tire shop isolated the noise. We took the cover off, and voila!~ no noise!!! But.....someone had tried to repair it before with duct tape. There's a couple of the riveted areas seem rather loose. I tried the old 'mash=em' together which changed their looseness, but didn't stop the noise. Next plan is super glue, as there is nothing functional as far as I can tell, to worry about....
unless you have a different remedy.
I'm in Oregon & plan a a LOT of short trips in this. Been dragging TT around for 30+ years. The 213 handles like a sports car & rides like a limosine.
Haven't had the 6.0L chev V8 before.
Cheers....and any tips on owner maintenance is welcomed.
your genset will reportedly not run when only 1/5th of gas in 33 gal tank is left. this is about right, but snowman's seems more like 1/8
genset reportedly sips around 0.5-.7 gal/hr
the TL rides s,oother than our 4Runner
* This post was edited 07/26/13 07:13am by burlmart *
400 miles later, as we arrive at our campground and I lower the window while we drive around looking for a site, the drivers side is now squeaking! cripes. It squeaked all week. At some point today on our way home, it seems to have stopped. I figure it has moved a tiny bit till it's finally settled. OR, maybe it was just the rain we drove through, and once it dries out it will squeak again.
We lost one of our rear covers on our first trip with it. I took the other side off. So we have only front covers.
![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/smile.gif "smile")
We dry camped, and had to run the genset every day. Once again it ran near 1/8th tank. I have not had it run out of gas yet.
MPG was 11.x at 65 MPH, on tanks not involving genset usage.
* This post was edited 07/26/13 08:02pm by Snowman9000 *
Currently RV-less but not done yet.
Starting up the engine instead would yield 14.4v and 20a at the battery.
But I had brought a basic 40a automotive smart charger from the big box store. It would deliver 14.6-14.7v and 24 to 30-some amps. I could get a 90% charge in about an hour with it. 90% is when the battery is only accepting 6 or 7 amps. It takes a long time to put that final 10% in. So I got by on about 1 hour of charging a day.
The charger sometimes would work fine even with the built in converter charger also pushing a charge to the battery. But a couple of days, the big charger thought the battery was full. So I had to turn off the converter's breaker, which also turns off the outside outlet I was using to power the charger! So then I had to run an extension cord from inside the RV out to the charger. Jeez.
The problem with the stock setup is A) the converter charger, and B) the cables. The charger is a typical low voltage charger, basically a little better than a trickle charger. It can be replaced with a Progressive Dynamics charger. But the cables are still a problem. At least on mine, TL ran them all over the place under the chassis before finally getting to the battery.
I don't really have the space to haul the separate charger around. But I haven't figured out my next move. At a bare minimum, I am going to make it so I can turn off the converter without turning off the outdoor outlet.
quietjake wrote:
...So far the biggest issue I've had is one of the stainless steel wheel covers clicks noisily each revolution. My tire shop isolated the noise. We took the cover off, and voila!~ no noise!!! But.....someone had tried to repair it before with duct tape. There's a couple of the riveted areas seem rather loose. I tried the old 'mash=em' together which changed their looseness, but didn't stop the noise. Next plan is super glue, as there is nothing functional as far as I can tell, to worry about......
The original 1 piece hub caps that came with our unit got changed fairly soon. I got tired of removing them to check the tire air pressure. Bought the "Pacific Dualies" click here first discussed on bottom of page 70 of this topic. They were also discussed click here....So far the biggest issue I've had is one of the stainless steel wheel covers clicks noisily each revolution. My tire shop isolated the noise. We took the cover off, and voila!~ no noise!!! But.....someone had tried to repair it before with duct tape. There's a couple of the riveted areas seem rather loose. I tried the old 'mash=em' together which changed their looseness, but didn't stop the noise. Next plan is super glue, as there is nothing functional as far as I can tell, to worry about......
But,,, all 4 of the chrome wheel simulators have a small hub cap (to cover the lug nuts). The ones on the front click on and will make a tinkling sound at very low speed. They quiet down when the wheel starts turning faster. I believe I also paid around $140 for the complete set of 4.
2002 Trail-Lite Model 211-S w/5.7 Chevy (click View Profile)
Gene
I can and have removed our custom former TV cabinet to try snd identify what can sound like a small stack of lumber being jostled on good bumps, but nothing in the woodwork behind the cabinets or on the plywood deck of the cabinetry seemed that loose (wrapped all the loose cables, too)
We have just discovered that you can lightly tap almost anywhere on the cab headliner and get a loud sound like the loose lumber. The headniner seems like a floating luan(?) shell that vibrates on a jostle.
Can someone tell me what lies between the furry/felt headliner and the steel roof and anything that might help? How is it supported to stay in place – just around perimeter?
Please help
* This post was edited 07/27/13 03:23am by burlmart *
Anyway, my suggestion would be to take off edge trim in the middle and see. I'll be inside the unit this weekend and see if anything else comes to mind.
OH, I think I recall someone, maybe Daniel the OP, saying he had a problem with all the TV and antenna wiring bouncing around making noise. Could that be it?
I quieted the wires
I am afraid I could not reglue the gray trim if I unglue it as it is a vert glue surface.
You are talking above the steel, but it is between the headliner and steel, and maybe the headliner ‘shell’ itself that is so easily moved to make a rattle, and that I’ve mistaken so long for wood above the steel roof (and whatever may be between steel roof and the thick plywood 'counter top' supporting all the cabover cabinetry and to which the gray trim is glued)
Where was that towel?
* This post was edited 07/27/13 06:18am by burlmart *