need a new compressor

[pwhittle]

Paul and Jeremy's Super Stalker
Lotus Super Seven 7 inspired, BRUNTON AUTOMOTIVE, STALKER SUPERSTALKER V6

I tow the Brunton SuperStalker in a 14" dual axle enclosed trailer. The car weight 1550 lbs, and I am sure the trailer weighs more.

The MH is a 454. I get 5-6MPG towing.

Paul

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by pwhittle

Paul and Jeremy's Super Stalker
Lotus Super Seven 7 inspired, BRUNTON AUTOMOTIVE, STALKER SUPERSTALKER V6

I tow the Brunton SuperStalker in a 14" dual axle enclosed trailer. The car weight 1550 lbs, and I am sure the trailer weighs more.

The MH is a 454. I get 5-6MPG towing.

Paul

Paul,

Those cares are SO fast on the track. Its fun watching them maneuver around all the other cars.

It would appear the trailer definitely impacts your mpg. We towed Susan's race car on an open 14' trailer from Little Rock to Philadelphia and back last year and I think we averaged between 7 & 8 mpg. Of course definitely weighs less than yours and being an open trailer it shouldn't have impacted the mpg as much.

When we get our 20' Argosy motorhome with 454 done AND the 74 31' Excella trailer converted to the race car trailer it will be interesting to see what kind of mileage we get.

Brad

[pwhittle]

I am interested in hearing what you learn from converting the Excella into a car trailer. That is something that I wanted to do, but ended up taling the simple way and getting an enclosed trailer.

Paul

[carnegie1935]

Pwhittle, can you give me a more detailed account of how you installed the pump. I bought the same pump and couldn't decide how to connect to existing airline to tank. I planned to secure the pump in the same way . Did you cut off the orange hose or leave it and attach in a diferent way. Did you ground inside the compartment. I have a hot busbar in the front dropdown access that I can attach positive wire on. Should I use #8 or larger wire as I will be running about 20 feet. I lost my DH Roy last Aug and he knew how to fix anything. Now it is up to a nephew and I to do the work. We are capeable if we know exactly what needs to be done. Pictures would help.
Thanks for any help you can give.

Kay

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by carnegie1935

Pwhittle, can you give me a more detailed account of how you installed the pump. I bought the same pump and couldn't decide how to connect to existing airline to tank. I planned to secure the pump in the same way . Did you cut off the orange hose or leave it and attach in a diferent way. Did you ground inside the compartment. I have a hot busbar in the front dropdown access that I can attach positive wire on. Should I use #8 or larger wire as I will be running about 20 feet. I lost my DH Roy last Aug and he knew how to fix anything. Now it is up to a nephew and I to do the work. We are capeable if we know exactly what needs to be done. Pictures would help.
Thanks for any help you can give.

Kay

Kay,

Here is the thread where Paul replaced his compressor with the one from Harbor Freight http://www.airforums.com/forums/f159/compressor-ideas-needed-help-34175.html.

On our 84 310 the wire running from the front of the coach back to the generator was to small and melted where it plugs into the fuse block. What I ended up doing was replacing the bad connector and then adding a small 12vdc relay in the electrical compartment by the compressor and then used the long wire coming from the fuse block to energize the relay. I then ran a 10 gauge wire from the generator compartment over to the compressor and powered the compressor through the relay. It used to be the compressor sounded real enemic when being powered by the small wire from the fuse block. Now it sounds nice and strong because there is no voltage drop to deal with.

The only change I would make from what I did would be to use 8 guage wire like you suggested instead of the 10 guage wire. I will likely make that change when I install the Harbor Freight compressor. It draws upwards of 30 amps when running and 8 guage would certainly be better in that situation.

Also note you can get your power for the compressor from either the generator compartment like I did (where the generator starter relay is) or from the coach battery bank. The compressor will only run with the relay is energized which only happens whtn the ignition switch is turned on.

Brad

[pwhittle]

Hi Kay,

I did not use the orange hose to hook it up. My MH is up in Helen GA right now, but from memory, I think I left the quick disconnect on the compressor and fitted another disconnect to the existing hose to make it easy to replace if I had a problem. Those fittings are available from HarborFreight. The other pipe fittings I got from Home Depot, but I suspect they carry the quick disconnects too.

Brad is right on updating the wiring to get as close to 12V at the pump. I also used a relay in the compressor housing and the existing wiring to turn the relay on. Then fed power using a 10 gauge wire from the battery post on the Onan generator. If you are doing it now, run 8 gauge if you can. It can only help.

Paul

[carnegie1935]

Thanks Brad and Paul for the Quick replies. I think Cecil and I can fix this now. I now understand where you attached it to the genset power terminal. I don't plan to make any long trips until Sept or Oct. that gives us time to install and do a short test run or 2 before I head out for a 3 wk. swing through OK. to visit friends and relatives

Thanks again

Kay

[bkahler]

Kay,

With the air ride rear suspension you definitely want to keep on top of any issues with those components. We found out the hardway with our 310 that when the air bags are not inflated the ride is horrible and actually can tear the coach up.

If for whatever reason you lose your compressor, blow a line or air bag, etc you should reduced your speed to something less than 45 mph or so. Even that is to fast in my opinion. If you don't you'll know about it from all the vibrations that you'll be feeling.

The previous owners of our MH apparently drove the rig without air a lot because you can see the indentations in the frame rails from the rear springs hitting the frame due to no air in the bags.

Bottom line is as long as you have air in your system you should be in great shape!

Enjoy your trip!

Brad

[pwhittle]

My harborfreight compressor has now died. Not bad service for the price, and the extra load put on it recently by installing some train horns probably didn't help, but it was well worth it. I will probably step up to a Viair compressor and let you know what I decide to use.