Mexray

LOL, some things will never change. I really miss Tahoe and real mountains. I used to winter camp at Tahoe, summer at scotts flat lake and the russian river. My boys and I are heading out in the morning to a lake close by til wednesday, then the 15th the wife and I are heading to Indiana for about a week. Have a great 4th and enjoy your trip!

Stockton! I lived in Fairfield from 70 to 78....I miss it out there!

Thank you very much! Never really thought about that angle. My two work trailers are black and gold and it seemed natural to do Christine the same. On the other hand, I love to be different!

Monocoque...I've only towed the AS with the Bronco on two short trips so far...

It tows OK, but I give it all my attention and have kept my speed around 55. I've only got the 302 engine, with auto tranny, so the Bronco's not all that hot up in the hills! It's does the job just fine on the flat lands.

The Bronco had an original tow package when built. I added a larger tranny fluid cooler, twin electric fans with radiator shroud (removed the stock belt driven fan)...cooling hasn't been an issue.

I run the stock size tires, 31 inchers. I changed the diff gear ratio to 4.10 (from 3.73) , with an electric locker in the rear, and a Detroit TruTrack LS in the front.

My Bronco has over 210K miles on it, and I replaced the engine last year with a factory rebuilt long block...runs great! I've also replaced all the front end steering linkage, tie rods, ball joints, etc, along with new poly bushings in the front end parts...so every thing's tight up front.

I'm actually using the Bronco till I find an Excursion...they are being unloaded cheap these days, and I want one with a V10 to help towing up in the hills, along with the longer wheel base, beefy frame, etc...they are gas hogs, but most rigs used for towing only get around 10 mpg, and I don't plan to use it for a daily driver, so might as well go in 'Style'...

Those later Landcruisers are great rigs...a buddy had one he used to tow a 24 ft SOB, I guess it had lots of miles on it, as it gave up the ghost on his last trip up to Tahoe...he said it towed OK, but a bit underpowered for the big hills.

Mexray, how do you like pulling the Ambassador with the Bronco? I'm planning on using a Landcruiser as a TV to pull mine and I just wondered how the shorter wheel base is working out. If you don't mind me asking what modifications did you make to the Bronco?

Gun'r...I battery tender would be 'OK' if you're thinking of keeping the batteries up to snuff while your AS in in storage...it that's what you're thinking about.

It would do pretty much what a 3-stage converter/charger does to 'float' the batteries at full charge over long periods.

I picked up a 40 amp unit from Best Converter to replace the Univolt...much more efficient, quiet, and much better for ultimate battery life. I think I paid about $200 with freight.


http://www.bestconverter.com/XADC-40...p_115-242.html

So far this unit seems up to the task...I probably should have went for the 60 amp unit, however, for the additional capacity when I more batteries hooked up...we'll see. The 40 amp charges the two Gr 27 DC batteries just fine...I've checked the 'float' charge and it is right on.

If you can get at the Univolt easy enough, a tender would work fine...my Univolt was inside a compartment up front, behind the table, beneath two panels with screws....a pain to get at!

Ray, I'm looking forward to checking out your battery array and charging system! I've been thinking - why not use a battery tender to replace the old univolt while plugged into shore power? 50 bucks to do the job- or would that not be enough charging capacity?